What Agnes spoke about.

5

Jul

2022

EN Speech

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EU initiatives to address the rising cost of living, including the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights (debate)

Mr President, I think we should say that since the war in Ukraine energy prices and food prices are going through the roof and people struggle to make ends meet while Putin is cutting off gas supplies to entire countries and capitalists make profits by speculating on markets and thereby hurting millions of households. And like I said, people making ends meet are in trouble to make ends meet while …

5

Jul

2022

NL Speech

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Mental health in the digital world of work (debate)

President. Nine out of ten employees experience stress in the workplace. The mental health crisis is a silent killer that has been able to operate undisturbed in Europe for many years. And the pandemic has only worsened the situation. The line between work and private life has blurred, leading to more stress, more burnouts and more depression. I think we should say that we are in a health crisis, …

9

Jun

2022

EN Speech

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A new trade instrument to ban products made by forced labour (debate)

Mr President, you would have hoped that it would not be necessary to ban forced labour, and not only out of moral decency, but also because nearly every country in the world has ratified the ILO Forced—Labour Convention. But as everyone before me has already explained, a trade instrument to ban forced labour is urgently needed. Look at what’s happened in Qatar and look at what is happening in Chin…

18

May

2022

EN Speech

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Prosecution of the opposition and the detention of trade union leaders in Belarus (debate)

Madam President, dear Commissioner, it was only yesterday on 17 May that Maksim Poznyakov, vice-president of the Belarusian independent trade union, the BKDP, was arrested by the Belarusian state authorities – and he was only elected four days ago to replace the colleagues who were already in jail. I think we see a pattern here. Over the past few months, trade union leaders in Belarus have been ar…

4

May

2022

EN Speech

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The social and economic consequences for the EU of the Russian war in Ukraine - reinforcing the EU’s capacity to act (debate)

Mr President, colleagues. The title of the debate is ‘the social and economic consequences for the EU of the Russian war in Ukraine’ – and, of course, the consequences in Ukraine are huge. But I think we should also be clear that the war in Ukraine plunges us also into a new social economic crisis, and with skyrocketing energy prices, with deep—diving purchasing power and increasing inflation, I f…

5

Apr

2022

NL Speech

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EU Protection of children and young people fleeing the war against Ukraine (debate)

Mr President, Commissioners, in recent days there have been really horrific images from Ukraine. Where the Russian army was expelled, images of destroyed villages, cities and murdered Ukrainians, scattered through the streets, popped up. Nearly four million Ukrainians have fled the country and half of them are children. We cannot leave them out in the cold. They deserve more than good words. They …

10

Mar

2022

NL Speech

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The need for an ambitious EU Strategy for sustainable textiles (debate)

President, sustainable, green, conscious, recycled polyester ... When you walk through a clothing store, these terms appear more and more often on labels and posters. And if you then walk out of the store with your purchase in a recycled plastic bag, it almost feels like responsible. Almost, because those hundreds of certificates that claim to be green are actually almost always disappointing. It …

9

Mar

2022

EN Speech

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European Semester for economic policy coordination: annual sustainable growth survey 2022 – European Semester for economic policy coordination: employment and social aspects in the annual sustainable growth strategy survey 2022 (debate)

Madam President, not even a year ago, government leaders of Europe came together in Porto and made a solid declaration to make concrete steps towards a more social Europe. This promise must be reflected in the European Semester. We should not use the old recipes now that the war in the Ukraine plunges us in yet another social economic crisis. Not only the defence capacity, energy dependency or the…

16

Feb

2022

NL Speech

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One youth, one Europe (topical debate)

Mr President, the question is: ‘Do you want to be paid with a book voucher at the end of the month?’ The answer to that, of course, is that no one wants to. For work, you just have to get a salary. It is still too common for trainees to be employed as permanent employees without being rewarded or paid so little that ultimately only young people with money or with wealthy parents can put an interns…

19

Jan

2022

NL Speech

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Presentation of the programme of activities of the French Presidency (continuation of debate)

Mr President and President Macron, I am pleased that we agree on at least one important priority, and that is higher minimum wages across Europe. And that means, in my opinion, not non-committal recommendations, but real European rules of the game, so that all Europeans have an adequate wage to participate in decent shopping. You indicated that you have no time to waste and we therefore expect you…

25

Nov

2021

EN Speech

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Council positions at first reading (Rule 63)

Mr President, today we have this meaningful vote because we are voting on the mandate to start negotiations with the Council and the Commission on decent minimum wages and strengthening collective bargaining. I speak here today also on behalf of my co-rapporteur Dennis Radtke. The proposals of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) will improve the lives of millions of workers in Eu…

20

Oct

2021

NL Speech

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Preparation of the European Council meeting of 21-22 October 2021 (debate)

President. The European summit will be dominated by the ruling of the Polish court. And let me be cold and ready: Kaczyński and his friends must be hit where it hurts them the most. Therefore, the PvdA’s appeal to the Commission – which the Dutch Government will also bring to the Council: See if European funds can be withheld, but continue to support human rights organisations in Poland, for examp…

18

Oct

2021

NL Speech

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Protecting workers from asbestos (debate)

Mr President, exposure to asbestos is the number one cause of work-related cancers in Europe. Although asbestos is no longer produced and can no longer be used in Europe, the harmful substance is still present in many buildings. This puts millions of workers at risk. With the European Green Deal and the Renovation Wave, we will be greening millions of buildings, and that is good news. But we must …

18

Oct

2021

NL Speech

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Employment and social policies of the euro area 2021 (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, in Porto all those Heads of State came together and solemnly declared that they would work towards a more social Europe. They agreed on social targets and they agreed to talk to each other at the highest level about progress. It is high time to put these agreements into practice. If we want to get through the corona crisis and also make a fair climate transition where r…

6

Oct

2021

NL Speech

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The state of play on the submitted RRF recovery plans awaiting approval (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, I am pleased that almost all Member States are using the emergency money to absorb the shocks to the global pandemic. Almost all countries, because not the Netherlands, together with Bulgaria. We are the country where no national plan has yet been submitted. Our Prime Minister, Rutte, would rather say no to reforms and a good recovery plan than to take the corona crisis…

15

Sep

2021

NL Speech

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State of the Union (debate)

Mr President, President of the Commission, the eight budget hawks, including the Netherlands, are lurking. In your speech last year, you spoke about a balance between financial support to Member States and sustainable public investment. We therefore sincerely hope that green and social investment will escape excessive economy when designing new fiscal rules. This is necessary for the climate packa…

13

Sep

2021

NL Speech

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Fair working conditions, rights and social protection for platform workers - New forms of employment linked to digital development (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, as far as I am concerned, we are having a good day, because today in the Netherlands we have achieved an important victory for the protection of platform workers. The Amsterdam court ruled that Uber must hire its drivers as employees. Now we have to go ahead with regulations for all platforms such as Uber, Temper and Deliveroo, because they all roll out the same revenue…

8

Jul

2021

NL Speech

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Decent working and employment conditions in the aviation sector - Impact of the COVID-19 crisis on aviation (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, the aviation sector was already under high pressure before the coronavirus crisis and is now really jumping in. Price tuners seize their opportunity to compete against the old giants from the market, and this competition is at the expense of workers and at the expense of flight safety. Research shows that flight safety has long been compromised by unfair competition. Fo…

8

Jul

2021

EN Speech

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Labour rights in Bangladesh (debate)

Mr President, eight years ago, 1 134 people died in the Rana Plaza disaster, and still the labour laws of the country are not in line with ILO standards, nor have they really been improved until now. Research worldwide shows that Bangladesh is one of the worst countries to work in. Nevertheless, the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh is about to end without having any proper replacem…

5

Jul

2021

NL Speech

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Old continent growing older - possibilities and challenges related to ageing policy post 2020 (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ageing in Europe can cause problems. Provisions need to be adjusted, and to what extent this needs to be done varies by region. We need creative solutions. But let's be clear about one thing: Women are not an instrument of population politics, you can write that on your stomach. And the fact that the PiS party is driving this is really crazy. Not the church, not the sta…