misclassified/meps_speeches huggingface dataset:
Humanitarian assistance in the Mediterranean (debate)
Speaker: Nicolaus FEST (Germany, Identity and Democracy Group / Alternative für Deutschland)
Date: 2019-07-17

  Nicolaus Fest (ID).   – Herr Präsident! Sehr geehrter Herr Kommissionsvertreter Stylianides. Sie tun so, als sei die Seenot vom Himmel gefallen. Das ist sie nicht. In den 60-er, 70-er, 80-er und 90-er Jahren gab es die massenhafte Seenot im Mittelmeer nicht. Diese Seenot ist nicht vom Himmel gefallen, sie ist bewusst von Schleppern herbeigeführt worden. Und wie sind Ihre Antworten darauf? Es sind immer die gleichen nicht funktionierenden Antworten.
Die erste Antwort ist, noch mehr Geld korrupten Regimen in Afrika zuzuwerfen und zu geben. Das funktioniert nicht. Die zweite Antwort ist, Arbeitsplätze in Afrika zu schaffen. Herr Stylianides, das schaffen Sie noch nicht mal in Zypern. Die Jugendarbeitslosigkeit in Zypern liegt jetzt wo, bei 16, bei 17 %? Sie ist ein Skandal. Und die dritte Antwort ist natürlich Kontingente – Flüchtlinge mit Kontingenten zu verteilen.
All diese Vorschläge funktionieren nicht, und sie funktionieren seit Jahren nicht. Die Völker Europas wollen sie nicht. Sie wollen hier Arbeitsplätze, und sie wollen auch nicht immer mehr Menschen, die hier reinkommen, auf ihre Kosten leben und eben die Werte, die wir angeblich im Mittelmeer verteidigen wollen, genau diese Werte mit Füßen treten. Das wollen die europäischen Völker nicht.
Statement by the candidate Commission President (debate)
Speaker: Nicolaus FEST (Germany, Identity and Democracy Group / Alternative für Deutschland)
Date: 2019-07-16

  Nicolaus Fest (ID).   – Frau Präsidentin! Frau Ministerin, vielen Dank auch für Ihre Rede. Ich glaube, sie sollte auch dem letzten Abgeordneten die Augen geöffnet haben, dass Sie ganz sicherlich die falsche Person für dieses Amt sind. Wir haben außerdem gesehen, dass die EVP nun von einer angeblich mal konservativen zu einer links-grünen Fraktion mutiert ist. Was wir gehört haben, war ein Dokument des lachhaftesten Opportunismus. Sie – eine Wundertüte. Alles war drin: Mindestlohn, gender equality, climate bank, sustainable Europe, natürlich empowerment of children, MeToo, Mittelstand stärken, fair taxes. Ihr Politikverständnis scheint es zu sein, die Politik der zeitgemäßen links-grünen Trivialität anzupassen. Und vor allem: Hinter all dem steckt nur eines – Sie selbst, Ihre Funktion, Ihre Position – das ist der Eindruck Ihres Vortrags. Es geht Ihnen inhaltlich um gar nichts. 
Uns geht es bei Europa um Heimat, um Identität, um all das, was uns ausmacht. Ihnen scheint es nur um einen neuen Posten zu gehen, eine neue politische Trophäe, ja, eine neue Dienstwagenberechtigung. Ganz ehrlich, was wollen Sie eigentlich hier? So, mit diesem Vortrag, den Sie gehalten haben, kann man nur alle warnen: Diese Frau sollten Sie nicht zur neuen EU-Kommissionspräsidentin wählen.
One-minute speeches on matters of political importance
Speaker: Nicolaus FEST (Germany, Identity and Democracy Group / Alternative für Deutschland)
Date: 2019-07-15

  Nicolaus Fest (ID).   – Frau Präsidentin! Schönen guten Abend. Hier geht es meist um die große Politik. Ich bin eher besorgt über die Verfasstheit dieses Hauses. Grundsätzlich ist es Aufgabe der Abgeordneten, die politische Agenda selbst zu bestimmen. Deshalb entscheiden sie selbst, mit welchen politischen Anliegen, mit welchen Initiativen sie sich beschäftigen wollen.
Diese Regel wird im Augenblick leider durchbrochen. Mir ist heute ein Papier zugespielt worden – verantwortlich ist hier wahrscheinlich Herr Klaus Welle, das ist die Verwaltung für den LIBE-Ausschuss. Dieses Papier hat die Überschrift „Mögliche erste parlamentarische Initiativen“ und behandelt all das, weshalb wir von den Wählern ins Parlament gewählt wurden, damit wir das verhindern, nämlich beispielsweise humanitäre Visa, Wiederaufnahme von Rescue-Operationen, Resettlement und so weiter. Die Verwaltung glaubt also offensichtlich, dass nicht die Abgeordneten die politische Agenda setzen sollten, sondern dass sie es selber tut. Dies ist eine unerhörte Respektlosigkeit, und ich fordere Sie auf, dagegen vorzugehen und zu klären, wieviel Geld hierfür ausgegeben wurde und wie man solche Dinge in Zukunft verhindert.
The European Elections 2024 (debate)
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2023-12-11

  Niklas Nienaß (Verts/ALE).   – Frau Präsidentin, sehr geehrte Damen und Herren! Ich finde, wir haben viele gute Worte gehört, und die Berichterstatter haben auch einen guten Plan vorgelegt, den wir – wenn wir ganz ehrlich sind – gar nicht gebraucht hätten, wenn der Wahlrechtsreformakt durchgegangen wäre. Aber leider glänzt der Rat mal wieder durch Abwesenheit.
Nichtsdestotrotz möchte ich an dieser Stelle insbesondere den beiden Berichterstattern zwei Dinge mit auf den Weg geben: Das Spika-System, also das Spitzenkandidatensystem, ist ein gutes. Aber ich finde, dass diese Spitzenkandidaten sich nicht nur allgemein zu Debatten stellen sollen, sondern eben auch den Bürgerinnen und Bürgern die Wahl offenlassen. Wenn man sich nicht traut, in Niedersachsen für die Bürgerinnen und Bürger auf dem Wahlzettel zu stehen, halte ich das schon für relativ schwach, liebe Freunde von der CDU.
Aber ich finde auch, Domènec, Sven: Trotz eurer Vorlage muss man sich auch ehrlich machen. Das Europäische Parlament hätte ja die Möglichkeit gehabt, den Vorschlag des Rates zurückzuweisen, und ich erwarte das beim nächsten Mal. Aber sich hier hinzustellen und zu sagen, das ist aber schlimm, dass wir jetzt hier einen Vorschlag kriegen, während ihr beide inklusive der gesamten Fraktion diesem Vorschlag zugestimmt habt, finde ich etwas zu kurz gegriffen.
Ich wünsche mir eine Vertretung in diesem Europäischen Parlament, die tatsächlich eine Vertretung der Bevölkerung der Europäischen Union ist, und zwar mit dem Mut, sie auch komplett zu vertreten. Das bedeutet, dem Rat auch mal Nein zu sagen, wenn es einen Vorschlag gibt, der nicht den Systemen und den Ideen entspricht, die wir im Vorhinein hatten. Das bedeutet, finde ich, aber auch, beim nächsten Mal zum Beispiel zu sagen, wir können uns auch gerne wieder auf Artikel 17 EUV berufen. Denn darin steht eigentlich festgehalten, dass wir maximal 18 Kommissare haben. Ich finde, als Parlament, als Vertretung der Bevölkerung Europas, darf man auch Interessen vertreten, die nicht im Interesse der Mitgliedstaaten sind.
Framework of measures for strengthening Europe’s net-zero technology products manufacturing ecosystem (Net Zero Industry Act) (debate)
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2023-11-20

  Niklas Nienass,  Verfasser der Stellungnahme des mitberatenden Ausschusses für regionale Entwicklung. – Frau Präsidentin! Der Berichterstatter hat schon in vielen Punkten zusammengefasst, warum es gut und richtig ist, dass wir hier diese Netto-Null-Industrie-Verordnung anfassen. Ich muss aber ein bisschen Salz in die Suppe streuen, denn ich denke, dass das, was wir tun, in der Art und Weise, wie wir es tun, der Herausforderung nicht angemessen ist, vor der wir eigentlich stehen.
Einerseits hat die Kommission eine durchaus präzise und strategische Auswahl getroffen und sie vorgelegt. Die hat das Parlament – und das muss man selbstkritisch so sehen – ziemlich aufgeweicht und einen Blumenstrauß aufgemacht von Forderungen, die ohne jede wissenschaftliche Evidenz einfach reingestreut wurden. Das halte ich für nicht sinnvoll, wenn wir strategisch vorgehen wollen. Aber es wäre nicht so schlimm, wenn die Kommission wenigstens den Schneid gehabt hätte, ein vernünftiges, substanzielles Unterstützungspaket vorzulegen, um das Ganze auch auszufinanzieren. Ich glaube, das ist nämlich die Frage, wie wir die Investments auch hinbekommen und die Regionen stärken, damit die Industrie nicht nur nicht abwandert, sondern, ganz im Gegenteil, wir als Gewinner aus diesem Wettbewerb darum, wer die besten Technologien der Netto-Null-Bereiche aufbaut, hervorgehen können.
Und in dieser Situation dann teilweise Gelächter zu hören, wie sich Leute freuen, dass Gelder für diese Transformation gekürzt werden, halte ich für absolut schädlich. Denn am Ende ist es ja nicht das Klima, das darunter leidet, an den fehlenden Investitionen; am Ende ist es die europäische Gesellschaft. Und darauf müssen wir hinwirken, dass wir in diese europäische Gesellschaft investieren.
A true geopolitical Europe now (topical debate)
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2023-10-18

  Niklas Nienass (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I have heard a lot of debates here now about what to do if we have geopolitical power. But the fact is that we need to discuss how we get geopolitical power.
The answer to that is quite simple: unity. We need European unity throughout foreign policy and geopolitical questions. Every single country in this Union will fail, will weaken itself if it stands alone. From the smallest but even up to the bigger ones, even France and Germany: they will be irrelevant if we don’t stand together. We need unity.
And you, Mr Ríos, said it very precisely in the beginning: we need precise political leadership. So we need one person, one President to be followed. And it is important that if we have one President – Ms von der Leyen – that this person then does not sit at a couch next to the Council President, but instead sits at the table, and that the Council sits in the back.
We need a Commission that also sends responsible people that are not there to bore our respective counterparts into surrender, but instead are engaging in political debate. And the big answer to this is to make sure that we get rid of the unanimous vote, and then we can continue the discussion also about, for example, how to speak softly and carry a big stick. I think all of this, the discussion about a European army, it needs to be coming afterwards, it needs to follow, the question of unity needs to prevail. Then we can see where to go forward.
Let me say one last thing about the question of Nord Stream that has been mentioned. Since I come from this region, I can tell you that, with a European Union aspect, Nord Stream 2 would have never been built. 
Therefore there’s a lot of benefits for everybody if European unity prevails.
Parliamentarism, European citizenship and democracy (debate)
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2023-09-14

  Niklas Nienass,  rapporteur. – Mr President, thank you very much, everybody, for participating in this debate. It is a parliament. ‘Parliament’ derives from the word parlare and means talking. I wish that we would also include ‘listening’ to it, because a lot of Members who have spoken are not here anymore to listen, actually, to responses. However, I’ll still try to sum it up a little bit.
The liberal democracy – I think this is the part where we all agree – is in danger from outside and from the inside. It’s changing and we need to improve democracy in order to make sure that it’s still working. When people call for representative democracy to have showed the best experience in the past, that might be true, but we still need to understand that things need to change in order to conserve what we want to keep precious.
One of the main things I think the press and media and everybody is saying is that people are losing trust in democracy and losing trust in politicians, and so on. This is right, but the question is: how do we bring trust back?
You don’t bring trust back by just saying, ‘Give it to me’, but you have to trust others in order to be trusted. Trusting citizens means giving them the possibility to decide, giving them tangible things to do with their own power, with their own voice. We can do that. Commissioner, you know about my ideas about using the cohesion funding for exactly that: to give citizens the power to decide where to use funding in order to empower them and to gain trust in democracy. But we should also do it when it comes to legislation. That’s why we are seeing the benefit of including partial measures of direct democracy into our representative democracy.
Let me make sure that we’re not talking about referenda after referenda for everything. I think this is not wise, but to get the people in Agoras in a meaningful discussion – we have shown it in Ireland, we have shown it during the Conference on the Future of Europe that this works. It’s really good to build up trust, to make citizens feel noticed and make sure that they get involved in the political process.
One last problem I want to mention here – and this goes to the Presidency, sorry, but I have to say, if we’re discussing democracy and we’re not allowing for blue cards in a various manner, then there’s something very badly wrong with a parliament that does not listen. So please, the Presidency of this House should make sure that blue cards are always available and that time has been taken seriously in account that blue cards can also be used.
Industrial Emissions Directive - Industrial Emissions Portal - Deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure - Sustainable maritime fuels (FuelEU Maritime Initiative) - Energy efficiency (recast) (joint debate - Fit for 55 and Industrial Emissions)
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2023-07-10

  Niklas Nienass,  rapporteur for the opinion of the Committee on Regional Development. – Madam President, it is necessary to ensure that no citizen, whether he lives at the city, village or in a remote territory, is left behind. Alternative fuel systems will only be effective when a specific person can move freely within the whole territory of the European Union and to be sure about to be able to use the alternative fuels infrastructure at any time of the whole trip. This means immediate action at the full—fledged action. The European regions be they small or big, be they rural or urban, or be they in the centre of Europe or in the outermost regions.
In order to achieve a well—functioning network, we should look even wider than the European Union and include third countries into the cooperation, especially those candidates for the Union membership. It is not only the density of the network of alternative fuels, but is also important that the adaptation of the network is specific to the specific needs of the people. So it needs to be inclusive and accessible for all people, especially those with disabilities or reduced mobility.
Before approving investment, it is therefore necessary to ensure that these systems are being developed in order to meet the needs and capacities of all people, because only an inclusive system can ensure faster results towards climate neutrality.
Social and economic costs of climate change in light of the floods in Emilia Romagna, Marche and Toscana and the urgent need for European solidarity (debate)
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2023-05-31

  Niklas Nienass (Verts/ALE).   – Frau Präsidentin! Zunächst einmal möchte ich den Familien und den Angehörigen, die Menschen und Angehörige verloren haben, die ihre Lebensgrundlage verloren haben, mein herzliches Beileid aussprechen. Diese Katastrophe führt uns leider wieder einmal traurig vor Augen, dass wir mitten in der Klimakatastrophe sind. Und ich glaube, wir müssen daraus endlich lernen. Wir müssen daraus Schlüsse ziehen, die mehr als einfach nur ein Leugnen sind, dass die Klimakatastrophe ja nicht schuld wäre oder dass sie nicht existiere oder dergleichen. Was also können wir lernen? 
Erstens an die Kommission: Kein Cent aus Europa darf in die Klimakatastrophe hineingesteckt werden – kein Cent mehr darf in mehr CO2-Ausstöße reingehen, in mehr Gefährdung der Umwelt.
Zweitens: Die Kommission muss eine Karte vorlegen, aus der ganz klar hervorgeht, welche Regionen besonders stark von Katastrophen gefährdet sind, damit wir dort anfangen können, wirklich etwas Resilientes aufzubauen und einen Umbau zu gestalten, damit die nächste Katastrophe nicht so schlimm wird und nicht so viele Menschenleben kostet.
Drittens: Wir müssen uns um den Umbau des Solidaritätsfonds kümmern. Der Solidaritätsfonds ist eine gute Idee, aber er funktioniert nicht in dem Maße, in dem wir ihn brauchen. Er ist zu klein, zu umständlich, zu bürokratisch und einfach nicht geeignet, den Bedrohungen der Zukunft, der Klimakrise entgegenzuwirken.
Leugnen, Herr Dorfmann, nützt hier gar nichts. Wir müssen uns der Herausforderung stellen, auch im Ansehen der Opfer dieser Katastrophen, um ihnen gerecht zu werden und weitere zu verhindern.
(Der Redner ist damit einverstanden, auf eine Frage nach dem Verfahren der "blauen Karte" zu antworten.)
Social and economic costs of climate change in light of the floods in Emilia Romagna, Marche and Toscana and the urgent need for European solidarity (debate)
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2023-05-31

  Niklas Nienass (Verts/ALE),  blue-card answer. – Well, I believe that the streamlining of the procedure would be helpful, but I don’t think that a simple increase of the funds is enough, because honestly, we don’t know when a catastrophe will come. We don’t know if it is at the beginning or at the end of the MFF. We don’t know in which size it will come for the future. I think what we need is an insurance scheme in which all Member States make sure that they pay in when catastrophes come, so that it is available all the time for all the region when it is needed. But bureaucracy will still be need to be reduced, and not just in the line of finances, but also in the rebuilding, meaning that we need to ensure that the regions at hand have it easier to access funding, have it easier to spend the money, and to get into building up and building up resistance instead of building up the same scheme over and over. Thank you for your question.
IPCC report on Climate Change: a call for urgent additional action (debate)
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2023-04-20

  Niklas Nienaß (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, well first of all, it’s a pity that the Council is not here, because the Member States are the ones that have agreed to the Paris Agreement and that are legally bound to take action. Nonetheless, we need to focus on what we as the EU can do. And sorry for you being the only Commissioner here, but the Commission is not doing enough.
Why do we not use the power of the EU for the common agricultural policy to have an agriculture policy that is protecting the climate and the biodiversity? Why do you keep speaking about it but are not acting? Why do we not use the power of the EU with the biggest single market to use trading agreements for the better, for the climate and for biodiversity? Why, again, is the Commission not acting? We hear too much and we see too little. And honestly, this is just frustrating for me, for a whole generation, because we focus on the future. The question of the climate change is the question of how a society will live in future. The question of biodiversity is if we will live in future, and the current generation in power is just doing everything to ignore the point, and we as a future generation get anxiety of it and have a fear of the future. And that is on your back. Sorry to say that to all of you.
Cohesion dimension of EU state aid and de minimis rules (debate)
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2023-04-20

  Niklas Nienaß,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, dear colleagues, I don’t need to repeat what you said. I think the goal is clear. We want cohesion throughout Europe and that is of utmost importance.
But the question I have is whether this is the right tool, if state aid really is the right tool to achieve it. Because the problem that we have throughout Europe is we have very rich Member States and we have very poor Member States. The problem lies in that even if we increase the limits for state aid possibilities, it does not mean that the Member States have the money and the funding to help their companies with state aid. So we see that the majority of requests for state aid come, of course, from the richest Member States who don’t necessarily need to support their companies in such a way.
So my question is whether we cannot think of a better tool to organise state aid in a fair way so that not everybody gets the same possibility, but actually gets the possibility to invest into it, and that we have a common European approach to it, to fund and to support these Member States that definitely need or these companies and these regions that need the support, but not based upon the income of their national Member State, but based on European solidarity.
That is the way how we did cohesion policy in the past, and that is the way that we should extend European cohesion policy in the future in order to bring cohesion to Europe and a real cohesion.
Question Time (Commission) - Legacy of the European Year of Youth
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2023-04-18

  Niklas Nienaß (Verts/ALE).   – Herr Präsident! Wissen Sie, wenn Cristiano Ronaldo ein Tor schießt, dann macht er seinen berühmten Torjubel: „SIUUU!“ Wenn ich mir das hier angucke, das Europäische Jahr der Jugend, dann kommt mir maximal ein kleines „siu“ raus. Weil es doch am Ende so ist, dass wir zu viel verpasst haben, dass so vieles nicht draufsteht. Ich finde es immer wieder schade, dass Sie sagen müssen: Ich kann dazu nichts sagen, weil die kompetente Kommissarin oder der zuständige Kommissar nicht da ist. Wir haben hier ein Thema, das in allen Bereichen einfach eine Rolle spielt und das einfach zu häufig nicht beantwortet wird. Das Europäische Jahr der Jugend ist nicht nur letztes Jahr gewesen, es ist jedes Jahr, und das müssen wir auch mal vernünftig ernst nehmen.
Deswegen meine Frage: Was machen wir denn nun wirklich, um die jungen Menschen in Europa einzubinden in den politischen Entscheidungsprozess? Wahlalter 16 wurde angesprochen. Das haben wir als Wahlakt vorliegen. Wir haben die Frage vom Europäischen Jahr der Jugend und von der Europäischen Zukunftskonferenz zum Youth Check. Wir haben die Frage, wie wir einen ständigen Ausschuss für Jugendliche machen können. All das wird nicht angepackt. Dabei brauchen wir nicht nur Mitsprache, sondern Mitentscheidung der jungen Menschen, denn sie entscheiden über die Zukunft dieses Kontinents. Also, Frau Kommissarin, welche Schritte können wir da von Ihnen erwarten?
More Europe, more jobs: we are building the competitive economy of tomorrow for the benefit of all (topical debate)
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2023-03-15

  Niklas Nienaß (Verts/ALE).   – Herr Präsident! Ich möchte mich an dieser Stelle vor allen Dingen auch den Worten von Herrn Karas anschließen. Wir dürfen es nicht hinbekommen, dass wir am Ende wieder den Anschluss an Zukunftstechnologien verlieren, sondern müssen da wirklich Europa voranbringen. Das gilt aber vor allen Dingen auch für Spitzentechnologie, und wir müssen hier in Forschung und Investitionen investieren.
Aber was mir in diesen ganzen Debatten aufgefallen ist: Wenn wir über Jobs reden, dann geht es doch vor allen Dingen um die Arbeitnehmerinnen und Arbeitnehmer und nicht nur um die reine Herstellung von Jobs. Das heißt, wir brauchen Jobs im Sinne von Arbeitnehmerinnen und Arbeitnehmern. Ich glaube, dabei müssen wir vor allen Dingen darauf achten, dass auch mehr und mehr Unternehmen mit in die Verantwortung von Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeitern kommen, damit diese Unternehmen auch Entscheidungen im Sinne der Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter treffen und nicht nur im Sinne von höheren Dividendenausschüttungen.
Ich glaube, das kann man hinbekommen, wenn man eine Struktur aufbaut, in der wirklich alle, die in dem Unternehmen beschäftigt sind, daran beteiligt werden können. Dann haben wir auch eine Zukunft im Blick, die es schaffen kann, dass die Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter, dass die Arbeitnehmerinnen und Arbeitnehmer wirklich auch von ihrem Job profitieren, höhere Löhne, kürzere Arbeitszeiten bekommen und nicht nur für höhere Dividenden arbeiten.
Letzter Punkt: Wir müssen diese Entwicklung nicht nur in den starken Regionen vorantreiben, sondern wir müssen es hinbekommen, dass ganz Europa wirklich regional stärker zusammenwächst, dass diese Jobs in ganz Europa entstehen, dass Spitzentechnologie auch da möglich ist, wo heute Industrie noch nicht so vorhanden ist. Das ist für einen europäischeren Ansatz im Aufbau der Industrie und Wirtschaft entscheidend.
Union Secure Connectivity Programme 2023-2027 (debate)
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2023-02-13

  Niklas Nienaß,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, IRIS will give Europe a seat at the table on the new space age. We saw this constellation as an opportunity to prepare the European space industry for its new challenges. And IRIS will not only provide a secure internet connection, but will also establish a competitive space industry, ensuring Europe’s independent access to space.
The significance of this can be seen every day in Ukraine. The space sector requires investment just as much as it requires a change of policy that we are about to make. We want to see creative minds competing to create the smartest services, superb satellites and the most revolutionary rockets the world has ever seen.
The space-based internet provided by IRIS will eliminate any coverage gaps and bring internet access even to rural and the remotest areas all over Europe. This will drive the European economy. But this internet must also be affordable to all citizens. So, colleagues, why did you not support the Green amendment that would have ensured that this internet connection would have cost not more than 10 euros per month?
However, my colleagues, I must also praise you very much because not only have you adopted, but even embraced my proposals for sustainability criteria, which shows that you truly have a revolution in space in mind. These sustainability criteria are not only essential to continue engaging in space, but they are the first step for an international and for European space law and even lead towards a revision of international space legislation as a whole. In this sense, IRIS2 truly is revolutionary.
Implementation of the common security and defence policy - annual report 2022 (A9-0296/2022 - Tom Vandenkendelaere)  (vote)
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2023-01-18

  Niklas Nienaß (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, you had made the decision to take the oral amendment to a vote. The opposition has been expressed after the decision of the President has been made. Therefore, I request that the decision stands as it has been proposed to Parliament and, therefore, we vote on the amendment as proposed by the colleague.
Consumer protection in online video games: a European Single Market approach (debate)
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2023-01-17

  Niklas Nienaß (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, we already had a report about video games from the CULT Committee, which focused on the benefits, on the creativity, on the jobs that we have, on the big support that we want to send the sector.
This report focused very much on the importance of the protection of consumers, and that is very, very important. On the one hand, it’s about online communities, to fight against sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, mobbing of each sort. And we can use filters for that, but I think it’s not really worth it, it’s something about a change of mind, change of community, where we need to approach.
On the other hand, we have the big importance of corporate ideas. They have models of games where they try to improve the focus on loot boxes, where they try to make it as opaque as possible when it comes to in-game currencies and weird monetisation.
So some developers have become really more like shell players with better graphics and that is gambling. Gambling is dangerous and we need to avoid gambling, especially when it comes to minors.
Therefore, dear Commissioner, as many have said before me, ban all loot boxes, ban all gambling and ban everything that has gambling-like mechanics because it is dangerous for our citizens.
The European Year of Youth 2022 Legacy (debate)
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2022-11-24

  Niklas Nienaß (Verts/ALE),  Wortmeldung nach dem Verfahren der „blauen Karte“. – Sehr geehrter Herr Gallée! Gegenüber dem Wiedehopf gibt es schon einen Unterschied: Der Wiedehopf wird nämlich geschützt im besonderen Jahr.
Deswegen würde mich interessieren: Wir haben aktuell die Situation, dass sehr viele junge Menschen mentale Probleme haben, dass gerade sehr viele junge Menschen mit Zukunftsängsten zu kämpfen haben – Klimawandel, ein Krieg. Welche Maßnahmen der Kommission würden Sie als wichtig sehen, um da wirklich Menschen zu unterstützen?
Was kann die Europäische Kommission wirklich tun, um die mentale Gesundheit von jungen Menschen zu unterstützen und dafür zu sorgen, dass in Europa niemand mehr über Gewalt gegen sich selbst nachdenkt, über Selbstmord nachdenkt, und wir wirklich dazu kommen, dass wieder eine Zukunftspositivität entsteht?
Esports and video games (debate)
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2022-11-09

  Niklas Nienaß,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, for far too long politicians from past generations have seen video games as an irrelevant field, as a weird hobby for freaks, nerds and geeks that needs little to no attention or support from politics. Well, scrap all of this. This time is over. The gaming industry is already bigger than Hollywood, with a revenue of over EUR 23 billion each year. Half of all Europeans consider themselves to be gamers of some sort. So let it be known that a new generation of politicians have taken this topic very serious and that actual gamers sit at the negotiation table.
Thankfully we didn’t start a console war, but instead brought together the interests of all gamers, be they the PCMR consoles or even mobile, we brought all of them together. The video game sector brings massive benefits for our whole society. Video games are great for educational diversity, bringing new learning methods to fascinate students for science, history and much more. Video games allow for inclusive participation in culture, education and in our whole society, and Europe must strengthen the industry, especially individuals and SMEs. It creates jobs and opportunities, bringing together artistic techniques and innovative technologies.
But we also need to fight for a good gaming experience for all. That means inclusion, protection of minors and vulnerable groups. And in this light it is important that we clearly fight against loot boxes. The current use of loot boxes creates gaming addictions, threatening children, people with addiction problems, creating a harmful environment, and it’s just bad for the gaming experience as a whole. With this report we will start to outlaw the use of loot boxes.
Today is the start of a new era, an era in which we value the European gaming sector and start harnessing the multiple benefits that video games provide for our society. It’s a very good start.
An EU approach for Space Traffic management - an EU contribution addressing a global challenge (debate)
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2022-10-06

  Niklas Nienaß,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, while space might seem infinite, the usable space in Earth’s proximity is not. In the past decades, we only had a few satellites in orbit, but now we add several hundred new satellites every year. This extensive use of outer space means more possibilities to benefit all humans on Earth. But it also means that this increase of objects – be it functional satellites or useless trash – increases the threat of collision. We and not just Europeans, but humanity as a whole needs to avoid this by all means.
Any collision can result in a cascading destruction known as the Kessler Syndrome. The implication of this is that all our space—based infrastructure would be destroyed, and the worldwide society would fall back to the technological status of the 1970s. All supply chains would be heavily interrupted because ships cannot navigate without GPS and Galileo. Worldwide communication would be cut, and this would interrupt everything from football game transmissions to renewable energy production, and the fight against climate change would be unwinnable without data from Copernicus. This is what’s at stake.
And because the stakes are so high, I am thankful that finally, Parliament and Commission see the imminent need to build up a system for space traffic management. I would have liked to see this happen much earlier because we have to do so much more and we have to be so much faster.
We need binding sustainability standards for all missions. These should be ‘leave no trace behind’, reduce the greenhouse gas emissions, no light pollution, and active debris removal.
I have been pushing the Commission as well as the Member States. And to let you know, I will continue to do so to forge European space law, one common comprehensive European law to regulate all space activities in all fields necessary, so that Europe extends its activities in space to bring more benefits to all Europeans and all humans, but that’s also sustainable.
And I’m advocating for an international space law because we have to treat outer space for what it is – not a junkyard, not a playground for billionaires, not the Wild West, but a common heritage of all mankind.
An EU approach for Space Traffic management - an EU contribution addressing a global challenge (debate)
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2022-10-06

  Niklas Nienaß (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, I want to use the time because there’s another imminent problem that we need to talk about when we’re talking about space debris, and that is, of course, anti—satellite missile testing.
We know that last year the Russians tested missiles in order to destroy their own satellites. We know that the Chinese and the Americans have done the same. And we know that this is very dangerous for peace in outer space, but also for the question of the debris, of space traffic management, as previous speakers have mentioned.
Therefore, I want to ask the Commission what it plans to do about this situation.
We have the proposal from Vice President Kamala Harris for a memorandum of understanding on anti—satellite missile tests. We should now support this initiative and bring it to the international stage to make sure that we never again use anti—satellite missiles, in order to not destroy or threaten our space—based infrastructure.
Can the Commission please comment on whether it wants to support the initiative and be a driving force in this question for the international stage?
Countering the anti-European and anti-Ukrainian propaganda of Putin’s European cronies (topical debate)
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2022-10-05

  Niklas Nienaß (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, the first victim in war is the truth – you all know the saying. But I would say that if you want to start a war, you first have to kill the truth. Putin has been doing this for decades now – and also in Europe, like supporting La Lega, Rassemblement National, FPÖ and the AfD. By the way, those colleagues all fled this debate like the Russians flee from the Ukrainian forces. 
But also, the biggest target group for Russia is in Russia. Russians have been brainwashed for ages, have been fed that the world hates them, that only Putin can save them, that every war is justified for Russia to free the world from ... from what? From freedom? From liberty? 
This we must tackle urgently, and this means we need to be active also in Russia. Please Commissioner, we cannot expect old people to go to the internet, get a VPN and get the information themselves. We have to address them through the radio, through TV, and we have to make sure that they are informed with the truth and that they know one thing – we are not the enemies of the Russian people. The enemies of the Russian people, the thieves of Russian money, the murders of Russian sons and husbands ... sit in the Kremlin!
Question Time (Commission) Tackling depopulation through cohesion policy instrument
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2022-10-04

  Niklas Nienaß (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, I wish to thank the Commissioner, and thank you all, for this very interesting debate. I really liked the point on change of perspective – how can we bring people back to these areas? I think a lot of young families actually want to go back because I’ve talked to a lot of them and they say ‘I would like to come back, but I don’t have what I need. I don’t have a kindergarten for my children a school or something like this.’ 
So we know what people need. They need jobs. They need infrastructure like social infrastructure, kindergarten, schools. They need mobility apart from cars, like trains, buses, etc. They need a culture and possibilities to do something. They sometimes just need a fucking pub, you know, to do something and relax a little bit. 
I think this is the theory, and we now need to go to the practice. The practice means that every region is different and that we need to listen to the people and ask them, what do you need in your region? We have instruments for that, and that instrument is called CLLD. We have brought CLLD to the attention of the cohesion instruments like ESF and ERDF, but they are rarely used. 
So my question to the Commission is, why are the Member States not using this tool that we offered them? Why do the Member States not include that in their policy? And the other question that I have is, how can we bring rural development together with the ERDF, together with the ESF? Because there is economy, there is a social infrastructure in rural areas and it is needed to be improved. So please use this tool also in the future cohesion policy.
Economic, social and territorial cohesion in the EU: the 8th Cohesion Report - EU border regions: living labs of European integration (debate)
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2022-09-14

  Niklas Nienaß,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, cohesion policy is of utmost importance for the whole European Union. It is the main investment tool to help us eradicate social and territorial inequalities. Every European shall be safe, free and have the means necessary to pursue a fulfilling life. We evaluate cohesion policy with these goals in mind and in order to adapt it to the current economic and social situations. Cohesion policy is a long-term and strategic investment tool that helps us make the regions more resilient. Therefore, we need to address climate change. 
Our regions were not prepared for the catastrophes that came, and they are not prepared for the catastrophes that will come. Let us help them prepare. Let us help them to adapt to climate change, to prevent the next disasters from happening, and to help them save thousands of lives. Please let us introduce a climate adaptation fund. 
Every European shall be safe, free and have the means necessary to pursue a fulfilling life. In order to address assure this, we must negate the factual differences between cities and rural areas. Therefore, it is necessary to reintegrate the European agricultural fund for rural development under the roof of cohesion policy. This way, we can bring social, economic and rural development all together and enable citizens in rural areas to make the best out of their own home. 
Millions are already doing it today through LEADER, which is a community-led local development tool, and this is immensely successful. Let us learn from these regional heroes and let us include more of these bottom-up tools in cohesion policy. If we include civil society and individual citizens in the policymaking and decision process, we will see a democratisation of our whole society. This is the only way to really ensure that no one is left behind. Cities too should be able to address their respective needs in the most efficient way there is with direct access to funding and without interference from the national government. 
Let us dare more subsidiarity, ladies and gentlemen. More subsidiarity – and real subsidiarity – not just at national or regional level, but all the way down to cities, municipalities and individual citizens. This way we can ensure that every European shall be safe, free and have the means necessary to pursue a fulfilling life.
Implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (debate)
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2022-06-22

  Niklas Nienaß,  rapporteur for the opinion of the Committee on Culture and Education. –Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues, if we take a look back to the hard times when COVID hit us the first time, we remember probably two distinguished moments. One was when all cultural entities were closed, the other one was when schools were closed. I think those are the two most prominent and also the hardest hit structural entities that we see. 
The cultural sector makes up 4.4% of Europe’s GDP. Over 8.7 million people are employed in the cultural sector. Every child goes to school, thankfully, but still we have asked for 2% of the RF to be spent on culture and 10% in education. We had to follow up on this, and see that this has not been done across Europe – the problem there being that some Member States actually invest money in culture and education while others don’t. They have not followed Parliament’s proposal to do the rightful investments, and what we see now is underfunded cultural entities in several Member States, especially those where freedom of speech is threatened by other means. 
We are seeing a recovery of different speeds. We see Member States like Italy that have invested heavily in culture and others that have invested nothing and we know that this threatens the European diversity of culture. This has to be reversed, and therefore we are calling on the Commission to reuse the unused RF resources for culture and education to make sure that every European can enjoy diversity and can enjoy very well education.
The follow up of the Conference on the Future of Europe (debate)
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2022-05-03

  Niklas Nienaß (Verts/ALE),  blue-card speech. – (start of speech off mic) if unanimity was democratic, then probably we should also do it here. What or why do we have a different voting system? 
But my extra question is, you have said that there has been no democratic process. I mean, we have invited, for the first time ever, 800 citizens of the European Union. Have you talked to them? Have you discussed actually with them? Because I have the feeling with all the proposals that you have made and that you’ve listed, you have never had the discussion with those people because otherwise it would be quite different. 
Last part, there was a website with proposals where every citizen could propose something. None of the things that you have mentioned have been submitted to this website. Maybe, just maybe, you don’t have any democratic backing for your proposals and that is the fact why this has been not discussed at the Conference on the Future of Europe.
The follow up of the Conference on the Future of Europe (debate)
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2022-05-03

  Niklas Nienaß (Verts/ALE),  blue-card speech. – Since you’ve mentioned me so clearly, I think a point of order is definitely due. 
I do not think that it’s right to call this honourable House, together with the colleagues from the national governments, together with the colleagues from the national parliaments, together with the Commission, together with 800 randomly—selected citizens, ‘a house of clowns’ or something like this. 
I think this is not respectful to the House. And I’m questioning whether you actually have respect for the people that you represent.
The follow up of the Conference on the Future of Europe (debate)
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2022-05-03

  Niklas Nienaß (Verts/ALE),  blue-card speech. – Thank you very much, Madam Vice—President. And to you, Madam Vice—President, and to the other Vice—President in the front.
The question is, you have mentioned the courage of the citizens during the Conference. Do you feel that this model is something for the future? Do you feel that this is something that we could take up also maybe in the convention that we are discussing now as a follow—up for the Conference on the Future of Europe?
The follow up of the Conference on the Future of Europe (debate)
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2022-05-03

  Niklas Nienaß (Verts/ALE),  blue-card speech. – Madam President, thank you. Mr Castaldo, I have a question. You have mentioned that there are two possibilities to go forward with Europe. One, with a closer Union that will be in the geopolitical sphere, be stronger and have a voice, and the other one, which will be playing ball with the other bigger powers. 
However, I would like your position on these two possibilities on the internal matters – which one do you think will improve the life of the citizens in Europe the best?
The follow up of the Conference on the Future of Europe (debate)
Speaker: Niklas NIENASS (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2022-05-03

  Niklas Nienaß (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, first of all, when I go to my constituency, yes, I agree. Not all of the citizens tell me we want to get rid of unanimity. Of course not. This is a highly technical question. The majority is just asking me: why is Europe not doing anything on this? Why don’t we solve the migration crisis? Why aren’t we helping people on the borders? Why aren’t we getting support for the low income regions? Why aren’t we getting help for everybody to have the same pension and the same minimal income? And then I have to explain to them – and maybe that’s also a job for my colleagues as well – that there are a lot of proposals on the table, but they’re just not being voted on because there’s the rule of unanimity and that we need to get rid of it in order to be a more concrete European Union. 
I think this has been the exercise that we did here. We asked citizens who were, some of them not at all involved in politics, to come here and make up their mind and propose ideas, what they think about the problems, where they see topics to be improved and everything. And then the outcome was, well, we need Treaty change. 
One last sentence about this; I will make it brief. Just because we have a convention doesn’t mean that everything that is proposed will come into law. I mean, the important thing is to bring people together and to talk about the society that we want to live in in the future. And that is what the Convention is there for. And if we stop this process from the start, then I think our society has no future.
(The speaker agreed to take a blue-card intervention)