misclassified/meps_speeches huggingface dataset:
Shrinking space for civil society in Europe (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2022-03-07

  Damian Boeselager,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, thank you to Anna, and on behalf of Erik, I would like to thank everyone – the rapporteur, shadows and technical staff, for the great collaboration on this report. 
It’s a very timely report indeed. The recent intensified crackdown on civil society in Belarus and Russia shows one important truth: an organised civil society is a horror for any form of autocratic leadership because it shows if and how they fail their societies. But we don’t need to look that far. Sadly, we see civil society organisations also being targeted and limited in our own Member States. Some leaders don’t want to allow societies to correct their mistakes. 
I’ve witnessed systematic persecution and criminalisation in the field of migration, an area where all our governments are currently failing. And the recent events in Ukraine show another and more humane face for Europe in that matter. So let us build on this humane Europe and show that every human being is worth saving, no matter how far they’ve travelled and no matter what their skin colour. 
Let us build a humane Europe, Commissioner, by supporting civil society organisations, ensuring sufficient funding for CSOs and developing a green strategy for safeguarding civic spaces in the EU.
State of play of the RRF (Recovery and Resilience Facility) (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2021-12-15

  Damian Boeselager,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, I also want to start on a positive note because I think we have achieved a lot when we look at this year. I think there was a lot of work done, both at Member State level and by the Commission, but also obviously within this Parliament, trying to hold you all accountable in this work. If we think about the adoption of the RRF Regulation, the preparation and also approval of some of the plans, at least the payment requests, the scrutiny that has been done, a lot of work was done. So congratulations on that. 
But, obviously, now we are entering the next year and so the question is what kind of ambition and what kind of control is necessary for the next phase of the RRF? And here I want to ask us to really try to stay on top of this ambition because we still need to stay strong when it comes to Hungary and Poland and some of the other elements in the plans – we need to ensure that they are corrected. We need to ensure that the operational arrangements are of high quality and fair to all Member States and ensure especially that we have agreed on spending and where it is supposed to go. 
I would also say that some of the Member States, like Germany, can be ambitious in re-routing some of the money. I mean, there are still EUR four billion, under the new German government, going to hybrid cars, so I think if we have a change of government, this can also be reflected. And this is true for Bulgaria as well. 
And then we come to control, and here I think we have a couple of elements, which really mean that we need to step-up our game. The first one is we promised to green bond holders that the money will really be spent on green spending. So we need to keep this promise by actually sample-sizing, by testing, by scrutinising in detail the projects that are supposed to be green. And we need to keep the promise to EU citizens that we will use this money to really build solidarity and a strong Union when it comes to economic governance. 
So I wish us all a restful and great break to be able to do that well.
The escalating humanitarian crisis on the EU-Belarusian border, in particular in Poland (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2021-11-10

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, one day after the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, I hear today: walls, walls, walls, fences, barriers, border guards, police, hybrid threat and weapons. It feels like no one cares about the people, the individual stories on the ground anymore. Compassion, colleagues, is not something that we should lose once we become politicians. 
Let us make sure, first and foremost, that we care for the lives of those in need, and then we can care, secondly, about everything else. But first, we need to care about the lives of the people in need. Once people are safe, we should stop being naive. The weakness that Lukashenko is trying to exploit is not compassion. The weakness he is trying to exploit is that we do not have a European asylum system. None of this would happen if we had a good and decent procedure for people to go through, across Europe, while we find ways to stop Lukashenko from engaging in human trafficking. 
High Representative, I have two questions. First, will you ensure that there is access for the UNHCR to the European side of the border with Belarus? Second, do you believe that the right to seek asylum in Europe is still intact for the people at the border?
Pushbacks at the EU's external border (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2021-10-20

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, after two years of absence, I will be going back to the Greek islands in a couple of weeks, and I’m a bit afraid to go because I’ve just promised myself two years ago that I would improve the situation. But Fortress Europe is still a reality. We build wires and walls and a few of our guards hunt and beat people up, take away their phones and throw them back over the borders. 
Over the last year, 300 illegal explosions have been recorded in Greece. Two weeks ago, we learned how Croatia is using shadow armies to push people back. And just today, as Sophia has also said, lawyers are suing Frontex – an EU agency – for its role in human rights violations. 
Commissioner Johansson do not waiver in your defence of asylum law. Help Europe to live up to its values of compassion, law and human rights and let us turn Fortress Europe again into a shelter. For that, let’s set up independent mechanisms to monitor our border guards, make EU funds for migration conditional on safeguarding human rights and trigger infringement procedures against all countries that don’t follow European laws.
And please, by all means, never, never, ever legalise pushbacks.
The Rule of law crisis in Poland and the primacy of EU law (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2021-10-19

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, I say to the Prime Minister: thanks for coming, but I really wonder, why did you come? Did you come here to shift the narrative with the help of the claps from the far-right? Is this really what you’re trying to do?
First, your puppet chord attacks the basis of this House, the Treaties. Second, you write a letter saying that the EU is turning into an autocracy. And third, you come and talk here about legal order, while you’ve been trying to curtail the freedom of your judges for years. I really don’t understand why you came here today, and I think soon you will see that your advisers are wrong and that you have gone far too far with what you have been doing.
The Polish people do not want to leave the European Union. We cannot, Commission President, have money flow to a government that does not respect the treaties and therefore we cannot control where it is going. So I ask you to under no circumstance accept the Polish recovery plan and make sure that this tribunal and the judgment are repealed.
General budget of the European Union for the financial year 2022 - all sections (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2021-10-19

  Damian Boeselager,  rapporteur. – Madam President, I would like to thank colleagues, the Minister and the Commissioner for these exchanges. I think we can see this as a start of our formal negotiation to really try to come to the best outcome for our institutions. 
I just wanted to quickly react to some of the comments that have been made, so I didn’t really fully get the translation of what you were saying, but I’m very thankful for the cooperation we have had so far, and also for you mentioning the potential differences or implications that the Polish situation might have on the budget, because I think that’s actually also relevant if you think about it. How can we transfer money to a country that does not accept the treaties? How can we actually believe that the judges will follow up with due diligence if they’re not bound by our common order? And I think that’s a question that we had discussed this morning, and that the Commission also is currently looking into. 
Mr Kuhs asked what he should tell his grandchildren and I actually quite enjoyed this question because I think the first answer would be to tell them that, you know, a Europe of segregated nations with closed borders to each other is not a Europe that they want to live in. 
The second thing, though, which has more to do with the budget, is the question of how we should invest in the future. My colleagues have mentioned many of the points that we believe are relevant for future investment: climate youth programmes, digitisation, ensuring the future competitiveness. I think to get out of this crisis well, the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) is a good tool, but the whole budget is very important to actually build back better.
In terms of institutional changes that we can also consider to have in the future better working mode, I think it’s important that when we talk about the budget, we also see the context of the overall architecture of our financial and fiscal framework. And here I’m very happy that we are starting this process of understanding that the RRF was a one time tool, but we have an ongoing understanding or issue with the fact that we have a currency union, but not yet a fiscal union, and that is something that we also need to get to.
To end, let me close with what I started with. I think it’s important that we come to a good conclusion for our institutions, for our European Union, to strengthen them, to strengthen the Ombudsman, the Court of Justice, the Court of Auditors, all these institutions that make up our European Union, and I also very much look forward to then, at some point, coming to a conclusion on this budget.
European Union Agency for Asylum (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2021-10-07

  Damian Boeselager,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, today I woke up to the sad news in the media which we had all more or less been expecting: Greece, Croatia, and Romania are pushing people back over European borders to stop them from applying for asylum. At the same time, today, we have the Afghanistan resettlement forum, where we more or less expect that national ministers will agree not to resettle a single soul in Europe. What a day this is already.
Why is all this happening? There’s a very simple truth. In the absence of an actual European asylum system, a system that could easily cope with the numbers that we are currently seeing and propose the stability of their asylum claims, we have reverted to a system of violence and terror. Violence and terror as deterrence so that people don’t come. We try to match their suffering that they experienced at home with the suffering that they will experience here. 
Pushing people back is just the most obvious symbol of the system. Tents at the seaside where, yet again, families freeze with their children this winter is a second, and another 100 people dying in the Mediterranean over the last two weeks is a third. In the absence of a system, we use suffering to keep control. What a shame for this continent and our enlightened society, but then, enlightenment hasn’t stopped us from committing the worst atrocities in history.
Now the weird thing is that there is a solution. Building a functioning European asylum system does not mean that everyone who comes can stay. It just means that we adhere to our European values while we are processing the asylum claims. I’m happy that, with the European Asylum Agency, we are an ever—so—little step closer to such a system. While the agency cannot process claims itself yet, it can start organising solidarity between Member States. While some changes would be linked to a Dublin reform, it can already start to set minimum standards and ensure that the rights of asylum seekers are safeguarded in the different European systems. The agency, obviously, with the Fundamental Rights Officer, will have a much stronger role in this as well.
In November, I will go visit Samos again. I am quite afraid to go there because I know that I will look people in the eye and have to say that, over the last two years since I last visited, I didn’t really achieve much. However, I am happy that, at least with the European Asylum Agency, we can go in the direction of trying to build a better system. Let’s see this as a start to actually work with those who want to work constructively on a better European asylum system, so that we can give back decency to the people who are arriving and, by extension, to ourselves.
The state of play on the submitted RRF recovery plans awaiting approval (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2021-10-06

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, I say to the Commissioner: stand firm. EU taxpayers’ money should not reward governments that violate the most fundamental principles of the European Union. This is especially true for governments that do not accept the primacy of EU law or have a history of corruption, embezzlement and fraud. I therefore urge you not to approve the current Polish or Hungarian plans until we know that this money actually benefits the citizens and safeguards their rights. Stand firm. 
In addition, Commissioner, let’s prepare well for the future. If you act smartly now, you will be able to stop the flow of recovery money every six months for the next five years. For that to work, I ask you to ensure that the plans have strict six-month targets in improving the rule of law and fighting corruption, and second, to let Parliament help you. Make backroom deals public and give us access to all operational agreements between you and the national governments. Commissioner, we are fighting a good fight. Let’s make sure the tide turns, we improve the rule of law, we fight corruption, and benefit the citizens of this Union. I ask you to stand firm.
Situation in Afghanistan (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2021-09-14

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, to anyone who feels empathy, these images from Afghanistan are heartbreaking and shocking to witness. For years, European countries tried to work together towards a more resilient Afghanistan and in this endeavour relied heavily on locals to support this. 
Amongst these locals are journalists, activists, human rights defenders, women and young people. They knew they took a risk but they still did it, and they were brave enough to support with us and to work with us for a better future for their country. Now they ask for our help, they ask to be saved, but we hear European leaders fostering this narrative of defence and trying to score political gains by playing into nationalistic fears. This is disgraceful.
With our resolution today we ask all European leaders to be courageous and compassionate. We ask them ambitiously to step up resettlement pledges at the September Resettlement Forum. We are talking about tens of thousands of pledges that we would need. 
Second, we ask for safe and legal pathways to be established. We heard about humanitarian visas and we ask for deportations to Afghanistan to be halted, and lastly, to cooperate with all involved actors to ensure that no lives are lost.
EU Blue Card Directive (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2021-09-14

  Damian Boeselager,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, just yesterday I talked to a young entrepreneur from Berlin, who told me it took him one and a half years to get a visa for the programmer to come to Berlin. One and a half years during which this IT professional could have gone anywhere in the world. In a global competition for talent, that’s just not good enough.
If you want to attract talent to Europe, you need to be attractive, and that’s why I’m super happy that today we can celebrate the agreement on the new Blue Card with you from the Commission as well, because finally, people can move from one Member State to the next within one month. Finally, people can take with them the years they agglomerated on long-term residence from one country to the next, making it much more attractive to come to Europe in the first place. And finally, IT professionals can apply for the Blue Card even without a university degree, making this Blue Card the ultimate European tech visa.
So today is a day of celebration, and tomorrow we should put our heads together again to ensure that it comes into effect as fast as possible and to tackle, one by one, all pathways for labour migration so that people don’t have to wait one and a half years if they have a job offer in Europe.
Breaches of EU law and of the rights of LGBTIQ citizens in Hungary as a result of the adopted legal changes in the Hungarian Parliament - The outcome of 22 June hearings under Article 7(1) of the TEU regarding Poland and Hungary (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2021-07-07

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, Commissioner Jourová, today, despite all odds, is a day of hope. It has been three years since we initiated Article 7 against Hungary. Three years of big words and empty threats. Three years over which the deconstruction of the Hungarian democracy has accelerated. Every day Orbán's government violates the rules that our freedom as a European community are built on. Rules to safeguard the free press and show fair elections, to ensure the independence of judges, rules to protect the diversity of our societies. 
The new law is another terrible example of how Orbán violates these rules. But today still is a day of hope, because today the European Commission has the power to change this course; because today Parliament and Council stand behind you asking for a strong response; because today the rule of law mechanism is in place; and finally, because today you have the power to make the payment of seven billion euros, equalling 5% of Hungary’s annual GDP, conditional on the change of course. So I urge you to use these powers, then today can be a day of hope.
European Parliament’s scrutiny on the ongoing assessment by the Commission and the Council of the national recovery and resilience plans (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2021-06-08

  Damian Boeselager,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, I would like to say to President von der Leyen that the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) is no ordinary law. If we get it right, it can be a blueprint for future European fiscal architecture, enabling a more resilient, sustainable and fair economy for all European citizens.
My Group supported you in setting it up. However, looking at the plans submitted by the Member States, we are concerned. Some Member States treat the RRF as a simple refinancing tool, which means that the stimulus effect is neutralised and costs are simply shifted to the European level. Many Member States avoid ambitious reforms necessary to modernise the administration, even though the regulation requires them to do so. And most importantly for my Group, many Member States try the old practice of greenwashing, trying to sell hybrid cars, gas boilers and other dirty investments as green.
President von der Leyen, do not give in to these reluctant governments. Do not approve plans that don’t fully comply with the law. Tell President Macron that he should address the French CSR. Tell Chancellor Merkel that she cannot use EU funds to get rid of her hybrid cars. Tell Prime Minister Draghi that he needs to fight greenwashing. And tell all governments across the EU to enforce the ‘do no significant harm’ principle. You have the full backing of this House to ensure that money is not wasted on national pet projects but used to fuel a green and a real tradition with a lasting impact. You said it: ‘Long live Europe’. I would say: ‘Long live a better and reformed Europe’.
New avenues for legal labour migration (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2021-05-19

  Damian Boeselager,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, what image comes to our mind when we hear the term ‘migrant’? What happens if you replace that term with ‘international talent’ or even ‘expat community’?
Our debate on migration is distorted. The fears of losing our culture are inflated by right wing populist rhetoric. However, migration lies at the basis of all European culture, as the Vice President said. Today, 95% of all migrants come to Europe regularly, many of them with some form of a work visa, contributing to our society’s diversity, to our economy – and, to be frank, offsetting the effects of an aging society on our pension schemes – and helping us through this crisis, as it has been said before.
I come from the private sector, and I’m in close exchange with many start-ups across the continent. Next to a lack of access to capital, their key success factor is access to international talent. Only sufficient talent will enable them to thrive and create jobs for Europeans as well. But we still fail to attract the best talent and skills. In fact, even under Trump, the US was more attractive to migrants than the European Union.
Why? Because first, we are still seen as a rather racist society. And second, because we don’t have a unified labour migration system, but 27 separate ones. Our national governments still think it makes sense to compete against each other when it comes to migration.
With this report, we have shown that there is a separate way: a new way. Together as one House we ask to Europeanise our system to ensure that we get to a European migration code, and that migrants can profit from the full European labour market, and that we can profit from them.
Second, we ask to foster equal conditions for everyone who works here, no matter where they’re from, when it comes to wages, rights and working conditions. We have to fight labour exploitation.
And third, we ask for new pathways, and I’m very happy that the Vice President has mentioned some of them, like the talent pool, which I’m presenting at some point as a pilot project. But there are others: youth mobility schemes, visas for job and vocational training, the Long-Term Residence Directive and the single permit. It’s clear: Europe is strongest if we work together, especially when it comes to labour migration.
Announcement of voting results
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2021-04-29

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, by now I have spent more time as a remote Parliamentarian than as under normal circumstances. I have learned to negotiate laws via Webex, I engage with citizens over Zoom, and I plead with the Commission via Teams. My team at home is constantly working remotely and my office is as empty as the plenary in Strasbourg. Even though I’m proud to say that this institution has weathered the circumstances really well, I can’t wait to go back to normality.
But what will the new normality look like? What can be learned from these times? And what do we really want to return? We don’t have these answers yet but the discussions over the 2022 budget were very much marked by these questions. And so I want to thank the shadow rapporteurs, but also the Bureau and especially the EP administration for finding good solutions and for really engaging in this debate and scrutinising the budget in the best way we can to find answers and to create space for these answers.
Together we agreed to strengthen the legislative capacity of this House. We agreed to find ways to travel less, to be more efficient and to be greener and more transparent. We agreed to pay more attention to gender—related budgeting and – and that’s very important for me as well – we created space for the Conference on the Future of Europe to work. So, because of all of these reasons and also because it was my first rapporteurship, I would like you to vote in favour and I ask you for that.
Digital Europe programme (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2021-04-29

  Damian Boeselager,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, the Digital Europe Programme is the best practice for how EU digital policy could be done. It is pan-European, which will benefit all citizens and companies in all Member States. It puts digital skills and support for digitisation of SMEs and start-ups at the core of EU policy, and it ensures parliamentary scrutiny over every euro spent under the programme. I therefore thank the rapporteur and I also thank the shadows and the Commission and the Council for the good work on this file – but it’s clearly only a first step.
Our SMEs and start-ups have now all embarked on their digital journey. There are different levels of sophistication in this process, and we can help them succeed if we do a couple of things. First, we need to ensure that they’re not forced into a technical infrastructure that they can’t escape from. Second, we need to ensure that the dominance of certain actors, for example in the data market, does not translate itself automatically onto the machine-learning and AI markets. And third, we need to ensure that the new standards that are being set for data sharing and such are not decided in a closed circle just between a couple of Member States and between a couple of big companies. In the end, our European digital policy will only be successful if we understand that innovation can come from anywhere, and especially the smallest actors.
Space programme 2021-2027 and European Union Agency for the Space Programme (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2021-04-27

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, for many citizens, when they hear about space policy, they think Star Trek, Star Wars and the Return of the Empire, but space goes far beyond this science fiction, as we all know.
Space is not only a place for reaping the benefits of human ingenuity, but also a frontier that reflects the political issues we witness here on Earth. Space plays a huge role in our daily lives already, as we know, enabling satellite TV, internet and smartphone connections, precision in agriculture and disaster relief. Our European space programmes and SMEs play a key role in providing these services but, if we create the space where they can thrive, they can do much more. We can expect innovations and technological breakthroughs that can tackle climate change, and predict environmental diseases. We can promote research in health and fight humanitarian hardships that we currently see.
I think that, in order to be able to reap these benefits, we need to do four things. First – and my colleague Niklass Nienaß has also said this – we need to Europeanise our efforts. That means both when it comes to law, but also when it comes to our Space Programme. Other countries won’t be waiting for us and we need to ensure that we consolidate our governance and invest.
Second, we need to enable private investment. We don’t have to retract – and we shouldn’t retract – our government spending in the area, but we need to enable private investment to increase access. 
Third, we need to ensure fair access to data so that downstream commercialisation is fair and competitive and can really bring out the smartest among us. 
Fourth, and most importantly, space does not belong to any one nation. It is a place for discovery and research for all mankind. We should treat it as such and enforce international rule—based systems to counter space militarisation and debris. If nations use outer space for their individual gain, we face a tragedy of the commons, where we will hinder the progress that we could make together for all of Europe, but also for all of mankind.
European strategy for data – Commission evaluation report on the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation two years after its application (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2021-03-25

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, those who control shares, profit from data. This is the key question that we are trying to tackle with this report. At its core this question is a question of power and I think with GDPR we have made a big step towards ensuring that some of this power is being given back to individuals. With this report we ask for further steps to rebalance this power. Currently, there seems to be an imbalance when it comes to the concentration of market power in many of the aspects related to data.
We need to make sure in our future steps in this legislation when it comes to the Data Governance Act, when it comes to the Data Act, that we give power back to individuals, that we safeguard their rights, that we clarify the role of intermediaries and that we empower governments and businesses to share data in a trusted and safe environment. This has to be the European model to get towards greater digital competitiveness.
Respecting the partnership principle in the preparation and implementation of national recovery and resilience plans, and ensuring good governance of the spending (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2021-03-11

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, a month ago I praised the EU recovery fund as a game-changer for European solidarity and recovery, as our key tool for tackling the dual transition of greening and digitisation.
Since then, businesses have been engaging with national governments to express their ideas when it comes to digital infrastructure or hydrogen, and this can be positive for modernisation. But when it comes to other interests, say, from civil society actors, unions, local and regional governments or even national parliaments, this is completely different.
Almost all governments are refusing to engage in serious consultations. Even though this is a requirement within the text. This is a mistake. Let’s make sure that this recovery fund is best practice, a beacon for a future of common European macro-economic governance where all interests are represented and, frankly, the best ideas win.
Furthermore, I urge countries like Germany and the Netherlands to commit to additional investments and actual reforms, to not waste this chance, even though elections might be looming.
Establishing the Recovery and Resilience Facility (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2021-02-09

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, dear Ministers, dear Executive Vice—President, dear co-rapporteurs and shadows, dear colleagues, this law is no ordinary law. This law is the centrepiece of the EU recovery fund, and it lays the foundation for something new.
When I entered this House one and a half years ago, there was no common European fiscal policy and no needs—based solidarity in times of crisis. When the financial crises hit in the past – and we all know they hit hard – the only support our countries could find lay in unloved and undemocratic tools like the ESM.
With our vote today, this will change. The RRF is no ordinary law. It is a political, federalist, European innovation, a game changer for our common European economic policy and solidarity in Europe. Our vote today may very well mark the beginning of a more permanent architecture to raise EU funds and to direct them where they are most needed, irrespective of nationality.
This law sets new, unheard-of standards when it comes to investment. It requires countries to address the adverse effects of the crisis on women, to invest in the next generation and to support the ones most hit via its social pillar. It ensures that over the next six years, EUR 250 billion  need to be invested to fight climate change based on an improved investment tracking methodology, while not spending one cent on harmful activities when it comes to the environment. It ensures that over the next six years, another EUR 135 billion will be invested towards the digital transition.
But this law is not only about investment, it’s also about reforms. It asks countries to tackle the weaknesses that they have, because we can potentially get out of this crisis with investments, but we will not be able to weather the next one without reforms.
So with today’s vote, the ball is in the court of the countries, and they need to draw up their national recovery and resilience plans. But I would like to give them four short messages on this process.
First, the struggles we can see in some countries show that these plans need to be publicly debated and scrutinised. You need to involve the public, and this cannot just be backroom deals. Second, all countries need to tackle reforms – also Germany, the Netherlands and France. Third, invest fresh money. Don’t just repackage existing stimulus packages. And fourth, we from the European Parliament, we will be watching, because we care.
We will scrutinise every euro spent. We will scrutinise every plan to ensure that this project is a success.
Social and employment crisis in the COVID-19 pandemic and the EU's response in the Recovery Plan and the MFF (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2021-01-20

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, we fought hard as the European Parliament, but also as the EU as a whole, for a strong EU recovery fund to counter this unprecedented crisis. We decided to raise an unprecedented amount of EUR 750 billion to be able to invest in the green and also the digital recovery and to get out of this crisis better than we went in.
Now it’s time to fight equally hard to make sure that this money is put to good use, and for this I demand three things.
First of all, that we ensure that every cent that is spent is transparently spent, that we know where this money is going. Second, that this money is used as additional money, that we make sure that we have new projects in the green and digital spaces, so we don’t just refinance existing pet projects of national governments. And third, that citizens are involved, that stakeholders are involved, and that most importantly our national governments are involved when we draw up these plans to make sure that the money is put to good use.
New general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2021 (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2020-12-14

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, colleagues, first of all I am quite thankful that we now speak from the lectern so we can actually see each other when we speak.
I would like to thank Pierre Larrouturou and Olivier Chastel for the tough and very good negotiations. I think the outcome is a greener and more digital budget. While I’m happy with the overall agreement, I’m concerned that the Polish and Hungarian governments caused such massive disruption to our negotiations. I’ve been in this Parliament for more or less 18 months and I’ve gone through negotiations of two annual budgets, the MFF programmes and currently the EU’s recovery programme. I still consider myself a newbie but I do want to share three hard lessons learned with you.
First of all, multilateralism does work. We did find an agreement and we did find a good agreement on this budget. Second, our EU decision-making is still deeply flawed. We allow individual governments to outright blackmail this Union, holding the wellbeing of all EU citizens to ransom for their own, at times, personal financial benefit. And third, too often we cave in to this blackmailing and every time we compromise in the direction of these blackmailers. We show European citizens that in this Union sometimes money trumps values. Last week’s European Council conclusions are a perfect example of this phenomenon. I think we should never trade principles over money or values over power, and I would really urge the von der Leyen Commission to set the record straight in this direction.
Situation of Fundamental Rights in the European Union – Annual Report for the years 2018-2019 (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2020-11-24

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, I have a point of order regarding the deletion of an amendment that refers to the powers of the European Parliament of being the only competent authority to waive the immunity of its Members.
The report we are about to discuss addresses the EU elections in 2019. These have been somewhat incomplete because some of our Members were not able to take their rightful seat in this House: a House that is protected and independent. Oriol Junqueras is one of these Members. Our amendment deplored that he is not present in this House with us, urging the European Parliament’s President to recognise the judgment of our highest judicial body: the Court of Justice of the European Union. The EP is to follow the Court’s judgment, even if the national judiciary does not. This is a case of primacy of EU law. Rule 181 of the Rules of Procedure thus does not apply to make this amendment inadmissible.
I am deeply concerned and worried about how technical rules are used for political purposes, and I would therefore like to make a point of order to re-admit our amendment to the report and to have Parliament vote on it.
Stocktaking of European elections (continuation of debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2020-11-24

  Damian Boeselager,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, first of all let me thank Pascal Durand for presenting this very good report, an ambitious report with very good compromises, I think, bringing together most of the groups. I want to remind everyone in this House that this House already decides on laws that affect 450 million Europeans and maybe potentially many more across the world. I hope that at one point this House will also be able to initiate laws and will field a European government, hopefully. This House is already a beacon of European democracy and I think it’s really important that we try to increase legitimacy and that we try to improve the way we are elected into this House, at all times. I think the report shows ways to do this. 
First of all, I think it’s very important that we set minimum standards to ensure that there’s a trusted process. That means minimum standards when it comes to the registration of a party, when it comes to the registration of this party for the European parliamentary elections, when it comes to internal party democracy about how to field candidates, when it comes to party financing and fraud control, and when it comes to the election procedures at the actual election date. 
Second, and this has already been mentioned by some colleagues, we need to Europeanise these elections. It’s not enough that we all work in our national context to try to put forward European topics. We need to have an actual European debate about European topics and I think there are some ways to discuss this further, as has been discussed for transnationalist Spitzenkandidaten. But we should also try to regionalise and localise the elections so that parliamentarians are closer to their citizens as much as possible, so that people have some people to relate to and to reach out to. 
I think we should not shy away from any of these discussions. We should discuss all the options on the table to be able to improve our electoral procedures. When we look across the Atlantic, I think we can see how important it is to have trusted procedures, especially when it comes to the transition of powers. Let us not waste this legislative chance, let us try to improve the electoral law.
The need for an immediate and humanitarian EU response to the current situation in the refugee camp in Moria (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2020-09-17

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, I say to the Commissioner: Moria showed it clearly, but we see the same across the continent. We deliberately create suffering and hardship in camps to dissuade people from coming. We try to match their suffering outside Europe by creating suffering on European soil, traumatising people with hardly any shelter, sustenance and medication. I call this the policy of ‘deterrence by systematic suffering’. 
Today, I plead to you for two things. First of all, please help all the people of Moria to travel to communities across Europe who are very happy to welcome them. And second, I plead to you to ensure that something like Moria can never happen again.
I repeat your call, ‘no more Moria’, but I would also extend it. No more Chios, no more Samos, no more camps in general. Don’t finance camps with EU money. Close them all. 
(Applause)
The 2019 Human Rights Annual report - Stability and Security in the Mediterranean and the negative role of Turkey - Situation in Belarus (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2020-07-09

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, as Chancellor Merkel said yesterday, we cannot look away. We must address the European migration and asylum crisis.
Yes, we must establish security, but what is security? As long as EU countries are closing down their harbours to migrants and refugees, there is no security in the Mediterranean. As long as COVID—19 is being used to create de facto detention camps on the Greek islands, there is no security in the Mediterranean. As long as EU money is being used to fund Libyan coastguards and to circumvent asylum law, there is no security in the Mediterranean. 
Security in the Mediterranean can only be reached by applying asylum and maritime law, by allowing people to disembark after days on freighters and by relocating people out of the camps on the Greek islands. Day by day, we endanger the lives of human beings, of our brothers and sisters, as our Christian Democrat friends would say, but we can change and we can learn from our mistakes.
First, we need to set up a European asylum system that is centred around the right to asylum and around the asylum interview. Second, we must acknowledge that we are a continent of immigration and we must create new channels and new pathways, and create new opportunities for people to enter the European Union. 
(Applause)
Humanitarian situation of refugees at EU external borders (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2020-02-12

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, two weeks ago we discussed the situation on the Greek islands, and I’m asking myself how much has really changed on the ground since we talked about it. And the answer is: the situation has got worse. We haven’t done anything at EU level to make the situation better. Yes, we still give money, but in the end, the idea of creating a floating barrier to stop people even asking for asylum and the overcrowding in the camps is still so bad that people are protesting now – both the local population and the refugees.
So I would ask us to stop the blame game between the Council and the Commission and act on both sides, as much as we can, to improve the situation on the ground. That means, on the Commission side, triggering the Civil Protection Mechanism today, and, on the Council side, actually accepting minors and refugees, who need our help so badly on the ground. Let us actually act today and not tomorrow.
SMEs and better regulation (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2020-02-10

  Damian Boeselager,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, I would like to thank the Commissioner for coming here and talking about this very important topic. I am very happy to hear that you are an entrepreneur and founder yourself. I am as well. I founded a political movement so it was in a bit of a different sphere, but I’m also a huge fan of innovation and competitiveness. I also therefore welcome better regulation, especially decreased uncertainty. We know that especially for smaller businesses and start-ups it’s really hard to keep up if there is legal uncertainty, regulatory uncertainty, so I hope we can get better at that.
But I also see, like my colleague from Renew, quite a boring trend: that we want to weaken competition, or at least, as the governments in Poland and Germany (my own country) and France and Italy have said, and that is exactly the opposite of innovation and competitiveness. So I hope that we can safeguard, with the Commission and Parliament together, the competitiveness of all the small players by not weakening competition.
SMEs and better regulation (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2020-02-10

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE),  blue-card question. – I really like your idea of improving digitisation and training for SMEs, also to digitise further, especially since the Data Strategy is coming up. My question here is: where do you see the role of the EU in helping this digitisation to actually get the right set of data, to measure it and to be able to share it and to analyse it?
Urgent humanitarian situation on Greek Islands, especially of children - ensuring protection, relocation and family reunification (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2020-01-29

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE),  blue-card question. – I have a very simple question for you, and that is this: are you willing to uphold the right to asylum and the right to have an interview to determine the asylum status?
Urgent humanitarian situation on Greek Islands, especially of children - ensuring protection, relocation and family reunification (debate)
Speaker: Damian BOESELAGER (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Volt)
Date: 2020-01-29

  Damian Boeselager (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, I would like to say to Commissioner Johansson that as we speak, argue, and also scream here, these children that we talked about are still stuck on the islands and there are no transfers. There are also, at the moment, no more guardians taking charge of their legal cases and they are already traumatised and sick when they arrive. So I’m very happy, Commissioner, that you take first measures and want to improve the situation.
And I would like to point out to the State Secretary that the Member States are blocking any additional, even voluntary, support at this very moment and so I would ask, State Secretary, that you please press for additional steps here. But I also want to bring your attention to a fact that is overlooked, which is that the Member States are even opting out of the current responsibilities that they have under this law that we already have in place. So, my Member State, Germany, is currently declining 70% of the family reunification cases for these children. Which means that we are basically telling them: even though you have family, you are not welcome here, and this is not okay.