Nicola PROCACCINI

Policy topics Nicola PROCACCINI is active on

What Nicola PROCACCINI has said (23)

• 2026-06-17 “(09:29:45 – 09:32:06): Thank you, president. The priority that must guide the heads of state and government at the upcoming European Council is the strategic competitiveness of our continent. But competitiveness isn't created in the offices of Brussels. It's built on the ground. It's fostered through common sense, and it is, defended with resolve. This means, 1st and foremost, changing our approach to the regime in Beijing. Europe must respond decisively to unfair competition, the mismatch, when it comes to critical raw materials, and a complete lack of reciprocity that threatens to undermine our industrial base. But we cannot have proper economy without a strong security framework. This means that we must remain steadfast in our support for the Ukrainian people and maintaining political pressure on the Iranian regime. Security also means being able to defend Europe's borders against mass illegal immigration. In just a few hours, we will cast a historic vote with a new returns regulation. Europe is taking back control of its own destiny. Those who are not entitled to asylum will be swiftly returned to their countries of origin while those who genuine qualify for protection, will be welcomed to those who can contribute through their skills and their willingness to embrace our values. For years, the leftist utopia of open borders for all prevailed. The result has been thousands of deaths at sea, the expansion of human trafficking, and growing insecurity and urban decline across our cities. Only a few years ago, when we conservatives, together with the Italian government and the council, called for a shift in this house, a shift for relocate from relocating migrants within Europe to managing migration flows beyond Europe's borders, we were ridiculed, insulted, and silenced by a majority unwilling to listen to reason. Today, a new majority inspired by common sense is on the verge of removing 1 of the deepest sources of concern for the peoples of Europe. Let us do what is right for ourselves and for the generations that will follow.”
  Asylum & border control
• 2025-06-18 “E-002449/2025 Answer given by Ms Albuquerque on behalf of the European Commission Tackling sanctions circumvention is a top priority for the EU. The EU maintains an active dialogue, including with Kyrgyzstan, to tackle circumvention of EU sanctions, asking third countries to cooperate in preventing the re-export of battlefield items in the Common High Priority list (CHP) 1 , list of specific prohibited dual-use goods and advanced technology items critical to the development, production or use of Russian military systems. The EU Sanctions Envoy travelled to Kyrgyzstan in 2023. He has also met with Kyrgyz authorities during their visits to Brussels. Kyrgyzstan committed to control the re-export of CHP items to Russia. The Commission continues to monitor the situation regarding third country entities that may contribute to the circumvention of sanctions against Russia. Sanctions have been imposed on several such entities, including two companies from Kyrgyzstan. In August 2024, Kyrgyzstan introduced two restrictions in its financial sector: (1) decree prohibiting Kyrgyz banks from operating with sanctioned Russian banks; (2) decree prohibiting Kyrgyz banks from processing transactions for goods which do not arrive in the territory of Kyrgyzstan. Since the 14th sanctions package against Russia 2 , the EU has in place a ban for EU banks to use the financial messaging system SPFS 3 . The measure also allows the EU to draw up a list of non-Russian third country banks connected to such system; those banks will be banned from doing business with EU operators. In addition, the 14th package also introduced a ban on transactions with banks and crypto assets services, in Russia and third countries, that facilitate transactions supporting Russia's defence-industrial base. These measures have been expanded in the recent 18 th package. 4 1 https://finance.ec.europa.eu/publications/list-common-high-priority-items_en. 2 https://finance.ec.europa.eu/eu-and-world/sanctions-restrictive-measures/sanctions-adopted-following-russiasmilitary-aggression-against-ukraine_en. 3 System for Transfer of Financial Messages, Russian equivalent of the SWIFT financial transfer system 4 among others by making it possible to prohibit transactions with listed third country banks and other financial institutions that frustrate the EU sanction measures or support Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:L_202501494.”
  EU policy on Central Asia · EU-Russia relations (from March 2022) · EU-Kyrgyzstan relations
• 2025-05-21 “E-002050/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Séjourné on behalf of the European Commission The Commission is aware of the issue raised by the Honourable Members and concerned about its impact on consumer health and safety as well as on unfair competition for EU producers. The Commission therefore calls on the co-legislator to swiftly adopt the customs reform and to reinforce it with an e-commerce handling fee. The Commission also announced a priority control area between customs, market surveillance and other authorities to control goods imported through the main marketplaces to assess compliance with EU legislation and trigger enforcement action. The E-commerce Communication 1 proposes measures to address challenges posed by ecommerce imports. It focusses on protecting consumers shopping online, making full use of the enforcement tools of the Digital Services Act 2 , the Digital Markets Act 3 , the General Product Safety Regulation 4 and the Consumer Protection Cooperation Regulation 5 , and proposes using digital tools as the Digital Product Passport 6 to supervise the e-commerce landscape. The comprehensive reform of the Universal Postal Union remuneration system in 2019 put an end to the privileges of certain countries categorized as developing for cross-border shipping. E-commerce sellers from these countries may now use either Postal Services Directive 7 universal service tariffs that are subject to affordability, transparency, cost-orientation and non-discrimination requirements or negotiate tariffs directly with postal operators on market terms. One of the objectives of the future EU Delivery Act 8 , that should replace the Postal Services Directive and the Regulation on cross-border parcel delivery services 9 , will be to ensure a level playing field between market participants, increase price transparency and support consumer rights. 1 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=COM:2025:37:FIN. 2 Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, OJ L 277, 27.10.2022, p. 1–102. 3 Regulation (EU) 2022/1925, OJ L 265, 12.10.2022, p. 1–66. 4 Regulation (EU) 2023/988, OJ L 135, 23.5.2023, p. 1–51. 5 Regulation (EU) 2017/2394, OJ L 345, 27.12.2017, p. 1–26. 6 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=OJ:L_202401781. 7 Directive 97/67/EC (as amended by Directives 2002/39/EC and 2008/6/EC), OJ L. 15, 21.1.1998, p. 14-25. 8 Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions – The Single Market: our European home market in an uncertain world, COM(2025) 500 final, 21.5.2025, p. 20. 9 Regulation (EU) 2018/644, OJ L 112, 2.5.2018, p. 19-28.”
  Trade relations with China · EU policy on custom fee on non-EU imports
• 2024-12-02 “E-002720/2024 Answer given by Mr McGrath on behalf of the European Commission It is within the competence of the Member States to apply public policy and public security measures to prevent violence and hooliganism at sports events. If the persons concerned consider that their rights have been violated, national courts would be competent to assess their claim, in accordance with the applicable national law. General EU consumer protection legislation does not regulate the consequences of the intervention by national authorities, such as in this case, resulting in the impossibility for consumers to use a booked service. Such situations must be addressed under the applicable national law. However, if the affected consumers had booked a travel package within the meaning of Directive (EU) 2015/2302 1 , it could be assessed whether the packages may be cancelled due to unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances, in which case travellers are entitled to a refund. In any event, the Commission has no competence to intervene in disputes between individual service providers and consumers. This is within the competence of national dispute resolution bodies and courts 2 . As for the reimbursement of travel expenses, EU rules do not provide for any passenger right in case the passenger is prevented from travel and has to cancel the reservation. The passenger’s entitlement to a refund depends on the carrier’s terms and conditions. As stated in the First progress report of the EU Strategy on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life 3 , the Commission and the Union of European Football Associations adopted in June 2022 the third cooperation agreement. One of the main objectives is to promote European values through the power of football, which is reflected by emphasizing the importance of football in the prevention of and fight against racism and antisemitism in Europe. 1 Directive (EU) 2015/2302 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015 on package travel and linked travel arrangements, amending Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 and Directive 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directive 90/314/EEC. OJ L 326, 11.12.2015, p. 1–33. 2 Information on EU consumer rights, the competent national authorities, European Consumer Centres, consumer organisations and dispute resolution mechanisms is available at: https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/index_en.htm; https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-andpolicy/policies/consumers/consumer-protection-policy/our-partners-consumer-issues/national-consumerbodies_en 3 Adopted on 14 October 2024; https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/policies/justice-andfundamental-rights/combatting-discrimination/racism-and-xenophobia/combating-antisemitism/eu-strategycombating-antisemitism-and-fostering-jewish-life-2021-2030/first-progress-report-eu-strategycombating_en?prefLang=ro”
  Jewish culture and antisemitism · Broadcasting of sports events
• “Thank you. President. Well, I've been expecting this debate for quite a while now because often I feel almost alone in denouncing what has happened since the start of the Russian Ukrainian war. There are nation states who've done all sorts of acrobatics to try and get out of their dependence on Russian gas straight away. Both liquid liquefied natural gas, but also piped gas. And I can tell you, one country, one such country, that's Italy. But there are other European countries that have increased their purchase of LNG from Russia. Well aware of the fact that Putin is using the money that he gets from this of building missiles and dropping bombs on Ukrainian cities in 2022 and 2023. Spain, with its fancy green policies of Mr. Sanchez, has become the second biggest purchaser of LNG Russian LNG in the world with 18% ahead of Belgium, the liberal Belgium of Mr. De Croo and only behind XI Jinping's China at 20% in 2024. There was the attempt by Macron's France to increase massively the import of liquid gas from Moscow of 81%. That constitutes almost €3 billion transferred into Putin's coffers in just one year by one country. We can understand that apart from all the hypocrisy on the Green Deal that I would dwell on, but I don't have the time. We can see this is somewhat contradictory. All these people flexing their muscles in front of the cameras. Some European leaders showing willing where at the same time they claim they're doing everything they can to stop Putin, while at the same time they're paying him to move forward. As a contradiction from denouncing President Trump, who has been pushed by these willing people to weigh in against Russia. But are we buying LNG from America instead of Russia? No we're not. And there is a question of trying to press forward and looking at what's going on. We need to have European energy autonomy. We need to use fossil fuels and renewable energies without ideology or hypocrisy.”
  EU approach to energy security (home-made vs import sources)
• “Thank you. President. Commissioner Sefcovic. The Commission working programme includes a number of points on which we completely agree. Restoring competitiveness. Simplification. A focus on security, which of course is closely linked to tackling illegal migration. I am struck by a number of aspects of the proposals, though, if not surprised. The first package seems to intend to bring to an end some of the green environmental madness of the previous legislature. Fair enough. We certainly agree that competitiveness should take precedence over this green madness, and we should absolutely stand up and admit the errors that we have made in the past. Colleagues, the history of the past century has given us a number of lessons, and it's really only a focus on economic prosperity that makes people free. It's not imposing regulations, it's not imposing bans, but the competition between liberalism and socialism. The juxtaposition of these two has shown us that it is only from a position of prosperity that you can actually defend civic rights and defend your societies, that you can provide for people who are sick, that you can protect nature. And therefore, this European society, which has been far too imbued with socialism, has actually obscured some of the very real considerations which we genuinely need to address for the future. Europe has become poorer. It has become less, just less fair. And we therefore do need to have a quick, immediate change of tack. Now we conservatives, therefore, will invest all our powers and our support in rectifying all these errors of the past. And we will. And in redressing the damage that has been done by the woke initiatives of the past. So first of all, we welcome some of the proposals in the work programme. But secondly, we will actually stand up and be counted against those with which we disagree. Thank you.”
  Climate efforts
• “Thank you, Madam President. Thank you, president von der Leyen. The crisis in the Middle East reminds us that our freedom is only on loan if we continue to be held hostage by the demands of others. The threat posed by Iran was not invented by Israel or the U.S.. The European Union shouldn't let itself be dragged into military adventures, but it should not either forget what its role is in the world, in the divide between Western democracies and those regimes that govern Iran, Russia, North Korea and China. Being strong doesn't just mean being well armed, but also being independent of others for our own economy. Europe's main problem today is that it's unable to produce energy not only from wind or solar, but also from nuclear and its own fossil gas and oil deposits. It prefers to buy energy from elsewhere, often from those regimes I talked about before. Pedro Sanchez. Over the last month has increased by 124%. His purchase of liquid gas from Putin, not Orban. Sanchez. He has. Gone further than anybody to increase imports of gas from Russia, becoming de facto the biggest European sponsor of Putins war in Ukraine. Then we give a loan of €90 billion to Ukraine to defend themselves from the person that we have funded. Genius. On that subject, at 1233 of a year ago, the 28th of April, Spain had the biggest blackout in European history. This caused deaths and injuries as well as huge economic damage. It was caused by the disruption to the sources of renewable energy. I'm not demonizing them as I don't demonize other sources of energy. We need all of them. The only thing we don't need is the left's hypocrisy, which has condemned us to the Green Deal to measure such as sebum, which drives up the cost of importing those fertilizers that are actually banned in Europe in terms of their production. We will continue to be dependent on others, and when we are, we will never truly be free and safe. Thank you.”
  EU approach to energy security (home-made vs import sources)
• “Thank you. President. President von der Leyen. Well, we're approaching this European Council at a crucial juncture for Ukraine. The ECR Group welcomes the shared objective of a fair and lasting peace. It's crucial for Europe to work together with the United States of America. There's no point rushing ahead alone. What we have to do is to build a joint strategy which will guarantee security for Ukraine and stability in terms of Euro-Atlantic relations. Peace is built through the power of deterrence and the clear sightedness of diplomacy on defense, our position is clear. We need to do more, but we need to do better. Better European defense isn't born by us from pooling powers, but rather by coordinating the efforts of our countries, particularly on military spending. And then there's internal defense or the security of our borders to ensure that illegal immigration does not become a social bomb. As all too often we see in our towns and cities. Today, we'll be voting to render returns of irregular migrants more straightforward, and we need that in order to staunch the criminal business of trafficking in human beings. But it's also necessary in order to distinguish those who have the right to asylum because their lives are at risk, or because they will be of use to help European economic growth from those who do not actually enjoy that right. This is neither racism nor xenophobia, which you have accused us in past years, but it's simply common sense. We conservatives will never forget that security is a fundamental right that allows us to enjoy all of our other civil rights. It's about defending the defences. Those people who don't live in low traffic zones, who go home at night from work, who take their children to the closest public park because they can't afford to go to Disneyland. A wise British conservative, Benjamin Disraeli, was saying that ensuring social security for people is the first duty of any leader, and that's what the conservatives intend to do in Europe today as well.”
  Asylum & border control
• “Thank you. President. President von der Leyen. In the council's conclusions, there's quite clearly a reality check. The council welcomes favourably the Gaza plan for peace. Maybe there's a lack of appropriate recognition of the role that the American president had an American president ensnared with European prejudices. But you can't have everything in life, I guess. But let's hope that we'll see other points of the plan being implemented now for the benefit of both Israelis and Palestinians. And then if we need to have a European contribution to help that fragile plan succeed, well, that's welcome, and I'm sure we can define that in the coming days. There's also mention of accelerating preparedness for defense. That's good. But this approach can't be built with superstructures at the level of the EU which duplicate stuff that already exists. We need to build this consistently using NATO, reinforcing our industry and defending our nations. And by the way, it seems that there's an attempt to create a European spy service. Well, I think that's extremely worrying. We certainly don't need that competitiveness for years from these seats. The ECR has saying that the European Union is strangling itself through this pseudo environmental, self-destructive impulses. We said that this is anti-European, that there's a lack of ambition. And now the council is also asking for a pragmatic transition, something that's going to be efficient and work cost effectively. Well, better late than never. Madam president, the ECR is the voice of this newly found realism. We want peace through security. We want prosperity through economic freedom. We want to protect the environment through technological neutrality. We want a Europe working through collaboration between nations, cooperation rather than centralisation in a In the supra state, the conclusions of the council meeting show a new direction, a direction that we've been asking for for a long time. We conservatives are ready as ever to help this return to common sense.”
  Relations with NATO · Climate efforts
• “Maintaining the duties imposed by the European Union on its own industry, and even adding five new taxes of its own in the new multiyear budget, means going in the wrong direction. It's a tragic mistake. On the other hand, I think we're moving in the right direction on immigration, cooperating with migrants, country of origin and transit countries to stop illegal departures. Now, we must quickly define safe third countries and make repatriation an effective practice, not an empty promise. But let me say one last thing. While we're discussing welcoming others here. In too many regions of the world, Christians are prevented from professing their faith. The post of EU Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion in the world, has been vacant for a year now. I find this disheartening. President, please act quickly for some may. This may be of little importance, but for us conservatives it is very important indeed because if Europe doesn't defend the principles that shaped it, it will certainly not be able to defend its interests or its borders. Thank you.”
  EU engagement with Christian communities inside and outside the EU · Asylum & border control
• “Thank you. President. Well, obviously I won't be able to speak today on behalf of the whole group, but I will be able to do so on behalf of the two thirds of the ECR colleagues who did not sign the motion, not because they disagreed with some of the reasons for censure in the text, but rather because, like me, they consider this motion to be a mistake. It is a great gift to our political opponents, and it comes at the very moment when they are at their greatest frustration, when, thanks to centre right majorities, the likes of which have never been seen before. We are managing to bring some common sense back in here. There will be a free vote in the ECR, but this motion is doomed to fail and we know it. Without even getting close to the threshold of votes needed for its approval. So perhaps the left group will vote for it. Maybe a few French or German communists might vote for it. Or the internal naysayers of the Five Star Movement movement. But that's it. Unfortunately, it will be useful to the socialists and the Greens, who will take advantage of it to call for a return to that same Ursula majority that is enslaved to their agenda and has already caused serious damage to European families and companies. I will vote against this motion as a European Conservative and as an Italian. Because I do not want to go back to uncontrolled immigration and environmentalism as a euphemism for communism.”
  Von der Leyen
• “Thank you, Madam President. Two motions with the same objective. Some of the arguments are different. Others are exactly the same. In the motion from the extreme left, the sole focus is on the Israel-Palestine question. Not a single word condemning Hamas. Not a single word referring to Israeli hostages, both dead and alive. No reference to the 7th of October, which the anniversary which will soon be celebrating. How this absolute condemnation of Israel. This focus on Israel in the resolution leads, in effect, to an expression of solidarity with Putin's Russia. Another passage which is worth underlining is that which refers to the lack of response from the part of the Commission to the climate and social crisis. It's interesting to note here how cause and effect are linked the failure, the idea that the Green Deal is actually a source of enormous social malaise. That's true. Moreover, the people of Europe are voting for the left right rather than the left just because of that. I think your brain must be completely packed with ideology to fail to see this self-evident fact. This is quite different from the other motion we're talking about today. In that motion two, there are quite justified points of criticism regarding the Commission's lack of transparency, its tendency to muscle in on national powers as set out in the European treaties. However, there are two issues on which these two motions, coming from the two extremes of Parliament, cover common ground.”
  Relations with Israel - Palestine
• “In these first 100 days of the new commission, we've looked at competitiveness, relaunching economic growth, legislative simplification, the impact of illegal migrants, and the European Union has finally decided to manage this phenomenon of migration, rather than letting it be governed by people traffickers or the pro-immigrant, no borders fanatics. We're also talking about defense and security for European people, not militaristic adventure as the extreme left and right support, but a responsible approach, one where we take responsibility towards our children, recognising how precious pieces. This is something we've had in Europe only for very few decades, and how important it is to defend this piece against those who want war. So in this Parliament, we're looking at topics that it's a normal to have varying opinions. But finally we're talking about serious, true, real major issues as is right for a political institution that is covering the interests of half a billion people. Do you remember the first 100 days of the last commission? Well, I do. They talked about how to open the door to indiscriminate immigration, how to weigh down the competitiveness of our manufacturing system with a whole pile of pseudo environmentalist directives and regulations. And if you were a fascist, if you wanted to look at security and defence in the last parliament, it was dominated by the Greens and the socialists and months we discussed the problem of cows farting out methane and greenhouse gases, and our priority was defending LGBTQIA plus in Uganda. Now, I don't know how things are going to go in the coming days, but I know that every time European citizens have gone to vote in recent years, they say they want us to take a different path. Let's take that path without fear. Thank you.”
  Asylum & border control
• “Thank you. President. President von der Leyen. President Costa. The conclusions of the most recent European Council paint a very vivid picture. Europe is once and for all, stepping out of its ideological bubble to confront the harshness of reality. On the issue of immigration, the agreement on safe third countries for returns is a victory for common sense. We are beginning to wrest control of immigration back from human traffickers and from the uncertainty of judicial interpretations and we are putting it back where it belongs, i.e. within the realm of political responsibility. This demonstrates that when Europe stops preaching and begins acting with pragmatism, results come. Now, as pertains to Ukraine, the 90 billion loan was an act of responsibility. We will continue to support that. People who have heroically resisted Russia's cowardly invasion for four years. We are not doing this just for the people of Ukraine. We are doing it for ourselves as well because we're Russia. To achieve its goals, all the people of Europe would be in danger if any nation were free to simply take with force its neighbours, then peace would be at risk. Peace that settled on our continent after the devastating wars that our history books are full of. Now I know what you are all thinking. What applies in the East must also apply in the West. And I would agree. Indeed, we as a conservatives, however, will continue to uphold the unity of the West, not just as a geographic space, but as a civilization with its flaws and contradictions, but also with its culture of freedom. And frankly, I do not believe that it is simply by wearing Top Gun Aviator sunglasses. We will earn more respect from the United States. We will only be able to earn that respect through our geographical strength, economic strength, competitiveness, and the sovereignty of raw materials and efficient and technologically advanced military defense. Our strength as Europeans lies in the transatlantic community. Only within that community will we remain masters of our own destiny. Thank you.”
  Asylum & border control
• “While we were choosing the path of Happy De-growth, the rest of the world started their engines and thanking Europe for having decided to leave the race. We would like to change direction on the ETS system based on good common sense and three priorities. First of all, a review of the reference parameters. If we get rid of free quotas, we're not going to have an ecological transition. We're going to condemn our manufacturing industry to being out of world markets. Second, we need to avoid the risk Stawiszyn that ETS is causing to shipping. We are encouraging shipping to avoiding European ports and forcing them to stop in North Africa to avoid our taxes. Thirdly, we need to stop ETS two. Which is about to provide an existential threat. We are reducing road transport, which is declaring war on our businesses and our families. We are conservatives because we are trying to have a conversation with people who think differently. We would like a full revision of the ETS, but we can find compromises. They are necessary, given the urgency of the crisis that we're going through. Our role is not to set fires, it's to put them out. Our role is essential today. Giuseppe Prezzolini wrote A conservative is a brake on utopias and utopians who are in love with things that have never been experienced. And when they happen, they are much. They're very different to how they imagined. Thank you.”
  Extension of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme
• “Thank you president. We conservatives believe in a free market which will benefit both producers and consumers. Those that are the most talented. We have to admit that the tariffs policy has also been a European policy, and we haven't just applied it to those who break trade rules like China, but to precious allies, allies like American citizens. Just one example. Until a few weeks ago, the US applied a 2.5% tariff to European automobiles. The EU applied a 10% tariff to US cars. So we need an agreement of genuine free trade with the US. 0% on both sides. And what Maloney discussed with Trump in Washington should be part of a general framework which would preserve the unity of the West and the balance of trade with the US isn't just a political issue, it's a trade one. The LNG Russian gas scandal is emblematic of the hypocrisy of the EU, and Commissioner Jorgensen seems determined to, in fact, extend this. Look at who has most enriched Russia through the sale of LNG. Let's look at Orban and Macron with an 81% increase in LNG purchases over the last few years, and the green country of Sanchez to look at the increases in LNG gas. So these are hurts that the EU has actually imposed on itself through the Green Deal, and that has damaged its competitiveness. And that's what we need to reverse now, rather than having trade deals with illiberal regimes like North Korea.”
  EU-US trade relations
• “Thank you. President. President von der Leyen. I will start from afar, but only geographically. The military parade of the Chinese leader dressed like Mao Zedong, holding hands with Putin and Kim Jong UN is no laughing matter. It reminds us that the world is a dangerous place, a place where regimes make no secret of their will to reshape the global order, even by force. Being aware of this reality does not mean that we should adopt a foolishly muscular attitude, but rather that we should strengthen our values, our economy, our defense, and our alliances. We welcome the agreement reached with the American administration on tariffs not because it's perfect, but because it's certainly better than a trade war between allies who need each other. We must have the courage as Europeans to make the right choices at the right time. The Green Deal was conceived and desired in a different geopolitical era. Today, it is too great an obstacle to European competitiveness. I would remind you that economic development is a prerequisite for having the resources to spend on military defense, welfare, and environmental protection.”
  Climate efforts
• “Thank you. President. Prime Minister. Our job today is to assess your program in the light of our various different political sensitivities. Now, I obviously appreciate your intent to combat illegal immigration, to protect external borders and the need also to facilitate the return of those who have no right to asylum. You have no idea how long we conservatives have been waiting to hear these words from a socialist leader over all of these years, just using the same words, just for using the same words. We would have been insulted and mocked and confronted by the left in this Parliament. So finally, but unfortunately, in other European countries, socialists are continuing to pursue a reckless, no borders immigration doctrine. Think of Italy or Spain, where members of the Democratic Party would probably faint if they heard one of your ministers describe the Italy Albania protocol as incredibly positive in inverted commas. But unfortunately, that's where the good news ends for us with your program. The bad news starts with your readiness to drive European energy costs upwards. That means higher bills for households and businesses in the name of the green transition. And unfortunately, this is where we are seeing the leftist direction of your government, which interprets environmentalism as a substitute for socialism, which imposes taxes, bands, forces, attacks, technological neutrality, neutrality and people's freedom without ever once mentioning the word nuclear. And this shows the aversion of the Danish Commissioner for energy towards this source of energy, Prime Minister Frederiksen, I'm sure you'll agree with me that the beauty of democracy and politics lies in engaging with different opinions, and we will always do that, as always courteously, but very firm in upholding our values. Thank you.”
  Climate efforts · Asylum & border control
• “Criticism of the trade agreement with South America. There things get a bit more complicated. Obviously, it's very much or would be very much in our interest to export our products duty free to 700 million consumers. The problem, however, is it's European farmers who are already being crushed by the weight of the European Green Deal, who are paying the price for this. And the fact is they will now be subjected to imports coming from across the Atlantic, which aren't subjected to the same rules at the same time. We have an agreement with the Trump administration. Of course, this agreement isn't perfect, but let's face up to the fact the European market is the best market for our exporters. The idea of a trade war with our main ally would only serve the interests of those who hate President Trump more than they love their own peoples. Of course, in the ECR, every national delegation will be free to vote on the basis of its own conscience in the interests of its own people. The European Union will for us never be a prison. It is an alliance of nations which does not try to suffocate their hopes and aspirations, but promotes cooperation rather than pushing through its own ideas.”
  Trade relations with Mercosur
• “Thank you. Thank you very much, president Madame von der Leyen. The debate today presents us with a reality, which is something that we've stated as conservatives for years and now the economy. It's simply through a quickly moving economy that all that which is necessary, that is necessary for quality of life exists. But we have lost that optimism of the future. Limiting through regulation, innovation, and which this has led to a situation of asphyxiation for many undertakings. Today we find ourselves in a situation just as people like Guglielmo Marconi being persecuted or prosecuted by Europol because of his particular activities. So that's indicative. We are intoxicated with ideologies. We've lost a lot of ground because of this on the world stage, and there are so many different studies about this. It's important to move from analysis to action, to be able to move forward quickly and with efficacy as well. We have to get rid of those particular things that have kept us tied hand and foot so that we can move forward and on the front of competitiveness and innovation as well. The inflation prices, the cost of energy is something which has created a terrible, terrible burden. And of course, on top of that we have the emission issues, CO2 emission issues, and this has become more important than anything else. And we have to take into consideration technological neutrality as well. Decarbonisation has to be the result of innovation, not something which is created as a kind of construct by policies. And we have to invest in in energy independence. And of course, independence on the critical materials front. Europe will become competitive if it has economic freedom as well. So we have to move in the direction which is guide to which we are the direction which guides us. And that would be one of common sense and nothing more than that.”
  Overall simplification of regulation in the EU
• “Because several commissioners today come from European governments that are supported and participated in by conservative parties with honour and dedication, and because I want to defend the work of the previous ECR president, the current Vice President of the European Commission, the Italian Raffaele Feto. So let me tell you one thing. I respect everyone's choices. But there is one question that comes right from the heart. How come today's petitioners never tabled a motion of censure against the last von der Leyen commission? That's the commission that supported the pro-immigration NGOs. It produced the Green Deal and the so-called FISA gate. It was that commission that had as vice president the socialist Timmermans instead of the conservative Mr. Fitter. Well, of course I know the answer to that question and I feel no resentment. Well, now that someone has got his 15 minutes of fame, we all have to start fighting together once again, side by side, to seek out the truth about the political scandals that have affected the European Parliament, to defend freedom of speech, to protect our peoples, and for many other good reasons. But unfortunately, some people like to lose both at home and here. I don't know. We will not stop winning building majorities on the content and not on prejudice. This is our moment and we will not waste it. Thank you.”
  Von der Leyen
• “Thank you, Madam President. The debate that the European Conservatives have brought to the Parliament today hits at the heart of our common destiny. Today in Strasbourg, were not just talking about market algorithms. We're talking about how to defend the survival of Europe's social and productive foundations, and also about how to protect the environment. The ideological imposition of the Green Deal has chained us to an unrealistic objectives which damage our economy and don't help the environment, as some people rather naively believed it would. The ETS system, which is a tax on CO2 emissions produced by anything in Europe, was created at a time of green and socialist utopias, which are now in conflict with today and tomorrow's reality. Rather than concentrating on adapting to climate change by investing resources into protecting land and people, we've chosen to sacrifice on the altar of climate mitigation, European growth and support for people, especially the most vulnerable. Overall, the European Union only emits around 7% of CO2 emissions in the world. But year after year we are seeing the overall CO2 emissions growing. This is because they're being displaced. I could cite data from the Copernicus system, which says that the earth was colder in 2025 compared to 2024 and 2023. But that's not my point. I'm only saying this to suggest that, yes, CO2 and methane do define the temperature on earth, but there are other factors which have an influence and maybe even more significant. Protecting the environment is not just about emitting fewer greenhouse gases. We also need technological innovation and a freedom of choice between the various technological options that only the most competitive and dynamic liberal economies can provide. A great environmentalist such as Michael Shellenberger was caused a scandal when he said, in rich countries we have greater resilience, so we need to concentrate our efforts on making individuals richer and more resilient, not poorer if we want to save the planet.”
  Extension of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme
• “Thank you very much. President von der Leyen, president Costa. The European Council has finally put in its conclusions the necessity to move on to a revolution of political action in Europe. The heads of state and government have shown that they have understood that there are people who've been elected to simplify the lives of citizens, rather than to make it impossible, and to protect the lives of citizens, rather than putting them in danger. The two aspects where this has an important effect, especially when it comes to looking at what's going on, immigration and traffickers, and looking at the movement of migration's migrants beyond our borders. We need to have a holistic approach with the countries of origin to try and put a stop to illegal actions and to stop the need for migration. We also need to look at the issue of industrial competitiveness. We have always defended freedom of the markets because we need to give benefits to those who are showing entrepreneurship, looking at their products and the consequences that freedom is prosperity for everybody. Reagan did indeed say that he was against tariffs because protesting protectionist legislation destroys prosperity. Now, having said that, those who are shouting and screaming about the tariffs that Mr. Trump wants to put in place are the same ones who dragged our continent into a socialist morass with the idea of trying to defend our planet against those who live in Europe. Now there are urgent legislative measures that need to be taken that are deep, going to remove the tariffs that we put in place on ourselves through the Green Deal. Let's stop this hypocrisy. This omnibus package should serve that purpose. And I'm turning now to the EPP group. Don't be scared to take the right decisions. Even if you share views with those who sit on the right of this Parliament. I was there in the previous legislature, and how many times did the socialists vote? With extreme left and the Greens following the lead of Frans Timmermans? Now it's time to save Europe, as Business Europe said. Time is of the essence. We have to do this urgently and we have to do it. Well thank you.”
  Climate efforts