Speeches

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, of course, we are debating a very important issue, it is a pity that there are so few Members of the European Parliament in the Chamber. As stated here, as in the declaration of the Convention, the land is degraded annually. 70% of the land has been converted from its natural state. Droughts cause damage and costs and damage, more than 300 billion a year. Where does this damage and damage go? Obviously, to farmers and, ultimately, to citizens. In 2015-2019 alone, some 100 million hectares of healthy and productive land were degraded annually, clearly threatening the world's food security as well as water availability. What needs to be done, Commissioner? You told us what was at the Convention and that no important compromises were reached. I believe that the European Union must be especially concerned about what is happening in the European Union, certainly, and globally. I believe that we need to improve national and European policy instruments for a productive approach to drought management. We have a lot of work to do here. Budgets need to be allocated to finance land restoration, increasing drought resilience through research and innovation. The European Commission must have an action plan at European Union level to combat land degradation in collaboration with the Member States. And there is one more thing that needs to be done, Commissioner: The policies of the European Union, of the Commission, must not be canceled as in algebra - plus and minus - are thousands of hectares now, with photovoltaic parks, land that is not recovered for decades. We need to see how we relate energy policy to this land protection policy, and I very much believe that you need to think mainly about how not to put pressure on farmers in the European Union, on citizens in the European Union, as long as the rest of the world, the United States, Japan and the other states, have not voted in this Convention.

Madam President, I see that many of you have forgotten the title of the debate. I am a member of the Committee on Budgetary Control and I think that we should now be debating how to finance the LIFE programme transparently, and we have seen all sorts of debates here, forgetting the subject. No one is saying from here and I don't think that any MEP doesn't want there to be NGOs. Yes, I have set up NGOs in my country, but I want transparency. It cannot be that the Commission, which is an executive, is not subject to the scrutiny of the European Parliament. We want NGOs to exist, but we want them to be controlled exactly as an SME is controlled when it receives European funds. That's what you really want. I do not understand, as if you were biting on the hat some of you at the time when you spoke. We do not want to dismantle NGOs, but we want a transparent functioning and we are ultimately responsible for the management of European funds, and the executive must submit to parliamentary control.

Madam President, we have been debating migration for over 10 years. Unfortunately, we are looking at the effects and not the causes, and we are not looking at why every measure we have tried has not paid off. In the end, people die, either drowned or people who are attacked in the Member States. I think, Commissioner, that it turns out very well that it is harder to fix a wrong thing done than to do it right all over again, and then I think we need to find appropriate measures. On the one hand, to delineate illegal and legal migration and to catch the smugglers, the traffickers – who are doing what? I'm taking the money. Those people sell all the stuff they have there and pay for these smuggling rings. That's what we have to do. What Happens to Trafficking Networks? Why can't they be dismantled? Why can't the guides get caught? Because migrants are still dying, European citizens are also dying.

Madam President, Mr President, first of all, I would like to say good luck in the new term and thank you for being here to the end, because, as always, the President is speaking and leaving. This is not communication, this is not understanding. She has never been able to stay as president of the Commission until the end. Thank you very much for staying here. Mr President, you have said, among other things, that you want a solid peace for Ukraine and a peace chosen by Ukraine. How will you do this? Because I have a report here and I would like you to answer me; I have a report showing that 3.5 billion corporate taxes in Russia in 2023 were paid by US and European companies, including companies based in the G7 and the EU – 17 of the top 20 companies that have fuelled Russia’s budget. If we continue to feed Russia's budget, Russia will be strong and we will not be able to achieve that peace. Then you said you wanted a competitive industry and we agree, but tell me how we can make an industry competitive, when from last term we had a program for reindustrialization and, unfortunately, it sits on the shelf. This reindustrialization has not begun.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, today's debate shows that the DSA is not working. And it also means something: that it was not well understood, because we have seen a lot of speeches from the far right, which assumes that this regulation means not having the right to communication. But, dear colleagues, democracy does not mean chaos. Democracy means regulation, and democracy means having the right of all equals, and your right is up to that point until it violates the right of the other. That is why we need to have regulation, transparency and not have ... what would you say, dear colleagues, if your child committed suicide for some manipulations on these platforms? What if you were attacked in front of the house for virulence and unfair attacks on social networks? I believe, Commissioner, that we must explain why we need regulation in all Member States and also explain that everything that works in the European Union must also be respected by third countries, by those who are not in the European Union. We need this regulation!

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I think we are all glad that this agreement existed yesterday. I saw the faces of the three hostages – between them a Romanian woman, a 31-year-old fellow citizen of mine. It's very, very hard to imagine how these hostages lived. Of course, the loss of any life is to be condemned, but we must be fair and remember and not treat with double standards: just as we condemned Russia for attacking Ukraine, so we must not forget that Israel was attacked by Hamas. I believe that in order to have peace there we must all think, from the European Union, the United States, the United Nations: How can we get rid of Hamas and Hezbollah? Until they are eradicated, until there is no money to develop these organizations, there will be no peace and, of course, it is good to have two states, but let's see how we build the State of Palestine; be a democratic state with democratic institutions, not with Hamas and Hezbollah. Until then, we need to think about how to maintain the ceasefire.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, today's debate is extremely important. You said, Commissioner, about independent living for people with disabilities, we have 30% of the population of Europe. But how to have this independent living, when very often the income is simply humiliating? Sometimes they can't afford to take their medication, they can't afford to move around. Not to mention they can't afford to take a vacation. I think that this strategy that we have, Commissioner, and you are taking over a strategy, very concrete measures need to be set out. We need to talk about inclusion. We need to talk about hiring. If all state institutions in all Member States were to engage in work from home, for example, teleworking could greatly develop. Yes, I very much believe that for next year the first problem you have, Commissioner, is to make the infrastructure for the movement of persons with disabilities work in all Member States, to have access. I want to wish Merry Christmas to all people, especially those with disabilities, and to trust that we will fight for them.

Madam President, Commissioner, we are discussing the first meeting of the Council at which the newly elected Commission is presenting itself. Unfortunately, the President of the Commission has only spoken about geopolitical issues, which are certainly very important, but if we are talking about Europe's role in the world, we cannot help thinking about how Europe can play a more important role than through a strong economy. What do we do? We're on the verge of winter. People in my country are thinking about how they pay for their energy. How can Europe be strong in the world if we pay three times as much for energy as in the United States? How can Europe be strong in the world if we have big differences in innovation, in research compared to the United States, compared to China? So I would have liked to have discussed the economic situation at this Council. We had a reindustrialisation plan made by the outgoing Commission. I put it on the shelf. Nothing's going on. SMEs are suffering. What do we do with the economy? We are in winter, so I think that the economic situation and the situation of the citizens of the European Union should also have been discussed at this Council.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we have been debating a key issue for several hours. It is true that many did not look at the title of the debate and talked about something else entirely. Here we are talking, Commissioner, about the role of the committee under the Treaties, the role of guardian, of checking whether or not the rules are respected, because many MEPs from the far right would like it to be like this, a kind of chaos. I think we need to give them a book on the definition of democracy, on what the right to expression means. Free speech does not mean that it violates my right, saying something about me, violating my right to the image. It has also been said here that the rights of platforms are being restricted. No, there is a regulation and all platforms, not only TikTok, must comply with this regulation. We said here and voted: everything that is offline must also be online, everything that enters the internal market of the European Union from third countries, we have just celebrated 30 years, must comply with the standards and rules of the European Union. That is what this is about, colleagues, I am sorry that there have been misinformation made by MEPs and it is sad that we have arrived in 2024 as MEPs to misinform citizens. That's what I'm asking you, Commissioner, to look at, to apply the regulations.

Dear Madam, you used the word "seems" in your speech. This means that you do not know and do not know the situation in Romania. I ask you, would you get into a car without brakes and without a driver to go? Do you agree that platforms should operate without rules? You are in the European Parliament and there is a regulation for the functioning of the platforms. That's what this is about, not censorship. I want you to give me a concrete answer to what I asked you. OK, I'm trying to repeat, you used the word "seems", the word "seems". This means that you are not sure about what you are saying and you do not know the situation in Romania. I ask you, would you get into a car without a driver and without brakes? Do you think that democracy should not have rules, that platforms should not operate according to regulations that we have democratically voted here in the European Parliament? What censorship are you talking about? Give the definition of censorship.

Mr Lazarus, as a former journalist, you have just misinformed Parliament. First of all, the candidate you're talking about would have had more likeThey complied with the electoral law in Romania, namely that of labeling the political campaign. So we can't compare apples to pears. I ask you, can you say here, in front of Parliament, that someone might campaign with zero expenses? And can you say that there is evidence that the Internet users who promoted that candidate said they were paid? Why do you misinform Parliament? Answer these questions!

Mr President, I have chosen today to talk about human rights and why. In my city, today we celebrate 35 years since the Revolution. The first people died, after which thousands died within a week. Those people shouted in the street, their first word was ‘freedom’, freedom and respect for human rights. That is why I want to appeal to the European institutions, certainly also to the national ones, that the rights of the citizen, the human rights, should come first. Rights are not just about paper rights, they are about access to health, access to education. I want to pay tribute to the heroes. I was on the street those days. It's absolutely inconceivable to see people with their bare hands in front of bullets. We must respect these heroes. We must respect their descendants and in their memory, make European institutions and states put man, man and his rights at the centre. That is why, Commissioner, because you are here today, I am asking the European Commission to stop interfering in subsidiarity and for the European Parliament to think about regulating equidistantly and leaving no one behind.

Mr President, Commissioner, what our rapporteur has presented to us is an extremely serious and sensitive subject because yes, as has been said here in the conclusions, a lot of money can be lost. Either Europe needs money, Europe needs money in investments, and not only in economic investments, it needs money in social policies. We can't just leave it behind. We have our slogan ‘Let no one be left behind’. We have less developed areas, and then we must avoid losing some money through lawsuits in some totally non-transparent arbitrations, and I think that here we must make a joint effort ‐ the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission ‐ in the discussion with the Member States, precisely to avoid losses in the future on these non-transparent lawsuits. We are talking here about transparency, we are talking here about the fact that we need to know everything that happens in a legal process, we are talking about human rights, we are talking about the rights of companies, we are talking about the rights of the European institutions and of the Member States. That is why I believe, and I appeal to you, that we must make a joint effort - the Commission, the Council and Parliament - to avoid economic losses.

Mr President, Commissioner, I hope that this committee, I hope that you will do more in terms of practical implementation. It's very good that you started with this extremely important document, innovation, research, inventions. The problem is how we apply them, because if we do not go down the value chain to do research, applied innovation, if we do not simplify, simplify the life of SMEs, because it is not only large companies that must benefit from innovation and research. Small and medium-sized enterprises are flexible, but they must also be able to access capital, but above all to put the result of research, the result of innovation, on the market. That is why I very much believe that we need to change in order to have a good piece of legislation in the field of innovation, we need to change a lot of other things. Bureaucracy has been talked about here, access to capital, access to public procurement and yes, to have a unitary innovation system in the European Union, precisely in order to be able to have a strong Europe in terms of added value and innovative products.

Madam President, I think that the sceptics who say that we should not apply this programme, on the contrary, I think that it must be accelerated procedure, have not been to see in the states where people have died, have lost their homes, have lost their small businesses too many entrepreneurs. In my country, in Romania, I was on the spot, in Spain we all saw. So, Commissioner and fellow Members, tomorrow we must vote in an accelerated procedure to get this money as quickly as possible to those who have suffered these natural disasters. Of course we need more money. Of course, the European Social Fund is insufficient. We need to think next year and in the years to come about how we are getting more money, but for now we need to help these people. I have received countless letters, there are small and medium-sized enterprises that have been shattered, their business and they have also lost the guarantees they had at the bank. So we must apply this programme, and for that I believe that the Member States must also put their shoulders to the European money that we are giving. But yes, now we need to act urgently.

Madam President, I too begin by congratulating you, Mrs Ombudsman, on your ten years of work, and you have remained and remain a benchmark for courage, a great deal of tenacity and commitment in your analysis and in the work that you have done. But I want to address the Commissioner. Commissioner, you have noticed that everyone has praised the Ombudsman and criticised the Commission. You were a critic of the Commission for its lack of transparency. I hope, Commissioner, that you will convey to the President of the Commission and support the new Ombudsman at last, that she understands that both the Ombudsman and Parliament have the right, but also the obligation, to ask the Commission for explanations when it shows a lack of transparency. It is very important that we also strengthen the European Ombudsman's link with the Member States' ombudsman. You are an example, and perhaps this report of your work should reach all the ombudsmen in the 27 states, because we need a closer link. Citizens need to have a better knowledge of the Ombudsman's work and to be able to appeal because, in the end, democratically, we need this mediator.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, of course, we debate children's rights every year. We are now celebrating the 35th anniversary of the UN resolution, but we are not discussing what Member States are doing in terms of institutionalising children. I have concrete examples, I have petitioned, I have written letters, mothers have written letters. We have the example of Camelia Smicala in Finland, who after 5 years recovered her children, children snatched by masked people, dragged in front of their mother. We now have the case of Mihaela Seidler, in Germany, where the little girl was taken directly from school, a 7-year-old girl, and the mother was later notified that her little girl was taken away. I don't think an institution can love more than a mother. Commissioner, we must have common rules on the institutionalisation of children. Immediately the Commission washes its hands, a petition does not fall within our competence, but the rule of law does not include this, respect for the rights of the child? That is why I ask you and I ask the new Commission to have equal rules so that children are no longer torn from their mothers' arms, and after 5 years, marked by what happened to them, only then do they return to their mothers.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I believe that nothing is more important than protecting minors, the next generation. However, Commissioner, it is not through conferences that we are solving this problem. Do we have a strategy? I repeat, to listen, not through conferences, Commissioner, we are solving this problem. Do we have a harmonised strategy in the European Union for the destruction of criminal networks? This should be the first measure, that there is no longer an offer in the European Union market, that there is no longer anyone to attract these minors. Then, a strategy to have equally high harmonised penalties in all Member States. I'm running from one state to another. Punishments... sure, justice is a national competence, but they find refuge in a country where punishments are less. Education in schools, targeted education in schools, not conferences. Who comes to conferences? Are the criminals coming, are the children coming? Are the minors coming? So if we don't do this strategy, we will always make conferences, we will always make debates and the number of children attacked by these groups will increase.

Madam President, President von der Leyen, you have a new team. I want to wish everyone good luck. I know many of them. Best of all, obviously, Roxana Mînzatu and I want you to trust her, she is a very well-trained person. Madam President, please do not repeat the mistakes of last term. Read more about the Parliament. You said here that the single market is the asset and yet we do not have the single market, the internal market, in the name of a portfolio. I recently celebrated 30 years. If this is the cornerstone of the European Union, I think we should have had a portfolio with this name. I also want to tell you about your failure: five years you have not managed to stop the internal market being fragmented, to have Romania and Bulgaria in Schengen and maybe you can succeed now, in this new mandate. You have well-trained Commissioners, you just need to implement. You're a conductor. The orchestra plays well if the conductor gives the signal. That's why I'm asking you, Commissioner, to say, as you said... (The Chair withdrew the floor of the speaker)

Madam President, Commissioner, it is very good that you have informed us about the outcome of the G20 summit, and it is very good that we have discussed a topic that we also frequently discuss here - how to combat poverty? Because, yes, globally there are populations in poverty, but also in us, in the European Union, we have from children in poverty to adults, elderly people. It's good that an agreement has been reached, but when do we apply it? About this taxation, which is controversial, some say that we must not tax wealth, others say ‘Yes, we must tax it’. I think we need social justice. I believe that we must also see how these riches are made, because very often wealth accumulates through evasion, through non-compliance with the rules and that is why we must find solutions. And you said, Commissioner, that the European Union is the biggest contributor. If it is the biggest contributor, then it must also impose some rules in the global market, in the global world, in the global economy.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, of course we are debating, it is an important day, the International Day for Combating Violence against Women. But are we progressing? Every year, we look at this. There are many non-governmental organizations in the country, in all states, that analyze, but are we progressing? We need not only statistics, but also measures. And here, I'm going to say three concrete ones. We must go hand in hand with uniform education to combat violence from schools in all Member States, because yes, we have freedom of movement. We must go with dedicated money for shelters, because women who suffer domestic violence have nowhere to go, at least in the newer Member States in the European Union, in the East, we do not have enough shelters and we leave them there in vain. That's why they don't even have the courage to say it. And of course we still have a problem with the level of punishment. The punishment is very small, he stays a month or two, he leaves. Women, they're exposed further. Yes, Commissioner, I would like by next year to have a statistic of what has happened to the measures we have taken to combat violence.

Madam President, Commissioner, we are not discussing a new subject. For a very long time we have noticed that we have skills gaps in the European Union. The problem is, Commissioner, if you find the right methods, if they apply. We have many programs: retraining, skills programmes, adjustment mechanisms, but what is the result? We see that we are failing to close this competence gap. Why? Education must be superimposed on the demands of the economy. We now have a reindustrialization strategy. What skills do we need? We don't just need diplomas, we need qualified personnel. SMEs – 4 out of 5 – cannot find qualified people. Other companies don't have the courage to invest either because they don't have qualified personnel. That is why, Commissioner, I hope that the new Commission will think when it invests whether it also has an investment result, namely to close this gap in competences within the European Union and between the Member States, but also in relation to the global market.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I believe that, more than ever, we now need to fight against the centralisation of funds. We have a slogan, Commissioner: Let no one be left behind. And we want to think about everything now. (A few words you can't hear) That we have problems in smaller towns, but also in communes. Obviously we have problems, but let's think about models of targeted, direct financing, on health, on schools, on transport in that locality and, why not, on crafts, on the development of rural tourism. We have the possibility to finance directly, but for this we have to think about how to make these financings, how to help local administrations, which do not have the same administrative capacity as big cities or big capitals, but we have to go to finance directly, because otherwise rural areas, especially, are depopulated. Areas, small towns will not have and citizens do not have the same chance and it is unfair because this is the slogan of the European Union: Let no one be left behind.