Martin SONNEBORN

What Martin SONNEBORN has said (5)

• 2026-01-20 “E-000211/2026 Answer given by High Representative/Vice-President Kallas on behalf of the European Commission In the rapidly evolving geopolitical context, the EU needs a modernised and agile network of delegations to deliver on its mission in the world and continue to engage with and support partners with specialised resources. On 14 May 2025, the Commissioners’ Project Group on External Relations agreed on a set of concrete proposals for a modernised network. While maintaining the EU’s global outreach, no delegation will close – the future network will allow for stepping up engagement with more agility depending on EU priorities. From September 2026 onwards, the network will operate with three types of delegations: Reinforced delegations – six delegations hosting additional regional expertise to support neighbouring delegations, in managing Global Gateway, migration, stability, strategic communication to better serve the interests of the EU and of the receiving regions and countries. Standard delegations – the vast majority of delegations, with capacity for all core functions and access to expertise and support from reinforced delegations or headquarters. Diplomatic presence delegations – ten delegations with reduced staffing and a mandate focused on core diplomatic functions 1 . This allows the EU to maintain key political and diplomatic engagement with host countries. Other areas of cooperation will continue to be covered, either by a neighbouring delegation or by headquarters. This followed extensive consultations between the European External Action Service and the Commission to ensure full political and operational alignment. In this context, the EU Delegation in Belarus will maintain a diplomatic and political presence that will allow it to function adequately, also in the context of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. 1 Belarus, Eritrea, Eswatini, Haiti, Kuwait, Lesotho, Papua New Guinea, South Sudan, Timor Leste and Trinidad and Tobago.”
  Defence spending · EU Development & Humanitarian Aid
• 2026-01-20 “P-000207/2026 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Virkkunen on behalf of the European Commission The Commission is not aware of any security deficiencies related to eID cards issued by any other Member State. The German eID scheme for issuing ‘eID Card for Union Citizens and EEA Nationals’ was notified in September 2017 under Article 9(1) of Regulation (EU) 910/2014 1 (‘European Digital Identity Regulation’) following a peer-review by Member States. Based on the assessment performed, this eID means complies with the requirements of the European Digital Identity Regulation for level of assurance ‘high’. As per the European Digital Identity Regulation, each Member State shall provide at least one European Digital Identity Wallet by 24 December 2026. The requirements for the European Digital Identity Wallets differ to those from national eIDs. European Digital Identity Wallets will undergo a comprehensive security certification. The legal framework for the European Business Wallets is under legislative negotiation 2 . Consequences of the possible security deficiencies reported by Süddeutsche Zeitung for the issuance of European Business Wallets can therefore not be assessed at this stage. 1 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52025XC04227&qid=1753954037245. 2 Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of European Business Wallets, COM/2025/838 final, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legalcontent/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52025PC0838.”
  Electronic identity
• 2025-04-10 “E-001494/2025 Answer given by Mr Tzitzikostas On behalf of the European Commission Under Directive (EU) 2018/2001 (Renewable Energy Directive - RED) 1 , greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions are counted towards Member States’ renewable energy targets, while under Regulation (EU) 2023/1805 (FuelEU) 2 shipping companies are the obligated parties. FuelEU does not exclude emissions reductions supported via other legal frameworks, such as the support schemes under RED, as doing so might lead to competitive disadvantages for the sector, and slow down investments in decarbonised marine fuels. Support schemes under RED are specified as transposed by the Member States, taking in consideration the national energy policies’ features and priorities. FuelEU enforcement relies on the well-established framework of the EU Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification Maritime Regulation 3 used by Member States’ Competent Authorities. Shipping companies have to certify fuels’ sustainability using RED traceability rules and governance for all fuel batches claimed to count towards their obligation under FuelEU. The traceability system of the Union database, deployed under Article 31a of RED, will be applied. Thus, fuel volumes and emissions reductions reported under FuelEU and RED can be tracked and verified. Beyond dedicated webinars, updated THETIS-MRV 4 tutorials, and dedicated helpdesk support, the Commission will adopt its guidance document for FuelEU Implementation in the second semester of 2025. The provision in the EU emission trading system (ETS) Directive 2003/87/EC 5 on avoiding double counting of emissions applies to the reporting and surrendering of allowances within the ETS compliance framework. It does not apply – but rather exerts synergetic effects – to emission reductions in sectoral regulations with which it is complementary, FuelEU being one such case. 1 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A02018L2001-20240716. 2 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/1805/oj/eng. 3 Regulation (EU) 2015/757: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2015/757/oj/eng. 4 https://mrv.emsa.europa.eu/. 5 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2003/87/oj/eng.”
  Biofuels (RED II) · Decarbonisation of maritime transport
• 2024-11-28 “– Herr Präsident! Ich habe gegen das Rauchverbot in der EU gestimmt, weil ich mich durch einen Parteitagsbeschluss gebunden fühle. Wir hatten nur drei Beschlüsse auf dem letzten Bundesparteitag, und einer von denen lautete „Rauchen ist geil“. Auf dem Bundesparteitag davor hat derselbe Antrag schon einmal keine Mehrheit bekommen, weil während der Abstimmung der gesamte Lungenflügel der Partei draußen war – rauchen.”
• “How expensive will it become to watch football? You know, I tend to watch it in the pub, but a friend he uses streaming football used to be the people sport, but today it's now a sport of 11 subscriptions. Now you can, you can go on illegal streaming and you'll get some pornographic pop ups. And this is the reality. But this this is obviously you have to get a subscription to Sky and Amazon €1,000 a year if you actually wanted to do this differently? No. It's it. Then we have Paramount, HBO and and other apps as well, you know. You know, I think people will turn to online sites.”
  Broadcasting of sports events