What Alex spoke about.

4

Oct

2023

MT Speech

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Decent Housing for All (topical debate)

Mrs President, the property crisis is felt by everyone. There is no longer one European city where the rising cost of housing has not become one of the biggest headaches for people. Every day it has become a challenge for our citizens to pay their rents. Every day it has become a problem so that our young people can borrow from banks to buy their first property. Every day it has become a problem f…

4

Oct

2023

MT Speech

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Need for a speedy adoption of the asylum and migration package (debate)

Mr President, yesterday we marked the tenth anniversary of the Lampedusa tragedy. Ten years later we continued to see a tragedy in the Mediterranean waters. And I ask: what did we learn from all this? None. Many lucky words, many statements, many promises that have never been kept, many rhetoric from the Extreme Right that better instead of being lost in this rhetoric go to convince their heads of…

3

Oct

2023

MT Speech

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European Media Freedom Act (debate)

The media freedom act is a very important piece of legislation especially in the times we are living today where we are witnessing various practices around the world that are ultimately worrying when it comes to freedom of expression, even within the European Union. Media freedom guarantees people, our citizens, unrestrained access to information and is ultimately also a prerequisite for them to m…

14

Sep

2023

MT Speech

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Improving firefighters’ working conditions (debate)

Ms President, last Tuesday we had a very interesting discussion on the need to continue investing even after a number of heatwaves that we had on a European basis directly caused by climate change. And Civil Protection workers play a very important role also in this fact, especially in order to be at the forefront of saving the lives of people directly affected by these phenomena. And these phenom…

13

Sep

2023

MT Speech

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SME Relief Package (debate)

Mr President, I welcome first of all the help package presented by the European Commission. Small and medium-sized enterprises across Europe have been severely hit by the pandemic and also by the war of aggression against Ukraine. Before the pandemic these enterprises were already facing major challenges in order to innovate and thus be in a position to grow and be able to compete on international…

13

Sep

2023

MT Speech

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State of the Union (debate)

Ms President, Ms President of the Commission, is only with the courage and ambition that we can achieve in order to give full protection to our citizens in the digital world. We were brave when we moved forward, as you said well, the Digital Services Act, the European Digital Markets Act. We were brave when we approved the common European charger law a year ago. Some of us were at that time. Yeste…

12

Sep

2023

MT Speech

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Single market emergency instrument (debate)

Ms President, the Single Market Emergency Instrument is designed to help the European Union and Member States to better confront future crises and to also ensure the supply of essential goods and materials on the market during times of emergency. We all remember when during the pandemic, countries were caught on one foot, and had critical shortages of life-saving essential medical equipment. The p…

12

Sep

2023

MT Speech

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

Mr President, we cannot deny an obvious fact. The climate crisis is with us. During this summer we experienced extreme weather across Europe; from floods, extreme heatwaves and even fires. We had even Member States that faced heatwaves and even major floods within a few days. In Malta, the smallest Member State, we have assisted with record temperatures of around 43°C, which lasted for a number of…

13

Jul

2023

MT Speech

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Global Convergence on Generative AI (debate)

Mr President, the ChatGPT quickly gained popularity and reached today more than a hundred million users in a few months. Generative Artificial Intelligence systems and ChatGPT conversion have shown impressive results and potential for innovation and digital transformation. No one has any doubt about this. But in the process, ChatGPT also raised important questions about the fundamental rights of o…

12

Jul

2023

MT Speech

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State of the SME Union (debate)

The role of SMEs in Europe is crucial for economic growth, job creation and also for social cohesion. European SMEs have been hit very negatively by both the pandemic and the war of aggression against Ukraine. Even before these two challenges we are facing today, SMEs were already facing major challenges in order to remain competitive in innovation, growth and even competition on an international …

10

Jul

2023

MT Answer

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Industrial Emissions Directive - Industrial Emissions Portal - Deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure - Sustainable maritime fuels (FuelEU Maritime Initiative) - Energy efficiency (recast) (joint debate - Fit for 55 and Industrial Emissions)

I believe that, as I have already said, the balance struck both in the ITRE Committee, in the ENVI Committee, and in all the Committees, which have ultimately had an opinion on this legislation that is so important to finally find this balance, I think and believe that, on the one hand, we are seeing to strengthen environmental protection, the sustainability that is so important and so important. …

10

Jul

2023

MT Speech

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Industrial Emissions Directive - Industrial Emissions Portal - Deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure - Sustainable maritime fuels (FuelEU Maritime Initiative) - Energy efficiency (recast) (joint debate - Fit for 55 and Industrial Emissions)

First of all I would like to congratulate the rapporteur and also my colleagues on the work we have done on this important report which aims to guide European industries to reach the zero pollution ambition by 2050. I believe that the Industrial Emissions Directive has been and is crucial to reduce pollution and emissions from industrial sectors and bring environmental, climate and health benefits…

14

Jun

2023

MT Speech

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Make Europe the place to invest (debate)

Mr President, as long as Europe does not catch up with other key regions, in digital technologies, will be vulnerable in all sectors to growth and even competitiveness. Given all the crises and events, in the last few years, on our continent, we need, more than ever, a robust Europe that develops its digital capabilities and even autonomy. Both China and the US are currently investing heavily in a…

14

Jun

2023

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Preparation of the European Council meeting of 29-30 June 2023, in particular in the light of recent steps towards concluding the Migration Pact (debate)

Mr President, we have been calling for a fair solidarity mechanism for years: solidarity with those most in need, solidarity with our citizens and solidarity between Member States. After years of negotiations in the Council, it is disappointing that the agreement reached last week does not strike the right balance between responsibilities and solidarity. The agreement reached in the Council, will …

10

May

2023

MT Speech

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Fighting cyberbullying of young people across the EU (debate)

Mr President, children should live free from all forms of discrimination, from all forms of intimidation, feel different, choose to leave school early, feel, also have suicidal thoughts that can unfortunately lead to tragic situations such as that of Coco. These are just a few elements that young people feel, children when they are bullied. The consequence of violence and bullying, including onlin…

19

Apr

2023

MT Speech

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This is Europe - Debate with the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel (debate)

Mrs President, thank you Prime Minister who is with us today. For the European project to remain relevant, we must talk about people’s priorities. And one of the top priorities people are, and citizens are talking about, is the priority of strengthening the social field on a European basis, in a situation where we have very high inflation rates, high energy and food prices, rising unemployment, ri…

18

Apr

2023

MT Speech

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The need for European solidarity in saving lives in the Mediterranean, in particular in Italy (debate)

Mr. President, we need to move from words to facts. We have heard such speeches when we begin to see human tragedies occurring in our seas, in front of our eyes. When we see a lounge full of children, women, men, who lose their lives when they make such trips. And so solidarity is needed. Solidarity on a European basis that is no longer just beautiful, written in paper, in the Treaty - sanctified …

18

Apr

2023

MT Speech

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Guidelines for the 2024 budget - Section III (debate)

Risks are high for the 2024 Budget of the European Union. The current situation requires an unprecedented response from the European Union budget to reflect the realities around us and protect jobs, workers, young people, children, the elderly, and other vulnerable groups in the recovery of our economy. The next year's budget should match our political commitments on key programmes for youth, chil…

18

Apr

2023

MT Speech

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Adoption of the Cyber package proposals (debate)

Ms President, cybersecurity attacks have increased in terms of numbers, impact and even complexity. The face of the attack continues to grow with a new cyber threat and devastating effects on our economies, on the well-being of our citizens, on the well-being also of our businesses. New technologies and digital products and services are creating challenges for individuals and governments to meet t…

30

Mar

2023

MT Speech

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2022 Rule of Law Report - The rule of law situation in the European Union - Rule of law in Greece - Rule of law in Spain - Rule of law in Malta (debate)

Mr President, for the EPP, Malta has become the easiest excuse to divert attention from real issues of threat to the rule of law being perpetrated by popular governments across Europe. An average of three resolutions a year on Malta, repeating recycled facts and total misinformation, such as what we are experiencing today in this debate. Now, for our tribute, Malta is under attack, because accordi…

29

Mar

2023

MT Speech

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Order of business

The hypocrisy of the Popular Group lights up and brushes in this case. We have a situation where the EPP defends a situation where one Member of this Parliament, our colleague here, Nikos Androulakis, the leader of the PASOK, is spiked, his mobile phone is spiked. Imagine if it had happened in Malta, how many resolutions we would ask for. Then we come here with a call from the People's Group that …

16

Mar

2023

MT Speech

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European Citizens’ Initiative "Save bees and farmers! Towards a bee-friendly agriculture for a healthy environment" (debate)

Ms President, The European Citizens' Initiative is a very important tool for the participatory democracy of our citizens that helps them to have a central way in decision-making and the legislative process on a European basis. And this initiative on the protection of bees is a very important one. Also in the light of this initiative, I would like to highlight another problem that we may not have s…

15

Mar

2023

MT Speech

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

Mr President, having a job is not a guarantee against poverty, it is not a guarantee against social exclusion. In-work poverty is a problem affecting millions of workers in the European Union. Too many workers are facing situations of precariousness, job insecurity, low wages and exclusion from the most basic social protection. Digital innovation, demographic changes, the green transition continue…

15

Feb

2023

MT Speech

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Access to strategic critical raw materials (debate)

Ms President, the challenge of raw materials, the supply of raw materials, is a real one on a European basis. Europe has become too dependent on imports of raw materials from third countries; important raw materials to make the transition, green and digital. In the current geopolitical situation, all this is putting us in a situation of unacceptable strategic vulnerability. The pandemic and the wa…

15

Feb

2023

MT Speech

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

Ms President, it is very important to accelerate the Green Transition of our economies while ensuring that we maintain quality jobs in Europe. Although it is a step in the right direction, the Commission communication on the industrial strategy, needs far more concrete measures and far more ambition. If this is our response to the American Inflation Reduction Act, I would say that we are only tryi…