misclassified/meps_speeches huggingface dataset:
Nature restoration (debate)
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2023-07-11

  Terry Reintke,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, dear colleagues, our rivers are dying, our forests are sick, our nature is in deep crisis. We have to restore our nature, not in a distant future, not when the EPP has got its act together – we have to act now: to preserve nature, the basis of our agriculture, the basis of our economic prosperity; to keep the climate targets, because 10% out of the 55% that we agreed to reduce our emissions by before 2030 are nature-based climate action; to keep our competitiveness to the self-declared business groups in this Parliament. You heard the appeal by major companies like Unilever or Ikea to let the Nature Restoration Law pass.
So dear EPP colleagues, many of your parties are actually based on Christian values, centred on the preservation of creation. Please follow your inner conviction and not what your group leader is telling you and vote tomorrow in favour of the Nature Restoration Law.
Dear Renew colleagues, the Nature Restoration Law is about freedom. The destruction of biodiversity already today is limiting our options and it is going to get worse in the future. Preserve our freedom and vote in favour of the Nature Restoration Law tomorrow.
But colleagues, we also all know that this law has become much more than just itself in the past month. It has become a symbol, a symbol of the Green Deal, a symbol of constructive decision-making in this Parliament. And it has unfortunately become a symbol of political games within the EPP on which strategy they want to go for for 2024. Mr Weber, who is unfortunately not here right now, we can clearly see what your strategy is: going against your own Commission President.
All of this, to me, is a sign of a deep identity crisis within the EPP, a shift in decision—making here in this Parliament, and for me a very dangerous development, especially as far-right parties, groups and movements are gaining ground across Europe.
Colleagues, let us vote tomorrow in favour of the Nature Restoration Law to show that constructive decision-making in this Parliament is still possible. To show that we stand behind the Green Deal and yes, also to restore and protect our nature.
The electoral law, the investigative committee and the rule of law in Poland (debate)
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2023-06-14

  Terry Reintke,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, dear colleagues, Dorota was 33 years old. She died three weeks ago of a septic shock after being denied abortion care in a Polish hospital. She is not the first woman who has died since the introduction of the brutal anti-abortion legislation. Tragic stories, you could say, but what does this have to do with the debate on rule of law in Poland? Actually, it has to do a lot with the rule of law, because what we are experiencing right now is just another step to tighten the grip of authoritarian rule in Poland. After the politicisation of the judiciary, the takeover of public media, attacking minorities, restriction of fundamental rights, including access to life-saving abortion care. 
Now the next attacks on the rule of law and democratic standards are underway in Poland. By meddling with electoral law and trying to intimidate the democratic opposition with an investigative committee that can even prevent candidates from taking up office. Colleagues, when we look around the world right now, we witness a more and more autocratic backlash against democracy, against freedom, and against a rules-based world order. Let us make sure that the European Union, with united effort stands up to this. And with half a million people in the streets of Warsaw last Sunday, I am confident that Polish citizens are at our side in this struggle, not only in Poland but across the European Union, led us, as all democratic parties work together to prevent an authoritarian shift. This is not about left or right. This is about protecting our democracy together. So let us stand up for rule of law and democracy in Poland and all over the European Union together.
Order of business
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2023-05-31

  Terry Reintke,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, colleagues, first things first. As you said, President, I think it is important that we make clear that this Parliament stands in full solidarity with all people who are affected by these horrible floods in different regions in Italy. We have again and again shown how important, especially in moments like this, European solidarity is. 
We can see – and this is not an isolated event – that climate change is nothing happening in the distant future anymore; it is something that is happening now –with extreme weather events, with droughts, with floods, with forest fires. We in this Parliament should debate what needs to be done now, what the necessary steps are to show solidarity with people in Italy, but also what the long term implications are, so that we avoid situations like this from happening again. 
So, colleagues, please support our request to debate this today in plenary.
Sexual harassment in the EU and MeToo evaluation (debate)
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2023-05-31

  Terry Reintke,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, 2017: it has almost been six years since reports hit the European Parliament about sexual harassment. Colleagues, I don't know how you feel about it, but I think we have wasted enough time because the demands in this resolution are very similar to the ones that we already adopted six years ago. There are demands to reform and to fight against sexual harassment here in the European Parliament, like, for example, mandatory harassment training, where right now we have a situation where not even half of the members of this parliament have done these harassment trainings, external audits to improve the situation, with independent experts looking at what we can do for a zero-tolerance policy, and a reform of the obviously dysfunctional complaints structures that we have here in the European Parliament. If I'm being honest, I really start losing patience. We have to stop only talking and adopting resolutions and we have to start acting.
IPCC report on Climate Change: a call for urgent additional action (debate)
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2023-04-20

  Terry Reintke,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, my little nephew was born two years ago. Yesterday he had a pretty bad day because he had a cough but, in general, he’s a really happy and lively child. When he’s going to be my age, 35, and that is going to be in 2056, the risk is high that he will find himself in a world that has become hostile to humans: increasing floods, droughts, forest fires, conflicts over resources, devastated lands, infertile soils, millions and millions of people having to flee.
In 2056, our planet may be on the path of no return for humanity or it may not. When you read the IPCC report, yes, there is much reason to panic. But there is also reason for hope – because it shows that we can make a difference, that we can still turn this around. The world that my nephew will live in will be shaped by the decisions that we take today. Everybody in this plenary is in a position of power, and I am convinced that everybody in this plenary loves someone who was born in the last 10 years. We have to use this power. We have to use the trust that was put in us and give a future not only for ourselves but also for the generations to come.
And if I may, I think, when we speak about this this topic in a more abstract way, we have a lot of unity. The disunity comes when we speak about concrete actions, but at the end of the day, it is not abstract debates about climate change that are going to change the world, but concrete actions, so let us take concrete actions, colleagues.
Safeguarding labour mobility and social rights of striking lorry drivers from third countries (debate)
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2023-04-18

  Terry Reintke,  im Namen der Verts/ALE-Fraktion. – Frau Präsidentin, Frau Ministerin, Herr Kommissar! Wenn ich das sagen darf: Ich bin ein bisschen überrascht, dass die liberale Fraktion keinen Redner oder keine Rednerin in dieser Debatte aufgestellt hat, weil ich eigentlich finde, dass wir hier über Dinge reden, die fraktionsübergreifend von diesem Parlament gefordert werden sollten. Denn es geht in der Tat um Rechtsdurchsetzung. Es geht darum, dass alle sich an Regeln halten müssen. LKW—Fahrer, die wochenlang keinen Lohn bekommen, in Streik treten, von Gewerkschaften in der Einforderung ihrer Rechte unterstützt werden und als Antwort dann von brutalen Schlägertrupps bedroht werden, geschickt von der Spedition, die ihnen den Lohn vorenthält.
Kolleginnen und Kollegen, wir müssen der Realität ins Auge blicken. Es gibt Speditionen in der Europäischen Union, die die Ausbeutung ihrer Fahrerinnen und Fahrer zu ihrem Geschäftsmodell gemacht haben. Und erstens – das haben die Kolleginnen und Kollegen schon gesagt: Das sind keine seltenen Ausnahmen. Ausbeutung im Transportsektor ist an der Tagesordnung. Und hier im Europäischen Parlament haben wir immer wieder Berichte von Fahrerinnen und Fahrern gehört, die gesagt haben, dass sie monatelang nicht nach Hause gehen konnten, dass sie zum Teil zur Geburt der eigenen Kinder nicht zu Hause sein konnten, dass sie von unfassbaren sanitären Umständen betroffen waren, dass Lohn zurückgehalten wurde und so weiter und so fort.
Und lange Zeit ist in der Tat nichts oder viel zu wenig passiert. Und erst durch die Unterstützung der Gewerkschaften – gerade von Projekten wie Faire Mobilität – kommen diese Missstände ans Tageslicht und werden die Fahrer unterstützt, sich gegen solchen Rechtsbruch zu wehren. Denn was da passiert, liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen, das ist nicht irgendeine Form von Marktwirtschaft. Was da passiert, ist einfach nur kriminell.
Und zweitens: Diese Speditionen fahren nicht für no name. Ikea, DHL und VW haben in diesem Fall Aufträge an die entsprechende Firma gegeben. Und auch das muss sich ändern. Aber auch die Politik muss endlich handeln, und wir brauchen in der Tat viel engmaschigere Kontrollen, auch von der Europäischen Arbeitsbehörde. Denn die Europäische Union kann bei diesen massiven Missständen nicht die Augen verschließen.
Aber ja, selbst die besten Gesetze bringen nichts, wenn sie nicht durchgesetzt werden. Und offensichtlich fühlen sich viele Unternehmen immer noch ziemlich sicher in dem, was sie da tun – auch wenn es Rechtsbrüche sind –, weil sie nicht kontrolliert und sanktioniert werden. Und das ist nicht nur ein Problem für die betroffenen Fahrer, sondern für die gesamte Branche und am Ende für uns alle. Deswegen, liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen: Unser Kampf gegen Ausbeutung muss weitergehen. Volle Solidarität mit den Fahrern. Das Europäische Parlament steht an eurer Seite.
Formal sitting - Ceremony on the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2023-03-29

  Terry Reintke,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, dear colleagues, today we are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. The Good Friday Agreement came after long conflict. 3 500 people have lost their lives in decades marked by violence, by insecurity and by hatred. This agreement is a symbol of committed peace-building, and 25 years later we acknowledge the hard work, the political will and the commitment that was put into making it happen by so many people. 
Colleagues, we all know that Brexit has shaken the political situation in Northern Ireland and made many of the questions that still need resolving more difficult, and this is not going to go away for a while. But, with the Windsor Framework, the European Union and the UK have recently shown that constructive negotiations based on trust and understanding have a good outcome even in difficult situations. We will continue to do everything in our power to secure peace in Northern Ireland and to support the Good Friday Agreement. 
Let’s also never forget, peace is not only the absence of armed conflict. Safeguarding fundamental rights of all citizens is a crucial part of a sustainable peace, and that is why the European Convention on Human Rights has played such an important role for peace—building in Northern Ireland and the Good Friday Agreement. That is why defending the European Convention on Human Rights is absolutely crucial, especially now that we see it being put under attack. 
Colleagues, the European Union was built on promoting peace. On the ruins of violent conflict, millions of people came together. So let us not only remember the great effort it took to achieve peace and the Good Friday Agreement, but let’s build on this spirit for the future – for a peaceful, a just and a democratic Ireland, United Kingdom and Europe built on understanding, on trust and on human rights.
Order of business
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2023-03-29

  Terry Reintke,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, ‘if you are a parent in one Member State, you are a parent in every Member State’ – these are the words of our Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Yet in the last weeks, we witnessed yet another attack on rainbow families in Europe, this time in Italy. 
The practice to recognise certificates of same-sex parents has been restricted by the Interior Ministry and actually one person who is affected by this is sitting in the tribune, Giuseppe Sala, the Mayor of Milan. It’s great that you are here. We stand with you defending the LGBTI community. 
I want to be crystal clear: we are not surprised by these attacks but, still, we are outraged. And we will stand in solidarity with the community in Italy and everywhere in Europe. And this is why it is absolutely important that we have this debate right now, because for this Parliament, all EU citizens and all families are worth the same and deserve fundamental rights. 
And if I may say, Madam President, we have, together with other groups, come up with a compromise for the title. The title would now read ‘The rights of children in rainbow families and same-sex parents, in particular in Italy’, to be discussed tonight with an extended session by one hour and to be voted by RCV.
International Women's Day
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2023-03-15

  Terry Reintke,  Co-President of the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance. – Madam President, dear colleagues, today we are celebrating women. We are celebrating women in the fight for their rights. We are celebrating women in their fight against patriarchy.
But let me say this: women are for long already not only carrying the fight for women’s rights. They are carrying across the globe the fight for democracy and freedom – values that the European Union is founded on. If we look at Iran, if we look at Afghanistan, if we look at Argentina, there are brave women who are fighting for what we hold dear and they are a source of inspiration to all of us.
One of the women that we should be celebrating today, and for International Women’s Day, is Justyna Wydrzyńska, not only because she has shown bravery and commitment, but because she has helped others. She has helped people in need. She supported women who needed access to abortion in a country like Poland, where the right and the access to abortion has been heavily restricted over the past years.
This form of compassion and solidarity is what makes our society strong. She has stood up for our values and very concretely provided support. But instead of celebrating her, she is being criminalised. She was convicted to eight months of community service yesterday for caring for others, for defending our rights.
Colleagues, we cannot stay silent on this – full solidarity to Justyna and all the women in Poland and elsewhere in the world who are standing up for their rights, who are standing up for care and solidarity. I do not want to live in a Europe where women who are helping other women are being criminalised. So let us take this day and let us take action together. Let us put the right to abortion into the EU Charter on Fundamental Rights. Women in Europe deserve it. Let us be a beacon of hope and inspiration for all women across the globe.
This is Europe - Debate with the President of Lithuania, Gitanas Nausėda (debate)
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2023-03-14

  Terry Reintke,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, first of all I wish to welcome the President to the European Parliament and, most importantly – even if we are a bit late – to say ‘Happy Independence Restoration Day’ to Lithuania, of course.
More than anything, colleagues, the full—scale invasion of Ukraine has confirmed the need for European unity. And it is true that only together, as Europeans, can we stand up against the brutal imperialism of the Russian regime. We have shown here in the European Parliament that we stand for unwavering solidarity with Ukraine, be it financial, humanitarian, or military support, paving the way for Ukraine to become a member of the European Union. 
But of course, and you have mentioned it, Mr President, we need full energy independence of the brutal Russian regime. For too long politicians also, and especially from my home country, Germany, have ignored the alert for from our eastern neighbours, like, for example, Lithuania, and now we are paying a high price for this. 
But colleagues, one thing has to be understood. Simply switching from one energy dependency on one dictatorship to another will not solve any of our problems. Nor does the shift from one fossil fuel dependency to another non-renewable energy source. The only sustainable answer that will prevent us from having the exact same problem that we have been facing in the last year again, in two, five or ten years is to make our energy consumption 100% renewable. That is possible and we have no time to lose. No country in the European Union will manage this alone. Only a strong European Green Deal can make that possible. 
You are absolutely right. The Green Deal for long already has not only been a measure that we need to protect our climate or to stimulate our economy, it has become the most crucial measure also for strong security in the European continent. But, Mr President, the fight against authoritarianism does not only happen, unfortunately, outside of the European Union. We also have to stay vigilant inside because we can see attempts of undermining our democracy, of undermining separation of powers, rule of law and fundamental rights in the European Union, brutal attacks on press freedom and journalists. 
We cannot stay silent in the European Union on these developments because the EU is not only a community of trade – we share fundamental values. If we want the EU to be strong and true to its own values, we have to protect all our citizens from these attacks, no matter whether they are from Lithuania or Portugal, no matter their gender, their skin colour or their sexual orientation. Because safeguarding freedom and human dignity means safeguarding freedom and human dignity for all.
Implementation report on the Agreement on the withdrawal of the UK from the EU - The Windsor Framework (debate)
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2023-03-14

  Terry Reintke,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, dear colleagues, this Windsor framework is good news. It is good news for the people in Northern Ireland. It is good news for the people in the whole of the UK and it is good news for the people in the European Union.
And it shines a light on the value of trustful cooperation, something that was badly missing from the negotiations between the EU and the UK, at least from some people in the past. And in the aftermath of the announcement of the agreement, Rishi Sunak actually praised the unique position of Northern Ireland being part of the UK’s and the EU’s market.
And I can only congratulate him for the clarity and insightfulness of his words, because yes, indeed, being part of the EU single market makes you strong. It means more prosperity, it means less red tape and it means more freedom. And, if you ask me, if we are being honest, the whole of the UK should actually benefit from these advantages and not only Northern Ireland.
Colleagues, in a world where we see aggressive autocrats trying to take more power, it is important that democracies work together, and this agreement is a step into the right direction for that.
One year of Russia’s invasion and war of aggression against Ukraine (debate)
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2023-02-15

  Terry Reintke,  im Namen der Verts/ALE-Fraktion. – Frau Präsidentin, liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen! Ein Jahr nach der brutalen Eskalation des Krieges in der Ukraine ist absolut klar: Wir stehen fest an der Seite des angegriffenen demokratischen Staates Ukraine, und unsere Unterstützung – sei sie finanziell, sei sie politisch, oder sei sie militärisch – ist absolut sicher, auch wenn wir jetzt und gerade aus dem Mitgliedstaat, aus dem ich komme, immer wieder Stimmen hören, die versuchen, krude Narrative in diese Debatte zu streuen, um die öffentliche Diskussion zu zermürben.
Deshalb will ich einige Sachen mal klarstellen: Nicht Waffenlieferungen an die Ukraine verlängern diesen Krieg – Wladimir Putin tut das. Waffenlieferungen schützen die Ukraine vor ihrer Auslöschung und Millionen Menschen in der Ukraine vor Gewalt und Besatzung. Und genau wie der Hohe Repräsentant gesagt hat, Waffenlieferungen schließen absolut keine Verhandlungen aus. Ein Land in seiner Selbstverteidigung zu unterstützen bedeutet nicht, keine Diplomatie mehr zu wollen. Es bedeutet, internationales Recht zu schützen.
Und drittens – und ich finde es wichtig, das in der Debatte sehr klar zu sagen: Es wird kein Zurück zum Status quo ante geben, nicht mit diesem Russland. Die gesamte Sicherheitslage in Europa hat sich verändert, und eine neue Welt braucht neue Antworten und nicht die alte Leier.
Und deshalb: Anstatt sich von Faschos für Unterschriftensammlungen beklatschen zu lassen, wäre es jetzt an der Zeit – gerade an all die, auch aus Deutschland, die diese alte Leier von vor dem 24. Februar 2022 weiter singen –, endlich mal nach Riga, nach Warschau oder nach Helsinki zu fahren und nicht andere zu belehren, sondern da zuzuhören und endlich zu sehen, dass wir in einer neuen Welt weiterhin klar an der Seite der Ukraine stehen müssen.
Terrorist threats posed by far-right extremist networks defying the democratic constitutional order (debate)
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2023-01-18

  Terry Reintke,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, in 2011 in Utøya and Oslo, 77 people were killed by a Nazi terrorist. In 2020 in Hanau, nine people were killed by a far—right terrorist. In 2022 in Bratislava, two queer people were shot coming out of a gay bar by a right—wing extremist. This list is far from exhaustive, and you all know it; hundreds of people have been killed by far—right extremists over the past years.
In December last year, security forces conducted one of the biggest anti—terror investigations in German history against an alleged far—right terror network trying to overthrow the constitutional order in Germany. Among the suspects, and I want to say this clearly, there was a member of the far right party AfD, and not just any member, but a former Member of the German Parliament.
These people planned to overthrow the democratic constitutional order in Germany. They are especially dangerous, because many of them have a lot of money, they have resources, and they have very good links to police and security forces, as well as to the justice system.
Let me be clear, colleagues, in the twenties and thirties of the last century, many conservatives and liberals in Germany made a fatal mistake. They believed that they could keep the far—right, the violence and the hatred for democracy, in check. They failed. You all know the outcome of this. We cannot let the same mistake happen again.
I must say that also here in this House, I see very dangerous tendencies to normalise the far—right, not least today, where a far—right candidate also received votes from democratic groups. Colleagues, we have to stand up to this far-right threat together, as democrats. These people are not playing. They are not making jokes. They mean it when they say that they want to overthrow our constitutional democratic order. We have to stop them.
New developments in allegations of corruption and foreign interference, including those related to Morocco, and the need to increase transparency, integrity and accountability in the European institutions (debate)
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2023-01-17

  Terry Reintke,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, Madam Commissioner, dear colleagues, I think it is absolutely clear that we have to investigate until all facts of this scandal are on the surface, not only relating to Qatar, but also potentially other countries. But I think it’s also important that we already take the necessary steps that can be taken now, now. And I want to thank the President for coming forward with a proposal in this direction. I believe it is a good starting point, but some of the points will need to be added and maybe strengthened and sharpened a little bit.
First of all, and I think that this is really important, we owe it to the citizens to bring our deliberations in this House to light. And that is why we will need a special committee with a very clear mandate to make recommendations of what is necessary to fight against corruption and for integrity and transparency in this House.
Secondly, this institution needs better whistle—blower protection because people who bring misconduct and wrongdoing to light need to be protected and not punished.
Thirdly, we need a stronger and mandatory transparency register. This is also part of the proposal, but I believe that we have to bring transparency by including also third-country representatives and by enforcing the rules that we already have on transparency, better. We need to make the register mandatory while at the same time ensuring that we do not put people at risk like, for example, human rights defenders, by not granting reasoned and limited exceptions.
We have a big majority in this House supporting the establishment of an ethics body. But let us not wait until the Commission comes forward, let us already nominate our negotiators now so that the negotiations on the interinstitutional agreement can start as soon as possible.
And fifth, we have to be better in enforcing rules, and clearer defined sanctions will play a very important role in order to make that possible. For all this, we will need clear deadlines and very understandable procedures. And colleagues, I think many of you know, I really love this House, and it is one of the greatest achievements that we have come forward with in the history of the European Union, that we come together here as directly elected representatives of EU citizens. And I think because of this, because we love this House and because we want to protect it, we need to do everything possible right now.
Order of business
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2023-01-16

  Terry Reintke (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, colleagues, I could now defend our proposal because we think it’s the best, but I’m not going to do that. I think if it’s very important for the other groups to have this aspect of new developments added, that can be fine. But for us, it will be very important also to focus on integrity and transparency measures, so to have that definitely in the title. And if you would like to add the specific country names, I think that’s also fine for us. But we really want to focus on what do we do now and what kind of measures do we need to put in place to prevent things like this from happening in the future.
Suspicions of corruption from Qatar and the broader need for transparency and accountability in the European institutions (debate) (debate)
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2022-12-13

  Terry Reintke,  im Namen der Verts/ALE-Fraktion. – Herr Präsident, liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen! Ich glaube, wir sind alle immer noch entsetzt über das, was da am Wochenende ans Tageslicht gekommen ist. Ich will mal meinen Vater zitieren, der gesagt hat: „Was für eine verdammte Scheiße, was sie da abgezogen haben.“ Ich glaube, das ist ein Zitat, das zeigt, wieviel Vertrauen zerbrochen ist.
Vertrauen lässt sich nur wieder aufbauen, wenn wir jetzt als Europäisches Parlament handeln. Deshalb werden wir sehr klar sein müssen, auch in der Entschließung, die wir verabschieden, was die Verurteilung der Taten angeht, was die Aufklärung angeht und was bessere Prävention angeht, und eine absolut kristallklare Reaktion auf Korruption und Fehlverhalten ist da absolut zentral.
Den ersten Schritt sind wir heute gegangen, indem wir Eva Kaili als Vizepräsidentin des Parlaments abgesetzt haben. Korruption muss weitgehende Konsequenzen haben. Punkt. Keine Diskussion.
Zweitens: Wir brauchen volle Aufklärung, einen Untersuchungsausschuss und natürlich volle Kooperation mit den belgischen Behörden. Denn wenn sich eins gezeigt hat, ist das, dass es eine fähige und unabhängige Staatsanwaltschaft in Belgien gibt.
Drittens – und ich glaube, das ist ein sehr wichtiger Teil dieser Aufarbeitung – weitergehende Maßnahmen für bessere Prävention. Ja, es gibt Dinge, die auch mit besseren Transparenzregeln nicht vollends zu verhindern sein werden. Aber trotzdem ist es wichtig, dass wir jetzt auf volle Transparenz setzen, zum Beispiel die Aufnahme von Drittstaaten in das Lobbyregister oder eine unabhängige Ethikbehörde.
Einige Kolleginnen und Kollegen werden jetzt sagen: nichts überstürzen, keinen Aktionismus. Aber ich möchte mal ganz klar sagen: Es gibt viele Regeln, die wir als Europäisches Parlament bereits mehrheitlich hier im Plenum beschlossen haben, wie zum Beispiel die Ethikbehörde. Wir müssen jetzt darauf bestehen, dass diese Regeln endlich umgesetzt werden. Die Debatte ist nämlich nicht neu, sondern gerade nur brandaktuell. Mir ist es wichtig, dass wir bei diesen Entscheidungen immer das Bild der Bürgerinnen und Bürger mit im Blick haben. Dieses Parlament muss das verlorene Vertrauen wieder aufbauen, und dafür müssen wir zusammenarbeiten.
Statement by the President
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2022-12-12

  Terry Reintke,  Co-Chair of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, I can only echo what the colleagues have been saying. These are dark days for European democracy. I can tell you personally, colleagues, that I have always been a very proud member of this Parliament. To me, it’s the honour of my life to be elected to this Parliament. In the last days, honestly, this pride has seriously been shaken.
I myself know that most of us here are working hard, that we are honest and sincere in representing the EU citizens, but now I’m actually thinking about the millions of EU citizens who are struggling right now – the people who are lying awake at night who do not know how to pay their bills, who do not know how to get through the next month and what they had to see over the past days. This puts shame on all of us here in this Parliament.
We have to be absolutely clear: this Parliament, after what has happened, cannot do business as usual. We cannot stop at just thoughts and prayers. We have to be absolutely clear. We have to act. I want us to act, as the colleagues have said, unitedly, as pro—European Democrats.
But we have to act, and we also have to put something in writing to be clear about what we want, because we want a full inquiry into this matter. Everything has to come to the surface right now because, as people have said, trust has been broken. We have to have a dedicated position in the EP Bureau that is working on these reforms, that is working on anti—corruption, and we need to have more far—reaching measures, like, for example, the reform of the lobby register, as well as an ethics body that can make sure that we do everything in our power to prevent something like this in the future.
Indeed, colleagues, the trust of citizens has been broken, and to my understanding, rightfully so. So let us do everything we can to bring everything to light and to prevent something like this from happening again in the future. This is about more than just us. This is about protecting this House. This is about protecting democracy. This is about protecting the European project. So let us do all we can – we owe it to ourselves and we owe it to our citizens.
Eliminating violence against Women (debate)
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2022-11-23

  Terry Reintke,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, colleagues, in patriarchal societies, violence against women has always been widespread. It is not only based on the belief that women matter less, it is actually based on the assumption that women are not fully equal and self—determined human beings, that they somehow need to be disciplined to be controlled. We are battered. We are raped. We are abused. Our choices are being restricted because we do not matter enough. But also because patriarchy tells us that we had to, that we have to be kept in check. That includes also the denial of our right to choose over our own bodies. 
Forcing a woman to go through with a pregnancy against her own will is a form of violence against women. That is true for the ten—year—old rape victim who had to travel from Ohio to Indiana to get an abortion. That is true for the 31—year—old Savita, who died in Ireland in 2012 after being denied abortion care when she was miscarrying. And that is also true for already six women who died in Poland after not receiving very much needed abortion care because of the inhumane de facto abortion ban. 
Whenever a woman dies because she did not receive the abortion care she needed to be saved, society sends a message to all of us that even in moments of absolute vulnerability, they will not help us because our lives do not matter enough. They will actually let us die. They will let us die because a fundamentalist ideology matters more than our lives. 
Honestly, I do not want to live in a society like this, and definitely I do not want to get pregnant in a society like this. So, colleagues, let us end all forms of violence against women. Let us end these inhumane abortion bans.
Resumption of the sitting
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2022-11-10

  Terry Reintke (Verts/ALE).   – Frau Präsidentin! In der Tat, gestern, am 9. November, diesem denkwürdigen Tag deutscher und europäischer Geschichte, ist unser ehemaliger Kollege Werner Schulz bei einer Gedenkveranstaltung im Schloss Bellevue überraschend aus dem Leben gerissen worden. 
Wir erinnern Werner als einen Streiter für Bürgerrechte, beginnend in der früheren DDR, aber dann auch auf seinem Lebensweg. Er war ein Streiter für die wehrhafte Demokratie, für eine kritische Zivilgesellschaft und für Menschenrechte. Werner war ein Freiheitskämpfer, ein überzeugter Europäer, ein scharfer Kritiker Putins und vehementer Verteidiger der Ukraine. Ich glaube, das sollte uns allen zu denken geben. 
Wir werden Werner sehr, sehr schmerzlich vermissen, gerade in diesen Zeiten. Aber sein Wirken wird für uns alle, auch hier im Europäischen Parlament, unvergessen bleiben.
Order of business
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2022-11-09

  Terry Reintke,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, colleagues, as you all know, the Conditionality Regulation has been activated by the European Commission for the first time in the case of Hungary. And also we have seen, in the recent weeks and days, movement on the negotiations on the RRP regarding Hungary. 
We believe that the European Parliament has to make its voice heard in these discussions and we are aware that there is a counter-proposal to move this to November II. I just want to give you the argument why we believe it’s important to have a first round of speakers already tomorrow, because if we want to influence the ongoing negotiations before decisions are going to be taken, we should have a debate – at least a short debate – already tomorrow. And this obviously can then also be rounded up by a debate and a resolution in November II. So please vote in favour also of having a short discussion about this tomorrow.
Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 20-21 October 2022 (debate)
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2022-11-09

  Terry Reintke,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, dear colleagues, what we have seen in the last weeks is that Putin is obviously realising that he cannot win the war in Ukraine on the battlefield and this is why he’s resorting to other means. 
First and foremost, in Ukraine, where millions of people have been without electricity and water after Russia bombed civilian infrastructure. But the energy war has also reached the rest of Europe. And there is only one way that we can win this war, and that is to act united. This energy crisis is, in fact, a gas dependency crisis. It is a crisis of wrong political choices: wrong political choices denying the reality of the dangers of climate change; wrong political choices, denying the reality of the dangers of being completely dependent for fossil fuels on a dictator –a dictator who wants to destroy our freedom and our democracy. 
But the answer to this cannot be that we put band-aids on a broken system and simply try to import gas and fossil fuels from elsewhere – especially when this means from other dictators. The only answer can be to build a system that is reliable with energy that is cheap and sustainable: wind and solar. And, yes, for that we will need more money for renewables. 
But we will also need to invest in better insulation of buildings. Because despite this crisis, we are still wasting valuable energy every day in badly insulated housing and this costs households money and keeping warm in winter should not be just for those who can afford it. Massive investment in insulating homes is a win-win for everyone because it protects people’s health and wallets. And it is a key pillar of our climate action and our responsibility to lead with when it comes to COP27. 
And, lastly, and I know that many of you don’t want to be confronted with this, but this is real:
(The speaker held up image on an A4 sheet of paper)
 A deputy minister of the new far-right government in Italy with a swastika armband, from a picture not too long ago. 
He said afterwards, apparently, that it was a joke, a prank. A joke about 6 million Jews who were killed in the Holocaust. A joke about the countless victims of Nazi ideology of fascism in Europe, the Roma, the trade unionists, the queer men and women, the resistance fighters, the allied soldiers who died on the battlefield for freedom, the women who were raped, the many people who were killed and tortured, the people who lost loved ones and their homes. A joke about a continent that was in complete ruins with 55 million people dead across the world. Especially today colleagues, this is not a joke. This is serious and we have to stand up to it together. And the conservatives especially have to learn from history. Let us work together and stand up to the far-right across Europe.
Growing hate crimes against LGBTIQ people across Europe in light of the recent homophobic murder in Slovakia (debate)
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2022-10-18

  Terry Reintke,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, dear colleagues, so many moments have passed now where we had to express our condolences and our solidarity with victims of hate crime and terror. Of course, first and foremost, also today our love and solidarity goes to the victims, their loved ones and the whole LGBTI community in Slovakia.
But I want to take this opportunity and say something else as well. Words have consequences. This attack did not start when the shooter picked up the gun. This attack started long before. It started with words, with words of hatred, uttered on social media, on the Internet, but also unfortunately uttered in places in this Parliament. Words that deny us fundamental rights. Words that deny us equality. Words that go as far as denying our very existence. Words that frame us as a threat to society and that dehumanise us, just because we love someone or because we were assigned the wrong gender at birth.
I want to say this to the far right: stop these hate campaigns. Your words have consequences. And I want to say to all of us: we cannot start at launching investigations after terror attacks like this have happened. We have to start when these words of hatred are being uttered. We have to stand up to this hatred in our societies and not just as queers, but everyone who believes in democracy, freedom, fundamental rights and peaceful societies.
Order of business
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2022-10-17

  Terry Reintke,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, as you rightly said, we would have a counter—proposal and the title of the counter—proposal that we would like to put forward is ‘fighting sexualised violence and violence against women: the importance of the Istanbul Convention and the need for a comprehensive directive against gender—based violence’. And we would like to propose this for Wednesday, as the fourth point of the agenda.
Let me give you the reasons why. First of all, because we believe that the timing is crucial. We do not want such an important topic to be moved to be the last item of the agenda, so we would like to have it moved up, for Wednesday.
The second point, and I really want to make sure that you understand this, we in this Parliament, we are not only a House for talking, we are a House for delivering. The Istanbul Convention and the directive against gender—based violence are two very important proposals that can really change the situation on the ground and make more tangible our fight against sexualised violence and violence against women. This is why we ask you to support our proposal.
The death of Mahsa Amini and the repression of women's rights protesters in Iran (debate)
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2022-10-04

  Terry Reintke (Verts/ALE).   – Mr President, dear colleagues, human dignity, freedom, democracy – values that we claim to hold very dear in the European Union, values that are the basis of the functioning of our societies.
Now we see a protest movement in Iran that is fighting for exactly these values, led by brave women. A protest movement that has come together, and that can change not only Iran, but the whole region, and eventually the whole world. With a force and determination that is unprecedented, people are going to the streets, and they go to the streets knowing full well that they could sacrifice their own lives doing this. And they rightfully ask us, ‘What are your words, your declarations, your banners worth if now, in this moment, you are not standing with us?’.
So the EU response has to be clear: more sanctions and more determined and louder condemnation of this brutal regime, and amplifying the voices of the people who are protesting and who have sacrificed so much in this revolution.
Composition of Parliament
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2022-09-14

  Terry Reintke (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, dear colleagues, a lot of you might know a very important European event is set to take place this Saturday in Belgrade. It’s EuroPride. It’s a demonstration for freedom, for democracy, for fundamental rights and diversity, a pan-European demonstration. 
Unfortunately, it has been cancelled yesterday by Serbian authorities. We are in very close contact both with the Serbian Government as well as with the Pride organisers, but I wanted to use this opportunity for this Parliament to show that we are a Parliament that stands for the fundamental right of freedom of assembly and with the LGBTI community all across the European Union and in Serbia and in Europe.
Existence of a clear risk of a serious breach by Hungary of the values on which the Union is founded (debate)
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2022-09-14

  Terry Reintke (Verts/ALE).   – Madam President, democracies can die. Democracies can die on battlefields in war, in occupation, in oppression. But democracies can also die silently. First, independent media is restricted, pushed out, journalists intimidated. Then critical civil society is defunded, swamped with lawsuits, maims foreign agents, universities are maimed in their academic freedom, political opponents are attacked, electoral reform is introduced to minimise their political success. Then you single out minorities. And we have seen this – LGBTI people, the Roma community and yes, also refugees. 
And every time you want to pass yet another anti-democratic law or reform, you basically create some fuss about one of these minorities in order to distract from what you are actually doing. What is the gain? The gain is authoritarian rule with disabled checks and balances, limited civil society and free press. And yes, in addition, a much easier way to direct public money into the pockets of people who are powerful government ministers and other politicians. 
We cannot let a democracy die in Europe. So I really urge the Commission, but also the Council to do more in order to defend democracy and rule of law inside of the European Union. I know this is a historic task, but I think we have to be up to this historic task because otherwise in 50 years, colleagues, we are going to say, why didn’t we do more when we needed to defend democracy and the rule of law in the European Union?
(The speaker refused to respond to a blue-card speech from Andor Deli)