What Maria spoke about.

11 Jul

2023

RO Speech

Financial activities of the European Investment Bank – annual report 2022 - Control of the financial activities of the European Investment Bank - annual report 2022 (joint debate - European Investment Bank)

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Mr President, I begin by thanking you and congratulating you on your work as President for so many years. However, I must say, in my capacity as Vice-President for the Internal Market and on behalf of the SME Intergroup, that I would like to see more money allocated to SMEs next year, compared to the report we are currently analysing. You are of particular importance in InvestEU. I recently wrote …

11 Jul

2023

RO Speech

2023 Annual Rule of law report (debate)

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Commissioner, Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, of course, the functioning of the rule of law is very important. After all, it is perhaps the most important thing in democracy. But, Commissioner, also reading this report, I ask you, do you think that measuring the functioning of the rule of law is the same in all Member States? And I'll justify my question. I have written many letters to the …

11 Jul

2023

RO Question

Nature restoration (debate)

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I think you need to put your headphones on. Okay, okay. I am convinced that you and everyone here want to protect nature. You said that the Commission's proposal and the proposal we are debating today do not add value. I know you're familiar with agriculture. Could you say what proposal brings added value so as to ensure a good life for farmers and the development of agriculture and farmers, but a…

1 Jun

2023

RO Speech

Coordinated action to address antimicrobial resistance (debate)

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Madam President, I am glad that we are discussing this subject, because I believe that nothing is more important than human health and it is very good to focus on research and innovation, because yes, of course, we need new antibiotics, new medicines that can put an end to these cases. It was said here: 35,000 deaths for microbial infections. The problem that I want to raise, Commissioner, is that…

1 Jun

2023

RO Speech

Foreign interference in all democratic processes in the European Union, including disinformation - Election integrity and resilience build-up towards European elections 2024 (debate)

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Madam President, of course, we are debating a very important thing, especially since it is a year before the elections. Clearly, disinformation leads to a wrong choice, it leads citizens a different way. The problem is: how do we do it? We have defined very clearly what foreign interference means, because we see, now a conflict has arisen in Serbia and Kosovo, the conflict in Ukraine, we receive w…

31 May

2023

RO Speech

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

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Mr President, I have been in the European Parliament since 2014 and ever since I have been advocating for fairness, for the application of treaties and regulations equally in the 27 states, so as not to create inequities and, ultimately, discrimination. I am glad, Commissioner, that you are on duty today, because one of the inequities and discriminations made for the citizens of my country, who se…

31 May

2023

RO Speech

Sexual harassment in the EU and MeToo evaluation (debate)

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Mr President, of course, those who are older in Parliament know that they have been discussing for years: zero tolerance for harassment, sexual harassment. The problem is not that we are going to vote, because I am convinced that this resolution will be voted on, but what about the resolution? How many resolutions have we voted on and nothing happened? Nothing's changed. Here we need to answer: ho…

11 May

2023

RO Speech

Towards a strong and sustainable EU algae sector (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, of course, algae has been scientifically proven, they are also used in medicine, and in cosmetics, and yes, and alternatively, in food. I think there is a need for more funding for research, but also for good communication to the citizens, because we know what happened when we discussed and debated and there was also a resolution on alternative pro…

11 May

2023

RO Speech

Protecting and restoring marine ecosystems for sustainable and resilient fisheries - Agreement of the IGC on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (High Seas Treaty) (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, I believe that the importance of fishing and the quality of water in the oceans, seas and rivers has emerged from today's debate. But one more thing came out, Commissioner: that a balance must be struck here between the situation of fishermen and biodiversity, and the preservation of clean waters. It is not fishers and fishing that destroy biodiversity the most, but was…

10 May

2023

RO Speech

The role of farmers as enablers of the green transition and a resilient agricultural sector (continuation of debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the fact that we do not have the Commissioner for Agriculture here shows only the lack of interest in farmers, the lack of interest in such an important sector. We want to change things. Commissioner, you have said some very good things. One of them is: Farmers are getting older. There are no more young farmers. I wrote to the Commissioner and prop…

9 May

2023

RO Speech

Empowering consumers for the green transition (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I believe that on Europe Day we are giving a gift to consumers, to those who listen to us. Of course, this proposal for a directive is very welcome, even if over time we have amended directives and had regulations that went in the direction of increasing consumer protection against unfair practices. We find that we are in a world where we have f…

9 May

2023

RO Speech

Discharge 2021 (continuation of debate)

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Madam President, Commissioners, Minister, we are debating discharge and I must say that I am disappointed with the final form of the Commission discharge report. I want to thank the Court of Auditors for always presenting in CONT extremely correctly all the things that are not good and we have to recognise them when they are not good. Why am I disappointed? Because in the negotiations made for com…

9 May

2023

RO Speech

Revision of the Stability and Growth Pact (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, first of all, happy Europe Day and happy Romania too, that today is Independence Day. It is good that we are discussing the Stability Pact on Europe Day and yes, we need changes to the Stability Pact. But have you also thought, Minister, Commissioner, of a solidarity pact? How do we establish this Stability Pact if we do not think about the fact that social …

8 May

2023

RO Speech

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

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Mr President, I have chosen to speak today about disinformation and human rights. They may seem unrelated, but they do, because on false information, careers were destroyed, families were destroyed, even people who ended their lives because of false information. That is why the responsibility of the European and national institutions is to find solutions to stop this wave of disinformation. How co…

8 May

2023

RO Speech

Schools scheme for fruit, vegetables, milk and dairy products (short presentation)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the future of Europe and the future of every country are children, and I am pleased that we are discussing the programme for the distribution of fruit, vegetables and milk in schools. I want to congratulate you on such a well-documented, well-argued report, and I think that tomorrow we will all vote on this report, but I would be happy for the Commission to take…

8 May

2023

RO Speech

Implementation of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (short presentation)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, of course the media is very important in every respect. Informing citizens, to a large extent, is done not institutionally, through national or European institutions, but through the media. That is why we must ensure that the Media Directive is uniformly implemented in all Member States. I have to say that here too, in the media, we have to make su…

8 May

2023

RO Speech

Impact on the 2024 EU budget of increasing European Union Recovery Instrument borrowing costs - Own resources: a new start for EU finances, a new start for Europe (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I have heard the debate and I have also heard the Commissioner's presentation. However, nothing has been said about the efficiency of spending money. Because, Commissioner, as a member of the Committee on Budgetary Control, I also discussed last week with the Court of Auditors. There are always, new instruments are being created, new programmes tha…

20 Apr

2023

RO Speech

Cohesion dimension of EU state aid and de minimis rules (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, today we debated a very clear question, Commissioner, on State aid and the de minimis scheme. I was surprised that you came and told us directly that the Commission does not intend to change the de minimis rules, but you could see now that, regardless of the political group, everyone has asked for these state aids and de minimis rules to be gran…

20 Apr

2023

RO Speech

IPCC report on Climate Change: a call for urgent additional action (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, of course, I believe that the climate crisis must be recognised by everyone, but my point of view (and my point of view is that of the citizens I represent here) is that it must be dealt with globally. We cannot solve the climate crisis alone. That is why, at COP 28 in Dubai, the European institutions must clearly support, like the other continents, a strategy to mitiga…

18 Apr

2023

RO Speech

Energy storage (debate)

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Commissioner, President, colleagues, of course, the energy market is very important for every citizen. After all, the life of every citizen depends on the cost of energy, and we know that these successive crises have led to an increase in the price of each individual bill. Commissioner, when we regulate, I think we need to take into account the impact on people and yes, we also need stock. But in …

30 Mar

2023

RO Speech

Strengthening the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, it seems that today we are debating and voting on normality. But, frankly, I was surprised by the views of some colleagues in which they consider that there is no need to have this law, that everything is regulated between employers and unions, that it will create bureaucracy for SMEs. I come from the private sector. It's aberrant what our colleagu…

13 Mar

2023

RO Speech

Activities of the European Ombudsman - annual report 2021 (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, Ombudsman, I would like to congratulate you from the outset. You showed professionalism and courage, you had the courage to write correctly about the things that are incorrect in the European institutions and this is your role, that we are talking about the Commission, that we are talking about Parliament or the Council. What is unpleasant, however, is that we still …

13 Mar

2023

RO Speech

Energy performance of buildings (recast) (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we all want energy efficiency, we all want the citizens of our country to pay a lower bill. I come from the private sector and I know that before you make an efficiency, you have a cost. Before you can achieve efficiency, you need to make an investment. That's the way it is here. And I think of the citizens of my country, especially those in the…

16 Feb

2023

RO Speech

European initiative to promote civic engagement to protect and better support European volunteers (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, I would also like to congratulate the Commission on the fact that we can discuss this subject today. Since recent years, we can see that there is a great need to involve the civilian population in the results of natural or man-made disasters. That is why I believe that we need to increase the number of volunteers in each Member State, whether we are talking about volunt…

16 Feb

2023

RO Speech

Availability of fertilisers in the EU (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the situation of farmers is deteriorating from day to day. The answers you gave, Commissioner, to the questions asked, do not encourage farmers. And I'll explain why. And you know that. The Commission itself showed the dramatic increase in gas prices. The Commission itself points out that we do not now have the capacity to cover the needs of fer…