Speeches

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?

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the Common Agricultural Policy after 2027 must first and foremost be a policy of fairness, of responsibility towards all European farmers. Thank you, Commissioner, for the discussions we have had and I hope that you will come to my country, to Romania, to talk directly with the farmers, because this is what the farmers want. I represent them today, not my ideas. First of all, there is unequal treatment, as I said. And these imbalances between areas, east, west, north, south, cause to decrease the confidence in the European project, to decrease not only the income of farmers, but also the cohesion in the European Union. I think, Commissioner, that it has been very clearly understood that a red line is to have a separate budget for the Common Agricultural Policy, to have budgets to support young farmers, because we have ageing generations, to have the support of small farmers with direct financial instruments, obviously, to decrease the bureaucracy as well. And I believe, Commissioner, that we need to build a strong, viable and united European agriculture. But for that we have to put the farmers at the centre, we have to listen to them. They know which solutions are best.

Mr President, Commissioner, trade negotiations between the European Union and the United States are vital, but we must admit that eight months have passed since the election of President Trump and we are not moving forward. You said, among other things, that "soon". You used this phrase: We'll have the text soon. Can you tell us more about this text? What will the negotiations ultimately be? Because producers in the European Union cannot stand still. From my country, we have export of wine, we have export of agricultural products. What am I doing? They don't have the courage to produce, to invest for that capacity. And then you talked about agreements with other states. I agree. You want to make a deal with India. Trade agreements can undermine industrial production. And I'll give you an example: ceramic tiles from Romania, Poland, France are now on the ground. This industry is down because ceramic tiles have come in from India at half price. Because India, we know, is the biggest polluter. They don't respect anything, they don't pay anything. So how do we not undermine European industry?

Mr President, Commissioner, trade negotiations between the European Union and the United States are vital, but we must admit that eight months have passed since the election of President Trump and we are not moving forward. You said, among other things, that "soon". You used this phrase: We'll have the text soon. Can you tell us more about this text? What will the negotiations ultimately be? Because producers in the European Union cannot stand still. From my country, we have export of wine, we have export of agricultural products. What am I doing? They don't have the courage to produce, to invest for that capacity. And then you talked about agreements with other states. I agree. You want to make a deal with India. Trade agreements can undermine industrial production. And I'll give you an example: ceramic tiles from Romania, Poland, France are now on the ground. This industry is down because ceramic tiles have come in from India at half price. Because India, we know, is the biggest polluter. They don't respect anything, they don't pay anything. So how do we not undermine European industry?

Madam President, Commissioner, President of the Council, I must say that I was pleased, Mr Costa, when you said that you make your decisions on the basis of facts, not perception. Unfortunately, when the President of the Commission came, she only put out empty words: “must, must, must”. And in the conclusions after seven months, you have no point on the social life of citizens. Mr President, without people who have a financial situation with which to live, we will not be able to do anything. No competitiveness, no defense. Nothing, absolutely nothing. And it is disastrous that at seven months we do not intend, when we see that Europe has children in poverty, it has generations of young people in poverty, who cannot take housing, demographically, we are very poor, to have social policies in order to have a strengthening of the European population, which yes, to do something else. How to make a sick and hungry man competitive? I come from production. My worker cannot produce unless he has something to eat. So it's disastrous. And I ask the Council and the Commissioner to put this situation on the agenda at the next meeting. The social situation in...

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, 50 years of relationship with China and, if we take stock, we find that we have lost much of what we could have had in these 50 years. But I learned from an investor in President Ursula von der Leyen's country that you can't kill the competition, you have to learn smartly how to overcome it. That is why I believe that at the summit we need to put very clear conditions. We must be able to defend ourselves. Yesterday we discussed about packages, 91% coming from China, up to 150 euros, billions of packages without product safety, unfair competition for SMEs. That is why, Commissioner, I think very clearly that we need the relationship with China, but we must do it on similar principles. If China gives 20% to locals in public auctions, why don't we put these conditions in public auctions with China? And yes, the important and security infrastructure must not be sold by any of the Member States of the European Union. That's the only way we can have it. We cannot be alone in the world. With the United States, we don't have a good relationship, with China, we don't have a good relationship, with Russia, we know why it's not good anymore.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, product safety and compliance with e-commerce regulations (we are talking about products imported from third countries) must be increased. The number frightened me. In 2024, imports doubled compared to 2023. Millions of packages up to 150 euros have reached the citizens. We do not know whether the products are safe or not, but in any case, they make a great deal of unfair competition to small and medium-sized enterprises. That is why I am glad that we have this report under discussion. I am glad that we will also have a new Customs Code (I am the rapporteur), I hope that from 2026, through the established European authority and through the national authorities, because here we have to work together. Member States have a great responsibility to have well-trained and fair workers, as well as regulations and verification possibilities. Let us not forget that the Regulation on the protection of geographical indications for craft and industrial products will also enter into force from 1 December 2025. But if we do not have the possibility to defend these geographical indications, we will have all sorts of products (99% are from China) that actually counterfeit industrial products, but also handicrafts from the European Union. So the responsibility is very great, and I hope, Commissioner, that we can bring this to an end.

Enlarging the European Union's space, in my view, is a necessity, and you have said it yourself. Do you think that before making the accession process of other states, we should reform and amend the Treaty related to the possibility of initiative of the European Parliament? I ask you: Should the current context, with the war in Ukraine, lead us to the conclusion that the Republic of Moldova is in the accession process separately and not taken together with Ukraine?

Dear colleague, I did not understand, you said that Mr. Sánchez came to power illegally. I knew he was elected by the law of amnesty. Can you explain to me how it can go illegal for giving an amnesty law? This is 1 and 2, related to European funds, you know better that you are in the budget committee, European funds are controlled, there is control. I am in the Committee on Budgetary Control, how can a prime minister, a president, be guilty, for example, if someone misuses European funds?

Mr President, dear High Representative, dear colleagues, the upcoming NATO summit must start with the idea of peace and security, increasing the security of citizens. We are elected here and we represent the interest of citizens, and if we were to ask a question in all Member States, I think that citizens put security first. Of course we need schools, education, health, but if we don't have security, we can't do the others. The High Representative, that amount of the SAFE project, 150 billion, must be allocated to the Member States to produce, to have their own industry, not to import from third countries, because that is how we create jobs and solve social problems and income problems for citizens. I think very much that we need to understand, to communicate to citizens why we need a defence industry. Because the danger is at the border. I live in a country that is at the border with the conflict and yes, we must also think about the Republic of Moldova, to see how we integrate it in order to be able to have the safety of the Eastern flank. I believe that unity and solidarity must exist. Commissioner, the European Union must have a very strong position in NATO. We cannot leave the citizens of the European Union alone.

You said in your intervention that it would be good to invest in hospitals, in schools, in society and not in the defence industry. I ask you, do you think that under war, under bombing, you can do education, you can do health, you can do wage growth? How can we, under the bombing, for example, as it is in Ukraine now, do what you say? Don't you think that first we must have peace, we must have peace, we must not have war, and then we must invest in what you say?

Mr President, Commissioner, I returned from the Republic of Moldova on Sunday, I am first vice-president of the delegation for the Republic of Moldova and I go there very frequently. I participated in extraordinary actions at the Academy of Sciences, Buiucani Medical Association. We have seen hearty people who want this European path and we need to support them. The Republic of Moldova certainly has a place here. However, I am concerned about the elections in September and I have found, by discussing, having dialogue with civil society, with professional associations, with smaller, pro-European parties, that these pro-Russian parties are being organized and we must support this and we will have a delegation in July. I recommend the Republic of Moldova, the pro-European party, Mrs. President, to have a dialogue with the small pro-European parties, such as the Ecologist Party, the Green Party, the Social Democratic Party, in order to create a strong coalition, to have a pro-European parliament in September. That's the only way things can go on. And yes, I want the pre-accession money to be included in the next financial year, Commissioner, the citizens there need that money.

Madam President, Commissioner, I believe that today's debates and the content of the report convince the Commission and I also hope that the Council will make this 18-month extension. You said yourself, we still have 68 goals to meet and more than half the amount to spend. These funds are necessary and we need to adapt, because new conditions have emerged, so I do not think that the Member States did not want to spend this money. But let us think that in the meantime, in some states there have been elections, a government has made this program of recovery, others must apply it. The conditions have changed and I think it is pertinent to have flexibility, to have this extension and obviously a control of the money, because I am also in the Committee on Budgetary Control and we asked to know those end users, that list of companies that spend and the objectives. And yes, conditions have changed and perhaps in some Member States some projects are no longer useful and need to think about other projects. So, persuade the Council to extend the deadline.