What Maria spoke about.

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Written Statements RO

State of the Union (debate)

Madam President, Today you presented us with the state of the EU and the Commission's proposals for the future. Unfortunately, you have only presented dreams, not figures, not the impact on the lives of citizens. Trust in the EU and the EU project is falling precisely because of lack of transparency, poor communication, lack of fairness, fragmented internal market, social crisis, homeless young people and low-paid jobs. With such management, the European project is in danger. We are in our second term and farmers in Romania are further discriminated against, caught with lower subsidies than other countries, but you talked about cohesion and fairness. Do not destroy Europe through authoritarian and undemocratic management. Madam President, I call for real collaboration with the European Parliament to find the best measures for citizens.

21

May

2026

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Need for an adaptation of the EU legal framework on sustainable biofuels (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we need a new legal framework for the use of biofuels. We need an energy mix. We need technological neutrality. But, Commissioner, let us stop making mistakes. Climate targets must be set in such a way that we do not destroy industry. We cannot use biofuels, which actually support decarbonisation, in such a small percentage. There is no use of biomass, which could improve the energy mix. And we must also understand that if we do not approach the energy system in an integrated and balanced way, we will have a problem with deindustrialization and not with reindustrialization. Look what happened to the auto industry. So you have to think of a balanced system to get out of the energy crisis and no longer depend on imports from third countries. Otherwise, we won't be able to have what we've actually set out to do, which is: competitiveness, reindustrialisation, to get rid of dependence in all economic sectors.

21

May

2026

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European Citizens’ Initiative ‘Stop destroying videogames’ (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to stress first of all how important the citizens' initiative is, and I say this for the citizens of my country and of other countries who are not yet using this instrument. The citizens' initiative allows citizens to intervene, to propose regulation to us. If we are talking about today's regulation, about stopping the destruction of video games - of course, in my capacity as Vice-President for the Internal Market, I am thinking about consumer protection - but we must always have a balance. We have regulations: and the repair directive, and intellectual property law, and copyright. The problem is that, behold, this segment is not found in any of the legislative acts of which I say. And perhaps, Commissioner, we must respond, because otherwise we discourage citizens, if we do not come to the citizens' initiative with an answer. And yes, here we encompass creation, initiative, intelligence and we must, as we say, what is offline, be respected online as well. That is why I support this citizens' initiative and we must respond with a regulation.

20

May

2026

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Advancing towards a care society: addressing the gender care gap (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, let us look at the reality. Care services are not easy work. You have to take care of a child, an old man, a disabled person. It takes effort, but also dedication, a vocation. That is why I think the first thing we need to regulate is that these care services are really paid, not humiliating work. And yes, the figures show that 80% of the staff, the care workers, are women. Sure, maybe it's good to be women. They may be more sensitive, but we have to pay them. We have to provide them with a pension. There must then be no question of ‘what do these women, these care workers, do when they retire?’. They won't be able to live. And I think there's another problem. The gender gap needs to be treated rationally and we need to focus on the vocation and the right person in the right place. You should know that I have also seen men who do excellent care services, but they must be well-paid services.

20

May

2026

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Recent proposals to fight poverty in the EU (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I believe that we must be realistic. We now have a social package and a proposal from the Commissioner on the anti-poverty strategy. Let's see how we build. The Commissioner has a very important role, but also a very difficult role, in the Council of Commissioners. Because yes, I said it today, when we talked about the single market, if we don't put people at the centre, we will never have a single market, we will have a fragmentation, we will have injustices, we will have mistrust. So my proposal is (and I come from an Eastern country, the Commissioner knows very well and I assure you he is a sensitive man who knows people's problems): Let us fight together with the Commissioner, let us also have an allocated budget, as has been said here, because after all, we cannot take any action if we do not have a budget. And we don't have a budget if we don't have a developed economy. And we don't have a developed economy if we don't have protection for European industry. This chain needs to be put into operation together. And yes, I want the European Parliament to do, and my group, if you will, to write a letter to the President of the Commission, to take into account that this project for the social package is a necessity.

20

May

2026

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High time to deliver on the Single Market, providing certainty and predictability for EU businesses and quality jobs (continuation of debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, we have been talking about the single market for 30 years. We will have a single market when we understand, Commissioner, that the single market means people. Here, even today, the President of the Commission puts the social dimension on the last point. Without people with a standard of living who can support their families, we won't be able to compete. Stop putting competitiveness and social rights against each other. Then we will. We haven't heard a word about SMEs, we haven't heard a word about how to eliminate tax evasion, how to bring money to the budget. How can we have a single market, Commissioner, when people in my country, in other countries, have no jobs, are children in poverty? We want to be competitive. It is very good that we want to have industry, but we need to put the social dimension first. Without people, we can't be productive. Without healthy and well-trained people, we cannot have productivity and competitiveness. So put the social dimension, put people at the heart of the single market and we will indeed have a single market.

19

May

2026

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Presentation of the Fertilisers Action Plan (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the European fertiliser industry is very much affected by high energy prices and we have known it for a very long time. Because of this, many fertilizer productions in the European Union have closed, as is Azomures in my country. From November 2025 they closed the gates and left people home. The problem is keeping you in a state of uncertainty. We need to stop imports, yes, instead of encouraging imports and increasing fertiliser production in third countries, importing pollution as well, we better encourage domestic fertiliser production. Because in the end we have to treat fertiliser production as a critical European infrastructure. It also depends on food production and food security, but we cannot collapse fertiliser production in Romania and in the European Union. Commissioner, we need to amend the RED III Directive to remove hydrogen used to make ammonia for fertiliser production, because the conditions cannot be met. There are many reasons, I do not have time to tell them all, but the infrastructure, for example, dedicated to the transport of hydrogen, is non-existent and cannot happen transport. Electricity transmission infrastructure is not sized to meet the needs of up to 35% of green energy. So we need fertiliser production in the European Union for agriculture.

19

May

2026

Questions RO

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EU cybersecurity and preparedness in view of advanced AI systems (debate)

We are discussing advanced artificial intelligence systems in the European Union and how we can protect ourselves. There has been a lot of debate, a lot of vulnerability. After all, artificial intelligence must be based on a well-trained human resource, systems, collaborations, as has been said here. Do you think that if we apply the Artificial Intelligence Law from August, we can face these challenges? And then what are the steps that the Commission must take in order to be able to have resilience and construction in the European Union, not to depend on imports anymore, not to increase vulnerability through imports?

19

May

2026

Questions RO

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EU cybersecurity and preparedness in view of advanced AI systems (debate)

You have raised many issues related to artificial intelligence and protection cybersecurity. I ask you, the Commissioner said that, of course, it is not enough to have the technical part solved, we have to see how we fix the vulnerabilities. Do you think the application of the law since August 2026 - the artificial intelligence law - is good? We are ready, the whole internal market is ready, will we not be vulnerable? What should we do to stop depending on imports and build in Europe both the software and the hard drive we need to be able to really have a cyber defence?

18

May

2026

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Negative trade-related effects of global overcapacity on the Union steel market (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, steel must be protected and should not have been from today. The overcapacity of global steel production was known and we did not take timely action, but at least now let's try to end the dumping of steel imports. Hundreds of thousands of jobs were lost, tens of thousands of jobs. In my country, in Romania, thousands of jobs have been lost. The people in the steelworks had to go home. And why? Because we have a dumped import price, because we have exemptions to imports from Russia, because we do not use what other states use. And we must also pass, use, go on Made in EuropeKeep in mind that steel influences all other industries and all other costs. And a strong European industry cannot be without steel. That is why, Commissioner, we must take action, because it is only through statements that we cannot create jobs, that we cannot protect steel in Europe, and that is why I believe that this report is welcome and must be voted on.

30

Apr

2026

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Women’s entrepreneurship in rural and island areas and outermost regions (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, we are talking about female entrepreneurship. I know him very well, I run an association in my country for 29 years. Commissioner, there is some statistical data that clearly shows that women also have a lower percentage in employment, not only in agriculture, and in urban areas, but now we are talking about rural areas. It is not only in agriculture that women can develop businesses there, in gastronomy, in crafts, in crafts. The problem is that we do not have targeted policies and here it is not necessarily a matter of gender equality, but the fact that we have an unused resource. And I'll give you an example: The European Union had a very good programme in 2009 called "Embassadress to Women Entrepreneurs in Every Country", take it back. When I was a minister, I did a ‘Woman Entrepreneur’ programme that was budgeted for women. Women must have job security, pension security, income security for raising children, and we will certainly have a higher percentage then, because, paradoxically, we have more than 50% of women in most states, but we have a much lower degree of employment.

30

Apr

2026

Questions RO

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How to secure a sustainable future for the EU livestock sector in light of the need to ensure food security, farmers’ resilience and the challenges posed by animal diseases? (debate)

Dear colleague, I listened carefully to what you said. I'd like to ask you a few specific questions. Do you know a statistic, how much of the population of the European Union and the world eats meat and how many are vegetarians? That's a question. Second question: what do you think we would do in the European Union if mountain areas, pastures were not used? How many millions of jobs would we lose and how much would the European Union budget lose by not using the livestock sector?

30

Apr

2026

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How to secure a sustainable future for the EU livestock sector in light of the need to ensure food security, farmers’ resilience and the challenges posed by animal diseases? (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we are talking today about a sector that is much more than just a component of agriculture, and I am glad, Commissioner, that you understand. You have to take the next step: to impose within the Commission the measures that we, Parliament, see from left to right, are calling for. Let's not forget that livestock farming is second in global meat production, after China and ahead of the United States, but we will not be able to maintain this unless we have very clear policies. We have to recognize and be honest ‑ the sector is under significant pressure. We see a decline in numbers, a reduction in the number of farmers, a growing uncertainty for the future. Too many farmers are facing problems. We have animal diseases, we don't have a risk fund to give farmers money for animal loss when we don't have the vaccine. It's not their fault that we haven't been able to have a research and have a vaccine. Of course, this brings us to another key point: European Union producers produce at the highest cost and we need to take this care in trade agreements.

29

Apr

2026

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EU strategy in response to the ongoing Middle East crisis, its implications on energy prices and the availability of fertilizers (joint debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we are once again debating something important, but which we are not debating for the first time. I am sorry, Madam President of the Commission, I have been hearing it since 2019 saying what it should, but it does not say what it has done, because of the energy market in the European Union, of the single market, of organising and having a solidarity plan, of eliminating speculation in the field of energy, we are still discussing. Commissioner, I believe that we must take seriously what the Minister was saying here, namely, we must take clear measures to lower energy prices. We're addicted, but when did we create this addiction, when did we start the war in Iran? No, no, no, no, no Dependence has been for a long time. And then, of course, we won't have a miraculous solution. Let's see the measures! People are tired of hearing that they should. We have to do it! And I want to end by saying this: Mr. Weber's hypocrisy, which, behold, no longer stands here, is boundless. I mean he says about my country that the motion was signed by an extreme party, but he votes with the extreme right on all the proposals of our group related to the life of the citizens.

28

Apr

2026

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Interim report on the proposal for the multiannual financial framework for 2028-2034 (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, of course the new financial year is extremely important for the future of Europe and of course I, as a citizen and as responsible for the internal market, as Vice-President, would have liked this budget to be much clearer. First of all, to have a separate budget for agriculture, to have much more money and targets for small and medium-sized enterprises, to make them solid, sustainable, resilient and clear that it is very important how we allocate budgets for the housing crisis. The budget is not perfect, but I want to thank my colleagues who made corrections to the Commission's proposal and I hope that we can improve. And yes, I agree, let's also think about how we save, because we don't just think about how we spend. There are still reserves. We haven't recovered a lot of money from frauds, as they say here, digital tax, cryptocurrency tax. So we can make a budget that meets our needs.

27

Apr

2026

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I want to talk about the Waste Water Directive. We all know – we want a clean environment, we want clean water. But, Commissioner, from all the discussions we have had with the experts, it seems that the Commission has not carried out an impact assessment. The tax is unbalanced and all the weight falls on the drug industry. There are 52 factories in my country that can be closed as soon as possible if the directive is not revised. And why? As we all know, there is a price to pay for medicine. We cannot change the price of other products if there is an extra charge, if there is an extra cost. And we know well that generic medicines, 70% of them, treat the population. What will we do if we don't have medicines for the population? It is very simple to do this study with someone neutral, with specialists, to see how we can make this directive necessary for wastewater, necessary for the clean environment, not fall heavily on the pharmaceutical industry and the cosmetics industry. We have sent many letters, a motion for a resolution has been made, but if we continue like this, we will have a population that we will not be able to treat in the European Union.

27

Apr

2026

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Financial literacy and the rise of finfluencers in the context of the savings and investments union (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, once again, the Commission is holding an own-initiative report. Very good. You can't be free, you can't make decisions about how to spend your money, many or few, if you don't have a minimal financial culture. And it doesn't have to be done now, when we're adults or when we start a business, even after we finish college, it has to be done from school, maybe even from primary school. And we need something else, we need to understand, we need to understand, why is it good for children and adults to have this culture? Because of course, it has been said here, there are a lot of influencers, there are a lot of hackers, there are a lot of people who are cheating. There were homeless people, there were young people, who started a business, and they went bankrupt. So we need it, but we only have the power to make an own-initiative report. The decision is up to you and we are waiting for you to come up with a concrete proposal on how to make a European policy for financial literacy and for the growth of financial literacy.

27

Apr

2026

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Protection of the European Union’s financial interests – combating fraud – annual report 2024 (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, the protection of financial interests, we have debated this very often. I have been a member of the Committee on Budgetary Control for two mandates and I have discussed with all the institutions that we pay. Citizens pay them to protect the financial interests of the European Union. But does it protect them? Doesn't personal example matter? We have former Commissioners under investigation, we have Members of the European Parliament under investigation. I was the rapporteur on the discharge of the Commission's discharge report and I did not vote for it because the President refused. There is no transparency either in the Council or in the Commission. How do you think a system and mechanism to protect financial interests can be put in place? For what we borrow, it is very important that we also help to have control mechanisms. At the meeting with OLAF and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office we were told – we have no mechanism to control the money we give in Ukraine and elsewhere. So, Commissioner and colleagues, if we do not really control how money is spent, and the efficiency of investments is also very important – you can spend and get nothing.

27

Apr

2026

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Control of the financial activities of the European Investment Bank Group – annual report 2024 (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, Vice-President, of course the European Investment Bank, especially in this context, has a very important role to play. I am a member of the Committee on Budgetary Control and I have looked at this very often. I believe that investments must be well calculated, well targeted, calculated the risk, obviously, not to happen as was the case here, the example of Sweden, with the closure of a company after a lot of investment. Of course, you have that role. I think we need more transparency, but I also call for: I believe that there is a need for a better distribution of investment funds in all Member States. In my country, in Romania, we have an investment bank, but we do not have funds, as other Member States have and certainly aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises, especially because small and medium-sized enterprises now have the least capitalization power, have the least investment power, have the least innovation power and I believe that this is the place to be in the next period. And I conclude by asking: Of the 300 billion you said you had in the next 3 years, how many are for SMEs?

26

Mar

2026

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EU-US trade deal (joint debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the European Union's agreement with the United States, of course, is a necessity, but from my point of view, the agreement also means respect between partners. Raising taxes five times, from 3 to 15, wanting to impose for steel and aluminum 50% and believing that you respect your partner, seems absolutely unacceptable to me. That is why I am thinking what would have happened if the agreement had been signed and remained as conceived by the Commission. Commissioner, you cannot fail to take into account the conditions and the market of the European Union. Luckily, here we are, the Parliament, and that is why we need to strengthen the Parliament's position, we have imposed ourselves and we impose ourselves with very clear requirements. A trade agreement will work in the long term if there is respect and fairness between the two parties. And yes, I cannot help but say that the impact, if we had gone with these taxes, the impact on industry, especially the metals industry, would be disastrous. And that is why, Commissioner, I ask you to convey and respect Parliament's position!

25

Mar

2026

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Energy security, independence and supply in the geopolitical context - ensuring market stability and affordable energy for industry and citizens (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, we have learned today from the Council that there would be no danger, that we must not be afraid that there is no danger to energy security. Commissioner, let us be realistic. Yesterday I met with 11 branches of industry in Romania: cement industry, steel, metallurgy, fertilizer industry, construction, building materials. They all raised the question of the cost of energy. And before the war in Iran, we had three times the cost of energy in the European Union. We must end the dependencies, we must have a policy and indeed a plan of energy production in the European Union. Of course we must have ambitions, but I believe that ambitions must be linked to realistic goals. And it said Affordable Pricing Board. Commissioner, the affordable price is not the same in Luxembourg as Romania. In Romania we have pensions of 400 euros, we have salaries of 800 euros and cannot bear these high energy prices.

11

Mar

2026

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Package travel and linked travel arrangements: make the protection of travellers more effective and simplify and clarify certain aspects (debate)

11

Mar

2026

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Savings and Investments Union: time to accelerate the process to deepen market integration (debate)

11

Mar

2026

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EUCO and situation in the Middle East (joint debate)

10

Mar

2026

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Presentation of the Energy Package (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, it is good that we are discussing an energy package. In fact, we have been discussing for a very long time that we need an energy market, because - it has been said here - we have millions of European citizens living in energy poverty. In my country, in Romania, we have millions of citizens who cannot pay their bill. Why? First of all, in Europe we have the price higher than in the United States, in China. But in the countries of the east it is even more expensive than in the countries of the west, although the purchasing power is lower. And yes, it is also a speculation. We have raised this issue before in Parliament: how can we get rid of the speculation that certain suppliers are making? And we will not be able to have reasonable prices for citizens if we do not have energy production in the European Union. There are other methods, Commissioner - waste energy, biogas. We don't use all the ways to get cheaper energy. And I would like you to answer me: what should I say to the citizens when I return to my country? What concrete measure are you taking to ensure that the price of energy on the European Union market ... citizens benefit from equal prices and are able to pay their bills? Because the energy input also goes to the industrialists. Talk to the industrialists - the aluminum, steel, cement industries. Everyone is talking about the cost of energy.