What Romana spoke about.

16 Sep

2026

SL Speech

State of the Union (debate)

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Madam President, honourable President of the European Commission, dear colleagues, when we talk about the future of Europe, we most often refer to competitiveness, economic growth, digitalisation, the green transition and, of course, our security. But too often we forget about the basis of everything, about demography. Demography is not only a question of how many Europeans we will be tomorrow, bu…

28 Apr

2026

SL Speech

Joint debate - Discharge 2024 (joint debate)

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Mr. President! Dear Chair, Colleagues. As rapporteur for the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, I have a clear message. European taxpayers' money must be spent transparently, economically and with the aim of improving the lives of Europeans. But I have two more points. First: I would like to highlight the cooperation between the Commission and the agencies. For years, in my discussions wi…

10 Mar

2026

SL Speech

Guidelines for the 2027 budget - Section III (debate)

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21 Oct

2025

SL Speech

General budget of the European Union for the financial year 2026 – all sections (debate)

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Madam President! Today, the European Union is facing challenges that are not only economic or environmental, but also social. In the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, we therefore call for further clear and decisive budgetary support for social policies that can meet people's real needs. Child poverty, youth unemployment, the housing crisis, in-work mental health, an ageing population, i…

6 May

2025

SL Speech

Discharge 2023 (joint debate)

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Mr President. As part of my work, I focused mainly on the discharge of the agencies that ensure the smooth functioning of the Employment and Social Affairs Committee. I am pleased that their transactions were generally legal and regular. I am also pleased that the agencies are working more and more closely together and are putting a lot of effort into reducing their costs and not disguising certai…

6 May

2025

SL Speech

A revamped long-term budget for the Union in a changing world (debate)

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Mr President. Today's reality is not the same as the one in which we will live in three years, let alone later. Therefore, we need to plan the use of funds with the utmost responsibility. European funds are intended to address disparities in development between regions. It is crucial that the money that taxpayers contribute to the European budget comes back to them. For years, there has been a sig…

31 Mar

2025

SL Speech

Need to ensure democratic pluralism, strengthen integrity, transparency and anti-corruption policies in the EU (debate)

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Madam President! Dear Commissioner. When it comes to democracy, integrity and transparency and the fight against corruption, I cannot ignore the Slovenian case. Dear colleagues! The Slovenian Parliament does not operate according to the principle of democracy, but uses its superiority to silence the opposition. The President gives reprimands. The coalition is simply taking away the word of the opp…

12 Mar

2025

SL Speech

Union of Skills: striving for more and better opportunities to study, train or work in the EU and to bring our talents back home (debate)

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Mr. President! Dear colleagues, Commissioner! In parallel with many problems, Europe faces one of the greatest challenges of its time, the preservation and development of its talents. Too many of our best people are looking for opportunities beyond our borders, which, of course, we are losing and losing those that are the basis of our economic and social development. If we want to remain globally …

11 Feb

2025

SL Answer

The need to address urgent labour shortages and ensure quality jobs in the health care sector (debate)

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Thank you very much for your question. Of course, this is a complex matter, but above all, I am afraid that here we are colliding with a rule that we have in the European Union. This is a rule of subsidiarity, where we, too, cannot influence European policies in the way we would like to see all the problems – let us say, in this particular case – solved in the health sector. If this were possible,…

11 Feb

2025

SL Speech

The need to address urgent labour shortages and ensure quality jobs in the health care sector (debate)

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Mr President. Dear Commissioner, dear colleagues! A serious crisis in the health system is not a novelty. The fact that more than one million health workers, doctors, nurses and midwives are missing in the European Union is also not new. We also know the reasons why this happened. There's demography in the back. Demography, which means the ageing of our population and greater needs in health care,…

22 Jan

2025

SL Speech

Addressing EU demographic challenges: towards the implementation of the 2023 Demography Toolbox (debate)

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Mr. President! Dear Commissioner Dubravka Šuica! Thank you very much for your presentation today. Thank you, of course, for all the work you have done so far in the field of demography in the previous term. Europe is experiencing a significant decline in birth rates, an increasingly ageing population and marked territorial imbalances. This deep demographic decline has important consequences for so…

19 Dec

2024

SL Speech

Need to update the European strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities (debate)

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Madam President, honourable Commissioner! Persons with various disabilities are an equal and equal part of society and it is right that they also get equal opportunities in society. Of course, I support the idea of updating the strategy for the rights of people with disabilities, particularly in the field of employment, but at the same time I would like to draw attention to two facts. Firstly, not…

18 Dec

2024

SL Speech

Need to ensure swift action and transparency on corruption allegations in the public sector to protect democratic integrity (debate)

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Mr President. In a society where corruption is taken for granted and where independent institutions that should prosecute it do not work, something is gravely wrong. We also have a lot of problems with corruption in Slovenia. We are reminded of this by the European Commission, as shown by the indexes on perceptions of corruption. We have a Prime Minister under investigation by the Anti-Money Laund…

27 Nov

2024

SL Speech

Presentation by the President-elect of the Commission of the College of Commissioners and its programme (debate)

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Madam President. Today we are deciding on a team that will take care of the welfare of the European Union in the coming years. What am I afraid of? I fear that, despite different forecasts and promises, the Commission would still impose new and new burdens on people, farmers and businesses. I am afraid of what the future of the European Union and the future of Ukraine will be if it is cared for by…

10 Apr

2024

SL Speech

Discharge 2022 (debate)

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Mr President. I am very pleased that the European Court of Justice has raised no objections to the legality and regularity of the financial statements in any of the agencies whose activities cover the work of the EMPL Committee. All agencies performed their mission in a quality manner and provided assistance and support to our work through their work, for which we are of course especially grateful…

12 Mar

2024

SL Speech

European Media Freedom Act (debate)

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Mr President. We should look forward to the Media Freedom Act. It aims to protect journalists, ban political interference in public service media and ensure transparency of ownership. However, I doubt that will be the case. Why? Commissioner Jourová, I do not trust you. Speak one thing, do the other. You demand transparency, but you yourself are very opaque. Since the far-left power has been in po…

8 Nov

2023

SL Speech

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

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Madam President! The actions of the Slovenian Government undermine the fundamental values of the European Union. After the political takeover of RTV, the same happens in other Slovenian institutions, which should be independent, but are not. A few days ago, the Prime Minister publicly said that the Slovenian police should be cleansed of Janshists. Clean it up. These are horrific announcements of p…

3 Oct

2023

SL Speech

European Media Freedom Act (debate)

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Madam President, Vice-President of the Commission, Mrs Jourová! In the new media legislation, you highlight in particular the safeguards for the independent functioning of public service media. You stipulate that the process of appointing executives must be transparent and that the administration's mandate must be inviolable from political interference until its regular expiry. Something has recen…

12 Sep

2023

SL Speech

Towards a more disaster-resilient EU - protecting people from extreme heatwaves, floods and forest fires (debate)

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Mr President. The unusual weather this summer caused a lot of damage in Europe and in the wider world. Extreme precipitation, high temperatures, fires, droughts, and heavy winds not only caused great damage to nature, but of course also took homes and, unfortunately, human lives. At such moments, we rely on one of Europe’s fundamental values – solidarity. To the feeling that we are not alone in an…

11 Jul

2023

SL Speech

2023 Annual Rule of law report (debate)

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Madam President. Dear Commissioner! When the Commission announced its annual reports on the rule of law, our expectations were indeed high. After four years, it is clear – you have not filled them in. You have completely missed the point in Slovenia. The rule of law is falling apart, and there has been a complete political takeover of the public broadcaster. And you're looking away. Your colleague…

31 May

2023

SL Speech

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

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Thank you very much. On 16 May this year, the Slovenian Government abolished the National Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Communism. It is an unprecedented and reprehensible act, a humiliation of innocent victims and a denial of basic civilizational norms. It is a mockery of European values and democracy. Slovenia has never adopted a European Parliament resolution on European conscience and …

14 Dec

2022

SL Speech

The Commission’s reports on the situation of journalists and the implications of the rule of law (debate)

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Madam President! Dear Sir/Madam, Independent journalists are also key to the functioning of the rule of law, and we must, of course, protect them. We owe it to you. But we will probably not find any government in the world to admit that it is trying to subjugate the media, and no journalist in the world will admit that it is a political activist. This is the case, at least in Slovenia. For example…

13 Dec

2022

SL Speech

This is Europe - Debate with the Prime Minister of Slovenia, Robert Golob (debate)

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Madam President, honourable Prime Minister Dr Robert Golob. I listened with interest to your speech, where you highlighted the energy crisis, the green transition and the enlargement of the European Union to the Balkans. I am pleased that you have suggestions on how to tackle all these challenges. I would be even more pleased if we had solutions for Slovenia, where the situation is really worrying…

13 Sep

2022

SL Speech

Adequate minimum wages in the European Union (debate)

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Dear President-in-Office, Commissioner. Those who work must receive a wage that enables them to live a decent life. This is clear, but not, unfortunately, as self-evidently as it seems. Wage ratios, as well as the relationship between remuneration and social transfers, are often completely incomprehensible. That is why, of course, I support the idea of a minimum wage at European level. However, gi…

4 May

2022

SL Speech

Discharge 2020 (debate)

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Dear President, Honourable. As part of my work in the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, I have focused on the discharge of agencies in the remit of this committee. These are EU OSHA, Eurofound, CEDEFOP and the ETF. As also noted by the Court, all transactions in 2020 were legal and the financial position of the agencies was fairly presented. The European institutions must carry out their…