What Romana spoke about.

Reading the media coverage on the COP26 one would say that it was all doom and gloom. And, although we have to be honest and say that the conference did not yield the results which we all hoped for, it still brought certain progress. Now, the special Eurobarometer on Climate Change from April reports that climate change is the problem number one for many Europeans. However, the differences between

Despite a number of warnings, we have seen the pandemic unprepared. This was best illustrated by the shortage of medicines and medical equipment due to the surge in demand that we were unable to respond to in a timely manner with a rapid increase in production capacity and the complexity of the global supply chain for medical devices. That is why, building on this experience, today we are voting t

Madam President, I would like to thank the rapporteur for the great work. We believe this is a good and progressive report, which sends the right message that competitiveness and skills development must go hand in hand with workers rights and quality employment. It was important to further strengthen the social dimension by reinforcing the link between VET and quality jobs, and we did it. VET will

Madam President, Commissioner, health challenges keep emerging while our budget for health keeps continuously decreasing. From 2026 to 2027 alone, EU health commitments fell from EUR 687 million to EUR 635 million, which is a reduction of almost 8 % and this is well below what is needed. This is the wrong direction. At a time when we should be strengthening prevention and preparedness and access t

Dear Chair, breast cancer is the most common form of cancer among women in the European Union. Early detection saves lives, but we still have not achieved the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan target of screening 90% of the target population by 2025. And not only that, the differences between countries remain large, and too many women do not have equal access to timely diagnosis. Is it fair for a place

Colleague, there is no answer to the question of who scheduled 37,000 tons of waste to end up in Gospić, being only criminals because criminals exist in every state, but it is the responsibility of the state to detect criminals and to prevent them. This is about breaching the principles of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, breaching the Access to Information Directive, the Waste

Colleague Sokol, it is nice to hear your recommendations, however, they are somehow late and can hardly relieve the Croatian state of its responsibility, because waste has entered Croatia for years without any control, ended up where it should not have, caused consequences that it should not have. Therefore, international crime cannot be an alibi for the failure of Croatian and state institutions.

First of all, I would like to say that asking questions is not spreading panic, but protecting citizens. I will illustrate how important today's discussion is on the example of the city of Gospić, in my Croatia. The city of Gospić today has about 35 thousand tons of illegally disposed waste, more than three tons per capita. Such an environmental catastrophe does not occur overnight. It occurs when

Dear President, colleagues, Commissioner, the shortage of healthcare workers in the European Union could be over four million by 2030, and today more than a third of doctors and a quarter of nurses are over 55. This is a serious crisis. That's why it's not enough just to educate new health workers. We must do everything to make this profession attractive to young people, which means good working c

Mr President, dear colleagues, cardiovascular diseases, as you perfectly know, are the main cause of death in the European Union. Yet for far too long, cardiovascular health has not received the political attention it deserves. Now we are changing that. This report, alongside the Commission's Safe Hearts Plan, is a crucial part of that progress, and I am sure that this report is good and it is wel

Mr President, Commissioner, I would like to congratulate you on the fair labour mobility package and in particular on the skills portability initiative. It is a concrete step towards making mobility work better for people across Europe by making qualifications easier to recognise and use across borders. But if we want this progress to reach everyone, we must also look at those in vocational educat

Dear Chairman, in Croatia we have a saying, he says, not to see next to healthy eyes. Yes, this is exactly how we can describe today those who, while Europe is literally burning, as we face record heat and droughts, are still closing their eyes to the consequences of climate change. I come from a country that has once again been hit by devastating fires this summer, a country where we are currentl

Madam President, dear colleagues, for years, decades even, we have been warning about the impact of climate change. Yet here we are. Every summer is hotter, every wildfire season more devastating, and our response is still too slow. Why? Because of those who repeatedly choose to ignore the facts. Unfortunately, some of them are today here in this plenary. Heatwaves and wildfires are no longer exce

Madam President, I welcome the Irish Presidency's commitment to strengthening Europe's health systems. Health is not a privilege, but a fundamental right, and it must remain at the heart of the European project. Innovation in life sciences, biotechnology and digital health offers enormous opportunities. But innovation must go hand in hand with fairness. Every patient, regardless of where they live

Dear Chair, colleague and colleague, cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of mortality in the European Union and represent a huge burden for health systems, but also for our economies. This is why the European Commission presented a cardiovascular health plan last December. But the plan without dedicated financial resources will not succeed. Therefore, if we really want to reduce the numb

Dear Chairman, the consequences of ever more frequent and intense heatwaves are not only felt through record temperatures, but also through overburdened health systems, reduced productivity, endangered worker safety and rising costs for the economy and public services. In 2022, more than 60,000 people lost their lives in Europe due to extreme heat. Therefore, this issue should not be seen exclusiv

Madam President, dear colleagues, Commissioner, all those urgent procedures and difficult lessons learned from COVID‑19 have paid off. Thanks to the European Union's rapid response, the activation of the Civil Protection Mechanism and the mobilisation of stockpiles from our strategic reserve, the passengers were safely evacuated. The truth is that Europe has become better at coordination, prepared

Dear Chairman, every child who ends up in the hands of organized crime is a grave failure of our society and as many of you have said today, minors are targeted because they are vulnerable, because they are easier to manipulate, because criminals know that children often pass under the radar of the police and the judiciary. We have heard today that children are not only lurking on the street, that

Dear Chairman, in Croatia, my country, last year 18 women were killed. We are a small country and this is a huge number. Many of them reported violence and sought the help of institutions, however, they never received it. That is why today a large number of women victims of violence no longer trust the system. This revision of the Victims’ Rights Directive is important because we urgently need cle

Dear Chair, millions of women across Europe carry the burden of unpaid work every day, taking care of children and the elderly, while the system takes this help for granted. The situation for single mothers and informal carers is even worse. And it is this invisible work that is the main cause of women's lower wages, more frequent part-time work, slower progression, lower pensions and a higher ris

Dear President, colleague and colleague, Commissioner, yes, poverty today is no longer just a problem for those who work. It's a problem for people who work, and still can't cover basic living expenses. This is a problem for young people who, despite their work, cannot leave their parents' home and become independent. This is the problem of pensioners who, after a lifetime and work, cannot afford

Dear Chairman, the Single Market will not be successful if it is built only for large companies and their profits. The European social model is not an obstacle to competitiveness. It is social security and worker protection that makes Europe strong. Quality jobs, safe working conditions, fair wages and strong social dialogue are the cornerstones of a stable economy and long-term growth. Yes, it is

Dear Chair, colleague and colleague, Commissioner, there is no doubt that artificial intelligence is a great opportunity for our industries and the competitiveness of our economy. As there is no doubt that it is AI that is changing the labour market at an incredible speed and it is no longer a question of whether it affects workers, but what consequences it will have. Will AI help workers and faci

Dear Chairman, advanced AI systems such as Mythos are becoming a new weapon of geopolitical power. These systems are capable of detecting cyber vulnerabilities and attacking critical infrastructure at a rate we are not yet ready for. This is why the initiatives announced by the European Commission are more than necessary, because cybersecurity today is not just a matter of protecting networks, it

Dear Chairman, in Croatia we marked the National Day of Disabled Labour. It is important to underline that for many of them, everyday life still means facing a number of obstacles: from a lack of adapted jobs and insufficient income to limited retraining opportunities and poor healthcare. We also have to ask ourselves how many of these injuries could have been prevented if we had in