Speeches

Madam President, Minister, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I do not think anyone can challenge the fact that we have violence against women, against girls. We have a directive and it is very good that we have a directive, but laws are not enough. Madam Minister, you have presented here three very important points: prevent, detect early and protect. But, Commissioner, in the states of the European Union there are extraordinary situations: We have no shelters, women are afraid to report violence, they are killed in the house by children, by men. We're not talking about the nationality of the killer, we're not talking about the nationality of the perpetrator of violence against women or girls. It is important to find the situation with concrete measures, to finance, to have enough shelters. And it has to do with violence and poverty. We need to see what we can do to eradicate poverty. We have countries at the top with poverty, both for children and families. That is why I believe that it is not enough to have the directive, we must come up with a set of measures to help Member States to have shelters, to provide education, for women to have courage and to be protected after violence has been identified.

Madam President, Commissioner, cultural identity, cultural heritage, the values of each state give it identity. The Member States have united in the European Union, under the same sky, different cultures. We have this slogan, we have to defend our cultural heritage. We must not respond to blackmail. The directive is a possibility to protect our cultural heritage, but it is not enough to have a directive, we must also have concrete measures, to enable European audiovisual investments. And, yes, Mr. Trump wants to impose taxes, whoever operates in the European Union must respect the rules of the European Union, must respect European culture, must respect European values. That is why I believe that the directive and, of course, with what we have asked for through this debate, must support European audiovisual precisely in order to have identity, precisely in order to protect our European values. We have 24 official languages, we have artists who have won the most prestigious awards. These people need to be known for the generations to come, for our children, and that's why it's good that we have this...

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, it is a pity that we are discussing such an important subject at such a late hour. I think it was necessary to propose a debate in which we can all be here, because I don't think anyone can believe that stopping energy imports from Russia is a fad. It's a necessity. Nothing has to be imported anymore. But, Commissioner, you said in your speech that you would help the Member States. You know, we don't have an equal infrastructure in the internal market, we don't have an internal energy market and we have to do something. It yielded the REPower program, but we still need it, because, you see, the countries - Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Austria - now have a problem with connection. That is why the price of energy in my country, in Romania, is three times higher than the average. And then, at the same time with this program - and it is very good that we have reached an agreement to stop, not to finance the war - to find solutions. Long-term dependence on Russia has brought us here and not to change it to dependence on the United States, because it has worried me that 45% of liquefied natural gas imports last year were from the United States. We don't have to create another addiction.

Madam President, Minister, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I noted carefully when the Council said the course of the meeting on Thursday. Madam Minister, it is amazing for me to put so many points in the meeting. Maybe just tick them off. But how can you debate dozens of points that you put on the agenda without some very clear things? Well, if you don't put competitiveness, which has to do with what has been discussed here, with energy policy, with gas, with the housing situation, with citizens' incomes, at the center of the debates, you put 15 points on the agenda in vain and you don't solve anything. The Commission shall: the President has come and greeted us and always greets us, ‘dear colleagues’, but she is leaving and no longer listening to us. They respect us so much that they don't listen to us anymore. I want to know very clearly: put these topics on the Council's agenda to also take decisions or just discuss them? How many hours are you in the Council? We cannot go any further, 2025 also ends, with a new draft budget, catastrophic financial framework. We are discussing and not making any decisions, and we are starting next year with nothing certain, not for citizens, not for SMEs, not for agriculture, not for anything.

Madam President, Minister, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the budget for the internal market, I represent the point of view of the IMCO Committee, it is very important. We cannot have a strong, competitive internal market without budgets, without investment. The red lines have already been announced here. Commissioner, you have a very important role to play in negotiating with the Council. We cannot vote for the cuts put in place by the Council, we need money for SMEs, for the development of SMEs, for their capitalisation. We need farmers, today we have seen them on the street, we cannot help but support agriculture, food security after all. And yes, of course, we must also support innovation, and young people, and housing, and people's better lives. That's our role here, and that's why we were sent. So the Commission now has an extraordinary role and you have sources, we can find sources, Commissioner, here: You've fined Google. If we supervise the market better, if we look for economic crime, if we see VAT evasion, for example, and we have the Prosecutor's Office, we have OLAF, institutions that have to bring this money to the budget, because yes, we have to develop in relation to the United States, with the other markets, our internal market.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the President of the Commission has once again served us with a sample of ignorance. So when he presented his programme to the Commission, and this he did every time, he did not have the patience to listen to the position of the European Parliament, which eventually validated it. Yes, I saw it today in the posters of the farmers who protested here in front of Parliament. How to talk about prosperity in President Ursula's speech, when we have 15 million people in poverty, 5 million children in poverty? We have seen nothing concrete to change about access to finance for SMEs, they are being decapitalised, farmers have been on the streets for two years, we have seen nothing about energy policy, a common energy market, a common capital market. We are behind with research, with innovation, with platforms, we depend on the United States and China. What's our programme for 2026, Commissioner? Perhaps the President of the Commission answers, because just writing down 32 points does not mean that you are changing Europe.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the European Union says, the European Commission always says, that the most important thing is to have food security. Commissioner, I believe that the President of the Commission is simply defying reality. For years, farmers, both in your country and in my country - tomorrow we have them here in Parliament - have been on the street, demanding some natural rights. First, the protection of the internal market from these trade agreements which make them unfairly competitive. We are well aware of what has also happened to imports from Ukraine and other third countries. Then the CAP reform: instead of making a better common agricultural policy, converging subsidies, having budgets for young farmers to rejuvenate the generation of farmers, firstly, we decrease the budget and then we mix the budget of agricultural policy with the cohesion budget. What do we say to these people? What to say to farmers? Is it only through words that we want to ensure food safety? Don't we need facts? I believe that the European Commission must wake up, because otherwise, surely, the market will be invaded by unsafe products and European agriculture will die.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we are discussing a report, I say, of the utmost importance, a new framework for products. In fact, we have many regulations and I thought about what you said, Commissioner: a coherent regulatory framework. What does that mean? We have enough legislation, let's put it coherently, protect the consumer, protect the producer in the European Union, because not only those millions of packages come from third countries on the internal market. Wine and whole ships, cargo trucks with counterfeit goods. We have labeling, but we have no control. We are sitting with the customs regulation - I am the rapporteur on this regulation. Two years from now, if applicable. Well, if we don't have control, in vain we regulate and I think, Commissioner, that you have a difficult task, but it is possible to do it, because there is nothing more important than protecting our producers, our European industry, so that we can also protect consumers from products that come counterfeit and with dumped prices. So I think you have the report now. He'll be voted on. You have the ball on the ground and give hope to European Union producers and citizens that yes, we will have a simple but safe regulatory framework.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I think we all see that the big platforms, we are now talking about Google, but not only, have this problem that our internal market is actually creating, namely market dominance and conflict of interest. They are cancer for democracy, they are cancer for fair competition in the market. It's very good that you fined Google, let's see when you collect the money, but it's not enough. We have other platforms that collect all the advertising. Of course, then we cannot have a free media, because they also need income so that they can live. Freedom of expression is then affected and, Commissioner, the speed with which we act. In 2017, I was and visited Google from the Committee on the Internal Market. Since 2017, we have noticed that Google is actually doing unfair things in the internal market. We must defend our internal market by all means, not only through regulation, but above all through implementation. And yes, I heard TikTok. We don't know what's happened before. Citizens need answers, and in the European Union, our businesses in all areas need fair competition. Keep going, don't be intimidated. We must have our own high tech in the European Union and our own industry and fair competition.

Mr President, the chemical package is welcome, the intention is good. But we have to see how we apply it, because I think the major problem we have is that we regulate, but when we implement it, the problems arise. Without the chemical industry, we cannot have a strong European Union economy. We cannot be competitive with other states, third states, and we see that agriculture depends on chemicals. All industries, pharmaceuticals, everything depends on chemicals. It is important, however, to have this common platform with all the data. I say that it helps small and medium-sized enterprises, not as some colleagues said, that it would make their lives more difficult. There is a need to redistribute tasks and to better cooperate with European Union agencies so that it is not possible to do one thing ten times, to do it only once. What is important, however, is how to inform, not to put any additional burdens, especially on small and medium-sized enterprises. But without a strong chemical industry, we cannot have a strong agriculture, we cannot have a strong industry.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we are taking a first step and, Commissioner, you said that you were lucky to have received these two reports at the beginning of your mandate. Let us be the first Commissioner who will indeed reform the common agricultural policy, but not only on paper. I am now thinking of the two reports, the strengthening of the role of farmers in the value chain and, of course, also the simplification that you have talked about. It's not just about producing, you know, that's what we have to be able to sell. I witnessed with sadness how farmers in my country were throwing tomatoes, throwing other agricultural products, because they could not sell them. We must be able to offer them the right price and this is also linked to entry agreements for other products from other states that do not have the same recognitions. I hope, Commissioner, that there will be more flexibility, for example in determining the damage. There is a huge bureaucracy until it is determined how much he has lost, what he must give him, that the other season is coming before it is solved. And yes, more flexibility for the Member States, because they know it well there, for small groups of farmers, for women farmers, for young farmers. I hope that at the meeting in Bucharest you will be able to give good news, Commissioner.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I must say that we have not heard such a clearly expressed point of view for the future of Europe for a long time. I congratulate you, Prime Minister, and perhaps, you have here, your Commissioner will also tell the President that, here, there are solutions. We have solutions. Practically! I'll refer to what you said. Democracy is based on trust. Prime Minister, do you not believe that trust grows if we have fairness and social cohesion, if we really have a single market, as we discussed, if we have the same conditions for citizens? Then trust grows. And you have said something else, and I ask the Commissioner, at the first meeting of the College of Commissioners, to say to the President: you said that the sense of urgency has been lost – that is right, Prime Minister, we have a lot of things that remain outstanding and I believe that this leads to increased Euroscepticism. We give water to those who are extremists, they no longer trust the European Union. You are right – take up these issues and implement them.

Madam President, Commissioner Séjourné, we are discussing the single market. I've been on this committee since 2014 and I've been listening to the same things since 2014. For small and medium-sized enterprises, the internal market is absolutely collapsed. We regulate, but we do not look back if our regulation has an effect. We have the Late Payments Directive, it doesn't work, we have the Public Procurement Directive, it doesn't work, we have the SME Access to Finance Directive, it doesn't work, we have the dual quality of products, we've been talking for a long time, it doesn't work. What should we say to small and medium-sized enterprises in our country, that we are only discussing? At some point, the citizens ask me: ‘and when are you doing something?’. Commissioner, if we do not move concretely to simplification, to single rules... We now have customs regulations, each customs now regulates and controls differently. We are getting avalanches of packages from Asia and they are unfairly competing with small and medium-sized enterprises. If we do not act, the single market will never exist.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the revision of the visa suspension mechanism had to be done. As far as I'm concerned, it's late. We could have done this review faster. And yes, Commissioner, you were right. You have said very openly that we must ensure the security of our continent, of Europe, and for that we must admit that, for example, we did not have a migration verification mechanism and we have faced and are facing illegal migration. Of course, we still hope that through this new mechanism, we can be extremely rigorous, because I believe that security must be put first. It is true that the suspension of visas leads to increased tourism, increased trade, but what if we do not have security? You said, Commissioner, that there is a possibility of infiltration by people, and I have seen this, who are committing crimes, who are evading, who ultimately, of course, are also committing crimes, but also unfair competition through the businesses they are doing. I hope that the European Commission, we, the Parliament, the Council, will not only have this review on paper and we will apply it very strictly, because, as I was saying, we already have an increase in illegal migration and I very much believe that it is important to have businessmen entering Europe, but we must also have safety. And it is ultimately up to us to apply this new mechanism, with very clear principles and in very, very precise situations, to suspend the visa. Yes, it is true, said colleagues, that citizens have no fault if, for example, human rights are not respected in their country. But what fault would Europeans have, to come to Europe people who would do criminal acts, do various evasions and all sorts of things that would lead to an injustice for Europeans? Commissioner, I hope that this new review mechanism will be implemented, and I thank those who have contributed through amendments to the exit of a system, I say, fair and ethical.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, it is very good that we are discussing the International Day of the Elderly and let me wish Happy Birthday and health to all the elderly in my country and in Europe. But, Commissioner, is it enough to say 'Happy Birthday' to them? It has been said here, there are many people who do not have the certainty of tomorrow and I would have liked you to come up with these figures. How many in Europe, how many elderly people do not have money to take medicine, do not have money to take food, to feed? How to live healthy? Just through our best wishes? It's not enough that you gave us an average age of 81.5 years. How many of these years are you living in health? And then, yes, intergenerational equity, what do we do? There are often older people who no longer have a family. In my country, in Romania and in many Eastern European countries, we do not have spaces, centers, where these elderly people can be cared for and lead their lives with dignity. Then we must integrate them into cultural activities, not be isolated. For this we also need to educate the young generation, to understand that yes, the generation behind them leaves them a society. And for that, Commissioner, we also need a European strategy.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I am glad that today we are discussing the role of European sports policies. Sport is not just physical exercise, sport is health. Sport is, as you said, Commissioner, a bridge between nations. I am proud of the athletes in my country. And yes, Romania dominates rowing, tennis, gymnastics. But, Commissioner, we need to think about how to increase accessibility, because in my country, and in other countries, there are talented children who do not have the opportunity to play sports. Sport costs money. Parents can't give them that money. That is why you may be telling the President that cohesion is not a poem. We must make policies in which we put people at the center and yes, children, the young generation, because sport gives them confidence and there will later be adults who can exercise any function, because they know what stress means, they know what resistance means, they know what discipline means. Commissioner, we are waiting on the basis of this report, indeed, to come up with a strategy. Of course, the Member States have their duty too, but how do we prevent sport from becoming a business? How do we not turn into an unclean business especially, discussing behind closed doors who to be champion?

Madam President, Commissioner, the internal market has been defined today - perhaps you will listen to me, Commissioner. I was saying that the internal market has been defined by you and many colleagues in various ways. I believe that the internal market is the heart and the basis on which the European Union project was created. But, Commissioner, I have been away from SMEs since 2012. Nothing's changed. If you now talk to a small and medium-sized enterprise in any country, in the 27 states, but especially in the East, you will see what the real difficulties are. We are not consistent, we do strategies over strategies, but we do nothing to lower costs, to increase the credibility of the internal market. You said we need to invest in the internal market. Yes, of course, Mrs Ursula von der Leyen also said, but the investor, the citizen, the SME, will not invest if they do not trust that there is stability, that there is predictability, and that is why I believe, Commissioner, that what we are proposing in this report, on our own initiative, overlapping all the strategies we have, we must reach a single coherent simplification strategy and communicate and implement it, especially because we are regulating, but we forget to implement it.

Mr President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, in fact, today we are debating the development of coherent policies for housing and health, and here some colleagues are politicising. This is not what citizens expect, to turn any subject into a political dispute. We need to make these policies about fighting natural disasters. Now we are talking about the heat that has suffocated all of Europe. Yes, of course we can influence climate change, but the pace at which we can influence climate change is slow and then we need to have preventive measures. We must have these policies, we must have energy-efficient housing. For this you need money. Citizens need to have income, to be able to do so. Then, in the field of health, you know, there are hospitals where the sick are still at high temperatures in the summer and in the cold in the winter, so we must have here a health policy, in addition to the conditions in the hospital, to have information for the citizens, what to do in time of heat, how to protect themselves, points on the streets, points to provide health care. This is what we need to do and not politics at the expense of the people.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, of course, we needed to correct or improve the existing directive on package travel and consumer protection. I also see myself as the Vice-Chair of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, but also as a former entrepreneur. I am glad that a balance has been reached in this amendment of the directive, because yes, we need to develop tourism, we need travel agencies. We cannot overburden them with bureaucracy or cost. On the other hand, of course, there must be this protection of consumers, of those who do tourism and, in the end, they are intertwined. If tourists, if passengers are satisfied, tourism will develop, they will go on another journey. I hope that this amendment to the directive will be voted on and I hope above all that it will be implemented, because it is very important not only to regulate, but also to implement, and here it is for the Member States to assimilate it into national laws. Anyway, I believe a lot in development...

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the outcome of a negotiation, whether it is a political agreement or a trade agreement, depends on the negotiating power. Sure, and courage, and competence. Let's be realistic, that was the power of the European Union. It has fallen year after year, and then we can't say that the one who has the greater bargaining power is guilty. We need the agreement with the United States. We can't ignore such a big market. Our industry needs it, our agriculture needs it. Of course we're not satisfied, maybe none of us here, but we always have to think about the other way around. What would it have been or what it is if we didn't have an agreement with the United States? Let's be very clear, if you haven't negotiated any contracts, you may find it difficult to understand. One lesser in bargaining power will never win over the other. Yes, but we have levers through which we can get Trump to give in and make a win-win deal. We have taken a first step, we must continue and I trust, Commissioner, that in time we will be able to correct this agreement. We need it and we need to see how we can improve it. We need our farmers, our agriculture, our wine producers, the industry to be able to access that market under similar conditions, as I have told you before, the same standards, the same reciprocal market access. That's an ethical agreement.

You said that for the European Union, safety is the main thing. Of course, we debated today and the President presented us with the state of the European Union that goes beyond security and safety. Do you think that the programme presented by the President, among which she said she wanted to work with the European Parliament, is a solid programme, with clarity, transparency, cohesion, security and trust? This is what European citizens want, the citizens of my country, of Romania. Let me give an example: if the President wants to work together, do you consider that she is working with Parliament as long as she does not report to us or answer questions many times, and has not even presented the situation requested by the rapporteur at discharge?

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we are debating cohesion policy, perhaps the most important thing for the European project. The three reports: Just transition, housing crisis, simplification of cohesion funds, all of them, Mr Vice-President, can lead to real cohesion. The problem I'm putting here, and please answer: Do you think you are taking these reports ‐ the Commission ‐ and will you take into account what we are saying now? If you are going to take funds from cohesion policy for arms ‐ yes, we must defend ourselves, but do not take funds from cohesion policy. Initially, the President said that we would find additional resources, not take from the Cohesion Fund or the Common Agricultural Policy. Housing, the housing crisis, well if all prices go up, obviously the cost of housing will also go up, and the income of many, many European citizens is falling, not rising. There is also a problem, the European Union has a demographic problem and this has to do with the housing crisis. We can't have families, young families, having children if they can't afford a home. Commissioner, can you tell us at the end whether you will present the three reports to the College of Commissioners and take into account that cohesion policy is a necessity, not a fad?

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I begin by thanking the firefighters in my country and all over Europe, who this summer faced perhaps the most and most serious fires, and exposed their lives. In my country, you know that firefighters are number one in the popularity and trust of the population, but we must, Commissioner, have a coherent programme at European Union level. I've heard colleagues say no, no, no... subsidiarity, in every country. No, we need money and human resources. Never will a single country be able to cope with a devastating fire. We must have long-term - and related to the status of firefighters, the status of volunteer firefighters, the endowment of firefighters and of course there must be this spirit of solidarity. This is what the European Union was based on, because we cannot be alone in a Union where we have put together a common market, human resources, budgetary resources. That is why we should also act on prevention, because too many cases of arsonists have been this summer, but also on endowment and budgetary resources.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, you can see that here, too, in Parliament, there have been some colleagues from the far right who have said: What does the Commission want to do? To take the money from the citizens' accounts and use it. So badly communicated on this project, Commissioner, that the citizens also in my country asked me: Really? Are you going to regulate there? You're gonna take the money out of our account? Have you ever wondered why people invest in the United States? I speak as a former investor. Investors must have confidence, Commissioner, in the market, they must have predictability, stability and yes, I am glad that you said that you need another fiscal policy. We can't force them! Private capital cannot be taken from accounts and this must be the very clear message sent, precisely in order to mobilize citizens and small and medium-sized enterprises, especially, to have confidence to invest. Only in this way will we be able to invest in the European Union and only in this way can we increase competitiveness. It is not enough just to note: notes the Draghi report, notes the Commission, we do, but we are not taking concrete steps to convey this trust. My message is to tell the citizens that no one is taking their money from their account.

Mr President, Commissioner, honourable colleagues, of course, we are debating, as my colleague said, perhaps too late. And on the last day of our plenary. But we need to fix this once and for all. It's been an overlooked disease for too long, Commissioner. And I remember addressing letters and oral questions to the Commission in 2023. However, millions of women live in silence, without diagnosis, without proper treatment. This lack of recognition clearly shows how deep the gender gap is in research, funding and public health policy priorities. I believe that this reality can no longer be ignored and we need investment in specific research on women's health, medical training that seriously includes gynecological diseases. The symptoms, you know, are also in other diseases, and often they are not known. Then, health education. Women, especially in rural areas, should be able to know that they have to go. Prevention is always better than treatment. Unfortunately, this disease also leads to infertility and we know well what demographic gap, what demographic fall we have in the European Union. Commissioner, I would be glad if you could give us an answer. Concretely, what measures can we take? The European Parliament has calculated costs of 30 billion euros per sick leave. And it's not so much about the issue of money as it is about the issue of infertility, the suffering of women. Therefore, please, Commissioner, come to Parliament with some concrete answers. What measures do we want to take for this disease of women, women who have been suffering for a long time in silence?