EU diskuterar nya medlemsländer, granskningsregler och chat-control

Dick Eriksson EU parliament member welcome Thank you You have visited countries that want to join the EU Albania and Montenegro What do you see when you travel around these countries Yes it's quite a contradictory picture We meet for example the finance minister of Albania who wants to present a positive image That the economy is growing that it is functioning better and becoming more robust and that corruption is being combated Other voices are extremely critical For example we meet several members of civil society Some gave a quite dark picture of corruption still being big and that there is a very big polarization where people also throw accusations This corruption between each other There are police reports and civil court cases and a lot of chaos in politics We also had a member from the European Court of Auditors who asked quite precise and sharp questions that an auditor should ask Sometimes the answers were very vague It simply gives a bad impression The EU is largely based on free trade but the conditions are also that all member countries It must have a reasonably functioning public administration and an economy that is also reasonably functioning Criticism of states seeking membership has existed The Greek sedan entered the EU their state finances and their public administration How do you view further expansion with countries like Montenegro and Albania I'm very critical Of course as the delegation leadership from the parliament suggests we want these countries to come from the EPP It's just a matter of course We must be tough and that is what we showed in the final declaration from this journey We are strict about there being absolutely no corruption and one must meet the requirements you just mentioned We will be tough and above all from the side of the Sweden Democrats we will examine this very closely So that it doesn't become a new Greece situation where a country is let in despite knowing it doesn't meet the criteria How far are Albania and Montenegro from meeting the criteria What help can the EU provide before they become members to ensure they meet them I'm talking about 2028 or 2030 and I think that's completely too early They have already received very large billions over 30 billion each under this time when they have been candidate countries and they have indeed been for more than ten years both of these countries To just stabilize institutions have good accounts that can be compared with the EU and so on There is a will and one should not break that will for them to want to become a European country that achieves the level of a rule-of-law state and so on On one hand we want to support and help with that part on the other hand we must not be naive and ignore the issues Regarding offenses against these rules and this terrible corruption I just said that and from Kalla Norden I have a bit of a hard time understanding this culture There people are corrupt and make deals behind each other's backs and handle things in an extremely dirty way It is extremely unpleasant to see and Spak is a special prosecutor's office in Albania Those who have worked for four years and have gained public trus Who had the most trust when a poll was conducted It has charged two ministers several mayors and even a judge with corruption and they say their daily life becomes harder they get more death threats and such things They are proud when they are successful in their work We cannot be naive here How widespread is corruption in these countries and how far are they from being able to become members I think it's very far away I wouldn't want to tell them For it's good that they are working on it but it feels like it's a long way off in the future And that they really take care of this and that they cooperate on this instead of it now being very polarized Do you see anything that indicates increased cooperation Unfortunately no Ukraine is another country that also wants to become a member of the EU Ukraine really wants to join the union Ukraine also has problems with corruption and it is the world's sixth largest grain producer This poses a problem for European agricultural policy What do you think about Ukraine's step towards EU membership It's pretty much the same thing we want to support Ukraine we want them to do well At least in the war against Russia and there we help with weapons and support As for the membership itself we must impose the same requirements on Ukraine Some in Montenegro and Albania that corruption they're involved in must be cleaned up they must take care to sort it out Ukraine also must not become a new Greece where the only reason is that the EU should be bigger It's between the fingers on things that are unacceptable it absolutely must not get there Once membership is in place it is as you said agricultural policy must be handled in a new way Polish farmers have already protested against the temporary rules imposed regarding Ukrainian agriculture So it must become a major negotiation where they look at how these rules and the means to support agriculture should be structured Ukraine one of the world's largest producers of potash is entering the European internal market This means huge changes for farmers in Europe as you said Polish farmers are already beginning to protest The agricultural support system is very extensive French farmers can be very vocal What does the discussion around this look like in relation to Ukrainian membership Yes it's two parts first of all it's those who want to expand the EU at any cost they want to downplay all the difficulties it involves And of course the war has naturally helped Ukraine as we want to be solidary with them There is also the conservative upper half of the parliament which is always grounded in how reality actually is And what it means for current members and that must be handled in a serious manner But it shouldn't end up that way where domestic production gets eliminated by adding a new member Without a certain level of self-sufficiency in agricultural products essential food items Perhaps I am now speculating here about introducing some kind of rule that each country must first allow itself to take care of To achieve a certain level of self-sufficiency before having this free competition across borders It sounds quite protectionist but those in favor of Ukraine's membership have also argued that it would provide a better It gives a better food security in the EU because there is access to so much variety and so many foods How far do you think Ukraine is from becoming an EU member Oh it's always hard to predict the future especially now when there's also a war The war is already in the foreground here and must be resolved preferably by driving the Russians out Before that I think one can discuss it seriously I have trouble seeing how a membership agreement could be made With a country at war even if some people's ambitions are that those things should be able to remain separate I have a hard time seeing how it could happen I think it's several years ahead in time Before the EU election you went to vote among other things you said you would take turns using the vacuum cleaner in Brussels What is the situation with waste within the EU today Yes it's huge They're talking about billions of euros that is 10 billion or more 11 billion Swedish kronor If it were coffee money I think it's a shocking disrespect towards taxpayers It hurts to hear how wasteful many on the left are when talking about money in various committees of the European Parliament They should be with these members It is indeed true that the longer politicians are away from the citizens It's easier for them to ignore the citizens' interests and just pursue their own hobby projects It's an uncomfortable discussion I think many times when it comes to economics and the recklessness that characterizes the work We are taking it seriously We have now presented over a hundred cost-saving proposals for the 2026 budget as the autumn season began and together account for more than 800 billion kronor in savings within the EU budget We the Sweden Democrats want to save more than half of the Swedish state budget in 2026 The EU has a large package underway and I think it is 1 000 billion euros for investments Very focused on green transition and a lot of money allocated to hydrogen A parallel development seems to be the emergence of a framework that makes it illegal to review the EU's green investments Have you any comments on that Yes there has been a discussion about how astonishing these activists are They must push forward their line and also not be scrutinized It has nothing to do with democracy and freedom of speech Of course all projects regardless of their purpose must be subject to review and evaluation They are trying to advance their positions now that they feel slightly threatened It is this civil EPP party a center party in the European Parliament To go with us in the conservative and right-wing parties Now there is a majority to limit these various environmental regulations introduced during the previous term I think that's what makes them push harder and become even more activist-oriented from the various authorities within the European Union To try to get their demands through Soon I hope that will be over How close are we to passing a ban on inspecting this type of activity It's not going to be phrased that way The Sweden Democrats vote against when Ursula von der Leyen presents a proposal on a democracy shield To introduce new rules that protect citizens and our member states from disinformation On that book they try to introduce the possibility of stopping things There is also a section about countering Russian and Chinese disinformation on TikTok and everything that entails It also states that one must counter internal opponents of the union's work Opponents of European cooperation They will try to suppress debate and opposition by calling it misinformation This has been strongly criticized Vice President of the United States J D Vance gave a fiery speech during his visit to Europe about censorship within the EU How do you view chat control which may soon be voted on again Sverigedemokraterna are against chat control and we will also be against the 2.0 proposals It is not possible to enter in the way that is proposed here Even if we now notice that we are being accused of defending pedophiles and all sorts of other things This is the way the opposition or those who want to shut down and control act Criminals use children as hostages to enforce very strict regulations That must be kept separate Obviously everything related to child pornography and crimes against children must be opposed with all strength It shouldn't be the case that one shuts down or forces through legislation It practically means giving authorities the right to open letters That's what it's equivalent to if we sent letters to each other before At the post office police and others sit and sort letters and read what people write to each other These are the kind of unprecedented restrictions that are being talked about here You must learn to keep that separate To combat what is illegal and harmful But one must not sacrifice our citizens' freedoms for that reason People have voted on the card check before Then the text was slightly revised What would the authorities look at and how much transparency would they have if this was passed again I haven't looked into it in detail It's not in my committee We have been critical of this Lindrare proposal that has been on the parliament We are very critical I haven't seen any proposals there where we could vote for There is enough room for the procedures one wants to perform I have not seen any such proposals How likely do you think it is that the carbon tax will be passed Yes it's another majority now if EPP changes But they still want this large coalition He received a December salary increase with social democrats environmentalists and liberals It depends a lot on the moderate Christian Democratic group in the European Parliament Where they land They have the final say in their hands You also know that Epoch Times exists as a newspaper with 136 heavy pages every weekend Get the latest news reports and analyses directly in your inbox