Mixed assessment of Greece's progress, calls for new powers for Europol, and to be or not be a market economy - that's the question for China.

May Plenary Zapping: Schengen under threat, Europol, Turkey

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/11602075/n001-160512-003-en.srt

Paris and Brussels  showed this very clearly.

Information exchange  is our Achilles heel.

Europol has a key role in  fighting the scourge of jihadi terror.

This legislation will give them more powers  and more instruments to do this.

The external border  was already porous.

And then came Mrs Merkel  and tore it all down. Schengen is dead.

Maybe Schengen is not dead yet  but it is certainly on life support.

The Dublin regulation is the cornerstone  of the European asylum system.

This is the time  to get it right once and for all.

I'm favourable towards visa liberalisation  agreements but not done just anyhow.

Not by turning a blind eye  to what is happening in Turkey today.

Mr Erdoğan makes it known that  if the EP takes the wrong decision,

he will let the refugees  travel to Europe.

And why is Europe open to blackmail?  Because we are weak and divided.

Greece, with help from its partners,  has already managed to go far

on the path  mapped out together last August.

But we haven't yet  crossed the finishing line.

and all we're told is that there'll be  crumbs from the Juncker plan.

You will understand that  that is not enough.

and therefore we need to say clearly that  last year was a lost year for Greece.

For me, the problem is called  the International Monetary Fund.

who in the name of a vengeful vision  want to punish Greece.

It is undeniable that China is  not a market economy by any standards.

The question of granting  market economy status to China

is one of unprecedented  political significance.

Not only will it affect EU trade but,  deriving from it, jobs and growth as well.

Wages and environmental standards are  lower in China than they are in the EU.

Actually, importers in Europe  benefit from this aspect of globalisation

and it can also lead to  lower prices for consumers.

Venezuela is heading for  inevitable disaster.

Dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,  it's time to fight for Europe.

All Europeans who believe in this model  of transnational democracy

as the best to model for security,  cohesion and peace,

are now called upon  to stand up and break the silence.