Speeches

Mr President, thank you very much. Commissioner, I'm sorry. Ladies and Gentlemen, On June 30, a year passed since the adoption of the controversial National Security Law of the People's Republic of China in Hong Kong. Even then, in a resolution, the European Parliament pointed out that the new law violated the ‘one country, two systems’ principle, but also entailed the risk of restricting civil rights and freedoms. Unfortunately, our fears have come true. A year after the controversial law was passed, Hong Kong has changed beyond recognition. National security issues have become a pretext to justify the censorship, persecution and arrest of representatives of the democratic opposition and activists. The last bastion of free journalism has just collapsed. The last pro-democracy and independent Apple Daily newspaper was forced to close, and its founder and employees face much greater consequences than just losing their livelihood. The European Union should take a firm stand for the protection of human rights and democracy in its relations with China. We must call on China to release all those arrested on charges under the National Security Law, withdraw controversial legislation, respect the ‘one country, two systems’ principle, as well as freedom of expression, including independent journalism and the right to protest. We should also introduce targeted sanctions against those responsible for human rights violations. It is also very important to involve European diplomatic staff in Hong Kong itself, e.g. by observing trials and supporting activists.

Madam President, I'm sorry. Commissioner, I'm sorry. Ladies and Gentlemen, The prices of building materials have been showing continuous upward trends for a long time. In the case of Poland, the prices of wood, especially OSB, polystyrene, aluminium or drywall, have increased particularly drastically. With regard to wood prices, we are talking about 40% increases, and the prices of some materials have even doubled. This situation is the result of a number of factors, such as the imbalance of demand and supply on the market and the resulting shortages of building materials, as well as higher energy transport and labour costs. This situation has very negative consequences for both manufacturers of construction companies and developers, as well as consumers. With regard to entrepreneurs, this causes huge difficulties in planned production, delays and loss of predictability of production and costs, as well as the need for increases and a threat to the competitiveness of companies. Consumers, on the other hand, have to deal with significantly longer delivery times or lack of availability of selected materials and much higher costs of renovations, buying a house or flat. We must remember that the prices of building materials are over 50% of the cost of each residential property. Moreover, the increase in prices and significant delays will have a very negative impact on investments under cohesion policy or the Recovery Fund. I therefore consider it necessary to take action to counteract this situation, including an in-depth analysis by the European Commission of the reasons for such price increases and possible recommendations on the matter.

Mr President, thank you very much. The proposal for a new European Research Area promises to continue and strengthen many of the activities undertaken so far, e.g. in the field of mobility of researchers, scientific cooperation and access to infrastructure. Despite the progress already made, European science still faces some challenges. One of the most important is the need to eliminate disparities and gradually increase public funding for science. However, in order for Europe to compete in terms of research, it is also important to stimulate private sector investment. One of the incentives may be the announcement of a unitary patent, which is to be more transparent and affordable for entrepreneurs and thus may translate into an increase in their readiness to engage in research activities. I am also pleased that the Commission is planning to lead the development of joint technology action plans with industry. This will allow the strategy to be better tailored to its needs and faster implementation of research results in the economy.

Mr President, thank you very much. Mr. Commissioner, I'm sorry. The conflict in the Tigray region has had a brutal impact on the civilian population. According to reports by international human rights organisations, there have been mass murders of civilians, human rights violations, acts of violence against civilians, including rape. In addition, the conflict has led to the mass displacement of up to one million seven hundred thousand citizens of the Tigray region, a region completely cut off from communications, the internet and a huge humanitarian crisis. According to the UN, as many as 5.5 million people need food and as many as 10% of children are extremely malnourished. At the same time, the delivery of aid to the region is hampered not only by a lack of electricity, telecommunications and access to fuel, but also by road closures and the impossibility of transport. We must strongly call on the Ethiopian authorities to enable and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Tigray region and other areas in need of support. In addition, it is also very important to investigate all killings and human rights violations, including cases of excessive use of force against civilians.