What Andor spoke about.

Concerning the topic of the 2023 budget, there are many question marks and concerns, but I would like to make three important points, which should be taken into consideration during the forthcoming interinstitutional negotiations. Given the increasing number of finalised partnership agreements, the level of payments in the field of cohesion must be increased horizontally, in order to cater for the

Hungary is one of the biggest supporters of Serbia's and other Western Balkan countries' accession to the EU within the EU. For a long time, we have been disappointed to see some Member States avoiding enlargement, mostly for domestic policy reasons, and blocking the acceleration of accession processes and the opening of new negotiating chapters, while Europe's security would require enlargement t

Mr. President, please. In recent years, we have stressed on numerous occasions that the budget of the European Union should not be planned in the wrong way in the current war and severe economic circumstances. The farmers' protests rocking Western European capitals and the transport companies closing the eastern borders all call for change. Yet, when we read through Parliament's priorities for the

Madam President, I'm sorry. When the House began to debate the Commission's amendment proposal on driving licences, objectives were set, such as increasing road safety and making driving a profession more attractive to younger generations, not least to remedy the increasingly worrying shortage of drivers. However, as is often the case in the European Parliament, things have gone sideways. It start

Mr. President, please. The Fidesz delegation will support the approval of the MFF agreement, as at the meeting of the European Council Hungary was given clear guarantees that the EU funds to which we are entitled should not be adversely affected by the amendments and should continue to be used only by Hungary. In the current context, it is important to strengthen Europe geopolitically, the key ele

Madam President, Commissioner, it is very unfortunate that here in the European Parliament, the same recipe is being used against Serbia that has been used against Hungary since 2010, where the leftist liberal opposition tries to turn domestic political failures into success not through democratic elections, but with external help. But just as this tactic failed, in case of Hungary, it won’t work

Dear Mr President, Commissioner, I congratulate the negotiators and I am pleased that this time they have put the interests of citizens and European businesses first, because in this difficult economic situation, predictability is paramount. However, it is precisely predictability that has been compromised by the fact that the initial negotiating position of the left-wing majority in Parliament wo

Dear Mr President, Indeed, the 2024 budget in its current form will be one of the shortest-lived EU budgets in itself and will depend entirely on the success of the revision of the multiannual framework budget. At the same time, it is very doubtful how Member States will be persuaded to make billions of euro payments again. This is not only about the 50 billion package for Ukraine, but also about

Mr. President, please. Unfortunately, I have to say that I am not at all surprised that today we have to argue about truck parking lots. Already years ago, during the negotiations around the mobility package, we drew attention to the fact that the mandatory taking of rest outside the cabin will not be able to work in reality, as even then there was not enough parking and resting places. At that ti

Mr President, Commissioner, the situation is extremely tense and complex. The recent tragic events clearly demonstrate that a solution must be found as quickly as possible. We should discuss the situation and there has to be an impartial and thorough investigation. But all these events are just manifestations, symptoms of a much deeper problem, which is the decade-long unresolved problem of the Se

Madam President, I'm sorry. Solidarity is not a one-way street. We have heard this saying many times over the years from the EU, but unfortunately it seems to be. Ensuring equal access to EU funds should benefit all Member States equally, and this is part of the EU's solidarity. However, in the context of the MFF revision, some EU circles would now expect Hungary to voluntarily make new payments t

Madam President, I'm sorry. It is very important to make the most of the opportunities offered by smart technologies in all areas of transport. At the same time, technological neutrality and interoperability of systems are key. The situation known from railway management, where the coordination of systems is still ongoing, should not be repeated. There are not so many different kinds of devices th

Madam President, I'm sorry. This package is another important element of the framework to stimulate the green transition of transport in the EU. However, it should also be borne in mind that, as far as freight and passenger transport is concerned, it is better to think in terms of geographical Europe. Therefore, the development of transport infrastructure in the Western Balkan countries directly n

Madam President, I'm sorry. Since 2014, I have followed through all parliamentary reports on Serbia, and this has always been a dynamic, intense and sometimes difficult political process. We followed different phases, fluctuating states and changes in the level of enthusiasm for enlargement at the Commission and in the Member States. At the same time, the European Parliament was typically the EU i

Mr. President, please. Unfortunately, the disbursement of assets from the recovery fund remains extremely slow. At present, only €152 billion out of 780 have been delivered, and there are still five Member States that have not received the amount of pre-financing. This not only casts a negative light on the effectiveness of the recovery fund as a tool for rapid crisis management, but also creates

Mr. President, please. Over the past months, it has been said on numerous occasions that the 24th budget should be one that responds to the challenges facing the Union and the Member States. This includes preventing illegal migration and protecting borders. For years now, Member States have been protecting not only their own borders, but also those of the EU, at the expense of their own budgets. I

Well, at this moment, I think that the biggest enemy of enlargement is the lack of trust of certain Member States. But also, unfortunately, this House is lately manifesting it, too, in its recent country reports in the enlargement strategy, but also in the reports on foreign and security policy. If you read these texts of the EP, it is clear that there is no confidence in the official assessment r

Madam President, I'm sorry. Recovery programs need to be accelerated. The RRF was introduced to balance the effects of the coronavirus. The crown is long over, yet only 28% of the assets have been paid so far, with the stock market prospects for the bonds not very bright. REPowerEU, linked to the RRF, is about alleviating Russia’s energy dependency. The tenth package of sanctions is now under nego

Madam President, I'm sorry. It is well known to all of us that the Commission assesses the protection of the financial interests of the Union in a report for each year. It is also customary for Parliament to draw up its own report, where it teaches Member States and national authorities how to combat fraud and corruption in a typical educative tone. However, there is no mention of how, in the face

Mr President, dear colleagues, it is very unfortunate that the Parliament’s reports are getting based more and more on political stereotypes rather than on facts and evidence. For example, point 69 of the Security and Defence reports, I quote, ‘brings attention to Serbia’s relationship with Russia and its lack of condemnation of Russia’s unjustified and illegitimate actions against Ukraine’. Here,

Madam President, I'm sorry. The report aims to revise the 2021-27 financial framework, but its substantial implementation has not yet started. The new Common Agricultural Policy will only start in 2023, with no payments yet from the new cohesion funds and only €136 billion from the recovery funds. In this situation, where there are no evaluable results yet, there is no basis for demanding a review

Dear Madam President, Commissioner, I'll start again. Can I start again? Sorry, my throat is a little bit sore. Dear fellow Members, The time has come for a real acceleration of the EU enlargement process. Europe cannot afford the luxury of further delaying the accession of the countries of the Western Balkans. Many claim that the EU's influence in the region has been weakened. Unfortunately, I ha

Dear Mr President, I congratulate the rapporteurs on reaching an agreement on budget 23. This will guarantee that there will be enough money to support EU programmes. At the same time, we in the Fidesz delegation have reservations in principle, as the proceedings against Hungary have not yet come to an end. It is very important for us to be able to see our sources for next year clearly. The Hungar

Mr. President, please. Today's global political situation has clearly shown that Europe needs to change its so-called energy mix. Based on the initial idea, REPowerEU would have supported the energy independence and diversification of Member States. However, with reference to greening, EU support for oil development was rejected by the BUDG and ECON commissions. Unfortunately, this makes it imposs

Dear Madam President, So far, each wave of enlargement has strengthened Europe, and this would certainly be the case with the accession of the Western Balkan countries to the EU. However, in order to speed up the process, to achieve a real breakthrough for all candidates and to increase their performance, a specific target date and timetable will be needed. This would also increase the credibility