Speeches

Mr President, biodiversity destruction and climate change are real challenges we face on a daily basis. The majority of biodiversity destruction is taking place in developing third countries and this is also having a direct impact on biodiversity in our Member States, especially when it comes to bird migration. It is therefore pointless that the European Commission only continues to restrict sustainable hunting and trapping practices in our Member States and then ignores the ongoing massacre in our neighbouring third countries. Eradicating biodiversity and ecosystems is also preventing us from progressing to meet the ambitious milestones of the SDGs. We therefore need to address the real cause of biodiversity destruction and redouble our work in these areas. First and foremost; increase funds and investments. There also needs to be a holistic plan on due diligence in the conservation and sustainable use of the rehabilitation resources of our ecosystems. And there should also be more adequate communication with local communities of the same third countries. If we lose biodiversity we will lose our important ally against climate change as well as the challenge of eradicating poverty once and for all.

Platforms for the Collaborative Economy today have become an integral part of our lives, posing new challenges – challenges to industrial relations, challenges to social security, challenges to a regulatory framework of our Member States. The precariousness faced by platform workers is a real challenge and with the COVID pandemic it continues to expose a number of vulnerabilities that these workers were already facing in the past: false self-employment, lack of working conditions, low or fragmented income, health and safety risks, insufficient social protection, unclear employment status. And therefore the Commission's pledge to introduce enforcement measures to ensure labour market integration and eliminate inequalities in the platform economy sector is a project that we have been waiting too long now. What is illegal on an offline basis should likewise be considered illegal on an online basis, which is a principle that I fully agree with. Workers in the digital sector should enjoy the same rights and treatment as other workers. Digital platforms should no longer profit from legal uncertainties in order to abuse the fundamental rights that every worker should enjoy.

At the risk of losing my flight today, I decided that it is more important to be here defending the rights and working conditions of workers working in the aviation sector, including Maltese national airline workers – Air Malta. The aviation sector also has a human face and this is the face of the workers who over the past months have had to pay the highest price for the pandemic – the highest price in the most historically difficult time in this sector. The negative impact of the pandemic further added to the pressures that were already felt very strongly in this sector due to competitive market forces. Although the Commission has helped the sector, little has been done to help workers. The Commission must take action today before tomorrow to protect workers in the aviation sector and ensure that their basic rights are always safeguarded. Commissioner, please, take action today before tomorrow because it may tomorrow be too late.