Sebastiaan STÖTELER

Policy topics Sebastiaan STÖTELER is active on

What Sebastiaan STÖTELER has said (5)

• “Thank you. Chair. Uh, thanks to the experts. Um, we heard Mr. Hoffner say that there's basically no foreign policy, uh, within the Trump administration, rather than an extension of domestic policy. Domestic policy. Then let's have a look at what Trump has promised for his second term. Uh, you know, he campaigned for America First, anti-immigration, anti-woke ideology, pro-free speech, uh, a new energy policy. And, um, he's against the climate policy as the EU knows it at the moment. So I would like to ask Mr. Jaeger and I think also Mr. Havenner, um, and I tried to be factual, um, on these five points. And when we look at policies where we find shared goals at these five points, our goals are far apart. And to to what extent and how do these policy goals from the EU that differ from the Trump administration in the US? How do they block or make it impossible to come to deals with the Trump administration? A second question. Um, Trump allegedly refused to talk to the council. The commission president, Mrs. von der Leyen. Would it be an idea to maybe have Italy, Germany, France and the Netherlands for countries that are trying to get on the forefront of the negotiations, to get them together to negotiate with the Trump administration on behalf of the EU. Would that help? Thank you.”
  EU-US relations
• “Thank you, Chair. I don't need two minutes. This is this report, the implementation of the Common Foreign and Security Policy. I know this is a yearly report of the European Parliament, but the competence for foreign policy lies with the Council and is based on consensus, which means that all government representatives of all the member states need to agree before a common foreign policy even exists. Now, this report asks for, or it believes at least, that there's a need for a stronger parliamentary oversight on the EU's external action. I would like to ask you as a rapporteur: how exactly do you see this? And how does this relate to the treaties if the Council is responsible for external action and if it is based on consensus? So, what's the—what should, how should the Parliament's role be in implemented and included in these treaties? Thank you.”
  EU competences on foreign affairs
• “Thank you, Madam President. Commissioner. Ladies and gentlemen. The European Commission's work programme is a classic example of Brussels meddling and ideological blindness. We are in favour of a strong Europe, but not a Europe, that interferes and undermines with our national competences and destroys our industry. Climate neutrality by 2050 seems totally unrealistic, and also damaging our industries, from transport companies to farmers are being saddled with excessive burdens. Our competitiveness is being undermined. I mean, our competitors that we depend on is being sacrificed, and this is destroying our economy. This is not a just transition. It's not any transition. It is just economic suicide. And that's why we call for the Green Deal to be suspended or withdrawn. But the commission is just not imagining this. The commission is always talking about reducing red tape and stopping the secret foreign interference. The commission that thinks it's perfectly okay to declare elections invalid. The commission itself is secretly interfering in the political processes. So I think, uh, the commission is just on its moral high horse. But what it's proposing is more centralisation, less freedom, more economic decline and less social cohesion. Things have to be done differently. The Commission should be protecting and serving our citizens, not dictating to them.”
  Climate efforts
• “Commissioner. This debate about the situation in the Middle East will likely be taken as yet another opportunity to bash Israel, but the situation is the Middle East has become a lot safer thanks to Israeli actions in response to the horrific and traumatic day of October 7th. The Middle East is dealing with dark terror forces of Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Houthis and so many other terror factions in the region. It was those Iranian proxies that started the war on October 7th. Not the only true democracy in the Middle East that upholds our common interests and values. It is the state of Israel that is fighting for its people's survival. But yet those dark forces, those terror groups, namely the Houthis, still find ways to make the world a more dangerous place. Just yesterday and today, the Houthis attacked commercial ships off the coast of Hodeidah, Yemen, yesterday. They attacked Liberian registered ship Magic Seas. Fortunately, the crew of 22 people could be saved. And then this morning, another merchant vessel was attacked by reportedly five rockets, sustaining severe damage and losing power. From what we know now. Two crew members were injured and two of them are still missing. We hope they found safety and are well. Dear colleagues, this is the situation in the Middle East. The Islamic Republic of Iran fired the Houthis via other proxies, proxies attacking World Trade, World order and thereby seeking to destabilize the world and economy and security. We should support Israel and America in their efforts to putting things in order. Thank you.”
  Relations with Israel - Palestine
• “Well, I would answer to that. That in the past, the The European Union has not had any coordinating role in the European defence industry, and my party and my group as a whole is in favour of European cooperation in the field of defence when it comes to the defence industry, in order to pool our efforts and coordinate and identify the needs. What needs to be produced, where, what needs to be supplied, where, that sort of thing. And in the CETA committee that I am a member of is going to be working on this in the near future. And you will see that there, as in all other areas, we are going to make a constructive contribution.”
  EU competences on defence