Bernd LANGE

Policy topics Bernd LANGE is active on

What Bernd LANGE has said (80)

• 2026-06-15 “Madam chair, dear commissioner, now we are concluding the debate, and I thought which rock song could be the best for concluding this debate. 1st, I thought from the doors, this is the end, my beautiful friend. But I think that's not the right 1. The right 1 is from Amazon Lake and Palmer from the beginning because we are starting now with a legal text where the European Parliament is guarantee to the citizens, I guess, at least 5 points. 1st, we will be not blackmailed. That's for sure. That's in this tax guaranteed. We will stick to a rule based order and guarantee that the power is not determining our democratic decision. Thirdly, the EP is a democratic force, and it will guarantee that we will influence the policy of the European Commission. And if The US will not stick to this commitment, it's clear that with this legal text, we can and we will react. And it's totally clear that the European Parliament has really clearly strengthened and improved the proposal by the commission. And there was a big, big pressure from outside the European Parliament, from the other side of the Atlantic, sometimes even from inside the European bodies, but we resist. And I'm really proud, dear colleagues, that we really reached this agreement, this legislation so that we can really have these 5 guarantees to our citizens. So let's vote in favor tomorrow to this legislation. Thanks a lot.”
  EU-US trade relations
• 2026-06-15 “Thank you very much, president, commissioner, colleagues. Here we are the day before the vote on the EU's input into the implementation of the Scotland deal. Now there are many implications to this. And amongst other things, it's quite clear that a handshake or a joint statement are certainly not going to be enough to keep the ship afloat. We need clear guidelines. We need clear legislation underpinning it. And therefore, colleagues, I'm extremely proud that we in the European Parliament have come together with the council and have crafted some legislation democratically to forge a path ahead. Others have obviously forgotten the democratic traditions that we have in this European Union, democratic traditions which are forged by those who are elected by the people to this parliament. And there are very important consequences which flow from this. These decisions, of course, are legally watertight, and that is extremely important. That is a critical factor at the moment when we recognize that what we are doing has got to be legally watertight, effective, and cogent. And this is why we lay such great store by the rule of law and watertight legislation. There are those who have said, oh, yes. Well, but you've been far too dilatory and delayed. Well, the reality is that in October, the commission sent to us a proposal on which we actually voted as soon as January. Then, of course, yes, there have been delays in the interim, but these are not delays which can be attributed to us or for which we can be held responsible. They are precisely to be attributed to The US because of the Greenland saga with which we're all familiar when they threatened to to annex Greenland and threatened ridiculous tariffs and were engaged in completely coercive behavior. But then also, of course, fortunately, the court has actually declared that that declaration of tariffs was actually not legally watertight. It was null and void. And therefore, these are factors which have actually delayed the proceedings. I would now like to thank all the rapporteurs and shadows and everybody who's been involved in sticking fast to our course of action in standing up for our citizens, our industry, and our workers because we are on the brink of delivering a very good result. This is going to be legislation which is based on the 5 s's, which is are so critical. And they're going to constitute valuable safeguards, which will enable us to be sure that this legislation is watertight. There can there is a sunset clause. It is legally compliant, and we are sure that this is legislation which can be reviewed, which can be updated. There are suspension clauses which can be invoked if necessary. And if there is divergence from the principles and if unilateral tariffs are introduced. Therefore, we've got some crystal clear principles set down here. We have also looked at, for example, things such as steel derivates. I don't know why washing machine is actually a steel derivate, but leaving that aside, we had to deal with that too. And this is all something which the parliament has worked hard on, and the parliament will remain extremely committed to and vigilant regarding all the developments flowing from this legislation. So, colleagues, I would ask you please tomorrow to vote for this legislation, which has been hard fought for. Thank you.”
  EU-UK relations
• “Thanks a lot. So now we have a lot of shadow rapporteurs from both committees, and they have each of them two minutes sharp. I will really look to the clock. And the first is from the EPP. Andrea Wexler.”
  EU political integration
• “Thanks a lot. And from my side I'm a little bit disappointed, to be honest. And and secondly, also a little bit puzzled because you mentioned, of course, again, the targets and the estimation. And you also said at the moment there's zero import, how we will really manage it in five years to have an import structure and partners worldwide of 10 million tons of green hydrogen. Uh. I have no clue. And therefore, of course, we know the regulations. We know all the measures. The European Commission is foreseen. So we read, of course, this as well. But John's question is totally in line with them. So what is the status of a concrete project? Is there a Meuse concrete investment in production capacities and also in infrastructure in Namibia? Is there an electrolyzer at the port to transport hydrogen from there to us? So what is this concrete status of the whole exercise you described? And where are the restrictions? Where are the shortcomings? What should we do to improve? Is this a possibility to improve our harbor infrastructure? Are there some problems in connecting our harbors with imports? Or where is the problem to go to get some concrete starting point and the curve which is really increasing and where is really, um, the, the investment going on.”
  Low-carbon hydrogen
• “Yeah. Thanks a lot, Matthias. And we are not recognizing you as a representative of the US embassy. Thanks. Thanks a lot. This concludes our internal meeting of this week. And thanks a lot to the interpretation. And we have our next meeting on the sixth and 7th of May. And I guess we have on the 6th of May also another trilogue on this issue. Thanks a lot. Have a good time.”
  EU public communication strategy
• “I spoke with farmers last week for two hours. Let's talk about the facts. If you look, the German farmers, the European farmers have a trade surplus of €65 billion in the agri sector. So it's in the interest of farmers to export. If we look at Mercosur, we have possibilities for our dairy, for our cheese and for our alcoholic drinks. We also must tell the truth. We already import 3 million tonnes of soya and that is cheap soya. And we use that soya to feed our cattle and our pigs. So that's also part of it. We need to look at the facts.”
  Trade relations with Mercosur
• “So this was not the main issue of our discussion during the negotiations, the lobster. But um, as you can expect that we as Parliament negotiation team, really, we stick to the mandate of the Parliament and therefore we really, at the end of the day, reach also our famous five S, which are really important to have a safety net regarding this um, legislation. Um, if there something is happening which is not in line with the deal of January 1st. S and this was also a clear message from the parliament. We have a sunset clause. Uh, and um at the beginning neither the council nor the Another commission envisaged a sunset clause in their positions, but for us it was really important so that we have a clear incentive for the US side to stick to the deal, that we really ensure the continued accountability to the European Parliament and, of course, also to strengthen the possibilities for the Commission to negotiate this for a future, perhaps even bigger trade agreement, so that for us, it has been crucial to have such a sunset clause. And for me, it's also clear that this is necessary to stick to the WTO rules so that we have an agreement now in place from our side a legislative proposal, a An legislative act on the US side, an executive order by the president, which are really not in line with WTO rules.”
  EU-US trade relations
• “Thanks a lot, Minister. And from my side. Four points. First, I would echo the second question of Celina. Uh, regarding the steel safeguards we have, the problem with Switzerland, uh, close partner, and they have a referendum about the framework agreement. And it might be. Bring this framework agreement in danger. Will you contact Switzerland and find a solution? And this similar is also valid for UK. Uh, we have a step forward in a closer relationship with the United Kingdom on energy and some other issues. And they are also a little bit shocked about the steel safeguard. Will you contact the UK government to find a solution for UK and for Switzerland? Second point on us. Yeah, we want to have stable relation and I guess there will be some work on this two files. But you mentioned in your beginning speech that you want to have reliable stable relation. What is your assessment about this so-called derivatives, which the United States lifted weeks after the Scotland deal from 15 to 50%, which is harming a lot of small and medium sized enterprises in Europe. Will you contact the Ambassador Gurria to ask him to revise this action? Thirdly, it is also linked to the question of Mexico. So Mexico seems to be in the air. I have no date when the council will decide about the signature and when the signature will happen. Can you give me a date? When the council will decide and when we will have the signature, and when we can start with the ratification process. And this is linked a little bit to Indonesia. So the negotiations were concluded in September last year. Can can you give me a guarantee that the translation and the legal scrubbing will not take one year so that you really push your colleagues in the member States and in the Commission that we can get the final result of Indonesia, let's say, next month, so that we can start with a signature and the ratification as well.”
  EU-Switzerland relations
• “Thanks a lot. And a small additional question, but perhaps not so relevant for Europe. But in this new regulation is a part saying if a product is produced with aluminium, copper or steel from the United States, this tether will be reduced. Has the Commission any knowledge about products produced in Europe using steel, aluminium, copper from Europe? Is this relevant for us? So Mathias, a lot of questions.”
  Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)
• “Thanks a lot. Are there any further requests for the floor? Then from my side, two elements, one going in the direction of Jurgen. So we have some trade agreements and we have also in the trade agreement, some elements regarding IPR protection going to such one of these countries. At the airport, I will I got offered from bags and shoes and which name from Italy and whatever. It's totally clear that they are not real. So what is the mechanism to motivate our partners where we have a trade agreement to execute? Also, what is in the agreement? And secondly, uh, Jürgen mentioned, um, Indonesia. Uh, this is on the list three, but also Thailand. And we are negotiating with Thailand and how we can really integrate a better enforcement in such an agreement. And my second item is a little bit going in the direction of China. Of course, we know the, the whole the issues of problems and misuse of IPR and also the situation that China is trying to avoid to going to court also in a foreign country. What about this standard essential patents, where China is trying to misuse the market power to give pressure to consumer in this direction, and therefore also harming the IPR of companies? So some small question for you.”
  Trade relations with China
• “We have some minutes of previous inter meetings from the 29th, 30th January and the 19th and 20th February, and if there are no objections until the end of this meeting, they are approved. And point five is the presidential presentation by the Commission of the final report of the Ex-post evaluation of the impact of EU FTAs on key environmental aspects, Including climate. And this is in the framework of the exchange of views with the Commission on the Expert Evaluation of the impact of EU FTAs, and specifically regarding the study from 2021, the Trade policy review and the communication of the Commission, the power of trade partnerships and the change in a lot of elements in our negotiation of trade agreement, specifically in the context of TSD chapters. And I guess the first really well developed TSD chapter was the TSD chapter specifically with South Korea and for 2011. And now, of course, it's really quite interesting to see what our general objectives and what are the effectives of this TSD chapter. And the inclusion of these elements into the FTA was the conclusion of the written report is that there is really an impact for the implementation of international environment standards and that FTAs are really in the field of stabilizing the sustainable development. So, um, it seems that we are on a good path, but the details are to elaborate. This to us is, of course, the duty of the Commission, and I'm happy that our well-known friend Jorg Wojahn, the head of the Unit of Bilateral Relations on Trade and Sustainable Development of DG trade, this year with us, and I give him the floor for ten minutes, please.”
  Free trade agreements (FTAs)
• “So from my side, two questions. One is on the trade in goods and services. Are there any problems or any investigation regarding the goods and services coming specifically from occupied territories? We have a lot of new settlements in the West Bank. And are there any issues where you would say this is not in line with the trade agreement. And secondly, we heard a lot of voices. Now for the suspension of the agreement in this article 79. There are also there is the question of take appropriate measures. So this is a little question mark for me. What is a separate measure. Is it really only the suspension or do you have other possibilities to react and then link to that. He is also the the clear obligation that before doing before taking any measures there should be a discussion in the Association Council. Is there a discussion going on in the Association Council? I missed one request for the floor. I guess.”
  Relations with Israel - Palestine
• “It was an additional pressure towards the European Union increasing this so-called reciprocal tariffs. And I would say this inflation traps from uh announced in 2nd of April from 20% to 30% Act on the goods covered by this baseline tariffs. Um, and, um, there was, of course, a discussion what to do during the weekend. And the commission decided to postpone the first set of countermeasures, which originally should come into force today in the morning. Postpone it until the 6th of August, which was decided today. So a little bit after the 1st of August deadline from President Trump. And of course, um, my opinion was that after this long discussion during negotiation and after having an unfriendly, um, move seen by the US president. When he increased the tariffs on steel and aluminum from 25% to 20 to 50%, even in a situation where we are negotiated, we saw this additional unfriendly act. And therefore, my personal view was that we should stick to the first set of countermeasures. The commissioners decided differently and wanted to postpone it again. And of course, Leopoldo, you will explain this to us, and then we have the opinion where we put until now some more general amendments regarding the trade relations on the table. But of course we have to modify the opinion in full knowledge of the situation where we are now. So, um, the floor is yours.”
  EU-US trade relations
• “Yeah, but it normally always, always the the the standing delegation share after. Yeah. It's to look to the agenda in the past. That's true regardless if it's EPP Social Democrat or whatever. And this really my approach to strengthen the parliament and the work and not looking to a political group. Totally. So please.”
  EU political integration
• “Thanks a lot indeed. And also from my side, this governance structure we have to look for. So at the moment, the situation is that the Parliament is out of the game. Formally there is a board. The first meeting of the board was in 2022, and the second meeting was in September 2025. So three years, three and a half years without any meeting of the board. And in this board, as an observer, we have the chair of Afet, the chair of DV and the chair of Inter. So we went from Strasbourg during the session in September to Brussels, where the board should happen. Revived and the member states were there, some European institutions were there? The first three speakers give some comment on the work of Global Gateway, but there was no structure regarding impact. What is was achieved the last years? What are the priorities for the next years or nothing? It was big basket, global gateway, and after three speakers, the three commissioners mentioned. Unfortunately we have now to leave and the whole audience was sitting there making great eyes and great mouths. This was not our understanding of a board of a global gateway. So I think we should really look in our report on the governance structure. Having said that, I will ask Isobel Cummins, the head of the unit of DG, if she wants to come in.”
  Transparency requirements of EU institutions
• “Thanks a lot. And from my side, three questions. One is you really, uh, put a wave or exempting 1% of the emissions. We heard it as well. But you're not changing the ETS, giving back a free allowance for 1% to these companies. Why is this? And does this lead to some disadvantages for our export? And secondly, on the circumvention, um, some questions were raised. So we had also a lot of discussion about the circumvention in our assessment regarding Cbam. Can you really give some further reassurance that there is a strong anti-circumvention provision and also implementation in this approach so that we really have a guarantee that this is not misused by importers. And thirdly I was a little bit surprised about the proposal. And now we have to rush and simplify the procedure because on the 11th of February. It was not in the work programme of the Commission. Two weeks later it came on our table. So this was a little bit surprising. Specifically regarding the necessary to have a revision of Cbam, which is in the legislation. So perhaps you can learn a little bit about how this went through and how this, let's say, urgency appeared without having proper information of the European Parliament before. And now it gives a floor to my dear friend Mohamed from the Env Committee.”
  Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)
• “I would like to go for a provisional application, no doubt about it. And this is important because as you know, Argentina is negotiating also with the United States. And it's clear that, for example, the question of GIS is also in the portfolio of the negotiations. So there is a kind of urgency. So what, what and what when will you do? Thirdly, we discuss this also in Nicosia quite recently. The time between finishing of an agreement and signature and then transmitting to the parliament. Sometimes it's two years. And this. I never understood how this could happen. Translation and legal scrubbing. Two years. You have some ideas to really speed up the process. Perhaps you can elaborate this as well, so that we are in a time where sometimes in a week more happened than in previous times in decades. We should also quicker in the process of finalising the agreement. And fourthly. There are more and more the so-called mini deals as the cifa with Ecuador, the Raw Materials Partnership, the investment partnership and what? I have no clue what else. So what is in mind in your mind for further mini deals? Are you having some specific countries in in the perspective, and when will some mini deals come on the table, and how will the European Parliament be involved? First month for you.”
  Trade relations with Mercosur
• “Thanks a lot. And from my side, Peter, um, we had this famous TTC, and in this TTC is was there a discussion about this measures and what was the mood if there was a discussion, what was the mood during the exchange of views with our American counterparts? And secondly, um, I would really underline the question from Selena, what is your reaction now? At the moment I see nothing concrete in the air. And of course, this is also my third point. As Karine mentioned, we need to need to stabilize our unity. And this piece of legislation is clearly a try to split the European Union. And how will the Commission react? Peter.”
  US-EU tech coordination
• “52:22 – 15:52:58): So we are now switching to point six and the next delegation will go to Yahounde in Cameroon and we have the MC fourteen and we requested as coordinators a paper the role of the WTO in EU trade state of play ahead of WTO MC fourteen and I give immediately the floor to mister Steve Wulock who will present the paper and the result for ten minutes please thank”
  EU-Cameroon relations
• “So, dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, let's start this joint exercise between the committee, the famous Ito Committee and the Inter committee. Um. There is a agenda, and I have so far no rejection, no opposition or objection to the agenda. So I think we can adopt the agenda. We have two chairs announcements. So this meeting is web streamed. I hope that more people are looking Come on screen to this then here in the room so far and so welcome from Lunenburg to Lisbon, from Cork to Constanza, and perhaps also welcome to some other parts of the world. Interesting in energy question. Indeed. Um, so also we have interpretation here. So please speak moderate. And um, despite the limited time the cooperatives have produced a draft report which is now in English, uh, available to everybody. And this will be the basis for the discussion to day. Uh, of course, we have also some minutes which have to be approved, the minutes of the meeting of the 29th of January, and they will be approved until there is no objection until the end of this meeting. And of course, the main point of today is the discussion about the phasing out of Russian natural gas imports and improving monitoring of potential energy dependencies, and amending the regulation. 2017. 1938. And I guess this is really a crucial legislation internally, but also regarding the relation to Russia, but also, I guess it is playing a role in the discussion with the United States as well. So there is a need of additional supply of energy based on this legislation as well. And of course, I could now make some interesting introductory remarks, but I will not do it because we have our commissioner, Dan Jurgensen, here with us, and I give him immediately the floor to introduce this legislation, and he's done for ten minutes of yours.”
  EU approach to energy security (home-made vs import sources)
• “Thanks a lot. Good. This concludes this point of information on that. And good luck for the negotiations. Next point is also a bit delicate, I would say, where we have, um, a situation with the Ukraine where everybody has known that we had a situation, that the autonomous trade measures will expire on the 5th of June, and this is not a long away. So 5th of June is less than one month. Um, so, um, therefore we are a little bit concerned what this would mean for Ukraine. Um, of course everybody is knowing that the ATMs are also under discussion. We had twice ATMs with more or less zero tariff for products from the Ukraine in the agricultural sector. And last time we had some discussion about safeguards and we established safeguards. Um, so this is expiring. And on the other side, we have our DC FTA, where we have the article 29 with quite restrictive quotas for agriculture products. And this would be coming into force on the 6th of June if nothing happened. And therefore I would now and we would now like to know what is the plan of the Commission in the next for the next three weeks. I guess I guess it's a can, Mr. Delvaux. Excuse me for that, but. ***10. State of play of the review of the EU-Ukraine Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area in view of the impending expiration of the EU’s Autonomous Trade Measures - Exchange of views with Commission representatives”
  Agricultural trade: Ukraine imports
• “But beside that, I heard that the Commission requested. By the Council a provisional application without consent of the European Parliament. And this is, of course, totally against all our commitments we had from, I guess, the last four Commissioners of Trade and is totally against the new framework agreement, which was quite recently agreed by the Commission and the European Parliament, and where I was the negotiator of the European Parliament. So I was really, really shocked that this process is really undermining the truth, the, the, the, the spirit and everything which we developed in the last years. And therefore I was quite clear that we should discuss this here in the committee immediately. And this was the first occasion now where we can discuss this, and I will give the floor to the commission and then to the political groups to present the so-called agreement. And also give us a little bit an explanation why this procedure happened. So once again, the ruling of the court was one year ago and until end of September. No clear indication of the commission was what they are doing. So one year without any information to the Parliament and then by sudden such an example, which is really giving mistrust to to the work of the Commission. So having said that, I give now the floor, Miss Maria Isabel Garcia Catalan, Miss Valerie and Mr. Florian Ermacora for ten minutes together. The floor, please.”
  Transparency requirements of EU institutions
• “President. Minister. Commissioner. Colleagues. So Isaac Newton knew back in the day that once you have an action, you always have a reaction. And this is what we are experiencing now. This morning the I read the order from President Trump. His tariffs from 2018 have been put into full. Full validity. And our imports with tariff free imports have been done away with. And also he's done the same thing with Ukraine, which I find, um, really not acceptable because they need the possibility of exporting goods. And so this means from the 1st of April, we will have to bring in our counter tariffs against the USA. And if Trump also raises tariffs against the pharmaceutical industry, we will also have to have a counter reaction against this tariff. Jungle of tariffs being set up by the USA. Thank you very much.”
  EU-US trade relations
• “Yeah. Once again amendment 134 134. So who is in favor of 134? Was against abstention rejected. And now we are moving to 143. Who was in favor of 143 against. Abstention. Rejected. Now we are moving to compromise. One who is in favor of compromise. One against abstention. Adopted. Now we are moving to compromise. Two. Who is in favor against abstention? Adopted. Now we are moving to compromise. Three. Who is in favor? Who is against? Abstention. Adopted. Now we are moving to amendment 231. Who is in favor of amendment 231. Who is against? Abstention. Rejected. We are moving to amendment 232. Who is in favor? Against abstention. Rejected. We are moving to amendment 237. In favor. Against. Abstention. Rejected. We are moving to amendment 250. In favor. Against. Abstention. Rejected. We are moving to amendment 256. In favor. Against. Abstention. Rejected. We are moving to 260. In favor. Against. Abstention. Rejected. We are We're going to. 264. In favor against. Abstention. Rejected. 266. In favor against. Abstention. Rejected 269. In favor against. Abstention. Rejected 276. In favor. Against. Abstention. Rejected. Amendment 35. In favor. Against abstention. Rejected. Amendment 41. In favor. Against abstention. Rejected 47. In favor.”
  EU political integration
• “Thanks a lot. And from my side, um, perhaps a little bit in the direction of the last question from from Jürgen here we have the responsibility from companies. So should we. We are looking also more for a common approach in both acts, because they have to fill in their own responsibility. This obligation. There is a difference with forced labour where the investigation is done by the commission. Um, so really looking what is what is the scope on? And uh, yeah, the scope of course, is different in the two acts, but the principle are going the same direction. So, uh, having a clear, um. Contribution to, to sustainable economy, sustainable trade to protect human rights, labour rights, environmental standards and Paris climate agreement in the context of the possibilities of a company. Um other act in the omnibus is the cbam. And then of course, we have also this simplification. And it's clear that we reduce the scope for around about 80% of companies, but covering 90% 90% of CO2 emission. Now the question to the Commission, if you are reducing now the obligation, the reporting obligation for the companies, what is the percentage of securing the objectives of the legislation? And now the Commission.”
  Due diligence in supply chains (environmental and human rights)
• “Thanks a lot. And the deadline for the consent vote and the motion for a non-legislative resolution. Accompanying the consent is the 15th of April. High noon, 15th of April, high noon. Of course, the amendments to the consent are only admissible if they aim to reverse the recommendation proposed by the rapporteur. Okay. ***Amending Regulation (EU) 2023/956 as regards simplifying and strengthening the carbon border adjustment mechanism”
  Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)
• “Thanks a lot. And this leads me to the announcement that there's a deadline for amendments 26th of June. And of course, the amendments can only on paragraph one to give or not to give the consent to the agreement. Okay. Thanks a lot. This concludes the Inter part of today. And of course the coordinators meeting should start only at 5:30. Are the political groups able to motivate their coordinators to come a little bit earlier? So three of them are here. That's really great. What do you think? What a pass. Is this realistic? Yeah. Perhaps the Secretariat and the political group advisors can work together. Let's try. Quarter past. Huh? That would be great. Okay. Short break.”
  Transparency requirements of EU institutions
• “And fourthly, in the tender in the public procurement regulation of the past, we have as a most relevant criteria, the price criteria. That's the only criteria. And then, of course, we modified it a little bit to the more economically feasible criteria. I guess now we should go for the meat, the most economically advantageous trade tender, so that we can also cover some elements like social criteria and also the question of fair trade, we have it in the old regulation a little bit in. So the fair and equitable ethical trade should be promoted. I guess we can go a little bit closer to a more comprehensive approach, and therefore we promote it and ask for this meat approach. Um, and I hope that we can go ahead and find a compromise between us and push the commission a little bit to come faster. At the moment, it's foreseen for the first quarter of next year with the revision of the current legislation. Perhaps we can go a little bit faster. And for the ECR is Jack Matson is It's not. Not there. Mr. Colts.”
  EU policy on social criteria in public funding
• “Thanks a lot. And from my side. Matthias. Two additional questions. First, as you mentioned widely, we were as a winter in Washington. We discussed corridor of negotiations. Like Miriam said, a lot of elements where we could work together, specifically in the field of economic security. And then we took the plane back to Europe and opened our iPhone next morning. And then there was an increase in the tariffs on steel and aluminum from 25 to 50%. So this was a little bit, let's say disappointing negotiating. And during the negotiation process this increase came on. What was the reaction of the commission on that. Or is it normal process that the negotiating partner is increasing tariffs during the negotiation process? And secondly, Matthias, what is your assessment about the necessity of tariff income for the budget problem in the United States? So we have this beautiful tax bill where we have a really cut off tax income dramatically. You remember that also, this leads to a controversy between Musk and Trump. And therefore, it might be also necessary to stabilize the budget with tariffs. At the moment European Union is paying annually around about €7 billion tax. And now with this 50%, 25% and 10% baseline, it will be increasing to 100 billion. So this is a significant income, additional income. What is your assessment about this necessary for the United States budget to get income based on these unjustified tariffs? Matthias.”
  EU-US trade relations
• “Thank you, Mr. President. Minister. Moreover. The tariffs are unjustified. The Minister has made that point. For that reason, we need to be very clear in setting out our proposals. And, Mr. Morris, if a deal is now coming, then the criteria must be clear. Also, as a Parliament, we need to be clear on what we can accept. And I think it is clear with a deal we need to ensure that tariffs come down significantly immediately. And also we should have a standstill clause so that we don't have overnight new tariffs or different measures coming around the corner. Thirdly, it is also very clear that European law cannot be changed or watered down or evaded. Fourthly, we want an international system which is strengthened and not undermined by a deal, and that is in the interests of other countries in the WTO. If those criteria are not upheld, then we must adopt countermeasures, because it is very clear that the Rolling Stones have already said you can't always get what you want.”
  EU-US trade relations
• “Thanks a lot. And the last point is trickle down effect of course is really crucial. I always ask myself why this is not was not in the original proposal. Because this is really a big reason for small for small and medium sized enterprises to oppose to this legislation. And I can totally understand this. So I saw sometimes, uh, Questionnaires from big companies to small companies where I said, wow, this is unbelievable. And therefore, I guess this I guess we should really focus on. So, okay, as I mentioned and young as well, the timetable is quite tough. And this means that we are proposing to have, together with the rapporteur to use the simplified procedure under rule 52 two. And this means that we will set now a deadline for amendments the 2nd of June at high noon at 12:00, so that we can vote in July session between the 14th and 15th of July. I see no opposition to that. So we are using this simplified procedure. And the deadline once again is the 2nd of June at 12:00 high noon. Thanks a lot. Also, thanks a lot to the commission.”
  EU competences on taxation
• “Thanks a lot, Sabine. Yes, on the two legislative files in trilogue, I guess we are really on the same page. Mhm. Uh, yesterday in the trilogue, of course. Also the love between the European Parliament and the European Commission appeared. So indeed this is true. And regarding the doctrine, when I read this in the mission letter from Maros Sefcovic, I was really curious to hear about what this is. I know the Truman Doctrine, I know the Brezhnev Doctrine. And now the doctrine is coming. Let's see. Uh, now I give the floor to the political groups in the first round, and then we have the second round, and Jurgen is the first to 2.5 minutes.”
  EU political integration
• “We made an assessment. Yeah, it is an advantage not to make a clear declaration how many or how much percentage steel and aluminium is in a product. So it's better to have one tariff, but 25 is more than clubs before. The German Association for machinery analyzed that before the April regulation they had to pay an average 21% tariff. And with this new regulation, they have to pay 26%. So an increase of tariffs with this new regulation. And therefore, I guess we should really look to the concrete figures so that we have an an proper assessment. That's also relevant of course for our negotiation regarding the two files. Um if this is really the assessment that at the end of the day, this new regulation brings more tariffs than before. This is not a positive element. Even the motorcycles are accepted. Um, and secondly, on, on the, the the steel and aluminium and copper. We had of course in the deal from Scotland. Also the question regarding, uh, the proof for tech solution on that. Are there any negotiations going on? So is this still, uh, untouched since, uh, one year? Um, and, um, the, the, the, um, yeah, overall assessment, um, is, is, um, uh, the, the development regarding the bureaucratic burden, the different tariffs. Is this still a development which goes in the right direction. Are you? You think that the movement we see so far is still stabilizing or even making the situation worse, and that he is in this whole exercise about the assessment of these derivatives.”
  EU policy on custom fee on non-EU imports
• “And therefore we are working on that. And therefore, we have also a quite short deadline for amendments. But you want to come and conclude. So and the deadline for amendment is the 17th of April, quite two days and 12:00 high noon. This concludes the public part of the meeting this morning. Of course, I expect everybody coming back at 3:00 in the afternoon. And we will start with the coordinators meeting in one minute and you will cut the.”
  EU public communication strategy
• “And the next item is also quite interesting. I have no clue why anybody is leaving the room. Huh. So the next item is Indonesia. And beside all the bad news during the week end, I guess we got also a very good news that now the agreement in principle with Indonesia is concluded. And now some details have to be worked out. Indonesia with 285 million people, I guess fourth largest, largest countries in the world and big important part of the Asean community and also, I guess in the Indo-Pacific geopolitical also Important, and I guess we had now wound about 1920 rounds of negotiations. And we as a inter we are also present in Indonesia in March or April. It was where we pushed also quite intensively for this agreement and made also some of us not in the field of negotiation, but in regarding cooperation and looking how we can really have a fair partnership for the implementation. So therefore, I guess it's really a positive signal. And the whole exercise will be now introduced by Fabian Gil from the trade for about ten minutes, please.”
  Free trade agreements (FTAs)
• “Thanks a lot. And of course in the field of battery we need a lot and I guess we miss also some opportunities in the past. But now on the 10th I guess we will have also battery booster coming from the commission. So let's see what the future will bring. Thanks a lot. Mr. Glynn.”
  Sustainability of batteries regulation
• “Thanks a lot. And before giving the floor to the commission, perhaps for my side. One question. So in my mind I have the picture of the data highway where between Singapore and the European Union the data is flowing, uh, unlimited, but mainly owned by big companies because small and medium sized enterprises, they didn't really find the way to go on this highway. And perhaps also the fees are too high. So, uh, can you guarantee that this data flow is also in the interest in benefiting small and medium sized enterprises? Specifically regarding the fact that at the moment, the AI, um Development is mainly based on small and medium sized enterprises, and this is so crucial for the economic development. Uh, but perhaps Miss Vanda markovich, you can give me some, uh, explanation for that.”
  International data transfers
• “Thanks a lot. I guess you're quite right. That's really important to stabilize Moldova and to bring it to the European Union. Thanks a lot. I guess you have another report for the Philippines replacing Mr. Warburton, please.”
  EU-Moldova relations
• “Yeah, thanks a lot. Of course we will follow quite close the development of the revision of the Cbap. Thanks a lot. This concludes .5.6 is the monitoring group report. We have of course an integrated part of our work the monitoring groups. And we have now five monitoring groups which take place um took place during the last weeks. Uh, one was on uh the forced labor Regulation, which was adopted in 2024 and discussing together with the Member States Network and the stakeholder expert group. Uh, our rapporteur can't be here. Second monitoring group was on Thailand on the 4th of December. Caitlin.”
  Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)
• “So let's restart. And now the webstream is on. Okay. So welcome to everybody from Lüneburg to Ljubljana, from Cork to Constanza and even outside the European Union. Welcome to our Webstream point five is the carbon border adjustment mechanism in the new proposal by the Commission for Downstream goods and anti-circumvention measures. And this is really a quite important change in the cbam legislation so far. And I guess we are now keen to hear from the Commission. What is the background of that and which implications this will have? Also to our trading partners, I heard that Cbam was also some kind of element in the discussion with India yesterday, and I can imagine this question of downstream users and anti-circumvention will also lead to some further discussion with other trading partners. So therefore I give now the floor to Martin Becker from DG Taxud for ten minutes to to explain to us the background of this revision of the legislation and of course, also the implication of for trade policy. Please.”
  Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)
• “And I guess it's also clear that in the context of the EU Mercosur agreement, there is a lot of opportunities for European investment and this is also needed also in our talks to the government. They want to a project of Reindustrialisation of Brazil, and therefore European investment can play a big role in our talks with civil society and trade unions, of course. And we mentioned this also to representatives of the Brazilian government, the inclusion of civil society and trade union. The transparency could better. So we discuss, of course here in the European Union we have the domestic advisory group and and the monitoring group. And all elements of the agreement are on the website. There is room for improvement on the Brazilian side. That's that's for sure to take a civil society, trade unions in the discussion process on board. And of course with this new agreement, also this domestic advisory groups will be installed. And I guess that's also important for the civil society in Brazil. And this was also quite, um, well recognized. Um, and um, in general, I would say this partnership agreement was also clear, uh, in being a vital tool for the EU in maintaining its position in Latin America. Um, we have historic links, we have economic links. But, uh, the situation is a little bit different now. And therefore I think we should really look in this context also in our work, uh, of the ratification process. And the coordinators today will decide about the rapporteur on the Mercosur agreement. And we start with the work. This was, in short, my. Summary of the visit. And I give now the floor to the members in the delegation. And the first.”
  Trade relations with Mercosur
• “Thanks a lot. And from my side. Three three elements. So to be honest I didn't really understood how this Calculation for downstream products is done. So this washing machine you mentioned coming from Korea, from Samsung, how you fix the concrete, uh uh, fee, uh, they have to pay uh. Secondly, are third countries consulted in this question of downstream products. And thirdly, we have this famous Eu-us statement, uh, article or paragraph 11 where the EU commits to work to provide additional flexibilities in the Cbam implementation. Uh, is this reflected in the revision, uh, how this is related to this joint statement? And now I guess it's your turn. Mr. Becker.”
  Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)
• “So, um, I guess dear colleagues, having described this um um compromise, um, I think it's Of for me, really a positive outcome. We reached a lot of our. Impact we gave with our strong mandate. By the way, remember 417 votes in favor. So we could really discuss with the Council and the Commission that we reached this, as I call it, safety net. And I'm also quite convinced that this is giving a clear signal on the one hand, that we are sticking to our deal, to the commitment the European Union has given. But on the other side, we are also clear that the other side is breaching this deal, that we have a lot of possibilities to react. So therefore I can really, um, give you the advice to vote in favor of two. The two, um, files before now I give the floor to the shadow. Rapporteurs. I would really thank, um the negotiation team. Um, you can imagine that the whole discussion was under a tremendous political pressure from outside sometimes also from inside. Uh, and I'm really thankful that suffered this Giacomo and my assistant Frank sitting in the back really worked sometimes really day and night. And, uh, really also in the meetings with on technical level, stick to the mandate of the Parliament, and without them, I guess we couldn't really reach such a good agreement. So thanks a lot to the three of us. So. And now.”
  EU-Ukraine relations
• “Thanks a lot. And from my side also to general question first. At the moment I feel that you are really requesting and asking for defensive or protective measures. Also this question of local content. So I've not really a clue what a local content is. Is this a part which is produced by European companies, or it is a part which is produced in Europe? And what is the rules of origin on that. So looking to an electric vehicle at the moment, I would not say that is really more than 40%. Is that that really a lot of added value is produced in Europe looking to the battery at the moment and the electronic and the tires. And so we had also this discussion with the United Kingdom about the rules of origin of electric vehicle at the moment. So and I'm personally I'm driving a polo from Volkswagen and this is produced in South Africa. Is this a European product? I have no clue. So therefore a lot of questions. What a local content is. So would be an offensive strategy in going into innovation. Uh, to be again the technology leader of the world. The better strategy in instead of defending or creating walls around Europe. And secondly, uh, we need more materials for our innovation. No doubt about. But should we not looking in our responsibility to the Global South and being a reliable partner to the countries of the Global South, also in supporting added value in their development with our approach getting rarer? So we have the agreement with Chile where we have these double pricing for lithium, which is also relevant for batteries, so that they can really go ahead in processing lithium, and also perhaps going in the direction of creating a battery factory or with green hydrogen, so that we are supporting with the European projects as a project in Chile as well. So is this not a kind of responsibility for us? So, um, I will give the floor in the same order, I guess, um, to Mr. Guyot first.”
  "Buy European" provisions
• “Immediately to the next point, this is our ratification process of this whole package of the relation of this agreement to the relation with Switzerland. And I give immediately again the floor to Jürgen, replacing Aaravpatel, please.”
  EU-Switzerland relations
• “Thanks a lot. So there was a little bit confusion because I didn't get the message that Nacho is replacing this routine, and I give him now the floor for two minutes to present the position of the Afet rapporteur.”
  EU competences on foreign affairs
• “So a lot of this, 90 days are gone. And, um, nobody knows exactly what will happen on the 9th of July. Um, we, uh, are ready to defend our economic interests. And I'm happy that, uh, the commission and the council could agree on a first list of countermeasures regarding the tariffs on steel and aluminium. This is also, um, ready, and it's, um, taken on hold because of this, uh, 90 days, uh, reduction of this, uh, with the tariffs. Um, and the second list is in the making so that if there is no agreement on the 9th of July, we can set our list as a countermeasure into force. And I guess we should also be ready for that because, uh, in my understanding, Mr. Trump is only negotiating if the counterpart is also ready to demonstrate that he or she is economically powerful and strict. He published a tweet quite recently, I guess, one week ago, where he said, uh, Mr. XI from China is a really well-liked man because he is clear and he is strong. And with such a position, we can make a deal. The commission is now negotiating after some weeks where we have just talks now the commission is negotiating. And Matthias, we have, of course, some question regarding this negotiation. First, what is what is the state of play? Is there an outcome reachable for before the 9th of July? So it's, uh, um, only a few weeks left, and I guess we need more than a press release.”
  EU-US trade relations
• “Yeah. Thanks a lot. Quite interesting. And that is really a key element of our industrial policy that we have a proper protection of IPR. And this Tamu and Sian issue is quite relevant 4.6 billion packages last year. It's not easy to control and therefore it's a big challenge. Thanks a lot. This concludes item ten of our agenda.”
  Intellectual property rights (IPR)
• “President, Commissioner. Colleagues, I'd like to make four points about these two reports. And the first. And here I'm going to quote a song from the good old days of rock. Don't let me be misunderstood. It's clear to me that a deal is not an agreement. An agreement that we negotiate has commitments and safeguards. And a dispute settlement mechanism and the possibility to build upon it. Now, all of that is not in the deal in from Scotland. So that's why I think we need to do more work on it as the Parliament, to make sure that we have a good basis for cooperation with the United States. And it is clear that the debt is relatively one sided. We accept that the USA would have 15% duties on all goods. Until now, it's been an average of 3%. And then for steel and aluminium, we would accept 50% as in the past, and we are supposed to have zero tariffs on the industrial goods that we import and on agricultural goods. Now, of course, that's imbalanced, but if we could improve it, maybe we can live with it. But there are two. There's another thing I want to say. Well, I was, uh, following this last week because from the US, we were seeing that there was some sort of disregard for this agreement. **Bernd LANGE There were the derivatives. I don't know why they're called that. So these are products that contain steel and aluminium. And they went from 15% up to 50%. And that was after the deal was concluded. We've seen what happened with Greenland and now we have 122, which is providing a new basis to increase some tariffs above 50%. So there's been a certain amount of uncertainty here as well. And that's why we do need to create some certainty so that we can have an agreement with sensible rules and ones that we can define, but keep on running. We're working on it and we want to progress. So that's why we've got a whole list of demands. And the first one is to have the sunrise clause. We want to make sure that these uncertainties are. Addressed. So those products from 50% should go back down to 15%. And we want to make sure that there's a new legal basis because 122 is going to run out in the next few days, and there shouldn't be any more increases higher than 15% and we have 301 as the legal basis. Then we want to have the sunset clause as well, so that if there's a big change on the other side, that's unacceptable. We can then come back to our tariffs.”
  EU-US trade relations
• “Thanks a lot. But of course, there is always the question of what consequences it will have for other trade partners. So once again, for me, it can't be that overcapacity from China is bad. But overcapacity from Europe is good because we are earning money of that. So once again, we are producing in Europe per year. What about 12 million cars and we are exporting 5 million of them. So is this overcapacity? Is this good or not? So we have to really also question ourselves before attacking on being aggressive against others. So this has to be a balance. And perhaps one question from my side a little bit. Also taking on board the question of Mr. Alvarez regarding the 15th five year plan of China and also the National Congress recently, where they, of course, stick to this evolution policy. So they want to accelerate industrial production. But at the same time, they also recognized that the domestic demand is too low and they want to stimulate that. And this is, of course, for for this pressure for export also important. Have you any indication how this might be working and how perhaps the European Union can also, let's say, stimulate or support such a stronger demand inside China? I give now the floor to the commissioner, I guess. Yes, please.”
  Trade relations with China
• “Nobody knows what the next step in the United States will be. So we have to guarantee that on our side, we expect that will be not more than 15% as agreed in Scotland. And if not, then of course we have the chance to suspend this exercise, um and some other conditions as well. And I guess now it's really um good and reasonable, um instrument to react if there is a really breach of the trade deal on the US side. Third s my favorite the steel and aluminium so-called derivatives. Um so dear colleagues, I'm still not really convinced that a washing machine, a motorcycle is a so-called derivative and a car. Not um both have steel and aluminium in for me it's really an, let's say, US industrial driven exercise to bring some products over the In percent tariff and with a slight change in on the 2nd of April. Now these products are tariffed with 25% and even in some cases more than 25%. And it's evident that 25% is not 15%. And therefore, we make clear that we want to have a clear commitment and a clear action by the United States that this products round about 400 products should be reduced to 15%, as agreed in Scotland last year. And we said also a deadline to the end of the year. If this will not happen, then we will put on this specific products like washing machine Tell us again to us products as well.”
  EU-US trade relations
• “Thank you, Madam President. Minister, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen. I had a discussion with the important CEO saying that we've been very naive here vis a vis China. I said we weren't being naive. This was economic policy strategy. Wage costs were low, but the and the environmental costs were low and hence the. Manufacturing is now in China. 70% of lithium is being, uh, is being processed in China even if it's not mined there. So it's the processing, this issue. So this is a question we need to answer how we want to become more strategically, or how we can strengthen other provisions and supplies from other countries. And this dependency that is our responsibility, uh, needs to be got rid of visa. The China. We all also want to talk to China. So they act fairly according to WTO rules and stick to that. The license fees and the procedures involved with critical raw materials being mined needs to be looked at, and that has to be the object of the summit in July.”
  Trade relations with China
• “And if there are no objections raised until the end of the meeting, they are adopted. We have also 0.4 approval of the minutes of our meeting from the 16th of June. From the 23rd and 24th of June. And the 14th and 15th of July. And the same is valid here. If there are no objections until the end of the meeting, they are adopted. And then we are coming to point five exchange of views with the International Labour Organization. Uh, and specifically also looking to some uh, individual country cases, uh, discussed the committee. Um, we um, uh, had normally, uh, an exchange in person. This was unfortunately due to several reasons not possible. And, uh, secondly, I have to inform you that there is no interpretation. It's only in English so that we have to stick to English in the discussion. So, um, I welcome, um, our, uh, guest, Miss Corinne Varga, the director of international Labour Standards department at the ILO. Hello. Good to see you again. And we are focusing on, uh, the, um, situation after the 130 session of the International Labour Conference. Uh, and also some specific relation to the policy of the European Union and of course, specifically also regarding Belarus, Myanmar, Vietnam and Pakistan and the situation regarding labour rights there. And I give now, Corinne the floor for about ten, 15 minutes, please.”
  EU policy on labour exploitation in global supply chains
• “Thanks a lot. But and this negotiation is really going quite slow, but keep us informed. Thanks a lot. So next point is, um, point 17 Global Gateway Past Impacts and future orientation report. Um by Afet and deve joined and we are doing an opinion and the rapporteurs theory. And regarding some experience I had uh quite recently about the governance structure of global gateway. It's really important to have a look on that. And I give the floor for five minutes.”
  Global priorities for international development
• “One member is missing in his her vote. Uh, okay. Let me close the vote. And, uh, a lot of people I have been happy to have entire meetings here in Strasbourg. Great. So, uh, then we will come to the consent vote on the agreement. As such. And in the name of the rapporteur, there is. Somebody wants to take the floor here, please, Mr. Barnier. Thank you. Chair. I will express.”
  EP seat in Strasbourg
• “I guess it's not a nice behavior. Therefore, I would say this was the time, right, time to establish our countermeasures. But this is history. This is the past. Now we have to look how to go ahead. And therefore, of course, we are looking to this legislative proposal. And the Yeah. The question is, what doing with products, uh, where the United States are really putting them under the 50% of steel and aluminium. Should we really bring pumps from the United States, motorcycles from the United States, and 400 other products to zero, knowing that our products are not covered by the 15%, but much higher? I don't think so. That is the right way. And this links also to the question of 50% steel and aluminium in general. Um, my understanding of the so-called deal was that there is a process to reduce this unjustified 50% of steel and aluminium. And I see at the moment no steps. Perhaps you can give me a hint where the steps are for getting this in on the right track. There was also a big difference between the communication of the commission and the joint statement. And um, um, regarding the. Legislative proposal. My proposal would be also shouldn't be there a sunset clause because nobody knows exactly what will happen in the United States and how we can review our position if there are developments which are going in a different direction.”
  EU-US trade relations
• “So it's totally clear the fourth biggest trading partner should be based on stable relation and therefore this package of a lot of different legislation was well received. But of course, this Switzerland position of being sovereign and not part of the European Union, this was always coming through. So they want to be strong and independent. But on the other side, they want to be close to the European Union. And now they started similar to us. The ratification process, it was the package, the different legislation and explanation by the government. What about 10,000 pages really? A book was given to our parliamentarian colleagues in Bern, and they will discuss it in the different institutions. So even I had to learn that the cantons are playing a big role in the decision making process, and the system is different to us. And the second big difference is that at the end of the day, there is a people's vote, a public vote about this package, which might be coming on the agenda this year, might be even next year. So we will continue the dialogue with our friends in Switzerland. But it's a tricky issue, and therefore we should really avoid any kind of disruption of our relation, which might be lead to a negative approach in this public discussion. Two of the members, though, one was, um, Celina Zovko, and she is not here, but Jürgen will present their statement.”
  EU-Switzerland relations
• “Thanks a lot, Jürgen. And in addition, I guess, um, I would really focus on some main points because in this situation, we should not look for a huge basket of different elements. We should really try to set priorities. And I guess prior to you, one is really the governance structure. And Jürgen mentioned the annual. Procedure so that we have annual meetings to have a more intensive discussion. Secondly, the integration of lateral agreements. And thirdly, I guess also the reform of the unanimity decision. So at least a country should justify why the country is against a procedure. So governance structure. Secondly, looking to the status quo where we are and what we can do, and I guess the integration and the clear accepting of the investment facilitation agreement is top priority. And as well the e-commerce and the question of the moratorium. So In this. Of course, we have to speak to a country where we concluded just two hours ago and wonderful trade agreement with India. And I guess India should take the responsibility for this status quo and the finalisation of this as well. Perhaps we can discuss with our Indian partners this again.”
  EU political integration
• “Perfect. Thanks a lot. And now we are switching to the first panel. First panel is dealing with the economic relations. And of course a little bit I guess economic interest and I'm happy that Francois Mouton de La Salle, the managing director for Europe of the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers, is here with me and Miss Kirsten Maria Chhabria, the international labour standard expert at ILO Regional Office for the Arab States, is connected remotely. So both experts will have five minutes to give an update regarding the economic relations regarding the labour situation. And then we have some minutes for question and answers. Mr. Mouton.”
  EU policy on labour exploitation in global supply chains
• “Yeah, perfect. Thanks a lot. And Nico, so jagged Salami is protected and that's really good. And because it tastes quite well. So I like it. Thanks a lot to everybody. I was the first discussion about this. Conclusion of the negotiations. The text is on the website so everyone can look to it. And I hope, Christoph, that we see each other quite soon. For the start of the ratification. Thanks a lot. So next point is the vote. The vote on point 16. The AI report. And before starting with the AI report, I will make a test vote. And the question is, do you have had a good Easter time? The vote is the time. Good eastern time. The vote is open.”
  Food waste
• “Perhaps you can give me some some clarification. So what is the legal basis of this negotiation? Is this article 201207 or what is it? And related to this question? Um, is there a UN mandate in the making for the negotiations? And what is what is the ground where you're negotiating on? And thirdly, you talked about this negotiation guidelines or whatever. Um, was this presented to the council? And why it was not presented to the Parliament?”
  EU competences on foreign affairs
• “Good. Dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to this extraordinary meeting of the International Trade Committee of the European Parliament. There is a proposal for an agenda. Any objections to the agenda? I see nobody with his or her hand. So the agenda is adopted. Point two chair's announcement. This meeting is web streamed as usual. So welcome from Lüneburg to Ljubljana, from Tallinn to Thessaloniki. And I guess due to the fact we have on the agenda today also. Welcome to our guests from the United States, and we have interpretation here with us, of course. Therefore, please speak in a moderate way and not too quick. Um, we have point three the coordinator's decision of the meeting of the 6th of May. They will be included in the minutes of this meeting. And if there are no objections until the end of this meeting, they are adopted and point for the minutes of the meeting of the 15th and 16th of April, which will be also approved, unless there are any objections until the end of this meeting, and point five and six are, I guess, the main points of today. The joint debate about the two files regarding the so-called Turnberry um deal and this two legislative files are the first step of the implementation of the EU side on this deal. Uh, regarding the commitment of cranberry, that we should really reduce the tariffs for us industrial goods and some agricultural goods to zero. Uh, so it was agreed between President Trump and Ursula von der Leyen on the 27th of July in Scotland last year.”
  EU-US trade relations
• “Thanks a lot. But of course, it's also an important piece of multilateral development. So thanks a lot. And first phase. Second phase is not so easy task. I remember the fishery agreement first phase and the second phase is in the air. So let's really focus on the finalization of the first phase and we will support you on that. And of course Inter will follow the development. So thanks a lot. This is concluding the item five. And we switch now to item six.”
  Fisheries access for developing countries
• “I guess we will have a chat with the commissioner also quite soon. Now we have two guests from the agri committee and from the Pesh committee. And Meera Burroughs from the agri committee is the first.”
  EU engagement with civil society
• “Thanks a lot. Second round. This time I will start with again the United States. So the alternative trade war or deal is not our alternative. We always said, regardless if you like or not like the deal, we are sticking to the deal. And I guess also our American friends can look to the compromise amendments. We worked out after a long process with different political groups. And this compromise amendments, you mentioned the five. So everybody can look to that is in the frame of the deal. We are sticking to the deal And we hope that the United States also sticking to the deal. That's a question. They are doing it not they are breaking the deal. And yeah, you mentioned you hope that we have better news. I got yeah, hope is good, but security is better. And if you can guarantee something, I would really accept it. But at the moment, of course, I'm also optimistic, man. No doubt about it. I'm. I'm from the north of Germany. We are all optimistic people because of the storms and the wind and so on. We have to be. But just to have hope is not sufficient. And and secondly, you mentioned there need time to figure out how much time what is what is the time limit to to that. And secondly, you you missed my question. What kind of what the next mini deals will be. Okay, so two minutes is the first.”
  EU-US trade relations
• “Thanks a lot. And from my side. We are looking now for our market. But of course this redirection is also an item for markets outside the European Union and the competitiveness of European exporters. This is not covered at the moment by your dashboard. Have you this also in mind and is there a context to perhaps data base in third countries or WTO or whatever, so that we have a view on that as well? And also perhaps what can we do to support our exports to us in on certain markets.”
  Export of EU agri-food products
• “So next point is point nine. The Switzerland, as you know. Luckily, after a long time of negotiations, we had really the possibility now to have a yeah, let's say a framework which is bringing a lot of agreements together. And it's also a little bit a dynamic basis for further relation. And I hope that this can be stabilized. The relation between Switzerland and the European Union and also lift a little bit the jungle of up to 100 different agreements we have so far between Switzerland and the European Union. And now we have in this package a lot of elements on food safety, on health, on electricity and financial contribution, on economic and social cohesion in the union, and the participation of several programmes of Switzerland to the EU programmes. Um, the integration in the European Space Agency and so on. We received the referral from the Council on the 10th of March and besides the discussion we have now, we will go to Switzerland, to Bern, um, in the week before Easter. And this is exactly the right timing to discuss it with our Switzerland counterparts. And of course, they have also a big duty to bring this package through their democratic structure. I guess they had also to organize a public vote on on that. So, um, having said that, I give. Of course now with pleasure the floor to our standing rapporteur Celina.”
  EU-Switzerland relations
• “This meme for the pump industry round about 50%, and they will really have no chance to be on the market. And they have to take over the bureaucratic Burden and make clear to the customer authority in the United States how many steel and aluminum are in their products. So this is not stability and predictability. And on Monday last week we saw a post on two social. This is a new communication unit of the US government I guess, where we saw that countries having digital tax, having the DMA, DSA are under threat to get additional tariffs and export restrictions for semiconductors also. That is not my understanding of security and predictability. So I guess this argument is really not valid. I guess the main argument is that we are really in a security partnership with the United States, and the United States It's made pressure specifically regarding Ukraine to accept this unbalanced deal. And in my understanding now the duty is so the the so-called deal is there. We can't change it. Um, of course, a lot of us would have a different strategy, different tactic. We had our countermeasures ready and so on and so on. By the way, during the negotiations, so-called negotiations. So the increased the tariffs on steel from 25% to 50%.”
  EU-US trade relations
• “Thank you very much. Madam president, Commissioner, I agree with the analysis that has been made for the clean industrial deal. I think we need to perhaps get down to details a bit more. Now, you have said that the energy prices are key to competitiveness. So are you going to change state aid rules, for example, provide some compensation in terms of these energy prices? I think we need to flesh things out a little bit here. And then when it comes, uh, to, uh, uh, foreign policy, we need to look at that as well. So we have to perhaps be a bit more defensive when we're looking at tariffs from the U.S. on steel, for example. So if we have an issue of steel not coming onto the European market anymore, but we also need to be offensive so that we can really get the raw materials that we need. And the resources that we need in Europe can still be imported. Thank you very much.”
  State Aid
• “52:22 – 15:52:58): So we are now switching to point six and the next delegation will go to Yahounde in Cameroon and we have the MC fourteen and we requested as coordinators a paper the role of the WTO in EU trade state of play ahead of WTO MC fourteen and I give immediately the floor to mister Steve Wulock who will present the paper and the result for ten minutes please thank”
  EU-Cameroon relations
• “Thanks a lot. And I give the floor to thought the vice chair of the delegation to the National Congress of China. Markita granola. **Markéta GREGOROVÁ Yes. Different chair today. Thank you. I would like to urge this committee to completely discard the lens of classical economics today. What the data shows us for decades already is not a market failure, an accident of rapid development, or a temporary misallocation of capital. I want to set a clear baseline for this point on behalf of the China delegation today. Chinese overcapacity in EVs, lithium ion batteries and semiconductors is a highly calculated, state directed geopolitical strategy. It's designed to flood our single market, artificially suppress global prices and bankrupt European producers before they have the chance to scale. We have already lived through the consequences of inaction. We watched heavily subsidized dumping completely hollow out once thriving solar industry in Saxony and across Europe. We traded short term cheap green tech for long term strategic dependency. We absolutely cannot allow the European automotive and critical hardware sectors to suffer the exact same fate. When we discuss our response today, we must acknowledge that our traditional trade defence instruments are too slow. Anti-dumping investigation takes 14 months. By the time a tariff lands, the European competitor is already insolvent. We must federalise and accelerate our economic statecraft. First, we need to preemptive application of the foreign subsidies regulation. Launching ex officio investigations. The moment data indicates dumping. Second, we must pull the revenue from punitive tariffs to directly fund our own domestic manufacturing and the Industrial Accelerator Act. Thirdly, we must stop pretending these subsidized experts are just cheap metal and glass. This is where we must aggressively leverage the new Cyber Security Act by implementing its trusted ICT supply chain framework. The commission will gain executive power to classify state subsidized authoritarian vendors as high risk, and this will allow us to instantly lock them out of our energy grid and public procurement entirely. Colleagues, we cannot regulate a command economy using the polite tools of open market fundamentalism. We must aggressively defend our reindustrialisation. Thank you.”
  Chinese clean tech competition: trade barriers and investment caps vs. open market · Trade relations with China
• “We have two files, the so-called lobster proposal and the main file on industrial goods and agriculture goods. And we have first today an exchange of views and then the vote of the outcome of the interinstitutional negotiations, which took place during the night of the 19th to the 20th of May, uh, two weeks ago in Strasbourg and 945, we will have the vote on the provisional agreement between the two institutions. And after that, we will have the files on the agenda of the plenary for the 16th of June. So next week in Strasbourg. And if this could be then signed quite smooth, it will be published quite soon then in the official journal. So on the substance of the two files and the negotiation, and I have to say this was quite a tough negotiations. It took three trilogues and we had two trialogues during the night, and we had really tough discussions about the content and the modification of the proposal by the commission. Um, the lobster deal, dear colleagues, was not so problematic because it is a continuous issue, um which was introduced in 2018 under Trump one as a good sign, as a good mood from the European Union towards the United States for de-escalation. And more or less, we continue this also in the framework of WTO. And there will be also a sunset of this lobster deal until the 31st of July 2030.”
  EU-US trade relations
• “Without asking the parliament. Yes, I understood, but the reason you explained are not valid. I remember we had also the agreement with the United Kingdom where we got the consent of the Parliament in two days. So the time pressure is not an explanation for not respecting the framework agreement. To make this crystal clear regarding the contents, we will discuss this. This procedure by the Commission is for me totally unacceptable. And I am reflecting now. Perhaps we could not accept the framework Agreement. If the Commission is not really accepting what the framework agreement is, um, foreseen. So, um, now we have the rapporteur. Oh, where is she? Ah. Oh, for three minutes, please.”
  Transparency requirements of EU institutions
• “Thanks a lot, Giulio. And indeed so you know, the legislative term is ending on the 17th of July, 2029, and I would really like to have the ratification done before. And perhaps you can really answer to. Perhaps for the mid-term in 26. So 17 July 26th, so that we can really rush through this ratification process. But I'm also interested to hear your comments. So for the S&D shadow, it's kind of a BMT. She's not here. But Brando is replacing her for two minutes.”
  EU political integration
• “Chairman. Mr. president, president von der Leyen. Colleagues, I come from the north of Germany. We say. That if you feel the wind of change, some people will look for safe harbor and others set sail. In view of today's situation in the world, there is no safe harbor. And we're not able to avoid the obstacles that we're facing. So quite clearly, we really have to focus on defending our own interests. Meaning, you know, we're going to decide this afternoon with regard to the Scottish deal, that we will not follow that deal because we don't know. Exactly how much security that will bring us or how, you know, since the US has now violated that agreement. Secondly, we do have, however, the option of tariffs on US products, uh, which was developed last year and this it's time as of February for us to use that as a clear sign to our American friends that we will not be blackmailed. And the anti coercion measures also must come into play. And naturally we have to look into possible dialogue and then take measures. And that's why we have the legislation in the first place so that we, you know can use these trade instruments and it's time to start making steps towards that. We need to set sail, and we need to take things into our own hands and sail out for the future of Europe.”
  EU-US trade relations
• “Thanks a lot. And from my side, four points. First, of course, I have a different view regarding the United States and the breaking of the agreement. For me, it's clear that the United States have broken the agreement several times. Some weeks after the deal of Scotland, we reintroduce the lifting from 15 to 50% of the so-called derivatives. And this is harming day by day, small and medium sized enterprises in Europe. And I can invite you come to this company and explain to the people there that they are losing their jobs because they are not able to export to the United States anymore. And we have the Greenland issue. And then now we have tariffs, which are much higher than the 15% for cheese, for example. It's not 15 anymore, it's now 30%. So a totally different view. And my question is then of course, as you mentioned, there will be some clarification. And so in my point of view at the moment, there is no guarantee what is what is the format of clarification? It's a written letter, a post from, from the president and through social. What is the clarification and when will it come? So this is important for us. Second point on Mercosur Argentina. Argentina will finalize the work on Friday likely. And they will notify it next week. So what will we do?”
  EU-US trade relations
• “Agnes, thanks a lot. Dear colleagues, dear commissioners. Yes, indeed. We are standing in solidarity with Ukraine. We did it for several times and with several instruments. So we did the MFA to Ukraine. We allowed to export products from Ukraine. We reformed the TCA with Ukraine. And now it's totally evident that Ukraine needs fresh money to protect themselves. And therefore I guess we should go ahead and support Ukraine also with this 19 billion loans. Thanks a lot.”
  Russia-Ukraine conflict (10th term)
• “And we have to explain that we are really keen that civil society, business trade unions are involved in the implementation of specifically the TSD chapter of the trade agreement. But in some trade agreements, we have also the whole trade agreement covered. So I guess it's a quite challenging job for the domestic advisory group. But nevertheless, it makes in some elements also, um, sense. And for, for me, it's also a really crucial important to have a clear assessment about the working and the obstacles of the current domestic violence groups. This gives some impact for future trade agreements. And also perhaps we see the necessity for improvement in the work of the existing domestic advisory groups. I guess sometimes also the question of qualification, the question of financial resources, the question of cooperation between domestic groups here in Europe and in the partner countries. So there are a lot of elements which have to be really under investigation and sometimes really, uh, also, uh, under improvement. So, uh, we have, uh, the DAC coordinator and the, uh, External relation section here with us from the Economic and Social Committee. Tanya, welcome. And we have some representatives from the Dax from EU, Japan. From the Andean community and from EU, Kenya. And we are really keen to hear from them. Their experience and of course hopefully some advice for further improvement and what. We should ask to the Commission to do good. Thanks a lot, Tanya. Five minutes.”
  Free trade agreements (FTAs)
• “And said because he didn't manage to have a proper understanding with Carmel. Yeah, but now we have the shadow rapporteurs. It's Lidia Pereira for the EPP for three minutes.”
  EU political integration
• “Thanks a lot. Of course, there is a broad support, and I personally also think in this world of fragmentation, it's important to have stable trade relations with partners like the UAE. Perhaps I'm also a little bit hyper sensible regarding the communication between the Commission and the European Parliament. But the coordinators mandated me to send a letter, a letter to the Commission, on this question of communication and transparency. We did it, I guess, two months, three months ago, and we didn't had, well, two months perhaps, and we didn't get any answer on that. So I guess the good cooperation we had so far on transparency and cooperation, we should really continue on and hopefully we can have a proper mood in reaching our common goals. So thanks a lot, Mr. Delvaux.”
  Transparency requirements of EU institutions