Speeches

Mr President, Commissioner, the absorption rate of cohesion funds for 2021-2027 is indeed low, but this does not reflect the lack of interest on the part of the Member States, but is caused by delays in the adoption of the European Union budget, the overlapping and completion of the 2014-2020 programmes and the implementation of the national recovery and resilience plans. The contracting rate should also be taken into account. In Romania, for example, more than 60% of the amount of funding is already contracted. In addition, we must keep in mind that some projects, such as road infrastructure or water and sewerage, are very complex and can sometimes take more than five years. The absorption rate of almost 100% in the previous period clearly shows that cohesion policy remains key to reducing disparities between regions. To those who propose to redirect the cohesion budget, I remind you that this policy has strengthened citizens' trust in the European project, through concrete investments in motorways, hospitals, schools and SMEs, investments that effectively counteract Eurosceptic discourses and influences coming from outside the European Union.

Commissioner, Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, desertification is already affecting 13 Member States and drought is causing losses of EUR 9 billion annually. In Romania alone, 400,000 hectares are affected by desertification. The adoption of the Nature Restoration Regulation requires Member States to restore 20% of degraded land by 2030. Unfortunately, the Regulation was not accompanied by additional budget allocations. As a result, I call on the European Commission to address this insufficiency in the next financial year and to make concrete funds available to the countries of the Union. At the same time, to maintain food security, it is essential to increase investment in the development of smart irrigation systems, the use of treated urban waste water, rainwater abstraction and the construction of reservoirs. In addition, the results of research on marine water desalination from Horizon Europe must be accessible to Member States for the deployment of these modern technologies at low cost.

Mr President, Commissioner, free and fair elections are the foundation of our democratic process. Citizens must be able to vote freely, free from foreign interference, manipulation or disinformation campaigns. This is one of the biggest challenges facing our democracy in a digital age. The European Commission has already adopted a number of measures to prevent disinformation and cyberattacks during elections. However, the hybrid attack against Romania's presidential election exposed the vulnerabilities of democracy in the European Union and the ability of hostile actors to exploit modern technologies to influence election results. Such hybrid attacks have already been tested in the Republic of Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine. The risk of replicating these tactics in another Member State of the European Union is very real. I therefore call on the European Commission to guarantee free elections through rigorous monitoring and strict enforcement of the provisions on combating disinformation during pre-campaign and election campaign periods for all lines of elections, in all Member States, in order to be able to detect, prevent and combat any attempt at hostile interference in electoral processes in real time. I ask that digital platforms that facilitate or enable the spread of fake newsThey must be held accountable and severely punished, because otherwise the loss of democracy is the step towards the loss of freedom.

Mr President, dear colleagues, desertification is constantly affecting 13 Member States, and in Romania the drought has affected 2.2 million hectares of agricultural land this year alone. On the other hand, rainfall, as it has not occurred in the last 100 years, caused floods in only one county in Romania, affected seven thousand households, thousands of hectares of arable land and hundreds of vegetable greenhouses. Over the last four years, we have asked the European Commission several times to allocate funds exclusively dedicated to combating desertification and drought, and to draw up a concrete plan in this regard. Unfortunately, the measures are totally insufficient. EU programmes are fragmented and inconsistent. It costs us more to pay compensation than it would cost us to prevent these phenomena. Drought alone causes EUR 9 billion in damage in the European Union every year. I call on the new European Commission to include in the post-2027 budget a clear and well-funded integrated programme that addresses these issues in a unified way.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the European Union has set out an ambitious strategy to reduce poverty by 50% by 2030, but failure to meet the previous targets makes this strategy to be viewed with restraint. The tense geopolitical context has prompted us to accelerate the enlargement process with nine candidate countries. I strongly support the enlargement of the European Union as an instrument for the stability and prosperity of the continent, but we must bear in mind that the Cohesion Policy and the Common Agricultural Policy will have to meet the needs of an increasing number of beneficiary states. The average GDP of the European Union will decrease with the accession of candidate countries, which will artificially classify a number of regions in the category of "less developed regions" in the category of "transition regions" and a number of "transition regions" in the category of "more developed regions", a situation that may create serious problems in covering the part of co-financing and attracting European funds. Within the REGI Committee, we have repeatedly expressed our determination that Cohesion Policy remains the main tool for reducing development gaps, and that the new crises that we may face are managed from additional sources, and not by reallocating cohesion policy funds. It is essential in the next mandate to identify the budgetary resources needed to ensure an efficient integration of the new members, without compromising an economic and social development of the current members. This requires diversifying the sources of financing of the European Union budget through new own resources, such as taxing the profits of the big digital giants operating in Europe or using private capital, completing the Capital Markets Union, which could unlock up to €470 billion annually. Increasing competitiveness and keeping innovative companies within the Union must also remain priority objectives.

Madam President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, I begin by thanking our colleague Andrey Novakov for the detailed report on the implementation of cohesion policy and I share his vision that there are no net contributors or beneficiaries, but only advantages for the European economy as a whole. I see cohesion policy as the main instrument through which the European Union demonstrates its added value, improving the quality of daily life of citizens. I also believe that the main instrument through which we can counteract the narrative of those who, especially on the eve of elections, question membership of the European Union remains cohesion policy. My country, Romania, has managed to absorb almost all of the €24 billion available in 2014-2020, contributing significantly to the economic and social development of cities and rural communities through the development of road infrastructure and public transport, the modernisation of schools and hospitals, the renovation of buildings, support for the development of SMEs and entrepreneurship and the creation of new jobs. I stress that these investments are strong arguments for a pro-European electoral campaign and I consider it absolutely necessary to maintain and strengthen cohesion policy as the main instrument of European development. The more we spend on cohesion policy in the future, the more we will be able to strengthen support for the European project of the population, especially in regions where citizens feel left behind or attracted by the deceptive propaganda of undemocratic regimes.

Mr President, Commissioner, responsible water use remains a challenge, a duty and a desideratum for all of us. Drought is already causing €9 billion in damage annually in the European Union, with 19 Member States already reporting an increasing trend in water scarcity in recent years. This phenomenon also jeopardises the Union's food security. This is why it is absolutely necessary to strengthen the funding provided to Member States for the use of alternative water sources in agriculture, such as the use of treated urban waste water, groundwater and desalination of marine water, as well as investment in the construction of reservoirs and water abstraction systems. Finally, I reiterate my call on the Commission to set up a specific programme to support Member States in the development of new efficient, circular and smart irrigation systems, as well as in the modernisation of existing installations.

Madam President, Commissioner, drought causes damage of EUR 9 billion a year in the European Union, and this cost will increase significantly with the intensification of climate change. Yesterday we adopted in Parliament's plenary a resolution on ensuring food security, in which we imperatively call on the European Commission to set up a specific programme to support Member States in developing new efficient, smart irrigation systems, as well as in finalising and modernising existing facilities. Fresh water is an increasingly scarce and precious resource. That is why the new programme should support Member States in the use of treated urban waste water in agriculture, in the construction of reservoirs and rainwater abstraction systems, and in the use of alternative water sources such as groundwater or marine desalination. I recall that already in 2020 I called, in a resolution, on the European Commission to draw up a clear plan and provide the necessary funding to combat desertification in the 13 Member States affected, but unfortunately, at least so far, I see that concrete measures and results have been delayed.

Madam President, Commissioner, in September 2022, the price of fertilisers increased by 149 %, and a large number of European producers had to reduce or even stop their production. This, combined with the influx of cereals reaching the single market at low prices from Ukraine, but also with inflation, puts increasing pressure on our farmers and especially on farmers who receive lower subsidies. I draw attention to the fact that in the EU countries close to Ukraine, including Romania, in many cases, the selling price of cereals already no longer covers production costs. We are therefore in an extremely delicate situation and the measures set out by the Commission in its communication at the end of last year were only a good start, but it is absolutely wrong to believe that they were also sufficient. That is why I want to reiterate my call to the European Commission last week, together with 48 fellow Members, to provide farmers, in the short term, with additional financial support through the use of funds from the 2023 CAP Emergency Reserve and other funds that you need to identify as quickly as possible, and also to address this issue in the mid-term review of the European Union budget 2021-2027. In the medium and long term, however, we must establish a clear plan to reduce dependence on imports and develop the production of fertilizers on the territory of the European Union, both by developing projects in states with natural gas reserves such as Romania, and by stimulating the production of alternative fertilizers, such as organic, natural and those obtained from renewable energy.

Mr President, Commissioner, as you are well aware, illegal shipments of waste have reached alarming levels also within the European Union and have serious and long-term consequences for public health and the environment. This situation needs to be corrected urgently, and I therefore express my strong support for the ambitious agreement reached in the ENVI Committee on the revision of the legislation on shipments of waste, which contains clear and strict rules to combat illegal waste trafficking. I also support the central role that the European Anti-Fraud Office must play in transnational investigations. Strengthening cooperation between Member States, tightening the sanctions regime to deter criminal activities in this area and, finally, drawing attention to the urgent need to create the European Action Plan to combat illegal waste shipments, in order to ensure our success in the fight against this phenomenon.

Mr President, Commissioner, 13 Member States are currently affected by desertification. However, this phenomenon is constantly expanding across Europe. In 2018, the European Court of Auditors concluded that the measures taken to combat desertification are inconsistent. The European Parliament supported me in December 2020 with an amendment tabled on an ENVI resolution calling on the European Commission to present a clear strategy to combat desertification, as well as the allocation of the necessary funds to manage this phenomenon in all affected regions. We will not be able to achieve this without European funds dedicated to combating desertification and land restoration, without serious investment in irrigation systems and in the development of wastewater reuse systems. I further call on the European Commission to set an ambitious timetable for action and to monitor progress at the stage, to ensure that no region is left behind.

Mr President, Commissioner, today I express my support for the new common agricultural policy, even if it is not perfect, but I express this because it aims to improve the lives of each of us. The common agricultural policy is not just an environmental policy, it is much more than that, it is a matter for our whole lives. Those who doubt, I urge them to do just a simple exercise of imagination about what would have happened in the last 2 years without the daily work and efforts of European farmers to put on our table the necessary food. The Common Agricultural Policy aims not only to contribute to the conservation of nature and natural resources, but to guarantee income and a fair living for farmers and to provide European citizens with safe and affordable food for their health. At the same time, by redistributing funds in favour of small and medium-sized farms, we protect the way of life of the traditional family in the European village without affecting the activity of high-performing farms, and by encouraging young people to become farmers, we can ensure the continuity of life in this area. Last but not least, with the new Common Agricultural Policy, we ensure the right to a dignified life by introducing for the first time social conditionalities that provide agricultural workers, including seasonal workers, with guarantees regarding respect for accommodation, working conditions, the minimum wage and access to healthcare in accordance with the standards of European legislation.