Pełne sprawozdanie z obrad

Środa, 23 czerwca 2021 r. - Bruksela

13. Przygotowania do posiedzenia Rady Europejskiej, które odbędzie się 24–25 czerwca 2021 r. - Przypomnienie deklaracji maltańskiej i stosowanie skutecznego mechanizmu solidarności (debata)

  Der Präsident. – Als nächster Punkt der Tagesordnung folgt die gemeinsame Aussprache über

– die Erklärungen des Rates und der Kommission zur Vorbereitung der Tagung des Europäischen Rates am 24./25. Juni 2021 (2021/2719(RSP)) und

– die Erklärungen des Rates und der Kommission betreffend die Neubelebung der Erklärung von Malta und den Rückgriff auf einen wirksamen Solidaritätsmechanismus (2021/2755(RSP)).

Ich erinnere die Mitglieder daran, dass es bei allen Aussprachen dieser Tagung keine spontanen Wortmeldungen gibt und keine blauen Karten akzeptiert werden. Außerdem sind wie bei den letzten Tagungen Zuschaltungen aus den Verbindungsbüros des Parlaments in den Mitgliedstaaten vorgesehen.

  Ana Paula Zacarias, President-in-Office of the Council. – Mr President, Commissioner Šefčovič, honourable Members, this week, as from tomorrow, leaders will meet in Brussels for the June European Council and the subsequent Euro Summit. Their meeting begins with a working lunch on Thursday with the just re—elected UN Secretary—General António Guterres, and a range of global and regional issues will be on the table, including COVID—19 coordination and economic recovery.

Recovery from the COVID—19 pandemic, both in the EU and worldwide, continues to be at the top of the agenda. Our recent agreement on the EU Digital COVID Certificate marks certainly an important step towards a safe return to free movement. Leaders will now discuss what remains to be done in terms of coordination to enable, within and into the EU, travel. Leaders will also address the external dimension of COVID—19 recovery and also the emergence of new variants. International solidarity remains key. The EU will continue to play its leading role as a vaccine producer, exporter and contributor to COVAX.

But recovery from the COVID—19 pandemic also means economic recovery. Leaders will take stock of the implementation of the Next Generation EU, including national recovery and resilience plans. The timely submission and efficient implementation of these plans is crucial for Member States to fully benefit from the potential of the Recovery and Resilience Facility to boost the economy, social cohesion, digital and climate transition.

And migration, after a long period of absence, returns to the agenda, in particular its external dimension, as leaders will discuss cooperation with countries of origin and transit. Recent developments on certain routes have been a cause for concern, and it will be important to make concrete progress in our cooperation with different partners.

At the same time, the Council rejects any attempt by third countries to instrumentalise migrants for political purposes. To prevent loss of life and reduce the pressure on EU borders, we need to tackle the root causes of migration while continuing to work towards safe, orderly and regular migration and providing international protection for those who need it. In addition, it is essential to strengthen efforts to shut down smuggling and trafficking networks, improve border management and ensure voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable returns and readmission.

Beyond European Council preparations, I note that you also included in this debate the question of the Malta Declaration and solidarity. The declaration was a way of addressing disembarkations of migrants rescued at sea in the absence of a permanent mechanism for handling these situations. It facilitated transfers from Italy and Malta to Germany and France, but has remained an intergovernmental tool limited to those four Member States.

However, other Member States, including my own, Portugal, have agreed to relocate on a voluntary basis applicants for international protection following disembarkations in Italy and Malta, and the voluntary relocation scheme from Greece has to date been joined by more than a dozen Member States and associated countries. In any case, we’re going to continue our efforts in trying to find a permanent solution based on solidarity and on shared responsibilities and that will enable us to replace this ad hoc handling of these situations. Further work is requested.

So during their meeting, the leaders will further discuss EU external relations. As announced in March, leaders will discuss EU relations with Turkey, including the financial support for refugees. Leaders will reiterate their readiness to engage with Turkey in a phased, proportionate but reversible manner, while underlining that Turkey has obligations to respect democracy, the rule of law, human rights and women’s rights.

During the working dinner, the leaders will also return to relations with Russia on the basis of the Commission and High Representative’s report. The European Council will take stock of the progress made in implementing its decision from May with regard to Belarus. Leaders will also touch upon other recent international developments in Africa.

In the end of their meeting on Friday and in the margins of the European Council, leaders will be joined by the President of the ECB and the Eurogroup for a Euro Summit in inclusive format. Thank you very much for your attention.

  Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-President of the Commission. – Mr President, Secretary of State, honourable Members of the European Parliament, the last European Council before the summer break comes at a positive moment in time.

The first national recovery and resilience plans under Next Generation EU have been approved, enabling record levels of funding for long-lasting transformations and jobs. The EU digital COVID certificate is well on track to be up and running across our Member States from 1 July and we have seen that in fact some have already put them into use. so giving hope to Europeans for a summer with less restrictions. Our societies and economies are gradually reopening thanks to great progress in our vaccination effort, but now is not the time to take our collective foot off the pedal.

With regard to the vaccination effort, 53% of the adult EU population have received at least one vaccine dose, and we are set to reach the EU’s target of having 70% of adults fully vaccinated by July – that is, of course, if we keep up the pace. It is not enough that Europe vaccinates itself, however. Out of solidarity, and to speed up our economic recovery, we need to strengthen our efforts elsewhere. This includes generous financial and in—kind contributions to COVAX, investment in EU vaccine production and export, and support to develop local and regional manufacturing capacities with the EUR 1 billion initiative in Africa.

At the same time, we are also preparing for the future based on what this crisis has taught us. To this end, on 15 June, the European Commission presented a communication on the initial lessons learned from the COVID—19 pandemic, focusing on the health crisis, but also on the EU’s economic response. We looked at what went well and what did not go so well in the last 15 months. After a difficult start, things improved rapidly. We designed and delivered a range of unprecedented initiatives in record time, for example in vaccines, the procurement of essential supplies, the support for global efforts, and maintaining the functioning of the single market.

To this list we should also add the EU digital COVID certificate which will enable citizens to travel throughout the Union using a secure, mutually recognised document. I would like to thank the European Parliament for ensuring that its approval process was concluded so rapidly.

The European Council will also review the state of play of the implementation of Next Generation EU. Twenty—four Member States have now submitted their recovery and resilience plans, with excellent cooperation between the Commission services and national authorities. The plans received by the Commission so far provide coherent packages of ambitious green and digital investment, as well as reforms addressing the key challenges.

This will help strengthen the resilience and growth potential of Member States’ economies, while paying all due attention to the social dimension. We are also pleased to see that most of the plans include measures to boost resilience of national health systems. President von der Leyen has started her tour across our Member States, as these plans receive the Commission’s green light.

Thanks to the ratification of the Own Resources Decision in record time, the Commission has been able to start raising resources for Next Generation EU and we plan to pay out the pre-financing in quick time, once the Council approves the plans. This is truly historic and a major milestone towards turning the page and emerging stronger.

Our debate here today is also dedicated to the Malta Declaration, which is focused on stemming the migratory flows from Libya at the source. A comprehensive whole—of—route approach to migration is embedded within our broader engagement with Libya. This includes cooperation with Libya’s neighbours in the south and addressing the situation on the Mediterranean coast.

Our concrete actions will continue to focus on border management, a joint fight against migrant smuggling and developing safe and legal pathways through assisted voluntary returns and resettlement. The protection of migrants and saving lives remains paramount. We will continue these actions together with Member States, our African Union partners and UN organisations such as UNHCR and IOM. The Commission has sought to deepen partnerships on migration with all key third countries, and we have provided support on all elements of migration.

While we are a long way from the migratory situation in 2015 and 2016, there is still need for further action. We urgently need a durable new European framework that will pave the way to common solutions. This can be ensured by agreement on the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, which we proposed nine months ago. The Pact brings together essential internal reform and comprehensive and balanced engagement with our partners to address all strands of migration policy. By making use of strategic foresight, this will help us be better prepared for any future eventuality with regard to migratory pressure.

With regard to Turkey, there is some positive momentum. We welcome the relative de—escalation of tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean, including the continuation of direct talks with Greece. But we need to see clear and sustainable progress on a number of issues, including Cyprus and trade issues. The resumption of returns from Greece to Turkey is equally important.

Finally, the Commission and the High Representative have prepared a report on the state of our relations with Russia, as requested by the European Council in May. This is a very realistic assessment which makes clear that these relations are on a downward trend due to Russia’s own strategic choices and its many malign, aggressive actions. We are now proposing a triptych of concrete action points to push back, constrain and engage with Russia simultaneously. This represents a smart reinforcement of our current policies, and is both ambitious and doable.

Mr President, tomorrow we will have the last European Council under the Portuguese Presidency, and therefore allow me to conclude on an expression of gratitude to Ana Paula Zacarias for not only the excellent presidency, but for her personal engagement and excellent relations she had – I’m sure you all know this – with the European Parliament, but also with the Commission.

This has not only allowed us to launch the Conference on the Future of Europe, but also to progress quickly on the digital COVID certificate. I can say the same about many other files, which I’m sure will make Europe emerge from this crisis stronger. So Ana Paula, thank you very much for an excellent presidency, and thank you very much, everyone, for your attention.

PRESIDÊNCIA: PEDRO SILVA PEREIRA
Vice-Presidente

  Jeroen Lenaers, on behalf of the PPE Group. – Mr President, before going into the topic of the Council, let me also underline that indeed discriminating against people on the basis of their sexual orientation goes against all fundamental values, all our European values. I would like to echo the words of Commission President von der Leyen, who said that the Hungarian bill in that respect is a shame.

What is also shameful, however, is the approach of UEFA in this regard. Previously celebrating the rainbow colours as a symbol of inclusion, it is now trying to ban them as something of a political symbol. This is not about politics, it is about equality, it is about inclusion, and it is about fundamental rights. We need to fight for these fundamental rights every day, and we also expect you in the Council to do that in the coming weeks. UEFA should also celebrate these fundamental values.

(Applause)

On the EU Council, the corona pandemic has of course pushed many important topics – rightly so – into the background in the past 18 months, but at the same time, some of these topics are really important and we need to give them the focus they deserve. One of the issues that I would like to talk about today is security, because the EU continues to face a constantly changing security landscape, which is terrorism, organised crime, the drugs trade, human trafficking, and even worse, we see many of these threats developing very strongly, especially in the time of the corona pandemic.

Cyber criminality is on the rise. Citizens are more susceptible to violent extremist discourses online. We see more child abuse and child pornography online, and we have a duty to protect both the physical and digital environments. Member States cannot address these challenges effectively on their own. Today’s criminals and terrorists are highly mobile and they make use of the latest state—of—the—art technology, and actually abuse the very freedoms that the single market provides to all of us. We just have to look at the international police Operation Trojan Shield against organised crime two weeks ago to have a terrifying look into the dimension of cross-border criminality. We need to address this effectively, also at the European level. Not only do we need a health union in Europe, but we also need a real security union. We need to build the tools, the infrastructure and the environment in which national authorities can and will work together effectively to tackle these shared challenges.

And of course we have Europol at the heart of our cooperation, and we are very supportive of Europol. It is doing an amazing job with the competences that it currently has, but if we really want to address these challenges in the future, we also need to increase the competences of Europol. We need to increase them in at least four fields. First, cyber criminality: in the past four years, cyber criminality has increased tenfold. We need to do more to avoid these developments continuing in the next four years.

On counter-terrorism, we need a more coordinated exchange of information to stop allowing highly mobile perpetrators to find loopholes in our Member States’ tracing systems. We need more resources and technical innovation. Just as an example, for the 2015 Paris and Brussels attacks, the Europol task force had to analyse 19 terabytes of information. To give an idea, this is the equivalent of 500 million pages of paper.

Thirdly, we need to fight intra—EU cross-border tax fraud, tax evasion and tax avoidance, and fourthly, we need to really start combating industrial espionage. We don’t know exactly what the economic damage is and I think we only have underestimates but, even underestimating it, it has already lost us EUR 60 billion in economic growth in the EU and a potential job loss of 289 000 jobs. One in five European companies suffers from industrial espionage and we need to work harder to help these companies, especially in the period of recovery which we are about to enter.

To conclude, in order to guarantee Europe as an area of freedom, security and justice, and in order to defend our European way of life, we need to beef up the competences of Europol, we need to give security the focus it deserves, and we really need to turn Europol into a European equivalent of the FBI.

  Iratxe García Pérez, en nombre del Grupo S&D. – Señor presidente, como el vicepresidente Šefčovič ha hecho referencia a la Presidencia portuguesa, no puedo evitar hacer lo mismo en este punto y hacer un agradecimiento muy especial a Ana Paula, a nuestra secretaria de Estado.

No ha sido fácil, porque veníamos de una Presidencia alemana en la que se habían sacado adelante dosieres muy importantes, y realmente la Presidencia portuguesa ha estado a la altura de las circunstancias que merece el proyecto europeo. Y en gran medida ha sido gracias a la capacidad de trabajo, de compromiso y de entendimiento de una mujer como Ana Paula. Me habéis oído mucho hablar de romper los techos de cristal y de fortalecer los liderazgos de mujeres. Pues, Ana Paula, eres un ejemplo para muchas de nosotras. Muchas gracias por tu trabajo y tu compromiso.

El tiempo apremia y hemos visto ya la semana pasada cómo empezaban a darse los primeros pasos con respecto a los planes de recuperación, y lo que espero es que el Consejo —el propio Ecofin— dé luz verde a los planes nacionales ya aprobados por la Comisión Europea a partir de julio. Necesitamos poner ya en marcha estos planes y empezar a dar signos de recuperación que la ciudadanía está esperando de nosotros.

Es el momento de políticas expansivas, de invertir en el futuro para acabar con la incertidumbre y la fragilidad en que han quedado tantas familias y tantas empresas. Y es el momento de usar bien el dinero. Y lo digo porque me preocupa la situación de algunos países, sobre todo Eslovenia y Bulgaria, de donde nos llegan noticias preocupantes sobre casos de corrupción y ataques al Estado de Derecho. Esto es absolutamente inaceptable y exigiremos a la Comisión que esté muy vigilante.

He escuchado decir al primer ministro Viktor Orbán que la Unión Europea debería ceñirse a los temas económicos, y esto es no entender dónde está. Europa es mucho más que los temas económicos. Y tenga cuidado, señor Orbán, no vaya a cometer los mismos errores que el Reino Unido.

Hay que decir la verdad a la gente, hay que decir la verdad a la ciudadanía. Esto no es un mercado. Sí, es una unión por la prosperidad y el bienestar, pero que se fundamenta en valores compartidos. Esos valores han de reflejarse en la manera de usar el dinero: en el fondo y en la forma. En el fondo, porque el dinero debe invertirse en construir una economía más sostenible y más justa. Y en la forma, porque deben respetarse el Estado de Derecho y los valores de la Unión. Y eso incluye también la no discriminación a las personas LGTBI, para asegurarnos de que estamos realmente en la Unión Europea de los derechos.

Es fundamental. No podemos entrar en el debate sin tener en cuenta estas cuestiones y queremos, también, tener en cuenta el pacto migratorio, con una reforma que esté acorde con nuestros valores de solidaridad y de derechos humanos. La tarjeta azul es una pieza más de nuestra política migratoria, pero no la única. No podemos atraer solo personas con buenas capacidades y rechazar a quienes huyen de la guerra y del hambre. Eso no sería la Europa de los valores que defendemos. Al menos, no es la Europa de los valores que yo defiendo.

  Dacian Cioloş, au nom du groupe Renew. – Monsieur le Président, Madame la Ministre, je souhaite aussi remercier la Présidence portugaise pour ce qu'elle a accompli pendant ces six mois, en fait presque six mois, et notamment le lancement de la conférence sur l'avenir de l'Europe, et j'espère que la Présidence portugaise va utiliser tout le temps qui reste pour finaliser encore des dossiers. J'espère notamment que la réforme de la PAC pourra être accomplie sous votre présidence.

Concernant le Conseil maintenant, grâce aux certificats covid européens, une grande partie de nos concitoyens vont retrouver la joie de voyager. Il était temps que cela arrive. Maintenant, il est important que le certificat soit mis en oeuvre sans restrictions supplémentaires non justifiées de la part des États membres. Mais grâce au tourisme européen et à la reprise de l'activité transfrontalière, nos petits commerçants, un pan important de notre industrie, vont reprendre des couleurs, et ils en avaient besoin après plus d'un an de restrictions. Grâce aux plans de relance nationaux financés par l'Europe, nos économies vont aussi reprendre des couleurs et entamer leur double transformation verte et numérique. Et grâce à la vaccination à grande échelle des européens, nous allons bientôt pouvoir tourner la page de la covid, je l'espère. L'immunité collective n'est pas encore atteinte, mais elle est en vue.

Mais l'été aura aussi son lot de défis. Le plus évident pour moi, c'est celui de la migration. C'est à ce défi-là que je voudrais que nos dirigeants se préparent. Car les mois de l'été sont aussi ceux où les hommes, les femmes et les enfants tentent de dangereuses traversées pour rejoindre nos côtes dans l'espoir d'un avenir meilleur en Europe. On le voit, la pression s'accentue déjà sur le sud de l'Europe. Joe Biden vient d'annoncer le retrait des troupes américaines d'Afghanistan d'ici à septembre, et on peut imaginer certaines conséquences. On voit aussi que nos proches voisins sont toujours imprévisibles. Donc nous ne pouvons pas fermer les yeux et attendre. Il faut éviter d'agir toujours en urgence parce que cela ne contribue pas à la crédibilité de l'Union. Et malheureusement, ces dernières années, en matière de migration, c'est ce que nous avons toujours fait.

La Commission a proposé sa vision d'un pacte pour l'immigration et l'asile et le Parlement est prêt à rentrer dans le vif du sujet et à entamer les négociations pour donner une perspective plus claire à l'approche européenne sur la migration. Mais à présent, il faut que les ministres de l'intérieur adoptent une position et commencent à négocier avec le Parlement. Mais ils ne pourront le faire que sous la pression de leurs chefs d'État et de gouvernement. Donc je tiens à remercier Charles Michel d'avoir mis ce sujet à l'ordre du jour du Conseil européen et j'espère qu'il y aura une impulsion pour que les ministres de l'intérieur commencent aussi à se préparer à négocier avec le Parlement. Nous savons que la discussion sera compliquée, mais elle doit avoir lieu si on veut une solution sur le long terme.

Regardez ce que nous avons réussi à accomplir pendant la crise de la covid. Nous nous sommes mis d'accord sur un plan de relance historique et sur l'émission d'un emprunt commun. Nous avons créé un mécanisme pour préserver l'état de droit et nous avons géré à vingt-sept une pandémie alors que l'Europe n'avait pas de compétences spécifiques dans le domaine de la santé. Il y a deux ans, on ne pouvait même pas imaginer que l'on trouverait des solutions si rapidement à des sujets qui paraissaient si compliqués.

Donc une politique européenne de la migration et de l'asile robuste, humaine et efficace est maintenant notre prochaine mission impossible, mais qui doit être rendue possible si nous tenons vraiment à la crédibilité de l'Union européenne.

  Philippe Lamberts, au nom du groupe Verts/ALE. – Monsieur le Président, l’Union européenne est fondée sur les valeurs de respect de la dignité humaine, de liberté, de démocratie, d’égalité, de l’état de droit ainsi que du respect des droits de l’homme, y compris des droits des personnes appartenant à des minorités. Ces valeurs sont communes aux États membres dans une société caractérisée par le pluralisme, la non-discrimination, la tolérance, la justice, la solidarité et l’égalité entre les femmes et les hommes. Tel est l’article 2 du traité sur l’Union européenne, chers collègues, qui nous rappelle qu’avant d’être une union économique et monétaire, notre Union est une union de valeurs, des valeurs dont l’abandon, dont la négation, ont mené aux conflits qui ont déchiré ce continent au siècle dernier.

Aujourd’hui, ces valeurs sont foulées aux pieds. Elles sont foulées aux pieds lorsque, aux frontières de l’Union, les personnes qui frappent à nos portes sont violemment refoulées ou enfermées dans des conditions indignes. Elles sont foulées aux pieds lorsqu’au sein de l’Union européenne, ces piliers de la démocratie que sont la séparation des pouvoirs, l’indépendance de la justice, le pluralisme des médias sont abattus les uns après les autres. Elles sont foulées aux pieds lorsque des dizaines de millions d’Européens sont poussés dans la pauvreté et la précarité. Elles sont foulées aux pieds lorsqu’au nom de la lutte antiterroriste ou maintenant la sécurité sanitaire, nos concitoyens sont soumis à une surveillance toujours plus étroite par leurs États. Dernière insulte en date aux valeurs de l’Union: les restrictions à la liberté d’expression visant délibérément la communauté LGBTI en Hongrie.

Chers collègues, les atteintes aux valeurs de l’Union ne sont pas neuves, mais elles prennent aujourd’hui des proportions effrayantes. Pourquoi? Parce que la Commission européenne, gardienne des traités, n’a jusqu’ici pas osé passer du discours aux actes. Surtout parce que le Conseil, au nom de la préservation d’une unité de façade, a préféré protéger ses membres de toute pression.

Chers collègues, pour moi, il est clair que la prochaine réunion du Conseil devrait avoir pour seul et unique point à son ordre du jour le respect des valeurs de l’Union. Si une maison n’est pas capable de préserver ses fondations, elle est menacée d'effondrement.

  Marco Zanni, a nome del gruppo ID. – Signor Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, prima di parlare della prossima riunione del Consiglio, ho ascoltato con attenzione le parole dei colleghi che mi hanno preceduto sul tema delle libertà individuali e dei diritti. Condivido pienamente le loro parole e quindi chiedo loro di rispettare nel loro piccolo i diritti di tutti, perché chi applica un cordone sanitario a persone e minoranze legittimamente elette non può parlare di democrazia. Quindi vi invito insomma a dimostrare nel vostro piccolo che ci tenete a questi valori.

Sulla prossima riunione del Consiglio europeo, temi molto importanti, ne dibattiamo da tempo, purtroppo senza essere in grado di concretizzare soluzioni che ci aiutino a risolvere questi problemi.

Uno dei problemi che oggi affligge maggiormente e di cui discutiamo da più tempo è quello dell'immigrazione irregolare e ancora oggi, mi spiace dirlo, ma l'approccio adottato è un approccio che non ci permetterà di trovare una soluzione perché focalizzarsi ancora sul tema della ridistribuzione vuol dire non voler risolvere il problema.

La ridistribuzione – e lo abbiamo capito in questi sette anni ormai in cui dibattiamo di questo problema focalizzandoci su questo aspetto – è un approccio sbagliato per due motivi: il primo motivo, lo abbiamo capito penso tutti qui dentro e in Europa, è che è politicamente tossico, che nessuno la vuole. Non la vogliono governi che stanno a destra, non la vogliono governi che stanno a sinistra o al centro; nessuno la vuole e quindi non può essere una soluzione.

Il secondo punto riguarda una questione tecnica: se noi guardiamo all'evoluzione demografica che avrà il continente africano nei prossimi venti o trent'anni, capiamo benissimo che la redistribuzione non può essere una soluzione sostenibile nel lungo termine. Non possiamo accogliere decine di milioni di profughi nei prossimi anni da questo continente.

Dovremo inoltre guardare anche con un po' di realismo a quello che accade al di fuori dell'Unione europea, dove governi progressisti, o cosiddetti progressisti, hanno capito che l'approccio giusto è quello di una regolamentazione stretta, è di focalizzarsi sul combattimento dell'immigrazione illegale.

Il fatto che il Consiglio oggi metta nella sua agenda il tema delle migrazioni vuol dire ancora una volta che davvero non si focalizza il problema, che non è quello dei migranti ma è quello di fermare l'immigrazione illegale.

Io spero che oggi ci siano segnali differenti su questo tema. Il colloquio bilaterale che il Presidente del Consiglio del mio Paese, Mario Draghi, ha avuto con Angela Merkel sembra andare in questa direzione: finalmente forse qualcuno ha capito che parlare di ridistribuzione vuol dire non risolvere il problema ma dobbiamo focalizzarci sui nostri confini esterni e su uno stop all'immigrazione illegale.

  Anna Fotyga, on behalf of the ECR Group. – Mr President, I welcome the agenda of the upcoming Council. Let me focus on my area of interest, on Russia. I quote President Ursula von der Leyen: ‘history, geography and people bind us with Russia’.

For some EU Member States, geography is more difficult in terms of the relationship with Russia than for others. So, the policy vis—à—vis Russia requires the specific solidarity of all Member States.

In terms of history, I would like to remind my colleagues that recently Russia launched an information campaign – I would call it an information war – against some EU Member States, basing it on history – a common and very difficult history.

And people. There are good examples of this bond, particularly Andrei Sakharov, because of his CV and our prize. But there are bad examples, like Gerhard Schröder because of Nord Stream 2. We have to take this into account.

On migration, I welcome the relaunch of the Malta Declaration. But I would like to remind colleagues that there are also other directions and, in particular, the smuggling of migrants by Lukashenko, on the instigation probably of the Kremlin, to Lithuania, making the situation of that country extremely dire.

  Manon Aubry, au nom du groupe The Left. – Monsieur le Président, les frontières européennes sont devenues des cimetières à ciel ouvert. Les cadavres s’amoncellent en Méditerranée, des demandeurs d’asile sont kidnappés, abandonnés en mer Égée, torturés dans les forêts croates. L’Espagne délaisse les mineurs isolés marocains de Ceuta, la Grèce a recours à des canons à bruit, l’Italie bloque les navires de secours. Et vous regardez ailleurs.

Face à cette crise humanitaire, les États se rejettent la balle, sauf qu’il ne s’agit pas ici de foot, mais de vies humaines. Au lieu de secourir les exilés, Frontex les pourchasse et les abandonne aux réseaux mafieux. Et voilà comment l’Union européenne ne fait qu’ajouter encore au chaos.

Il est temps de rompre avec cette politique inhumaine et inefficace. Il faut organiser l’accueil coordonné, se débarrasser des règlements de Dublin, dénoncer les accords passés avec la Libye ou la Turquie. Toute autre politique sera un échec et sera marquée du sceau de la honte.

L’Union européenne doit cesser d’être tétanisée devant l’extrême droite sur ce sujet comme sur celui de la défense des droits des minorités. Comment accepter qu’en Europe, un État assimile les homosexuels à des pédocriminels et interdise la promotion de l’homosexualité auprès des mineurs? C’est pourtant exactement ce que le Parlement hongrois vient de voter.

Alors, quand vous aurez Viktor Orbán en face de vous, Madame Zacarias, il ne suffira pas de condamner tardivement, comme vient de le faire Ursula von der Leyen. Cette nouvelle attaque à l’encontre des personnes LGBTI, celle de trop, doit être sanctionnée immédiatement et avec la plus grande fermeté. Les Hongrois et toutes les personnes LGBTI doivent savoir qu’on ne les abandonnera pas, qu’ils ont le droit le plus fondamental d’aimer qui ils veulent, que notre groupe de la gauche fera tout pour mettre un terme à l’impunité d’Orbán.

Et puisque l’UEFA a injustement refusé que les couleurs de l’arc-en-ciel s’affichent sur le stade de Munich, ce soir, lors du match de foot contre la Hongrie, permettez-moi de les faire flotter ici haut et fort au Parlement européen, pour qu’enfin on siffle la fin de la partie de l’homophobie d’État en Hongrie.

(L’oratrice déploie le drapeau arc-en-ciel de la communauté LGBTI)

  Presidente. – Obrigado, recordo aos Senhores Deputados que a utilização de bandeiras, ou outra forma de banners não é permitida pelas nossas regras.

  Enikő Győri (NI). – Tisztelt Elnök Úr! Minden állítás, ami ebben a házban itt, a mai vitában kormányoktól, uniós intézmények vezetőitől elhangzott, szomorú és szégyenletes, mert valótlan állításokra épül. A nemrég elfogadott magyar törvénytervezet védi a gyermekek jogait, garantálja a szülők jogait, és nem vonatkozik a 18 éven felüliek szexuális orientációval kapcsolatos jogaira, így semmilyen diszkriminatív elemet nem tartalmaz. A magyar törvény az Európai Unió Alapjogi Chartája 14. cikkének harmadik bekezdésén nyugszik. A charta e rendelkezése értelmében a szülők azon jogát, hogy gyermekeik számára vallási, világnézeti vagy pedagógiai meggyőződésüknek megfelelő nevelést biztosítsanak, tiszteletben kell tartani. Nagyon kérem Önöket, hogy elfogulatlan vizsgálat nélkül ne tegyenek közzé politikai véleményt. Olvassanak, tisztelt hölgyeim és uraim, mielőtt nyilatkoznak. És el a kezekkel a gyerekeinktől!

  Lena Düpont (PPE). – Herr Präsident! Was sehen wir vor uns? Was sollte auch der Rat vor sich sehen, wenn wir über die Erklärung von Malta sprechen? Eine schwierige Lage in den Staaten um uns drumherum. Die Pandemiefolgen, Konflikte, die anhalten oder neu aufbrechen, steigende Ankunftszahlen auf den unterschiedlichen Routen, insbesondere im zentralen Mittelmeer.

Griechenland, Italien, Spanien, Malta, Zypern, die Kanarischen Inseln, die Hilfssignale senden und zu Recht darauf hinweisen, dass Solidarität ein Herzstück der gemeinsamen Asyl— und Migrationspolitik ist und dass sie zu Recht gemeinsam mit dem effektiven Grenzschutz und konsequenten Rückführungen im Zentrum des neuen Pakts steht und auch stehen muss.

Wir haben eine Erklärung aus dem Jahr 2019, die eine erste Blaupause, ein Aufschlag hätte sein können, wenn mehr Mitgliedstaaten sie aufgegriffen hätten. Was wir aber nicht sehen, ist genügend Bewegung bei den Mitgliedstaaten. Da sind diejenigen, die sich mangels Betroffenheit zurücklehnen oder gleich in die Fundamentalopposition gehen, da sind Mitgliedstaaten – immer die gleichen –, die Initiativen ergreifen und allzu oft gegen Wände laufen. Dazwischen sind die Mitgliedstaaten, die stellvertretend für alle anderen die Lasten tragen.

Die Malta—Erklärung zu beleben ist richtig und wichtig. Es kann aber nur der erste Schritt auf dem Weg zu einer verlässlichen und dauerhaften Lösung sein. Nutzen Sie den Rat Ende des Monats für wirkliche Fortschritte, so wie Sie es auch angekündigt haben, damit wir uns nicht mehr von Notlösung zu Notlösung hangeln müssen.

  Heléne Fritzon (S&D). – Herr talman! Ja, efter mer än ett år med en pandemi så ser vi nu en viss positiv utveckling. Fler och fler av EU:s medborgare är vaccinerade, även om vi fortfarande har en stor utmaning globalt. Långsamt kan vi öppna upp våra samhällen och med EU:s digitala covid-intyg kan vi underlätta den fria rörligheten inom EU.

Men det återstår mycket arbete. Samordningen inom EU måste fortsätta och alla, verkligen alla, medlemsstater måste ta sitt ansvar. Det är nödvändigt med avvägda åtgärder för att hantera pandemins konsekvenser, där inte minst kvinnor har drabbats hårdare. Det handlar om jämställdhet. Det handlar om en ekonomisk hållbar tillväxt enligt Parisavtalet och om en grön och digital omställning.

Pandemin har visat på både styrkor och svagheter. Nu måste vi dra lärdom av covid-19 så att vi är bättre på att hantera framtida kriser för våra EU-medborgares skull.

  Fabienne Keller (Renew). – Monsieur le Président, Madame la Ministre, Monsieur le Commissaire, les chefs d’État débattront au Conseil de la migration et de l’asile. La question est simple: y a-t-il enfin une volonté des États d’avancer?

Depuis la crise des réfugiés de 2015, l’Union européenne, par ses divisions, est inerte. Nous laissons prospérer réseaux de passeurs et situations de non-droit: ce n’est pas le visage de l’Europe des valeurs que nous défendons.

Début juin, avec notre groupe Renew et son président Dacian Cioloş, nous avons demandé aux États et à la Commission de relancer l’accord de Malte de septembre 2019. Trois objectifs: cesser les drames humains en Méditerranée, organiser le sauvetage en mer des migrants qui s’engagent sur des routes périlleuses et assurer un partage de responsabilité équitable entre tous les États membres.

Ne laissons pas l’Italie, l’Espagne, la Grèce ou Malte gérer seules des arrivées de plus en plus nombreuses. Je ne crois pas au grand soir de l’asile et de la migration et je préfère la méthode des petits pas de Robert Schuman et Jean Monnet. Pour bâtir une solidarité de fait, grâce à des réalisations concrètes dès cet été, nous pouvons agir.

  Jordi Solé (Verts/ALE). – Mr President, while the migration and asylum pact is still deadlocked, migrants and refugees keep drowning on our shores, queuing up at our borders or scraping out a living in camps. On relocation, we still see many Member States displaying an alarming lack of solidarity. A humane management of migration in a political union like ours must entail the commitment to relocate. Only with leadership at EU level and with Member States acting for once as a bloc can we meaningfully tackle relocation.

On another note, the last time the European Council met in Brussels, the Spanish Prime Minister announced his will to pardon the Catalan political prisoners. Today and after three and a half ignominious years in jail, they walked free. This is a welcome decision that should allow for political dialogue and negotiation to finally take off.

However, it will take much more courage to solve a conflict that is far from over, for many judicial proceedings, targeting hundreds of citizens, are still ongoing. Hence our call for an amnesty. And there remains a big, persistent demand in Catalonia still to be heard: we want to decide freely on our political future in an agreed referendum. We will keep working with full democratic conviction for that.

  Jörg Meuthen (ID). – Herr Präsident, werte Kollegen! Wieder einmal ist in der EU von Solidarität die Rede. Und wieder einmal verheißt dieser Begriff nichts Gutes für die Bürger. Wann immer die Regierenden die Vokabel „Solidarität“ bemühen, geht es tatsächlich darum, den Bürgern etwas mit Macht aufzuzwingen. Und so ist es auch diesmal: Der sogenannte Solidaritätsmechanismus der EU – diese groß angelegte Zwangsverteilung von jenen Migranten, die weiter in Scharen nicht nur über das Mittelmeer zu uns strömen –, ist definitiv nicht im Sinne der Bürger der Union.

In Deutschland sprachen sich bei einer repräsentativen Umfrage jüngst 62 Prozent deutlich gegen die Aufnahme weiterer Asylbewerber aus. In Frankreich waren es im letzten Jahr sogar 70 Prozent.

Nehmen Sie endlich zur Kenntnis: Die Europäer wollen keine unkontrollierte Masseneinwanderung! Wenn Kommission und Rat von Solidarität sprechen, dann mögen sie diese gefälligst und zuallererst einmal gegenüber den eigenen Bürgern zeigen. Die wollen gemeinsame Anstrengungen für einen effektiven Schutz unserer Außengrenzen. Allein diese Solidarität sind Sie den Bürgern schuldig!

  Ангел Джамбазки (ECR). – Г-н Председател, уважаеми колеги, от изминалия съвет стана ясно, че част от държавите и част от представителите тук нямат представа защо позицията на Република България по началото на преговорите за Република Северна Македония с Европейският съюз остава непроменена.

Много е просто, колеги, ще ви кажа за тези, които не са разбрали. Остава непроменена, уважаеми г-н Шефчович, защото в Република Северна Македония продължават да се нарушават човешките права, продължават да бъдат преследвани хора за тяхното българско национално самосъзнание, полицията продължава да арестува хора, които изразяват своя български произход. Това е недопустимо, уважаеми г-н комисар, това не са европейски ценности.

Уважаеми г-н Шефчович, продължавам оттам, откъдето приключих. Уведомяваме Ви, че в Република Северна Македония правителството, властите продължават да нарушават човешките права на българите, които живеят там. Например, има хора, които са арестувани, защото са написали в социална мрежа, че имат български произход. Например, на границата се арестуват книги, г-н Шефчович, книги се арестуват. Такива са били порядките в нацистка Германия и болшевишкия комунистически човеконенавистен Съветски съюз. Такъв Европейски съюз ли искаме и такава държава ли искаме да пусне този Европейски съюз? Аз се съмнявам много. Моля Ви обърнете внимание, това са сериозни неща.

  Presidente. – Próxima intervenção, com uma saudação especial, porque imagino que será, se não a última, uma das últimas intervenções que terá a oportunidade de fazer no plenário neste mandato.

  João Ferreira (The Left). – Senhor Presidente, obrigado pela sua saudação. Dois apontamentos sobre dois assuntos que serão debatidos pelo Conselho Europeu.

Quanto à recuperação económica: a pouco e pouco vai-se destapando o véu da condicionalidade associada ao mecanismo de recuperação e resiliência. Um cardápio, pode dizer-se, à moda da Troika, que, ao que se diz, vai das proverbiais reformas estruturais às pressões ilegítimas em matéria de legislação laboral, pensões, segurança social, serviços públicos, incluindo saúde. Senhor Comissário, queremos saber de tudo, que contrapartidas estão a ser impostas aos Estados-Membros, seja pela Comissão Europeia, seja pelos falcões do Conselho Europeu. Sabemos que, quando se trata de aumentar a exploração e atacar serviços públicos, uma e outros são normalmente muito pouco frugais.

Quanto à COVID-19: a evolução recente da situação demonstra a importância de se avançar mais rapidamente na vacinação. É cada vez mais insustentável a recusa da União Europeia de levantar as patentes das vacinas e garantir, por esta via, a partilha do conhecimento, assim pondo a defesa obstinada dos lucros dos consórcios multinacionais farmacêuticos à frente da saúde e da vida das pessoas.

  Κώστας Παπαδάκης (NI). – Κύριε Πρόεδρε, μπροστά στη σύνοδο κορυφής, αποδεικνύεται έμπρακτα σε μια σειρά χώρες ότι τα αναγκαία εμβόλια συμβάλλουν, αλλά δεν μπορεί — όπως ισχυρίζονται η Επιτροπή και οι κυβερνήσεις — να εναποτεθεί μόνο σε αυτά η αντιμετώπιση της πανδημίας. Η στρατηγική σας ενισχύει την εμπορευματοποιημένη πανάκριβη υγεία, το κριτήριο κόστος-όφελος που μας έφεραν ως εδώ.

Την ώρα που χρυσώνονται οι μεγάλοι επιχειρηματικοί όμιλοι με το Ταμείο Ανάκαμψης, η αποπληρωμή του φορτώνεται στον λαό με μνημόνια-εκτρώματα για δεκάωρη δουλειά, περιορισμό της απεργίας, τζογάρισμα των επικουρικών συντάξεων, ενώ μετακυλίονται στον λαό νέοι πράσινοι και ψηφιακοί φόροι.

Στον δε ανταγωνισμό με ΗΠΑ, Κίνα και Ρωσία η ΕΕ, και για την προσέλκυση της Τουρκίας, την αναγορεύει σε ασφαλή χώρα μεθοδεύοντας fast track απελάσεις και καταστολή τύπου Frontex, διαιωνίζoντας τη δήλωση ΕΕ-Τουρκίας που εγκλωβίζει χιλιάδες πρόσφυγες στα ελληνικά νησιά. Μάλιστα, βλέπει βελτίωσή της, την ώρα που αυτή έχει εξαγγείλει νέες γεωτρήσεις στη Νοτιοανατολική Μεσόγειο και προωθεί διχοτομικά σχέδια στην Κύπρο. Πρόκειται για αποδείξεις ότι η εμπλοκή της Ελλάδας και με κυβέρνηση της ΝΔ στα σχέδια ΕΕ, ΝΑΤΟ και ΗΠΑ μόνο νέα βάσανα προμηνύει για τους λαούς.

  Karlo Ressler (PPE). –Poštovani predsjedavajući, kolegice i kolege, nakon više od godinu dana Europa se konačno otvara, restrikcije se ukidaju i pokreću se Nacionalni planovi oporavka.

U drugom planu je nažalost ostalo jedno od ključnih političkih pitanja suvremene Europe, sustav migracija i azila koji je svoje slabosti pokazao još 2015. godine. Potresne slike iz Španjolske kao i mnogo puta iz Grčke i ostalih graničnih zemalja koje podnose ogroman dio migracijskih pritisaka prema Europi još uvijek pokazuju da su promjene i osnaživanje sustava prijeko potrebni. Prvi pozitivni signali iz Vijeća bude nadu da ćemo uskoro konačno ovom pitanju pristupiti kako i zaslužuje, sveobuhvatno, odgovorno i razborito. Treba nam odgovornost, treba nam solidarnost, ali prije svega treba nam suradnja europskih država jer stabilna i snažna Europa je samo ona koja ima jasan sustav migracija i azila a preduvjet za to je zaštititi vanjske granice.

  Brando Benifei (S&D). – Signor Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, quale futuro all'Europa se non impara a difendersi dalla violenza autoritaria che cresce al suo interno?

Il Consiglio europeo si apre, purtroppo, in un clima molto pesante: quanto sta accadendo in Polonia, ma soprattutto in Ungheria, sul terreno dei diritti fondamentali, necessita di una reazione immediata. Ha fatto bene la Presidente von der Leyen a dire che la legge anti-LGBT promossa da Orbán è una vergogna, così come ieri quattordici governi che hanno stigmatizzato la legge, compreso il governo italiano. Che ne pensa la Lega? Sta con il governo di cui fa parte o con Orbán?

Ora serve reagire: i leader europei attivino subito le sanzioni già richieste dall'Europarlamento e bloccate proprio dal Consiglio e la Commissione inneschi subito il meccanismo di condizionalità sullo Stato di diritto, perché non si usino mai più i soldi degli europei per calpestare i diritti di tutti.

Ci vuole più coraggio: ogni minuto perso è un atto di prevaricazione e di violenza sui cittadini europei, sulla comunità LGBT, su tutte e tutti!

  Jan-Christoph Oetjen (Renew). – Herr Präsident, Kolleginnen und Kollegen! Die Pandemie geht zurück, der Sommer kommt, und wie jedes Jahr im Sommer steigen auch wieder die Zahlen der Menschen, die die gefährliche Reise über das Mittelmeer angehen und nach Europa kommen wollen. Menschen, die ein besseres Leben suchen.

Und wir sind uns, glaube ich, alle einig, dass wir natürlich eine ganzheitliche Lösung für die Asyl— und Migrationspolitik brauchen. Eine ganzheitliche Lösung heißt für mich, dass wir klare Regeln auch für legale Einwanderung nach Europa brauchen. Und eine ganzheitliche Lösung heißt auch, dass wir Solidarität mit den südlichen Mitgliedstaaten brauchen.

Solange wir diese Lösung aber nicht haben – und verehrte Kolleginnen und Kollegen, solange der Rat blockiert, haben wir die nicht –, solange wir diese nicht haben, brauchen wir eine Wiederbelebung der Deklaration von Valletta. Denn die hilft uns in solchen Situationen – in denen Schiffe auf dem Mittelmeer darauf warten, dass aus Seenot Gerettete irgendwo abgeladen, hingebracht werden können –, dass in solchen Momenten eben nicht blockiert wird, wie das der Fall war bei der Maersk Etienne, die 38 Tage darauf gewartet hat, dass ein Hafen aufmacht, um Flüchtlinge abzugeben. Wir brauchen eine andere Lösung, bei der die Mitgliedstaaten eben auch helfen müssen – und Malta helfen müssen und Italien helfen müssen. Und ich erwarte, dass der Rat hier in Bewegung kommt und diese Malta—Erklärung wiederbelebt.

  Ernest Urtasun (Verts/ALE). – Señor presidente, quiero empezar mi intervención agradeciendo a Portugal, a sus excelentes funcionarios y a la secretaria de Estado Zacarias una excelente presidencia del Consejo: muchísimas gracias.

Y también he de decir que en este Consejo Europeo empezamos con un grandísimo escándalo que es esta ley húngara que atenta contra el ordenamiento jurídico europeo y contra los valores fundamentales que están en nuestra Carta de los Derechos Fundamentales; atenta contra la dignidad humana, contra la libertad de expresión y contra la educación libre, y no podemos tolerar que determinados Estados miembros, mediante decisiones que toman a nivel nacional, socaven los principios fundamentales de la Unión. Es por ello que la Comisión Europea no puede tardar ni un minuto más en abrir un procedimiento de infracción por esta ley y en poner en marcha el mecanismo de defensa del Estado de Derecho que tanto costó tener y que es un instrumento que debemos saber utilizar. Y se ha de condenar la inaceptable actitud de la UEFA de estos últimos días.

También quiero, finalmente y para terminar, mostrar mi apoyo a la solicitud hecha por mi compañera Terry Reintke de que este Parlamento, esta noche, también se ilumine con los colores del arcoíris para mostrar todo nuestro apoyo y solidaridad con la comunidad LGTBI en toda Europa.

  Jaak Madison (ID). – Mr President, first of all, I would like to come back to the Malta Declaration, which will be discussed in a few days.

Ms Zacarias mentioned that we need a shared responsibility in the EU.

My main question is that, when the European Commission is officially promoting migration from the Middle East and Africa because demography is in the minus, and we need more workers and more people because family policies have totally failed in the EU, and there are countries which are actually supporting family policy to give more benefits to parents to have more kids, why do they have to share this responsibility?

When there are countries in the EU which do not even want to close the borders and do not even want to stop illegal migration, or when Chancellor Merkel opens the borders and says that everybody is welcome, why do the Estonian people, my nation, have to share the responsibility when a mistake is made by Chancellor Merkel?

Where is this shared responsibility? I do not think it is part of these European values.

Finally, in my last sentence, I have to congratulate Mr Orbán. I know I’m in the minority in this House here, but I do not think that we in this House are more important than the Members of the Parliament elected by the Hungarian people in Hungary.

  Robert Roos (ECR). – Voorzitter, commissaris, staatssecretaris, Europa wordt al jaren geconfronteerd met een enorm probleem: de grootschalige instroom van asielzoekers, veelal jonge mannen uit veilige landen. Het leidt tot inhumane situaties aan onze buitengrens en grote problemen in onze steden en dorpen. Het zou logisch zijn om open te staan voor alle mogelijke oplossingen om deze toestanden te voorkomen, maar die les is niet aan de Europese Commissie besteed.

Het weloverwogen plan van de Deense minister van Immigratie – zelf zoon van een Ethiopische vluchteling – om asielzoekers buiten Europa op te vangen op basis van goede afspraken met derde landen, werd zonder serieuze overweging door de Commissie naar de prullenbak verwezen. Onbegrijpelijk, want op de Deense manier kan het recht op asielaanvraag worden gehonoreerd en kan de aanzuigende werking van Europa worden verminderd.

Ik zou de Raad daarom het volgende willen meegeven. Wees niet als de Europese Commissie. Voorkom mensensmokkel en humanitaire rampen aan onze buitengrenzen. Bescherm Europa en omarm het Deense plan.

  Carles Puigdemont i Casamajó (NI). – Mr President, these days, we are seeing the von der Leyen tour to present recovery and resilience plans. Since the beginning of this great project, which is fundamental to our future, some of us have been demanding the strengthening of democratic commitment and respect for human rights. The European Council has a great opportunity to use the best tool that circumstances have put in its hands. It can now show its strength in order to demand exemplary behaviour in all Member States without exception, without double standards.

On Monday, the Council of Europe approved a report on Turkey and Spain about freedom to do politics, freedom of expression, and it pointed out a series of recommendations for Spain, Ms García Pérez: not for Hungary, Poland or Slovenia, but for Spain. I trust that the European Council will take good note of this and ensure that the money of Europeans is used to improve democracy where it is weakening.

  Seán Kelly (PPE). – Mr President, as we get ready to commence the final Council meeting of the Portuguese Presidency we can reflect on a very successful term, and I would like to congratulate our Portuguese colleagues in this regard, although I do hope that we have a successful conclusion to the CAP negotiations this week, and I know that the Portuguese Presidency is working very hard to bring that about.

I’d also like to highlight the success of the EU vaccine rollout, with 53% of the adult population already receiving one dose, something that we are well on our way to reaching the 70% target. Yet we must be acutely aware, while there is light at the end of the tunnel for us, the pandemic still rages in many places across the globe, and we must do more to help these people.

Several colleagues have also mentioned the situation in Hungary as regards legislation banning dissemination of content relating to homosexuality and gender change. This is wrong, but I’m proud of the work done by my Fine Gael colleague Maria Walsh in this regard, and for the strong support shown to the LGBTI community in Hungary and beyond. The European Union embraces diversity, inclusion, human dignity and equality, and we should not tolerate discrimination.

  Birgit Sippel (S&D). – Herr Präsident! „Tödliche Missachtung“ nennt die UN—Menschenrechtskommissarin ihren Bericht zur Seenotrettung im Mittelmeer. Tatsächlich stehen seit Jahren Organisationen für unsere Werte im Mittelmeer ein. Aber was wir brauchen, ist eine europäische Seenotrettung und die Verteilung von aus Seenot geretteten Menschen.

Die Würde des Menschen ist – unantastbar? Wir erinnern uns, es war auch Teil der Malta—Erklärung, dass Organisationen den Anweisungen von libyschen Milizen folgen und Menschen nach Libyen zurückbringen sollten – zurück zu Folter und Zwangsarbeit. Und ein wenig ähnlich lesen sich die Entwürfe der Schlussfolgerungen des Rates: Konzentration nur auf Externalisierung, auf Transit— und Herkunftsländer, auf capacity building für sogenanntes Migrationsmanagement. Kein Wort dagegen zum Schutz von Menschen und zum Schutz der Menschenrechte an unseren Grenzen.

Das ist nicht mein Europa!

  Geert Bourgeois (ECR). – Voorzitter, mijnheer de commissaris, mevrouw de staatssecretaris, de Europese Unie moet een sluitend migratiebeleid voeren om haar burgers te beschermen, om Schengen en het vrij verkeer van personen overeind te houden.

Wij mogen ons niet laten chanteren door landen die massale migratiestromen willen gebruiken om ons onder druk te zetten.

Wij appreciëren het dat Turkije miljoenen Syrische vluchtelingen opvangt. Maar, collega’s, we kunnen er niet omheen dat Turkije ver afgegleden is van de lekenstaat van Kemal Atatürk, ook van de rechtsstaat, en op ongeziene wijze de Koerdische minderheid onderdrukt.

Vandaar uiteraard geen toetreding van Turkije tot de EU, maar ook geen opwaardering van het bestaande douane-unieverdrag, wél technische verbeteringen van het douane-unieverdrag dat we momenteel hebben.

  François-Xavier Bellamy (PPE). – Monsieur le Président, à la veille du Conseil, certains, dont le groupe Renew, le groupe de M. Macron, appellent à remettre en œuvre la relocalisation obligatoire de migrants à l’intérieur du continent européen. C’est une manière de gérer notre impuissance à maîtriser nos frontières, de gérer notre impuissance face à l’immigration illégale, ce n’est en rien une réponse au défi migratoire. Parce que, si nous nous arrêtons à cette idée, c’est que nous avons renoncé à l’idée de défendre, enfin, les frontières extérieures de l’Europe face à l’immigration illégale, face au business des passeurs et que nous alimentons ainsi leur économie sinistre et le trafic des êtres humains.

Nous avons le devoir de mettre enfin en œuvre cette stratégie concertée de maîtrise des frontières européennes pour soutenir les États membres les plus touchés. Et pour cela, de mettre fin au procès scandaleux perpétuellement instruit contre l’agence Frontex, qui ne fait rien d’autre que son travail de garde-côtes et de garde-frontières, quand elle permet d’éviter que le continent européen voie entrer des gens qui n’y ont pas été autorisés.

Il n’y a qu’un seul moyen de mettre fin à tous les morts qui endeuillent la mer Méditerranée, c’est de garantir et de faire savoir que personne ne pourra s’établir en Europe, s’il n’y a pas été légalement autorisé. Sans cela, l’Europe n’a pas d’avenir et elle ne retrouvera pas son honneur.

  Javier Moreno Sánchez (S&D). – Señor presidente, relanzar y reforzar la Declaración de Malta, y sobre todo su espíritu, es sin duda un paso positivo para proteger los derechos de los refugiados y de los migrantes, pero no es suficiente. La responsabilidad de la política migratoria común no puede recaer únicamente en los Estados del sur, sino que debe ser una responsabilidad compartida, solidaria y obligatoria de todos los Estados miembros de la Unión.

Por ello, es necesario un mecanismo de reubicación automático y obligatorio para todos los migrantes y solicitantes de asilo. Pero, sobre todo, señorías, es urgente poner en marcha un verdadero plan de acción europeo claro y preciso para las operaciones de búsqueda y salvamento marítimo y de desembarque de los migrantes en puertos seguros, acordado entre Frontex, la Comisión y los Estados miembros.

La inacción nos llevaría, un verano más, a una situación desoladora, tanto en el Mediterráneo como en el Atlántico, convirtiéndolos, una vez más, en cementerios marítimos. Por ello, la Unión Europea debe humanizar su política migratoria común.

  Alfred Sant (S&D). – Mr President, back in 2015, the Valletta Summit on Migration brought together European and African leaders. They agreed to address the root causes of irregular migration, to enhance cooperation on legal migration and to prevent irregular migration. Leaders promised to shoulder a common responsibility in a fair manner between countries of origin, countries of transit and destination.

Yet, five years later, Europe’s southern front is still facing a disproportionate burden through irregular migration and requests for humanitarian protection. By way of asylum claims per capita in the EU for 2020, the three top countries were Cyprus with 838 claims, Malta with 482 and Greece with 378 claims per 100 000 inhabitants.

Today, solidarity between Member States remains limited and applied on an ad hoc basis. Many still ignore that migration is an EU problem to tackle at the EU level, and it calls for responsible and concrete decisions. Firstly, to tackle the actual roots of irregular migration. Secondly, overhaul the current system towards a permanent and proportionate structure of allocation for asylum seekers. The ball remains in the Council’s court. The emergency has been going on for too long. Tangible results are urgently required.

  Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-President of the Commission. – Mr President, let me also thank all the honourable Members of this House for highlighting the fact that the EU is a union based on values with the utmost respect for human dignity, equality and high respect for human rights and non—discrimination. This was clearly underscored in a strong statement by the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, this morning.

I would also like to thank honourable Members for numerous references to migration. Let me repeat what Mr Cioloş has also underlined. We cannot always just react to eventual crises. We need to use foresight and agree on long—term, sustainable, balanced and comprehensive solutions that will address all aspects of the migratory issue. Therefore, we need to work jointly on the proposals which the Commission made nine months ago. I know that the European Parliament is ready for this discussion and we hope that very soon this will also be the situation and the position of the Council.

To conclude, I would just like to underline that I absolutely concur with all the speakers who reminded us not to lose focus on how we make sure that we emerge from this crisis and, even more importantly, emerge stronger, and that we need to tackle both parts of the crisis: the health aspect, but also the economic impact. Therefore, I think that the focus here clearly needs to be to accelerate or keep up the high pace of vaccinations and work very intensely and jointly on the future of building the European health union, which should be able to respond very quickly and dynamically to potential crises of this quality in the future.

But we also need to tackle the economic consequences of this crisis, and there our best recipe is to implement the recovery and resilience plans. What is encouraging – and I am glad that I can share this with this House – is not only the quality of the plans we are receiving, but also the fact that now we have the financial resources to support the successful implementation of these plans. Here I am referring to the very successful first—ever issuance of the Next Generation EU bonds. Implementation of the recovery plans and a financial boost to our economies is the best answer to the current challenge, which I believe will help to transform our economies to be greener, to be more digital, but also to be stronger and more resilient.

  Ana Paula Zacarias, Presidente em exercício do Conselho. – Senhor Presidente, Senhor Comissário, Senhoras e Senhores Deputados, quero, em primeiro lugar, efetivamente agradecer as palavras de apreço pela Presidência portuguesa, que seguramente transmitirei a toda a minha equipa, e agradeço, pelo meu lado, a cooperação recebida ao longo destes seis meses por parte do Parlamento Europeu. Foi uma honra e um privilégio, Senhor Presidente, trabalhar com o Parlamento Europeu num verdadeiro espírito de leal cooperação. Aprendi muito durante estes seis meses. Foi realmente um prazer passar por aqui. Agradeço também a oportunidade deste debate e as vossas observações e comentários a respeito do próximo Conselho Europeu. Tratarei de as transmitir ao meu Primeiro-Ministro e também ao Presidente do Conselho Europeu.

Temos uma ordem do dia muito preenchida, com questões internacionais importantes: Líbia, Rússia, Bielorrússia, Sahel, Etiópia e a terrível situação que se vive em Tigré. Teremos também as questões fundamentais da recuperação económica. Com a campanha de vacinação bem encaminhada e vários atos legislativos cruciais em vigor podemos encarar o futuro com a esperança de recuperar as nossas liberdades e reconstruir a economia europeia.

Enquanto reconstruimos uma sociedade melhor, mais resiliente, mais verde, mais justa, mais inovadora, temos também, sim, que continuar a defender os nossos valores fundamentais: a democracia, o Estado de direito, os direitos humanos, a igualdade e a não discriminação no centro da União Europeia e também fora dela, no nosso relacionamento com a Turquia, com a Rússia e com os nossos parceiros africanos. É auspicioso que, ao fim de mais de dois anos, o dossiê das migrações volte de novo à mesa dos líderes para um debate que incidirá em especial sobre a dimensão externa. A Presidência continuará a envidar esforços para tentar encontrar uma solução permanente baseada na solidariedade que venha substituir o tratamento ad hoc das diferentes situações. Esperamos que a Comissão e o Alto Representante, em cooperação com os Estados-Membros, possam desenvolver planos de ação concretos com os países de origem e de trânsito dos migrantes, indicando objetivos, medidas de apoio concretas, cronogramas para enfrentarmos as causas profundas das migrações.

Aprovámos os instrumentos financeiros do Quadro Financeiro Plurianual. Podemos usar pelo menos 10% do envelope financeiro do MDCI e fundos de outros instrumentos para fazer avançar esta agenda. Sabemos que este é um dossiê politicamente difícil, mas teremos que encontrar soluções na base dos valores da sociedade, da solidariedade e da responsabilidade partilhada.

  Presidente. – O debate conjunto da nossa agenda está, então, encerrado. Antes de prosseguirmos com os debates da ordem do dia, e antes ainda de abrir o período de votação de hoje, gostaria de dar a palavra para duas intervenções ao abrigo do artigo 159.º, n.º 4, do Regimento, e, primeiro, daria então a palavra ao Deputado Hristov que pediu para intervir, ao abrigo daquele preceito do nosso Regimento, relativamente ao seu relatório sobre os desafios e as oportunidades para o setor das pescas no Mar Negro.

  Иво Христов, докладчик. – Г-н Председател, радвам се, че след 10-годишна пауза проблемите пред риболовния сектор в Черно море отново са обект на внимание от страна на Европейския парламент.

Черно море е воден басейн с много специфични характеристики. Само две от крайбрежните държави - България и Румъния, са членки на Европейския съюз, което затруднява координацията в стопанисването на ресурсите ни. Друга местна специфика е флотът, който е основно дребномащабен, като в България около 95 % от всички риболовни съдове попадат под тази категория. В тази връзка смятам, че държавите в региона трябва да заложат мерки и механизми, които да дават възможност и на тези рибари да съхранят поминъка си и да имат справедлив достъп до пазара на риба и рибни продукти.

Силна тревога буди състоянието на икономически значимите водни организми. Похвално е, че се изпълнява проектът „Black Sea for Fish“, който ще даде актуална информация за част от видовете. В тази връзка отправям призив към правителствата на държавите от региона да увеличат националните инвестиции в наука и проучвания както за запасите, така и за състоянието на околната среда в Черно море.

Същевременно не трябва да се подценяват възможностите пред сектора. България и Румъния отчитат най-ниските показатели за консумация на риба на глава от населението. Макар и експортно ориентиран, риболовът не бива да пренебрегва местния пазар. Рибата е препоръчван, здравословен хранителен ресурс и заместител на изтощаващото околната среда животновъдство.

Пандемията, по време на която международната търговия беше прекъсната, доказва необходимостта от местен добив и производство на всякакви хранителни стоки. Потенциал за ръст има и така нареченият нежелан или неизползван улов, който съдържа възможности за пазарна реализация в преработен или непреработен вид. Това са само част от предложенията, които се надявам, че ще залегнат в официалната позиция на Европейския парламент относно предизвикателствата и възможностите пред риболовния сектор в Черно море.

  Presidente. – Gostaria igualmente de dar a palavra agora à Deputada Bentele e ao Deputado Neuser que pediram para intervir nos termos do artigo 159.º, n.º 4, do Regimento, relativamente ao seu relatório sobre o papel da cooperação para o desenvolvimento e a ajuda humanitária da UE face às consequências da pandemia de COVID-19.

  Hildegard Bentele, Rapporteur. – Sehr geehrter Herr Präsident, liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen! Kollege Neuser und ich hatten die Aufgabe, die Auswirkungen von COVID—19 auf Entwicklungsländer zu untersuchen und daraus Konsequenzen für die internationale Zusammenarbeit zu formulieren.

COVID—19 hat dort grundsätzlich alle Auswirkungen wie in den Industriestaaten, aber in sehr viel verschärfterer Form: Ausnahme— und Mangelzustände im Gesundheitswesen führten in Entwicklungsländern dazu, dass viele essenzielle Gesundheitsdienstleistungen nicht mehr bereitgestellt wurden – wie Routineimpfungen und die medizinische Versorgung von Frauen. Schulschließungen, von denen 1,6 Milliarden Kinder betroffen waren, führten oft dazu, dass Kinder und vor allem Mädchen nicht wieder in die Schule zurückkehren werden, sondern jetzt arbeiten oder verheiratet wurden. Die Unterbrechung von Lieferketten und das Ausbleiben des Tourismus haben zu einem deutlichen Anstieg von Hunger und Armut geführt.

Wir haben also viele Probleme, bei denen wir schon gute Fortschritte gemacht haben, wieder auf der Agenda – bessere Gesundheitsversorgung, universale Bildung, Ernährungssicherheit. Diese Schwerpunkte werden die Programmierung der europäischen Mittel in den nächsten Monaten prägen müssen.

Wir haben aber auch Positives gesehen: Der neue Ansatz „Team Europe“, bei dem die europäische Hilfe mit der der Mitgliedstaaten eng koordiniert wurde, war eine richtige Initiative. Ebenso wie die von der EU maßgeblich vorangetriebene Internationale Allianz für die Impfstoffbeschaffung COVAX. COVID—19 zeigt uns einmal mehr auf, wie eng die Gesundheit von uns Europäern mit der der anderen 7,3 Milliarden Menschen in der Welt verbunden ist. COVID—19 können wir nur gemeinsam besiegen!

  Norbert Neuser, Rapporteur. – Herr Präsident, meine Kolleginnen und Kollegen! Vielen Dank, Hildegard Bentele, für einen guten Bericht, den wir gemeinsam gemacht haben. Leider gibt es keine Debatte dazu, aber einige Schwerpunkte will ich herausstellen.

Wir brauchen verstärkte Bemühungen, um die Gesundheitssysteme weltweit resilient zu machen, besonders in den Entwicklungsländern. Das hat COVID-19 noch einmal unterstrichen. Die Situation wird schwieriger. Wir haben eine riesige Finanzierungslücke bei der Bekämpfung des Hungers. Wir brauchen weltweit 32 Milliarden EUR – und wir haben 17 Milliarden, also ungefähr nur die Hälfte.

Und deswegen ist es wichtig, dass wir ein Thema angehen, und dabei ist insbesondere der Rat gefordert: Wir brauchen eine bessere Finanzierung, eine gerechte Gebermentalität – und da halten sich leider viele Mitgliedstaaten in Europa bedeckt. Das kann Aufgabe des Parlamentes sein, das kann Aufgabe der Kommission sein, aber das muss ganz stark auf die Agenda des Europäischen Rates. Hier ist dringend Handlungsbedarf gefordert.

Declarações escritas (artigo 171.º)

  Vilija Blinkevičiūtė (S&D), raštu. – Artėjančiame Europos Vadovų susitikime numatyta aptarti daug labai svarbių klausimų. Visų pirma, būtina išsamiai aptarti ir susitarti dėl bendrų Sąjungos veiksmų, kad ateityje būtume geriau pasiruošę galimoms pandemijoms ir kitokiems nenumatytiems visuomenės sveikatos iššūkiams. Būtina stiprinti ES kolektyvinius pajėgumus ir atsparumą netikėtų masinių krizių akivaizdoje. Jau daugiai nei metus besitęsianti COVID pandemija sukėlė didžiulius socialinius ir ekonominius padarinius, o tai rodo, jog ES nėra labai gerai pasirengusi susidoroti su visuotinio masto krizėmis ir tai turi būti ištaisyta. Kitas svarbus klausimas būsimojo susitikimo darbotvarkėje yra Baltarusija. Minsko režimas ir toliau vykdo bauginimais grindžiamą politiką ne tik šalies viduje ir savo žmonių atžvilgiu, bet ir kitų šalių atžvilgiu. Mano šalis yra Baltarusijos pasienyje ir šis klausimas yra ypatingai aktualus. Labai raginu valstybių lyderius imtis visų veiksmų, kad būtų išlaisvintas pagrobtas žurnalistas ir jo draugė, kad būtų išlaisvinti politiniai kaliniai, kurie tapo Lukašenkos režimo aukomis. Privalo būti dedamos visos įmanomos pastangos, kad šis brutualus režimas būtų sustabdytas ir kad Baltarusijos žmonės patys galėtų laisva valia pasirinkti savo šalies lyderius.

  Josianne Cutajar (S&D), in writing. – The fact that we are here today, discussing the renewal of the Malta declaration should be the proof of the EU’s failure to correctly address the migration crisis. Where is the famed EU solidarity? The Valletta Summit of five years ago seemed like a promising start for change. The Summit saw leaders of countries of origin, transfer and destination make pledges to be more involved and support the effort. Today, unfortunately, Mediterranean countries like Malta are still left prevalently alone in dealing with the arrival of irregular migrants. The story is the same each year. Come summer, the number of arrivals and deaths in the Mediterranean rises. This is abhorrent. Instead of playing accusatory political games, governments must act. As a start, we must cooperate with countries of origin and of transit to tackle the root causes of migration, whilst effectively protecting migrants and asylum seekers. I urge all Member States to work towards true European solidarity with effective and mandatory burden sharing mechanisms. I urge them to shift from declarations and words towards action.

  Laura Ferrara (NI), per iscritto. – Il futuro della politica europea su asilo e migrazione, non può ridursi unicamente alla sua dimensione esterna. Abbiamo bisogno di proposte che vadano oltre lo stallo attuale. Non possiamo affidarci a compromessi diretti ad accontentare gli Stati privi della volontà di cooperare senza colmare concretamente il deficit di solidarietà nei confronti dei Paesi frontalieri, come l'Italia, sempre a rischio di eccessiva pressione. L'Unione europea deve intervenire subito per tentare di salvare vite umane che inesorabilmente continuano a perdersi nel tentativo di attraversare il mar Mediterraneo. I paesi di prima linea, devono avere un ruolo di primo piano in merito a proposte alternative di cooperazione e non possono accontentarsi di soluzioni effimere e temporanee che non prevedano la solidarietà e l'equa ripartizione della responsabilità tra gli Stati membri nel settore dei controlli alle frontiere, dell'asilo e dell'immigrazione.

  Ivan Štefanec (PPE), in writing. – European leaders meet during the sessions of the European Council to discuss current challenges of the highest importance. COVID-19 pandemic has pushed many important topics to the background of the agenda and brought many challenges on the regional and global levels. Together, we face new challenges related to new variants of the virus, distribution of the vaccines and usage of the recently adopted EU Digital Covid certificate. These topics should be addressed during the meeting of the European Council in June. At the same time, we shall not remain hesitant and address upcoming long-term challenges. We need to be prepared for the potential future pandemics and better protection of the internal market. Due to the negative impact of the pandemic on the economic prosperity of the European Union, we also should also use the potential of the Next Generation EU programme and support the Member States in the initiatives to adapt to digital and climate transitions.

  Stefania Zambelli (ID), per iscritto. – Dopo anni di tanti annunci, siamo di nuovo qui a discutere degli accordi di Malta e di ricollocamento dei migranti. L'Europa da anni parla di solidarietà e meccanismi di ridistribuzione ma, nonostante le numerose promesse e le belle parole, i dati ci confermano che è sempre l'Italia a doverli ospitare, senza che l'Europa sia capace di trovare una soluzione definitiva.

Da inizio anno, infatti, sono sbarcati in Italia 18 mila migranti clandestini, contro i 2000 del 2019, quando Matteo Salvini era ministro. Nell'ultimo mese solamente lo 0,3 % di questi migranti è stato redistribuito ad altri paesi europei, appena 20 persone! Alla faccia della solidarietà europea.

Il tutto mentre i governi socialisti di Spagna e Danimarca decidono di chiudere le frontiere ai clandestini e la Germania rifiuta i migranti provenienti dall'Italia perché i numeri degli sbarchi non giustificherebbero l'aiuto tedesco.

È ora di dire basta a questo atteggiamento nei confronti dell'Italia: non possiamo essere il campo profughi d'Europa. Il ricollocamento su base volontaria si è dimostrato un disastro, peraltro annunciato. Fermare l'immigrazione illegale, come fece il ministro Salvini, è l'unica soluzione a questa emergenza.

  Bettina Vollath (S&D), schriftlich. – Woche für Woche, Monat für Monat, Jahr für Jahr verlieren Menschen ihr Leben auf dem Weg über das Mittelmeer. Dieses Drama wird durch die fehlgeleitete europäische Asyl- und Migrationspolitik verursacht. Wir werden niemanden retten, indem wir unsere Grenzen dichtmachen und uns abschotten! Seenotrettung ist erwiesenermaßen kein Pull-Faktor für Flucht oder Migration! Die Bemühungen der Malta-Deklaration zielten von Beginn an nur darauf ab, Migrationsströme einzudämmen. Vier Jahre später haben wir uns keinen Millimeter weiterbewegt. Die Verhandlungen zum „Neuen Pakt für Asyl und Migration“ stagnieren, die Sichtweisen sind ausschließlich eurozentrisch und orientieren sich nicht im Geringsten an den Bedürfnissen derer, die bei uns Schutz suchen. Wenn wir jetzt die Ideen der Malta-Deklaration wieder aufgreifen, drehen wir uns endgültig nur mehr im Kreis. Unser Ziel muss es endlich sein, den Menschen Schutz und Chancen zu bieten, die sich auf den Weg zu uns machen – nicht eine Ermöglichung weiterer Push-Backs oder Abkommen mit Drittstaaten wie Libyen, in denen nachweislich Flüchtende in Lagern festgehalten und gefoltert werden. Wir brauchen also legale Fluchtwege, auf Menschenrechten basierende und individuelle Asylverfahren, eine funktionsfähige Seenotrettung und Wege und Möglichkeiten für eine legale Arbeitsmigration – und all das ohne weitere Verzögerungen. Genau das würde auch dem Schmugglerwesen ein Ende setzen.