Speeches

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, it is strange to me that there are colleagues in this House who criticise the existence of a mechanism for controlling European money. We were chosen by the citizens to defend their financial interests. How do I criticize a mechanism by which I want to control? However, we should think critically if this mechanism is applied correctly and, Commissioner, you will also see critical points in the report, because the lack of transparency, which the Commission often practices, is not a good example. I was the discharge rapporteur in the Commission's past mandate and I tell you frankly that I did not vote for it. Why? Because the Commission did not answer the questions that the Committee on Budgetary Control and other parliamentarians asked. So, if we want this mechanism to work and it has to work, you have to show a lot of transparency, fairness, equality, treatment between states and, why not, maybe we, Parliament, think about how we protect citizens and end consumers if a government does not apply the rule of law correctly, because citizens must not (...)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we are at the last plenary, a stocktaking plenary, and once again, President von der Leyen has left the room, she has no patience to listen to us. About what balance? He made a self-praising report, as he usually does, he started telling us how we would finance the fight and not how we would negotiate peace. We have lost a million jobs this year. We were unable, Commissioner, and we stayed together until midnight with the Danish Presidency, to conclude the trilogue on the Customs Regulation, which is very important for the protection of the internal market. Farmers are on the street, as you know, tomorrow. We don't have energy independence and we pay three times as much energy. Let's see. Maybe this holiday break brings us all together to have a real project to support European citizens. This is important, people to be put in the center. I was talking about the housing crisis yesterday. We won't be able to solve it until incomes grow, until we have a stable and strong economy, and until we have independence. We depend on imports. Merry Christmas to everyone!

Thank you for your reply. The point is that you spoke about the cohesion and development policy of the regions. The concrete question now is: in future policy, do you think it is good to have the budget for the common agricultural policy combined with cohesion policy?

Dear colleague, you said in your speech that you want an equal development of Europe. Do you think the report by President von der Leyen, now on the year-to-year balance sheet, shows anything? Does it show any basis for what you said? I have been in Parliament since 2014. Farmers in my country, in Romania, still have different subsidies. There are still disparities, there is a fragmented market. Do you think that the President of the Commission, at the end of the year, made a fair, realistic report or just slogans and political statements that citizens do not need?

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, for me it was a surprising debate. I've seen passion, anger, insults. Dear colleagues, we are chosen by the citizens. It is a citizens' initiative. Maybe we forgot why we're here. We are obliged to discuss a citizens' initiative and there were not 100 000 people, one million, over one million signatures. Therefore, those who are passionate, now, around Christmas, are Orthodox Christians, offended and forgotten that women, in fact in the European Union, still do not have access to medical care and very often end up having a pregnancy, being sick, discover that they have a disease. The doctor forbids them from carrying the pregnancy. So we have to understand and thank you, Commissioner, I do not often congratulate the European Commission, but you have said very clearly: it is a national competence and we need to see how we support, in the Member States, where women still do not have access to health care. I wish you all good health and don't forget why you came here. You are elected by the people!

I want to ask you a question, dear colleague. I agree with what you said. My question is: Do you think that the suffering in which the automotive industry is now is due to our mistake, the European Parliament, the European Union, the European Commission, which regulated before we had solutions? Because there are tens of thousands of jobs, there is an industry behind it that ultimately ensures the well-being of citizens. And if you think we need to correct what we did years ago, which is to impose deadlines and solutions before we have technology, before we have enough money, before we have innovation.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I would first like to congratulate those who initiated the letter, because the signatories of the letter, in fact, have responded to the citizens' request and, since I have been in the European Parliament, I have always argued, Commissioner, that we have to listen to all stakeholders, we have to listen to citizens and we have to respond to them, but we have to respond to them to understand why, for example, livestock farming alone could be prohibited by a decision at European Union level - and this must be seen in the context of the Treaty. Again, this must be well understood: not all animals, animals exclusively bred for fur. Of course, here we have to listen to the specialists, because in the letter written by my colleagues there is also a paragraph, I am convinced that you have read it, in which it is said that there is also the probability, the risk of transmitting diseases to people, to those who use these furs. That is why I believe that, on the one hand, we need to be careful how we reach a decision and, of course, based on the citizens' demand, but we also need to be careful. I have worked for 35 years in the textile sector, the textile industry, where the fur industry also enters and it is extremely important how we make the exit of these companies from the market. Many companies have retrofitted, have cars, have people employed, so we need to have a transition period in which to offer an alternative to those who have built a business on this topic for years. Then, a very important thing: I am also Vice-President for the Committee on the Internal Market; I still see an imbalance in many trade agreements. If we ban - and we come to a conclusion that yes, we will ban these things (breeding animals exclusively for fur), what do we do with imports? Because if products come - fur from animals bred exclusively for fur - then we did nothing. We have again created discomfort and, let's say, even unfair competition with producers in the European Union. At the same time, I am also in the Committee on Agriculture and the Intergroup on Animal Welfare, and I am sure that I am looking at this issue with balance, and I very much believe that we must not take quick decisions, but we must also analyse it from a scientific point of view: whether or not the disease is transmitted to humans by wearing these furs, what we replace with. If we replace it with synthetic, we also need to see - and I'm telling you now, as a textile specialist - whether the synthetic is somehow more harmful to humans. All these things cannot be taken, but it is salutary and it must be stressed that we have reacted - Parliament, the colleagues who made the letter - at the request of the citizens. That is our duty, as elected people, I mean Parliament, and you, as an executive government of the European Union, to take into account what we come from taking over the problems of citizens, and I hope that a solution will be found that is fair - that is very important - also for animal welfare, but also fair for workers who for years have built businesses in this area. I look forward to a response to the letter made by colleagues and I am convinced that you will have the power to find fair solutions and, ultimately, on the basis of the Treaty for which we operate. Good luck to you, Commissioner!

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, the result you have presented here does not seem to have satisfied you either. Does it please the citizens? The objectives of climate change must be very clear and coupled with measures that can be applied. No one is challenging climate change, I think. People are dying in the heat, people are dying in the floods, but people are also dying in the cold, Commissioner, because they cannot pay for their energy. Europe pays three to four times more for energy than America. What's the solution? Did you talk about just transition? What do you mean by just transition? The European Union has the objective of cohesion. Do we touch him or not? I believe that the objectives for climate change must be harmonized with the competitiveness that we can have, with reindustrialization. We have a reindustrialization program and yes, you have to take partners, citizens and companies. Only then will there be compliance. If citizens and companies feel that they are not partners in these goals, they will not comply. I therefore expect you, Commissioner, to convey to us the objectives coupled with the measures.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, of course we need decarbonisation, we need a clean environment, but we also need industry, we need jobs. Commissioner, you said that 100 billion investments would be needed, and you said yourself, most of them from the private sector. I come from the private sector. Do you think that a company invests when it knows that it increases its costs 3, 4, 5 times and can no longer sell its service or product? No, no, no. I believe that the pace at which we are doing this decarbonisation - now we are talking about aviation and maritime transport, but also in other areas - must be the pace at which we can ensure that European industry exists, that it is refurbished, that there is money for refurbishment. What else do we do? The responsibility for the clean environment is the responsibility of the entire globe, it is not only of the continent of Europe and we know well that the USA, China, India are much, much bigger polluters than Europe. If you, we, put pressure on European industry here, we will certainly disappear and import products that actually pollute in countries that do not have the same conditions. That is why, Commissioner, I believe that this programme for the transition to sustainable fuel must be carried out at the rate at which industry can bear it, and budgets must be granted for the transition to sustainable fuel. We can't replace something if we don't have something to put in place.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we are debating a report that is essential for the future of the planet, after all, for the future of Europe. How can we say that the responsibility of protecting minors online is solely that of parents? We have not excluded in this report the importance of education, of parents, but in democracy there are rules, platforms must - and this was the message of this report for the Commission and for the Member States - find levers for platforms to limit the right of minors to access data unrelated to their age. What could be sadder than seeing children hurt themselves or commit suicide? And now, recently, a little boy has killed his sister. They're platforms with lying interfaces, they're lured into dangerous games. Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I am glad that we have a very large majority. For us, the future of Europe is the protection of these minors and we must, together - parents, education and ourselves - regulate things so that access to things that are not allowed for minors is limited.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, of course, the 2026 budget is not perfect. We know all those who have worked with budgets that we always need more money. But, Commissioner, in your speech you said one very important thing: It's a huge waste. Well, let's see where the waste is being made, because you also said that we have to rethink the future MFF completely differently. How do we ensure that the basic points that actually hold the European Union together, namely cohesion, the common agricultural policy, reindustrialisation and security, are fed with budgets that are fit for purpose? We have had for years - I am in the Committee on Budgetary Control - we do not know how to stop VAT evasion. There are some countries that have a high rate of VAT evasion. Then, we failed to fine platforms, for example, for violations of the directives and regulations that we work with. There are sources, we do not necessarily need to borrow and pay interest, but we need to clean up the functioning of the economy in the internal market, in order to be able to have more money.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I believe that we must eliminate the manipulation that we have seen today, in Parliament and in our countries. Having a national defence strategy and an integrated strategy at European level does not mean that we want war. We want to be able to defend our citizens in the European Union. Yes, Commissioner, I agree with you: cooperation, not fragmentation - and perhaps we need to increase that 65% of components made in the European Union. Perhaps the colleagues who have spoken out against this report are not in the situation of my country. You too, Commissioner, are close to the conflict in Ukraine. Every day, drones fly over Romania. We need to know, we need to have a way to defend ourselves, and we don't demand war. And here, maybe we reach peace, because there is more and more talk these days of peace, but that does not mean that we should not have a defense strategy, because yes, the main priority is to have the security of citizens from all points of view: and defense, and food.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, as I said in the last plenary, the Council had a lot on its agenda, but, Commissioner, we still have a few days to go and we are entering the cold season. I am concerned about what citizens are doing, what we are doing with the situation of those who in many places – and in my country, unfortunately – cannot pay for their energy and gas, cannot warm up, will live in the cold. What about big loans? How do we invest them so that we can reach the citizens, increase the income of the citizens? It will also increase confidence in our project, of the European Union, to increase the industrial power of the European Union, of the internal market. How do we use the money we borrowed (and the European Union is now at a high borrowing threshold)? What do we do with them? After all, of course, the housing problem is all related, but if now, on the brink of winter, we don't take some drastic measures to support citizens who can't pay for their electricity, their gas, they can't take medicines, then we can't talk about a single market. We cannot talk about a sustainable European Union project. Yes, we have a very difficult period ahead of us and we need to see what we do with the multiannual programme. We cannot destroy agriculture, we cannot fail to give the common agricultural policy the budget it needs.

Madam President, Commissioner, dear Minister, breast cancer, although science has advanced, is wreaking havoc and still a victim among women. And it was discussed here, we have access in some, not all, Member States to screening, but it's not enough. Think of rural women. What chance do they have of doing this analysis, which in some countries is commonplace, but then what chance do they have of getting proper treatment? You know, women in my country go either to Austria, or to Israel, or to Germany, to get treatment. If we do not have a budget and, of course, competence is shared here, the Member States and the Commission, but if we do not prioritise women’s health ‐ because it ultimately also relates to the population ‐ we know well what demographic problems we have. That is why, Commissioner, please include for the next period also support for Member States that have failed to have sufficient funds for access to medicines, for access to screening.

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.