Speeches

Madam President, Commissioner, honourable colleagues, of course, I also start by expressing my condolences to the families who have lost a member, two or more, and to congratulate the rescue teams - and from my country they have been there - teams that have done their duty, they have also taken out people who are living after 100 hours, but that is not enough. I've seen politics here. I think we're talking about humanity, humanity, humanism. We don't have to do politics anymore, it's Syria, it's Turkey, we have to help people, we have to help families, children, women. And, Commissioner, these figures are not figures, they are people, and if we do not act further in Syria, by lane, with the exception of sanctions, other figures will come, with people who died because they do not have what they need, they are in the cold, they do not have medicines, they are those who were removed after 100 hours, who must have assistance. So I don't think we should congratulate each other. I believe that we must put politics aside and people's lives must not be on the right, the left, or the centre. We must act to save people.

Madam President, Minister, Commissioner, I want, first of all, to thank my fellow citizens who have helped Ukrainian refugees, millions of Ukrainians, since the start of this bloody conflict. Yes, everything must be done to stop the massacre of the civilian population, because innocent citizens are dying there and I believe, Commissioner, that your message given today is a timid message of peace, diplomatic support. That's what we're talking about. We have to do, we have to give support to the citizens, because there is no food for the population, there is no water sometimes, and we have to go for diplomatic support. But Ukraine must understand, as a state that has signed an accession agreement, that it must respect the rights of minorities and that is why I ask you, Commissioner, to check the respect of the status, of the agreement that Ukraine has signed, because, yes, Romanian minorities cannot speak in Romanian, they cannot learn in Romanian and now oppressions have started against Romanian Orthodox priests.

Mr President, Minister, Commissioner, of course, as the President has said, the issue of migration must be resolved - we have been hearing these things, at least I have been hearing them since 2014 - I think not with fences, as has been said here, because it would be the return to primitive, I think by very clear measures, by very clear implementation, by very clear procedures in which to define what irregular migration means. I am a humanist in my country, in a humanist party, and I want to help any man who can be helped, but we must not sell illusions that we are moving continents to Europe. Here we have to be very clear and I think I understand the anger of the Member States in which illegal migrants have arrived, but I do not think we have to resolve an injustice with another injustice and the deliberate confusion made by Austria, through which it invokes migration as a reason why Romania and Bulgaria should not enter, is actually a violation of the regulation. And I ask, Minister, the Swedish Presidency and I ask you, Commissioner, you know Romania very well, to stop mixing things up: a voted European regulation is binding on all Member States, and therefore also on Austria.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, from the outset I want to say that yes, we need to adapt the legislation, we need to strengthen workers' rights and the relationship between works councils and workers. But, Commissioner, you do not think that in management the personal example is very important, and I will refer here to three things that have been said. It is confidential information used by works councils, trade secrets, conflict of interest. Don't you think that even in the context of the Commission's conduct towards us, towards Parliament itself, these three things need to be clarified? Because, behold, I, in the Committee on Budgetary Control, asked the Commission, for example, the contracts on vaccines, and the Commission said that the commercial contracts are confidential. Very often we make resolutions and propose certain changes to you and the dialogue between us and the Commission is bad. I am relying on your experience, Commissioner, and I believe that in order to be able to implement regulations in the European Union, in the Member States, as is this need to amend the directive, the European Commission must lead by example through its own behaviour.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the fight against fraud and the protection of public money must be the constant concern of both the European Union and the Member States. Unfortunately, if we look at the figures, we find that we are taking a step back, because if we see the causes of fraud in 2021, compared to 2020, they are the same. Although we have added an institution with powers of control, such as the European Public Prosecutor's Office, and it is good that we have added, the problem is efficiency. I very much believe that we need to go to prevention and I think that the focus should be on how to focus manipulations in certain situations where money can be defrauded, for example public procurement. They're the same people who win public procurement. We still don't know where it is, who the final beneficiary is, and we are still debating this in the Budget Control Commission. Of course, we need to resolve conflicts of interest and it is good that you have proposed to review, because you, Commissioner, said, we have regulations, we have directives, we have procedures, but the results are very important. And I also told the Court of Auditors when I presented the report, it is not only important for the accountant to be able to justify the money, but we need to see the efficiency of the money invested. Finally, I draw particular attention to the major threats posed by cross-border crime, and here a solution must be found with the institutions responsible.

Madam President, Commissioner, esteemed EIB team, dear colleagues, we all know that banks in general are very important for the economic development and social life of people, but now we are talking about the EIB. And yes, the European Investment Bank has also been through the problems of the pandemic and the crisis, and we all know that we have all faced this crisis. As a member of the CONT Committee, however, I am of the opinion, as always, that it is good to take into account as much as possible and to make an analysis that all the measures you take have an impact on the economy and especially on SMEs. And I am glad that you reported here that you had loans granted to SMEs, but I believe that you need to strengthen this in the future and increase support for SMEs, that in the end SMEs are the backbone, we all say in the European economy. And I cannot conclude without telling you that, I think very well, it was very good that the 2021 agreement with Europol was concluded, because it is always cheaper to prevent than to correct afterwards. That is why I believe that risk prevention and detection is very important and now for the Commission I have a recommendation that there should be more transparency when you give opinions, which projects are financed by the EIB?

Madam President, Commissioner, of course, it is good that we are looking at how to increase industrial competitiveness. First of all, we must have a European industry. Let's not forget that we depend on imports. There is almost no industrial product to which we do not need imports to supplement. Therefore, I believe that in order to start capacities that complete the value chain for each product we need investments, we need targeted investments. And there is another problem, Commissioner, there has been talk here of America's strategy - First America. We can't stop the Americans, but let's do it too. first Europe, to find solutions in which to complete these value chains, to integrate SMEs there, to allocate budgets and Member States and the European budget for innovation, because otherwise we will not be able to be competitive. And I think it is possible, the important thing is to want to do this and to make it organized.

Madam President, Mr President of the Council, Commissioner, I must say that I liked the conclusions, they are correct, they are good. It is important how we apply them, because I remind you that we have a two-year reindustrialisation strategy and nothing has happened. Now we have an industrialization plan, I hope it's in the sense of that strategy, but I would add three things that, frankly, I'm surprised you didn't catch. Mr President, Commissioner, there is nothing written here about SMEs. What do we do with SMEs? SMEs are being crushed by all the overlapping crises and I would have liked to see measures for SMEs included in this project. Two, of course they're good to have new trade deals, but it's important how we do them. We still have unfair competition on the internal market and I say it as Vice-Chair of this committee and three cannot talk about the single market and I said and yesterday I will not use this term, I will talk about the internal market until the market is single. That is why I think you should propose that Romania and Bulgaria be part of the internal market. Let it really be a single market, let us not have the fragmentation of the internal market. And yes, I would have loved to see and hear the word peace. How do we walk the path of peace between Ukraine and Russia, because the entire European euro continent suffers?

Madam President, Prime Minister, ladies and gentlemen, I too wish to express my hope that the Swedish Presidency will bring good results. Prime Minister, you said you wanted a more ethical, greener, safer Europe. I haven't heard the word fair, more social, more just. Because, look, yesterday we paid tribute to 30 years since the establishment of the internal market and we still do not have a single market. You used this term, single market. You have the opportunity, Prime Minister, to enter the history of the European Union, to unify the market and, as has been said here, to make the two states and the millions of citizens in Romania, my country and Bulgaria, have full rights to the movement of goods. The citizens of my country have listened to you. Do you think that drivers who stay for 3-4 days at the border because they are not part of Schengen, have the hope that you will correct this fairness? Please, Mr. Prime Minister, answer me, so that I can also answer my citizens. And I wish you success, because only together, with solidarity, can we be strong in the global market.

Mr President, Commissioner, it is almost a year since the war between Ukraine and Russia led to the loss of lives. And there perish not only Ukrainians and minorities. My country has helped, received millions of Ukrainians and helped Ukraine. What is the reward? President Zelenskyy promulgates a law, although he was warned, and I made these steps, not to promulgate the law prohibiting minorities, Romanians, over 400,000, to speak and learn in Romanian. Yesterday, Romania celebrated the Day of Culture and the day of the greatest poet, Mihai Eminescu, internationally known poet, born in Chernivtsi, which is now Ukrainian land, once Romanian. The Romanians there couldn't organize anything, they can't talk. Romanian priests are closing their churches. I ask the European Commission to verify the accession agreement. I voted for Ukraine's accession agreement. There is a point where respect for the rights of minorities is demanded. President Zelenskyy no longer respects this. And let's not confuse war with minority rights. I dressed in white as a sign of peace, but I fight for my Romanians there to have their rights respected.

Mr President, Minister, Commissioner, colleagues, the internal market - everyone has said here - is the heart of the European Union, it is the platform. You called it in every way. Yeah, it's like a house: base, foundation. But it's not just the foundation that matters. It is important how we build. That's why I think it's good to think about 30 years now: how to modernise the internal market, how to make it strong in global competition, how to make those rights enshrined in the Treaty: free movement of workers and free movement of goods? I will not use the term single market that you used because, in my view, as a Romanian, it is not a single market, it is an internal market, but it is not a single market. That is why I hope that Sweden will have the ambition to unite the two fragmented segments now: Schengen and non-Schengen markets. And I also believe, Commissioner, that it is very important how we defend, how we protect the internal market. That is why I believe that the Commission should present an implementation report on the Unfair Practices Directive, because we are well aware that we still have problems with imports from third countries that create unfair competition for producers. And then, and a safety for consumer protection. I think we all have an obligation: the Member States, the Commission, the Council, the Parliament and, ultimately, the citizens, to protect the internal market, because it is good for everyone.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I believe that everyone knows that the security of critical infrastructure has shared competence and responsibility. Obviously, the Member States have the obligation to take all measures to secure themselves, but also the Commission, because we cannot, it has been said here, cross-border, companies cannot defend themselves. That is why I believe that, Commissioner, the first thing we need to clarify is what falls within the competence of the Commission and what falls within the competence of the Member States, and explicitly to make this plan. We're in the cold season. What happened to the Nord Stream pipeline can still happen. People can't freeze to death in their homes. After all, we have an internal market. This was the basis of the European Union and we must also have a European strategy for energy and all other resources. That is why I believe that there should also be more cooperation between the Commission and the Member States, and between the Member States, but this must be done coherently and not randomly and we should not react only when something happens.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, if it has yet to be demonstrated that the right of veto is anachronistic, we are thinking of the vote on 8 December, when Austria misused that right of veto. Abusively because it had no legal argument present in the Schengen Regulation and, behold, it keeps almost 40 million people out of the Treaty right of free movement of citizens within the European Union. We signed the same treaty with Romania and Bulgaria. Citizens of my country and Bulgaria have the same citizenship rights. How can we talk about free movement? How can we talk about the competence of the companies from the two countries when there are 48 or even more trucks at the border? Commissioner, I have sent a letter to the Commission. Thank you to your colleagues who have signed and will sign that we still have a deadline. I urge you immediately to make changes, to amend the Treaty and to eliminate abuse through the veto of the Member States.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, today's topic: the energy crisis and its effects, war, security, transatlantic relations, all have effects on the citizen. But I admit that I am surprised that this issue, which has been dragging on for 11 years, does not appear on the agenda of the Council on 15 December, namely the discussion about the absolutely aberrant and non-legally covering vote of Austria, in fact of the Chancellor, not of the citizens of Austria. That is why I ask you, Commissioner, you, the Czech Presidency, to insist on resuming this vote that is not legally covered, and I thank the colleagues and the Chair of the LIBE Committee and all the colleagues who signed a letter that we wanted to send to the European Commission as a signal that you need to speed up the procedures for amending the Treaty, to get rid of this unanimity that is blocking everything that we are working on here in the European Parliament. I hope that Romania and Bulgaria will join Schengen as soon as possible and that means as soon as we start next year, because it is their right and the single market is not a single market, it is a fragmented market and, in this context, we cannot have competitiveness.

Mr President, Commissioner, Minister, what I have been listening to today, I have been listening to for 11 years. Thank you, Commissioner and Minister, for supporting us. The problem is the result. It was not Romania and Bulgaria that were defied by Austria's vote, but the European institutions, because today you said that we meet all the conditions. Commissioner, the College of Commissioners also voted, Parliament voted and I thank my colleagues. I've never received 547 votes before. The problem is what we do when a member country violates a regulation and has no legal basis. It's a lie in court. That's how I understand it: When you lie, you are punished. Commissioner, in this respect, I, as a Romanian citizen, on behalf of the citizens I represent, have sent two letters to the European Commission. One: what measures are you taking to sanction a country blocking the internal market? We celebrate 30 years of the domestic market, but here we are, two markets: Schengen and non-Schengen. And if you start the Treaty change procedures for unanimity voting, because in my view, it's not specific to a democracy. (The president interrupted the speaker)

Commissioner, I wanted to ask: do not think that investments from China or from another third country, if they meet environmental, social, quality standards, we could accept them, because we still have a global economy and those investments might go, look, to America or elsewhere and we become, to be in a competition, to say, unequal. Do you not think that if we imposed in product quality standards, environmental, social and so on, we could keep certain investments from China and other third countries?

Mr President, thank you, Commissioner, for the answers you have given so far. Of course, you said there are 11 strategic sectors. Obviously you don't answer everything, but my question was related to what you said: that there must be a risk assessment. Now, when we speak for the 11 sectors, do you know if there is an impact assessment? Is Europe ready to protect all its strategic infrastructure without China or any other third country as an investor? Because it's important to know. Yes, we defend ourselves, say, from China's infrastructure and investments, but we are able, we have complete competition on this, we have innovation, we have what we need, technology so that we can not remain with that infrastructure behind the other countries, because we are no longer competitive then.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I do not think that anyone disputes the need, the need to have this Renewable Energy Directive, the energy efficiency of buildings, but, especially in the context of the global energy crisis, we need a balanced energy system. Every country has a different energy mix and we have to think about how to get the bills to the citizens. That's what interests me: Lower bills to pay, that's what citizens are interested in. And I think it is necessary, as has been said here, to simplify bureaucracy. They are extremely expensive, after all, all the permits and all the bureaucracy. Then there needs to be more dialogue for the right understanding of the advantage of renewable energy and, of course, we need to see how urgent the permits are, because in the end, from regulation to enforcement to effect, the road is too long. That is why I very much believe that much needs to be done in the implementation of this directive, but it is necessary.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I am also nervous now because I am talking about our colleague, we are talking about people with disabilities. We have studies, we have research done, what impact there is in society on these people, the UN Convention. But in practice, in every country, the first problem for these people is accessibility, and we have seen that even in the European Parliament colleagues do not have access to the room. Is that possible? Our colleague spoke for the first time here in front of Parliament. Commissioner and colleagues, I believe that we must, however, put an end to this dictatorship of the Council. I have heard here that for 14 years we have been trying to have a legislation for people with disabilities, for 14 years! For 11 years, in 8 years, the entrance of two states was blocked. I came to Strasbourg today, Commissioner. Do you know how to get down stairs for people who are not in Schengen? There is no possibility for a disabled person to get to passport control, because they have to come down some stairs. It is unacceptable what is happening with the Council and I believe that we, Parliament, must unite and succeed in putting our work that we are doing here into practice. Without concrete measures, which we are voting on here and the Council is blocking, we will not solve the problem of persons with disabilities either.

Madam President, Commissioner, I am pleased that we are debating this subject and this issue, digitalisation. Of course, we know that the proverb exists in all situations: “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”. It is very important and I am glad that you spoke, Commissioner, that not only investments in technology are enough, but we also need to increase skills, because now, when we speak, there are entire geographical areas, especially in rural areas, where we do not have any infrastructure, is there no signal for the phone about which digitalisation to talk about? And skills need to be increased at the same time as investments, because otherwise it would be a loss if we invest in digitalisation, but we do not have the skills to access it. I also believe in the positive effects of digitalisation, in the good effects to integrate people with disabilities, but to the same extent I believe very much that investments must be targeted towards geographical areas, towards areas where we still have problems related to skills and infrastructure. That is why I believe that digitalisation goes hand in hand with investment and goes hand in hand with education and increasing the digital skills of all citizens in the internal market area.

Mr President, Commissioner, Commissioner, we have been debating this issue of a single solution in the European Union on the issue of migration for seven years. I'm skeptical and have reason to be. We have talked here about a united Europe, solidarity, humanity, rights, but we have a service blocker that is the Council. And I'm setting an example to be well understood. If my 11-year-old country is being held at the gates of the Schengen area, what unity, what solidarity are we talking about? If we have a regulation voted by Parliament, voted by the Commission and it is not applied because the Council is the blocker. Because a Member State or two, on petty, national interests, raise various reasons unrelated to the Regulation. How can I believe that we will have a migration pact agreed by all Member States? And yes, I think very well that my country, my citizens, have accumulated frustration, anger, economic loss. Yes, the European Union is growing in scepticism. And from here I ask the Council to make Romania's entry into Schengen.

Mr President, Commissioners, of course, when we make a legislative change, we also think about the impact. It is very good that you also explained to the answers you gave, that you wanted to leave a greater ease for the fiscal space, depending on the degree of indebtedness of each state. My question is: Did you think that at the same time we have to implement a new strategy for the reindustrialisation of the European Union, a new strategy for SMEs? You have calculated an impact if with this legislative reform of the common governance in the 27 states we have a positive impact, after all, this is important, how we go through the crises, how we manage not to affect the weakest, i.e. SMEs, micro-enterprises and how we can bring added value, that in the end the European Union also borrowed from the capital market and we have to give back the money by 2058. So I'm interested in whether you have a calculated impact.

Dear colleague, after what you have presented to us, I think you have not read at all the document that we are debating now or you do not understand anything. You say that 40% would be the percentage, that it would be discrimination for the population, which is over 50%. Where is the discrimination? That's a problem. Second, how do you see the problem of women having competence on boards of directors resolved - that competence on boards of directors is not excluded? We don't play, we don't lift weights, we don't lift bags and we don't do physical work, we think. And if we have 60% trained females with tertiary education, don't you think that a competence is lost in these boardrooms?

It is inexplicable to me what you are saying here and I ask you: Have you ever read an anthropological study? Do you know what native qualities women have? Credeți că dacă se pune această cotă, nu se mai ține cont de criteriile de calitate, de competență? Or what were you thinking? Mathematically, there are 60% of university graduates, it is clear that there can be only 8% on the boards of directors. So we're losing skills.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we often speak very technically and perhaps less intelligible to citizens. In fact, what does the resilience of critical entities mean? It means that we are now thinking, through this directive, to increase the resilience of some sectors that ultimately have to do with their quality of life, their lives. Energy, health, food, space... 11 areas, as has been said, are covered by this directive, and it is clear that less resistance by a sector, by a critical entity in a given Member State will cascading effects throughout the space, throughout the internal market. That is why I very much believe that it is necessary for this directive to be well adopted in national law. But I also believe that the infrastructures in the areas I have mentioned here must be of the same quality and quality, in order to be a fair competition in the market and to have equal resistance in the market. That is why I very much believe that we must have one space, Commissioner, and I appeal to you again. I know that it was voted in the Council of Commissioners to enter the three states Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia into the Schengen area and to be able to work on increasing the quality of infrastructure in the 11 areas.