Speeches

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your joint work on this report. It is necessary to control the indebtedness of the Member States. On the other hand, there is also a need for some flexibility in how to respond today to the international situation, in particular to the defence investments that all Member States need and need. Today, Member States need to invest in security. Years have evaded this duty, and now we must face up to this duty. The next step must therefore be to be able to get European banks to support investment in our collective security, that is to say, in defence. The future of Europe, its prosperity and our responsibility to future generations rest on defence.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for this debate. I think it shows those emotions that are associated with the Euro 7 standard. The Euro 7 standard is a compromise between nature conservation and maintaining the competitiveness of European industry. The introduction of the Euro 6 test condition and its maintenance, thus avoiding high costs for European industry, is good news. On the other hand, however, the Euro 6 standard will be supplemented by stricter limits for the two most important air pollutants, namely nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter. No one wants to live in a polluted environment that destroys these substances. The Euro 7 standard will thus not be an attempt by the Greens to destroy the European car industry, and I am glad that common sense prevailed over ideology in this report. I wish this Parliament would continue in this direction.

Mr Glück, I would like to ask you a question. Did I understand that you admit that there might not be a ban on internal combustion engines if technology were found to remove CO2 from the exhaust of these engines, as Toyota has recently presented? Thank you for your reply.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, negotiating the European Semester is always challenging. Each political party is trying to assert not only its social but also its economic priorities for the coming period. It's always tougher before the election. In this annual report, it is crucial that we strike a balance between economic and social priorities. And we did that this year. Ladies and gentlemen, on the one hand, we demand job creation, support for medium-sized and small enterprises, and also a reduction in bureaucracy. We show that we care about European companies and we want the best conditions for them to continue to grow and be competitive. On the other hand, we want to help people who find themselves in difficult life situations, such as people with various forms of disabilities, single mothers or socially excluded groups. We have often talked here, for example, about Romani people who live in very poor conditions in most Member States of the European Union. The European Union has faced a number of crises over the past few years, and it is essential that we do not add an additional burden to our citizens, but rather show that we are here for them and that we are ready to help them. I would therefore like to thank my colleagues from the other factions with whom we have negotiated this report. It was a long but fair deal. I firmly believe that the key amendments will pass in such a way that the European People's Party can support this report.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, the economy of the European Union is the second largest economy in the world. In order to ensure that it works in the future, we need to guarantee a sufficient skilled workforce. We must address these shortcomings above all by employing our people. Many young people struggle to find long-term employment in the European Union, such as in southern countries such as Spain. However, there are also cases where we can use qualified foreign workers to fill vacancies on the labour market. Each Member State should have the power to choose how many workers it needs, taking into account its needs. The European Union can help synchronise administrative processes, requests from third-country workers to make the whole process less bureaucratic and, above all, transparent. It is also important to ensure certain rights for third-country workers. No one wants foreigners in the territory of a democratic and free European Union to be exploited by the mafia and criminal organisations and held in conditions that correspond to the Middle Ages rather than the European norms and standards of the 21st century. Qualified workers from third countries can benefit the European economy. However, they must follow our rules and meet the needs of our economy. And that is what the whole debate is about today, and I firmly believe that we can all agree on these principles in this room.

Mr President, Bucha, Mariupol, Bachmut, these are the names of the Ukrainian cities that we have all learned to pronounce gradually here in this room, because these are the cities where the incredible atrocities of the Russian army have been committed. Rape, looting, murder is a demonstration of Putin's regime. A regime that threatens not Ukraine, but the whole of European democracy. Ladies and gentlemen, we have been talking for two years about the need to support Ukraine. So let's do something about it. There's no more time for unnecessary chatter, but it's time for real action. To show Ukraine that we keep our word and that we count on Ukraine as a future Member State of the European Union.

Mr President, Commissioner, NGOs are an important part of our public life. They protect democracy, help those in need and ensure the accountability of public institutions. That is why it is necessary to prevent those who abuse this status of NGOs from attacking our rules and values in any way. That is why the European People's Party, in cooperation with experts and people from the European Commission and the European Court of Auditors, has long sought to establish transparent rules and funding for non-profit organisations. The Qatargate affair has shown us the weakness of non-profit organizations, and we must not let this weakness continue to bubbling here and leave it to various people, organizations and states who do not believe in the principles of democracy. This is why the European People's Party calls for transparent rules for non-profit organisations.

Madam President, Commissioner, yes, we could all have spent the evening in a completely different way than discussing Slovakia here, but we don't care. I know all of you who stayed here by name. I take all of you from Slovakia as our brothers and sisters and I don't always care what happens in Slovakia. I was in Slovakia in 2019 and I received several threatening texts just because I said that we have evidence that there are things going on there that are cross-breeding, converging subsidies on one land, when two entities claimed one subsidy, and someone didn't like it so much that he texted me that something could happen to me and my family. Yes, I did. My roots are in Slovakia. My grandfather was born in Slovakia and I just don't want Slovakia, where I will be afraid to go. I want Slovakia, which is modern, which is part of the European Union and which is the engine of the European Union and which shows the way and shows pride. The Slovaks have pride, so show it and do not go on the way to the East. Go on your way to the West. This is what this debate should be about. It's not about blaming anyone, it's not about cursing someone, sticking someone, but I see it as an exclamation mark for us not to go to Slovakia to investigate some frauds, but to go to Slovakia with love, joy and with optimism that everything is on the right track in Slovakia.

My colleague, my friend, you know that we are not discussing the anti-corruption law, but especially we have the fear about the situation in Slovakia. Have you met any people who have had experience with the mafia in Slovakia? And did you see the cases that we investigated there after the murder of Ján Kuciak?

I have only one question. What do you think are the most important things that we are now facing in Slovakia? Why has this Parliament this debate? Why are we debating about the situation in Slovakia? Do you think that everyone from us is corrupt and want really to push Slovaks out from the European Union or do something against Slovakia?

Madam President, Commissioner, thank you for proposing this legislation, because democracy is one of the greatest values we have received in our lives for us who are here and who are debating here. Authoritarian regimes are afraid of democracy, so they try to destroy it, to disrupt it. They try to put as much sand into the working gear as possible and influence what we are trying to promote here in a democracy. We see this in a number of countries. China, Russia, Iran, Qatar, and others are trying to influence decision-making processes within the European Union. And we must not close our eyes to these states, but on the contrary, we must start to defend ourselves against them effectively. Our political future, I mean the political future of the European Union, must not be decided by dictatorial regimes, but by us Europeans who live here. So let's defend democracy, because it's hard to survive on its own. One who sleeps in a democracy wakes up one day in a dictatorial regime.

Mr President, Commissioner, honourable colleagues Agius Salibo or Pîslaru, who have worked on this legislation and on this position and have dealt with this subject, I think you have said quite clearly here what the preparation of this material looked like. We took a clear position on this and I am happy for it because it led or gave a signal during the COVID-19 era and it was actually revolutionary in its time of adoption, pointing out the need to divide the time of work and the time of the family, and the fact that we started discussing it in the European Parliament led to a number of parents, especially women, coming to me and saying: “Yes, I had a problem with that, too, and thank you for handling it”. This is a theme that brings people together across the European Union. It is very strong, and this is especially strong because, for example, during COVID-19, many parents turned on the computer at seven o'clock in the morning and turned it off at midnight, because even though they were not physically at work, the tasks from work or their bosses came systematically. I think we need to talk about this and these issues here in the European Parliament. It is often said that social issues do not belong to the European Parliament. I think this is one of them that definitely belonged here and will belong in the next parliamentary term.

Madam President, if we really want to be the pulse of the twenty-first century, we must not live here and try to hinder progress and work on the basis of paper cards, which my mother, who was a doctor, used very well. I think that sharing data will help the development, it will also help the health of patients. It will also help in a number of situations that have been mentioned here, and I think the report is a good direction. Commissioner, the rapporteurs have done a great deal of work here, and I want to thank them for that. I don't think every thing we do here is automatically abused or abused. I think we will do our best again, as we have done in other areas, so that the regulation serves the citizens of the European Union, so that they can live better here.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, it has been three years since the French teacher Samuel Paty was brutally murdered. A few days ago, another teacher was murdered in Arras. The fact that the attacks are being carried out against teachers is not a coincidence. Teachers ensure the transmission of cultural values between generations, and therefore attacking teachers is also an attack on our values. But these terrorist attacks, as well as the Brussels attack, have another link. It's an unmanaged migration. We cannot, on the one hand, open the gates to Europe if we are unable to integrate migrants and reject those who come to Europe illegally. This has already been mentioned by a number of colleagues. The connection between these cases is that these people should not have sought anything in the territory of the European Union and we simply did not expel them. They have stayed here, radicalized, even spread propaganda that is contrary to our values. It's not a coincidence. That's not something we can tolerate. And I say it for the European People's Party. I think we need to make it clear that enough is enough. If we do not want all sides of this spectrum to shrink to a tiny strip somewhere here on Wednesday, and the next time the European elections are won by the parties of the radical right and the left, we must start naming the problems. And that, my fellow Members, is what I am calling you all to do.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen of the Commission, mental health in the workplace is certainly important, because an adult spends a lot of time in the workplace during his or her life, but besides the workplace, there is also a need to focus on non-working life. It is necessary to look at schools, look at how some children work or rather do not work with anxiety and depression. This is an interesting piece of research from which I would like to quote: “In the Czech Republic, up to 40% of pupils in the ninth grade of primary school show signs of moderate to severe depression, 30% of whom also show signs of anxiety”. These are quite high numbers, which is why we, as European Union countries, need to address this issue more effectively. In addition to the physical health that is very often accentuated in our strategies, we also accentuate mental health, that is, health that we often underestimate, and that underestimation often ends with the worst end, that is, the taking of one's own life. I think that young people should have a future, and that is why we adults, who are here in the European Parliament today, must try to take care of their future.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for this debate. I think that we all agree here today that we need to start dealing with this situation and we need to actively enter into negotiations. We really need to remind our NATO allies, which is Turkey, that it is impossible to support Azerbaijan in its aggression against the Armenian people. And that it is not possible to support the cleansing that is currently taking place in Nagorno-Karabakh. It is necessary to be really intense and help to solve this thing. It cannot be left to Russia. It is impossible to say indefinitely that this is Russia's sphere of influence and that Russia is the guarantor of peace. There is a need to be proactive and to find a long-term sustainable peaceful solution.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the situation in Sudan is very serious. It is therefore the duty of the European Union to urge conflicting parties to the conflict and to work towards a peaceful solution. The conflict is negatively affecting the civilian population, especially the most vulnerable, namely children. The future of Sudan, and more broadly the future of Africa, depends precisely on the young generation. Africa has all the potential to become a key continent of the twenty-first century. The conflict hits hard on children, who are often among the victims or recruited as child soldiers. The European Union must do everything in its power to ensure safe conditions for the young generation to grow up to be an educated and confident generation. If a safe environment is ensured, a generation will grow up in Sudan that will be able to take the fate of its country into its own hands. This will also benefit the European Union, which will reduce the migratory pressure currently emanating from Africa and partly from Sudan. Children are our future, so we must protect them. I thank all those who have contributed to the balanced text of this resolution. It turns out that the European Parliament, through constructive negotiations, can achieve a very balanced text for which no one has to be ashamed and can freely present it at any time to all opposing parties.

Madam President, Commissioner, I think we need to make this very clear. He who tolerates violations of certain principles is an accomplice, and therefore we must not currently tolerate anyone in Russia circumventing sanctions or doing business with Russia in the territory of the European Union and thus supporting war. He who supports the war is an accomplice to this monstrous war and is involved in what is currently happening in Ukraine. The Council and the Member States, the police, the prosecutors must be called upon not to be afraid to crack down on these people. I do not agree with the extension of the mandate of the European Public Prosecutor. I think the mandate is big enough. We just need to be able to fulfil this mandate and we need to be consistent in what the European Union's interest really is and in how we are going to fulfil it.

Madam President, Madam Vice-President of the European Commission, it is in vain, it is in vain, it is in vain. I think even if you go left or right or forward or backward, someone always sees a blot where the blot isn't. An EU ethics body that we've been discussing for nine years, and that discussion hasn't moved a dime. You brought a golden proposal that will investigate all the misconduct of MEPs, and still someone will come and criticize that the proposal is golden and should have been silver. From my point of view, I'll tell you one thing. I don't think we need that organ right now. We need to strengthen the powers of OLAF and the European Public Prosecutor, and only in this way can we address the biggest scandals we have faced here so that they can investigate. I know it is very good to say that there is a need for an ethics body, but I have, indeed, in the nine years that I have been here in the European Parliament, made one suggestion that the most important thing is for everyone to sweep their own doorsteps, and what is to be investigated, whether it is to be investigated, and what is to be said, whether it is simply to be said. Indeed, any institution will certainly not help to increase transparency here.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I am a conservative and I can say that anyone who commits violence against women is, for me, the worst monster and the worst waste of this society. But I also think the same about who is committing violence against men, who is committing violence against children, who is committing violence against people, like the elderly. I myself served for several months during the COVID-19 pandemic in both retirement homes and first-line hospitals. And what I sometimes saw in people who came to the hospital was vomiting. Ladies and gentlemen, domestic violence is an abomination in any form, and even today's discussion should be mainly about how to simply prevent domestic violence against anyone and make it a safe way for that person to report it at any time and get immediate help at any time. Violence is not gender-based, violence affects everyone. Let's fight him together.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, as shadow rapporteur for the discharge of the agencies, I am extremely happy about one thing that we have managed to find a consensus across the political spectrum, particularly on Frontex. Frontex is one of the largest and most important agencies and the good functioning of Frontex means the safety of our citizens. There is no time to play ideological games with Frontex. In this regard, I would like to thank, first of all, the Socialists and also the representatives of the Left, the Communists, for their support for granting discharge to Frontex. The new management is doing a perfect job and I am unequivocally convinced that most of the problems can be attributed to the former management led by Mr Leggeri. I am firmly convinced of that. And Frontex is doing a good job today. Let's not let him down and support him. As regards the other agencies, I am very satisfied that they all make a significant contribution to what they aim for and conduct a good budgetary policy. In many agencies I see great potential for improvement or mergers, but I do not see any problem in budgetary policy. So I thank you all for your work on the agencies and I very much wish that we would support them all in tomorrow's vote.

Madam President, Russia is a terrorist state. There is no negotiation with terrorists. Terrorists must be properly punished and captured. I admire the democratic opposition in Russia, because in Russia to protest is to automatically go to prison. That's why Vladimir Kara-Murza or Alexei Navalny are heroes to me. People who are not afraid and believe that truth and love will prevail over lies and hatred, and go to protest and tell the truth in an undemocratic Russia. Very often I hear from people that Russia should be a model for the European Union. If people do not want to live in the European Union, let them go to Russia. Let them try to protest there and try to express their opinions there. Vladimir Putin is a criminal to me, he is a criminal and as a criminal we must treat him as the European Union.

Mr President, citizens' security is certainly a priority that we can agree on across this room. Safety is something that is very important. It is a sensitive area and it is very important to know that when we cut somewhere in the area of security, it raises legitimate concerns for our citizens. Therefore, dear colleagues, I do not understand why the left wants to leave out barriers, that is, barriers in the form of fences at the borders with countries where illegal migrants pass through these borders, and reject their financing from the European budget. This is something that is essential. If you weren't a sea country like Malta, but you were a country that has these borders, where various illegal groups operate, then it's natural for you to try to stop the current with a fence. It is not against human rights, it is a way that is used, for example, in Spain and other countries. We cannot let the various smuggling groups dictate to us the terms of who will come to Europe. We need to set the conditions so that we have far more options for legal migration if Europe needs it.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, if you go to sleep in a democracy, you will one day wake up in a dictatorship. And this motto, which my father always said, accompanies me throughout my life. We can't sleep. There is some case that is being solved, but there can be an incredible amount of cases if we allow someone to enter our democratic system without being invited. How many times have we been told that there is no democracy in Iran? How many times have we criticized Russia? How many times have we talked about human rights in China? And if we take resolutions or we take various materials, our position papers, how many times is there criticism of our partners all over the world? I think that if we do not have the courage to name the things that corruption comes not only through states, but also through some non-profit organisations that operate in the European Parliament, we will never be able to fight against these ways of influencing events not only in Europe, but everywhere in the world. I think we should work together. We should really focus much more on the origins of those who influence us, and we should want to expel those people who do not respect our democracy from our homes and places, because that is the greatest threat to our values.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, in recent months armed groups in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo have escalated violence. We can see this in the rebel group of the March 23 Movement, which is currently trying to expel millions of women and children from their territory and is systematically trying to really rape women and achieve its political advance within that territory. People there often suffer from food and water shortages, which is why the European Parliament has decided to adopt an urgent resolution calling on the international community to try to pressure all actors in the field and resolve this. I must say that all groups from the left to the right have agreed on this resolution. And I think that this sends a rather firm and clear signal to all parties involved that we want to resolve this conflict and we care that this violence stops.