What Monica spoke about.

27

Feb

2024

EN Speech

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Rising inequalities in the world (debate)

Mr President, do inequalities exist in the richest country in the EU, in Luxembourg? Yes, they do, unfortunately. It has a poverty rate of 17.4% and although my country has the highest minimum wage in the EU, 13% of the population earning that minimum wage are living at the risk of poverty. Most inequalities start with what is not your choice: the family you are born in, whether it has a migrant b…

26

Feb

2024

EN Speech

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Need to overcome the Council deadlock on the platform workers directive (debate)

Mr President, the latest provisional agreement looks quite different from the initial Commission proposal. But the question is, will this directive improve the status quo of platform workers? Yes. It will establish the principle of a rebuttable presumption of employment and reversal of the burden of proof, and it will see common EU rules on algorithmic systems in the workplace for the first time. …

8

Feb

2024

EN Speech

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Working conditions of teachers in the EU (debate)

Mr President, dear Commissioner, you stated that many teachers have difficulties transferring basic knowledge. In my experience, some teachers do more than transferring basic knowledge. In my third grade, I had a teacher who made me write essays all the time. I found it a bit annoying back then, but nowadays I am thankful to Mrs Cook because I became a journalist before becoming a politician. And …

6

Feb

2024

EN Speech

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Quality traineeships in the EU (debate)

Mr President, dear Commissioner, as rapporteur on the European Parliament’s initiative report on quality traineeships, I appreciate your speech and the words which are quite in line with Parliament’s position, which was a longstanding demand of European youth. We called for fair remuneration to prevent abuse by limiting the duration of traineeships to six months, for example, because we think that…

17

Jan

2024

EN Speech

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Quality jobs in a competitive future-oriented social market economy (topical debate)

Mr President, today we discuss quality jobs that should boost Europe’s future economy. But therefore we need a skilled workforce, which we are currently lacking, and to get this skilled workforce we firstly must guarantee a quality education that is accessible and inclusive for all, meaning the less privileged and marginalised groups too. Secondly, we need a legal basis for traineeships that best …

23

Nov

2023

EN Speech

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International day for the elimination of violence against women (debate)

Mr President, home should be where one feels and is safe, but for many women it is a place of fear and insecurity. They are afraid for their lives and the lives of their children. Domestic violence is not always visible and victims are often afraid to speak out, to seek help, and they are afraid of the consequences if, finally, they would manage to escape. On the day for the Elimination of Violenc…

12

Dec

2022

EN Speech

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Towards equal rights for persons with disabilities (debate)

Madam President, one-and-a-half years ago, I suddenly became impaired. I have a rare disease, and today I only see 25%, even with glasses, which is sometimes disturbing. But I know that many others have greater struggles. Many others are in a worse situation than me. They face discrimination in their everyday lives: half of the people with disabilities are unemployed; nearly 30% are at risk of pov…

24

Nov

2022

EN Speech

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The European Year of Youth 2022 Legacy (debate)

Madam President, 2022 is the Year of European Youth, the year of a generation that went through so many crises recently. I expected the Commission to be more ambitious, to reach those who are less interested in politics. We, as Renew, organised Renew4Youth – an event that brought together 145 European students, young European students who had fruitful exchanges. They came from the EU but also beyo…

13

Sep

2022

EN Speech

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Adequate minimum wages in the European Union (debate)

Madam President, my mother worked as a cleaning person all her life. In Luxembourg she earned the minimum wage, which was good, but food, healthcare, schoolbooks, clothes – it was very difficult to make ends meet. And this is what we tried to fix with this directive on the adequacy of minimum wages in the EU. Because EU citizens that wake up each morning, go to work, contribute to society, should …

7

Mar

2022

EN Speech

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Role of culture, education, media and sport in the fight against racism (debate)

Mr President, in my high school there were three black students out of more than 1 500. I was the first black TV host in Luxembourg, but not many were following, unfortunately. Once a boyfriend’s mother told me ‘many black people are criminals, but you are different’. No, I am not different. I am not an exception. There are many like me, and they deserve to have a fair chance to succeed. We have t…

18

Oct

2021

EN Speech

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The situation of artists and the cultural recovery in the EU (debate)

– Mr President, the cultural and creative sector was one of the hardest hit by the COVID pandemic. Due to the closure of venues, exhibition halls, festivals and the cancellation of live performances, the sector experienced losses in turnover of over 30% in the year 2020. Culture is a major economic factor for the EU, representing 4.4% of EU GDP and employing 7.6 million people. But culture is not …

15

Sep

2021

EN Speech

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Implementation of EU requirements for exchange of tax information (debate)

Madam President, tax authorities in the EU have agreed to cooperate closely together in order to apply tax correctly and prevent tax evasion and tax fraud. This is to prevent dirty money being washed through the EU and to ensure that everyone pays their fair share of tax, so this report assesses how well Member States have applied regulations to exchange information. The feedback has generally bee…