European Disability Card and European Parking Card for persons with disabilities - European Disability Card and European Parking Card for persons with disabilities for third country nationals legally residing in a Member State (joint debate - Disability cards)
– Madam President, thank you very much for this debate, a very positive debate. I believe that people with disabilities have listened to us. What has been achieved under this legislation has been achieved together. We have achieved that the lives of 100 million people with disabilities in Europe will at least improve somewhat. However, this is really only a first step towards equality and the elim
SKSpeech
European Disability Card and European Parking Card for persons with disabilities - European Disability Card and European Parking Card for persons with disabilities for third country nationals legally residing in a Member State (joint debate - Disability cards)
on behalf of the PPE-DE Group. - (DE) Mr President, Commissioner Dali, colleagues, as you know, people with disabilities in the Union are constantly faced with unequal struggles for employment, the fight against poverty and obstacles to their free movement. Member States visiting as part of a short stay did not grant discounts and benefits in the areas of transport, parking spaces, cultural events
SKSpeech
International Roma Day - Statement by the President
Madam President, we, not the Roma, celebrate International Roma Day. There is nothing to celebrate in segregated settlements. They live in social isolation, without drinking water, without electricity, without gas. Their children are dying of malnutrition. The older ones fetch toluene so they don't feel hungry. The vast majority of Roma are recipients of benefits in material need, but not of old-a
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Planned dissolution of key anti-corruption structures in Slovakia and its implications on the Rule of Law (continuation of debate)
Madam President, Robert Fico is evil. He is a dangerous extremist and misinformer intertwined with dangerous people. Many are accused of serious crimes. In order to protect them and himself, including the commissioners of the murders of Ján Kuciak and Martina Kušnírová, he is dismantling the pillars of the rule of law, the prosecution, the courts and the media. 1.3 million Slovaks voted for Fico a
SKSpeech
Children first - strengthening the Child Guarantee, two years on from its adoption - Reducing inequalities and promoting social inclusion in times of crisis for children and their families (joint debate – International Day of the Rights of the Child)
Madam President, we are one of the richest regions in the world and yet we are starving millions of our children. In Roma settlements in several Member States, young children fetch toluene purchased by their parents so that they do not feel hungry. They live in shacks without drinking water and wade their ankles in their own and dog's excrement because they don't have sewerage. Many of them end up
SKSpeech
Rule of Law in Malta: 6 years after the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia and the need to protect journalists (debate)
Madam President, what does Malta look like six years after Daphne Galizia's death? Is there less corruption? How many of the corrupt politicians Daphne wrote about ended up in jail? What did Daphne pay for with her life? The Slovak election was recently won by Smer with a whole bunch of politicians, whose corruption was written by Ján Kuciak. That's why he was murdered. Five years after his death,
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Adequate minimum income ensuring active inclusion (debate)
Mr President. We face many crises and clearly fail to build a social Europe in which no one can be left behind. Ninety-five and a half million Europeans face social exclusion and poverty. One of the largest vulnerable groups is women, single-parent households, people with disabilities or people from marginalised groups. Thirty to fifty percent of these people do not receive any or insufficient sup
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Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence: EU accession (continuation of debate)
Madam President, we are flying to the moon and we are about to make Mars a holiday destination. Today, artificial intelligence is writing a diploma thesis for students. Yet the number of cases of violence against women continues to increase. And yet we still have countries that are afraid of the definition of gender and gender-based violence. We even have MEPs from Slovakia who are haunting gender
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A need for a dedicated budget to turn the Child Guarantee into reality - an urgency in times of energy and food crisis (debate)
Madam President, we are building a social Europe in which no one can be left behind. We have 18 million children living in poverty. This is a state of emergency to which we must respond, both at European level and at national and regional level. One in three families with children are at risk of poverty in Slovakia due to the crisis and inflation. The worst is single-parent households that have mo
SKSpeech
Situation of Roma people living in settlements in the EU (debate)
Madam President, "We are looking for Blažena. Blažena Kováčová with her blind son. Can you tell me where they live?” – “You have to turn left at the house where the two children were frozen in winter.” ‘Oh, I have no toes or hands.’ – ‘What happened to you?’ – ‘I have been frozen.’ “You are 13 years old and you will soon become a mother. Do you understand what happened?” – “Yes, that uncle told me
SKSpeech
The situation of marginalised Roma communities in the EU (debate)
Mr President, a war is raging in Ukraine, and I know that every day we are dealing with how to stop Putin and save lives, and it is very difficult now to draw your attention to what is happening right here in the European Union in our Member States. But a few kilometres east of our institutional bubble, there are separate and segregated Roma settlements in different Member States. And in them, des
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A new EU strategic framework on health and safety at work post 2020 (debate)
Mr President, health and safety at work is a huge topic, especially in the face of the huge challenges ahead. This is the green and digital transition. But also because it affects a huge number of people. That is 170 million workers within the European Union. And although we have made progress over the last 25 years, more than 3300 fatal accidents at work were recorded in the European Union in 201
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The deterioration of the situation of refugees as a consequence of the Russian aggression against Ukraine (debate)
Mr President, the best way to help Ukrainian refugees is to stop the war in their own country and to deal with this criminal Putin once and for all. Putin is a war criminal, and I think decent countries should not be trading with war criminals. With every penny for Russian oil and Russian gas we pay, we buy Russians the weapons to kill civilians. Ukraine is buying us time and pays for it with the
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Protection of workers from the risks relating to exposure to carcinogens, mutagens and reprotoxins at work (continuation of debate)
Mr President, I have had the honour of conducting dialogues on the part of the European Parliament and of representing one fantastic negotiating team of the European Parliament. First of all, I would like to thank all my colleagues very much. I think we have achieved the incredible thing of including reprotoxic substances in the scope of the directive on the protection of workers from the effects
ENSpeech
Introduction of a European social security pass for improving the digital enforcement of social security rights and fair mobility (debate)
– Mr President, Commissioner Schmit, dear colleagues, it is a great honour to open this plenary session with the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL Committee) oral question on the European social security pass, since this is a topic that concerns millions of mobile citizens and workers within the European Union. The European Parliament has been calling on the European Commission sinc
Madam President, what they approved in Texas is one inhumane law that does not belong to the 21st century, and anyone who respects human rights at least a little must condemn it. I'm glad we do too. But let's see what's going on right under our noses, and not just in Poland. Ultraconservative parties and political populists are chasing their own political preferences to hate LGBT and dictate to wo
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Reversing the negative social consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic (debate)
Mr President, dear colleagues, dear Commissioner Schmit, I don’t know where you get all the energy actually at this time, you know. I’m a big admirer. Ladies and gentlemen, the economic crisis that was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has had a dramatic impact on the lives of all of us, especially on the vulnerable groups. It has led to deepening inequalities. It has led to increasing numbers of pe
ENSpeech
Decent working and employment conditions in the aviation sector - Impact of the COVID-19 crisis on aviation (debate)
Mr President, thank you very much for giving me the floor. Dear colleagues, we all know that the COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected the EU aviation sector, with the loss of more than two thirds of traffic and many many jobs, as carriers seek to maintain viability and reduce the costs. Despite the state aid schemes, most of the airlines are still struggling to return to pre-pandemic activity l