What Agnes spoke about.

31 May

2023

EN Speech

Strengthening social dialogue (debate)

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Mr President, the eight-hour workday, holiday allowances, the weekends: we all owe a big thanks to trade unions for these rights. We have to stand up for workers’ rights to organise or the freedom to collective bargaining, as they are under attack. Even though we guaranteed the fundamental workers’ rights in the directive on adequate minimum wages, the right-wing forces in this House still try to …

31 May

2023

EN Speech

10 year anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh (statement by the President)

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Madam President, dear colleagues, since 24 April 2013, we have held a speech here every year to ask attention for the Rana Plaza disaster. Every year we commemorate this disaster and we remember the more than 1 100 deaths and the 2 000 people injured. And every year we say ‘no more yet’ and ‘this no more’. The media are covering the topic. They are writing articles. They are showing that there has…

10 May

2023

NL Speech

Impact of the interest rate increase decided by the ECB on households and workers (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, Minister, let me be the first to congratulate the employees of a certain Dutch large supermarket. And yes, it is the parent company whose employees in Belgium protest against closures. But these people, working at Ahold, have proven once again this week: The strike helps. Everywhere in Europe you hear about large-scale strikes in hospitals, public transport and employee…

10 May

2023

NL Speech

Roadmap on a Social Europe: two years after Porto (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, Minister, a decent minimum wage with which you can fill a well-stocked shopping basket, or parental leave so that both parents have the opportunity to spend time with their children, or as an employee do not have to work between carcinogens: That all sounds very logical. It all sounds very obvious, but that was not the case at all not so long ago. There are people in th…

9 May

2023

EN Speech

Revision of the Stability and Growth Pact (debate)

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Mr President, dear Commissioner, dear Minister, we have to avoid making the same mistakes as in the past. Austerity, an old-school, outdated, neoliberal narrative on economic governance is not what we need. The current proposed reform will not provide the necessary leeway for increasing public investment and enhancing social policies. We need an exclusion of the investment in social protection sys…

15 Mar

2023

EN Speech

More Europe, more jobs: we are building the competitive economy of tomorrow for the benefit of all (topical debate)

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Mr President, Renew wants to have more Europe and more jobs. But we want well-paid quality jobs. Renew and the EPP and even the Swedish Presidency pretend to create jobs only by focusing on competitiveness. And it seems to be the new buzzword. They combine this with a focus on the green and the digital transition, and at the same time, some Member States are pushing to have these investments exclu…

14 Mar

2023

NL Speech

Adequate minimum income ensuring active inclusion (debate)

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Mr President, the prices of groceries have also risen for the elderly with a small pension. The rent has also increased for the disabled. And also for the people with welfare benefits, the energy bill can no longer be paid. Payment problems are on the rise across Europe. And poverty rates are skyrocketing, along with rising prices. Minimum incomes are therefore no longer sufficient to pay the bill…

14 Mar

2023

EN Speech

European Semester for economic policy coordination 2023 - European Semester for economic policy coordination: Employment and social priorities for 2023 (debate)

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Madam President, over the last few months I feel like I have been visited by the ghost of Christmas past. But of course, this ghost is not about Christmas. It’s about the ghost of the 2008 financial crisis. Talking about a danger of higher wages in time of inflation. And I think it’s high time to say good-bye to this old school, outdated neoliberal narrative. It’s the profits, not the wages that a…

15 Feb

2023

EN Speech

A Green Deal Industrial Plan for the Net-Zero Age (continuation of debate)

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Mr President, I think we can say it has been years since we were able to look at the United States for inspiration. But Biden did it. His plans guarantee good paying union jobs. And we as the EU should not lower the bar. It would be a missed opportunity if we didn't invest in quality jobs now. And therefore, I must say, I was a little bit disappointed that the Commission didn't take the lead on th…

18 Jan

2023

NL Speech

Revelations of Uber lobbying practices in the EU (debate)

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Mr President, and for information to the translators: I'm going to confuse Dutch and English –, ‘We’ve weaponised our drivers, we’ve weaponised our customers. All that was needed to get governments out of the way. Our driving mantra was: do whatever it takes.’ The testimony of Uber whistleblower and ex-lobbyist Mark MacGann in the Social Affairs Committee in October exposed how Uber was trying to …

18 Jan

2023

NL Speech

An EU strategy to boost industrial competitiveness, trade and quality jobs (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, Minister, Brussels is spawning billions of dollars in support for businesses. Businesses and people have been struggling since the invasion of Ukraine and since the energy crisis. And there will also be an American mega support package. European support must ensure that our companies take the lead. That's important. In fact, that's essential. Because without help, our e…

14 Dec

2022

NL Speech

Tackle the cost of living crisis: increase pay, tax profits, stop speculation (topical debate)

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Mr President, people get the costs for choosing more expensive groceries, for higher energy bills and for considerably higher rents. This is a real purchasing power crisis. Not only have wages lagged behind rising productivity for years, but inflation has not been tracked for years. That really has to be different. The minimum wage should be raised faster. I would like the Commission to call on th…

13 Dec

2022

NL Speech

Suspicions of corruption from Qatar and the broader need for transparency and accountability in the European institutions (debate) (debate)

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Mr President, it does indeed look like a surreal Netflix movie, but it is waking up to a harsh reality. Colleagues in our Parliament and among NGOs have engaged in corruption. In our worst dreams, we couldn't have imagined that. Confidence in European democracy has been eroded and there is only one answer. We can only condemn this harshly. There is no room for corruption here. Not now and never no…

13 Dec

2022

EN Speech

A need for a dedicated budget to turn the Child Guarantee into reality - an urgency in times of energy and food crisis (debate)

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Mr President, dear Commissioner, dear Minister, one out of four children in the EU is at risk of poverty or social exclusion. And this means children going to school without a breakfast, lacking proper health care or even a safe roof above their heads, which also leads to much stress, often not performing very well at school. And there we are missing opportunities for these children and facing lif…

22 Nov

2022

EN Speech

Question Time (Commission) - Future legislative reform of the Economic Governance Framework in times of social and economic crisis

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I think we cannot underestimate the social consequences of the present economic crisis. So I will solely focus on how do these rules help us in this social crisis. And I would like to start by reading from the European Pillar of Social Rights, Pillar 20, which says ‘everyone has the right to access of essential services of good quality, including water, sanitation, energy, transport, financial ser…

19 Oct

2022

NL Speech

Preparation of the European Council meeting of 20-21 October 2022 (debate)

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Mr President, it was nothing unexpected, but I was disappointed in the Commission's new work programme. Social legislation is clearly not a priority, while we are in the worst socio-economic crisis of all time. Now I can blame the Commission for that, but you and I both know, of course, that the Council is the biggest thwarter when it comes to social legislation. For example, a temporary part-time…

18 Oct

2022

NL Speech

Keep the bills down: social and economic consequences of the war in Ukraine and the introduction of a windfall tax (debate)

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Mr President, the verb is ‘live’ and not ‘survive’, while survival is the reality for more and more people. More and more people at the beginning of the month do not know how to pay their rent, their bills or their groceries at the end of the month. The current crisis shows the fragility of our essential services. Energy prices are exposed to the power of the market and to the whims of autocrats. …

17 Oct

2022

NL Speech

Guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, today's labour market is no longer the labour market of two years ago. A lot has changed. The COVID crisis has accelerated digitalisation and the Russian invasion of Ukraine is putting enormous pressure on workers and businesses today. This situation requires action. Europe must support workers in need and ensure decent working conditions that better reflect the realiti…

17 Oct

2022

NL Speech

International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (debate)

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Mr President, children faint in class because they go to school without breakfast. While energy companies make mega-profits, people turn off the heating at home. It's been said before. In Porto last year, the Heads of Government made binding commitments to combat poverty. While we agreed there that poverty should be reduced, we now see that the figures are rising again. The current energy crisis s…

5 Oct

2022

NL Speech

The Dutch childcare benefit scandal, institutional racism and algorithms (debate)

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Mr President, families torn apart and children removed from their homes. There are more than 25 000 victims and the counter is still running up. "We didn't mean it that way" is called a book about the surcharge scandal, but in fact everything shows that this was exactly what was intended. While we know that the rule of law is there to protect the weak, not to fuel mistrust. We believe that there s…

3 Oct

2022

EN Speech

Order of business

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Madam President, I think it should be said that thousands of lives were ruined by the Dutch tax authorities due to institutional racism, known as the ‘child care benefit scandal’. And not even all victims have been accounted for. But at the moment, they estimate that 26,  people were hurt and families were destroyed. And it took years to uncover the truth. And now the EPP, with their friends on th…

14 Sep

2022

NL Speech

State of the Union (debate)

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(NL) Mr President, knowing at the beginning of the month that you are not financially viable – and that is a reality for many Europeans – eats uncertainty on people. The Dutch government lacks the urgency to really tackle the purchasing power crisis. They say: ‘Governing is foresight’, but at Rutte IV we are actually bumping backwards. And in these times we can't use that, because I think the fair…

13 Sep

2022

NL Speech

EU response to the increase in energy prices in Europe (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, it is time for us to act. More and more people are coming to the lips. If we want to prevent thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people from falling through the poverty line because of the high energy bill, we must now take control of the energy market. Put a limit on the energy bill for ordinary households, because heating a house is not an unnecessa…

13 Sep

2022

NL Speech

Adequate minimum wages in the European Union (debate)

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Mr President, colleagues have already said that Dennis and I had such a great cooperation. That now leads him to ask me if I would also like to speak on his behalf, because he is in another meeting, on the equally important platform directive. I would like to do that, because earlier people have also said that we are going to vote on this directive tomorrow because we have shown teamwork here. I w…

13 Sep

2022

NL Speech

Adequate minimum wages in the European Union (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, for an increasing number of people, work is not a way out of poverty. If the energy bill consumes a third of your salary, if the rent is increasingly pressing on your shoulders and if you are not sure if you can still do your shopping at the end of the month, then it is ready. I think we can say that our law on fair minimum wages in Europe does not come a moment too ear…