Speeches

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.

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.