What Gheorghe spoke about.

Madam President, Commissioners, President of the Court of Auditors, Minister, ladies and gentlemen, we must recognise the importance of the transport sector and of investment in this sector, which is going through a difficult period, that of the pandemic, and the transition to a green and digital economy. Without transportation, there is no economy. Moreover, transport affects every citizen every day as a worker, student, tourist and consumer. Without transportation, there is no high-quality life. Finally, transport plays a crucial role in bridging the gap between remote areas and Europe's main economic and industrial centres. Without transport, there is no internal market. Dear colleagues, the European transport agencies have proven their efficiency and professionalism in this time of crisis, and I welcome the fact that no suspected cases of fraud have been sent to OLAF. That is why the European institutions need to pay more attention to transport agencies and joint undertakings in the field of transport, so they call for an increase in the budget for all relevant agencies.

Madam President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, I come from Romania where, in the mid-1940s, the foreign interference of the USSR on the democratic process cost us half a century of communism. Ladies and gentlemen, let no one else go through our experience. These days, a Ukrainian refugee who arrived in Bucharest described Russian disinformation. I quote: “When I sent filming of dead people near my home in Kharkov to my friends in Russia, they stopped writing to me,” I close the quote. The woman also said that she was called by a cousin from Crimea and invited her to stay with him until the Russian army liberated Kharkiv from the Ukrainian Nazi army, and finally, when the woman called her aunt from Belarus to tell her that she had arrived safely in Romania with her daughter, she asked her what she was doing with the NATO attackers. Ladies and gentlemen, this is how Russian disinformation works, and we must have the courage and determination to dismantle the Putin disinformation network in Europe, a network that funds parties, politicians, journalists and analysts. This must be done because foreign interference constitutes a serious violation of the values and principles on which our Union is founded, such as human dignity, freedom, solidarity, democracy and the rule of law. Thank you and happy birthday, ladies! (Applause)

Madam President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, in April 2019, we were all campaigning to get the support of citizens to represent them in the European Parliament. For me, April 17, 2019, was the day when, after some medical tests, the doctor called me and said: ‘Mr Falcă, you are diagnosed with cancer and must be operated on urgently, even tomorrow if possible’. In that moment, in that moment, everything changes. Then you see the world in different colors. Speaking stutteringly, I got from my doctor four days spent with my family in my hometown, with friends, with many hugs and with a lot of support, and then I climbed on the operating table, an operation transformed into three operations. Out of four hours, eleven were made, and after five days of sitting at the Reanimation, the doctor said to me: “The operation is successful, the therapy is on, and it's going to be fine.” With what we're doing now, we're giving thousands of people a chance to hear from the doctor: ‘You beat cancer!’. Cancer can be defeated. Thank you, dear colleagues, that we can bring hope to people diagnosed with cancer and I wish you a lot of health, wisdom and support for these people.

Mr President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, 2020 has been a difficult year for all because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year citizens sent 1 573 petitions to the European Parliament, a significant increase compared to 2018 and 2019. This increase in 2020 is due to citizens’ concern about health, of course. The main topics of interest of the petitions submitted since 2020 concern fundamental rights, and there we are talking about the impact of emergency measures taken by Member States, the right to work, the right to information, we are talking about health, where the protection of citizens' health, the purchase and distribution of vaccines and the quality of protective equipment are the things of concern addressed by citizens. In the environmental field, we are talking mainly about mining, nuclear safety and air pollution. In the area of justice, we are talking about concerns about the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary. When we talk about education, we are talking about discriminatory access to education or contested national reforms, and when we talk about the internal market, in particular we are talking about national travel restrictions and their effect on free movement in the European Union. Dear colleagues, our committee is the only one that forms its agenda according to citizens' requests, and petitions are a gateway for citizens to the European institutions, a unique opportunity for the European Parliament and other institutions to establish a direct link with citizens and residents of the European Union. Moreover, admissible petitions also make valuable contributions to the work of other parliamentary committees, which provide opinions or receive petitions for information. In 2020, 56 petitions for opinion and 385 petitions for information were submitted. Although the time allocated to committees in 2020 was less, we expressed our views on the important issues raised in petitions and contributed to several parliamentary reports. I recall the agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, the resolution on the international abduction of children from the European Union to Japan and the resolution on the allocation of additional funds for biomedical research. In our report, we also appreciate the work of the European Ombudsman and the good cooperation with him. In 2020, the petitions web portal was developed, making it safer and easier to use. Finally, I would like to mention that we are sorry that in 2020 it was not possible for petitioners to physically come to our committee, but citizens must rely on us, on those who accept them and discuss their petitions. That's why I thank you and wish you a merry Christmas.

Mr President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, from this desk I want to convey a beautiful thought, like a letter to the young generation and to my daughter, Ana. Dear Ana, dear young people, in 2022 I wish you to be brave, just as we were, the generation of 89, with the courage with which we defeated the Iron Curtain, and to defend democracy with your beautiful minds and voices. Ana, I know you want to become an architect, but first of all you and your generation must be architects for your own life, to be active and involved, to invest in your personal development, to grow beautifully in the digital age, to love nature as yourself, to have ideals and dreams. My generation and I will guide our activity according to the words of King Michael I of Romania, I quote: “It is in our power to make the country stable, prosperous and admired in the world. I do not see today’s Romania as a legacy from our parents, but as a country we borrowed from our children’, I close the quote.

Madam President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, "the greatest wealth of man is health", says a true old Romanian proverb. The pandemic has hit the globe and all health systems, and fighting the pandemic remains a huge concern for all states until the vaccination of the population reaches a significant percentage. Dear colleagues, the European Union has played an important role in fighting the pandemic, supported the authorisation and supply of safe COVID-19 vaccines, endorsed the New Generation recovery packages, contributed most to the COVAX instrument. Yet, disinformation about COVID is widespread. That is why I believe it is necessary for pharmaceutical companies that produce vaccines to carry out information campaigns in every Member State, and not only, where they present the research that led to this vaccine, the benefits of the vaccine, to answer the questions of skeptics, so as to increase citizens' confidence in the vaccine. We are living in difficult times, that is why God bless the citizens wisely, in order to benefit from the benefits of the vaccine.

Mr President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, the European Union is providing almost EUR 10 billion in funding for 10 institutionalised European partnerships under Horizon Europe. In this session we will vote for the start of the European Metrology Partnership, through which we will be able to develop public policies and address economic and environmental social challenges. Through this partnership, we will mobilise resources of up to €300 million. We know that over the last decade, the U.S., China, India have increased their investments in metrology between 50% and 60%, and in order to maintain Europe’s competitive primacy in this area, it is essential that the European Metrology Partnership: 1. to develop new research capacities within the new European metrology networks by 2030; 2. Support the sale of new innovative products and services by 2030; to contribute, by 2030, to the development and implementation of specific standards and regulations; and 4. to contribute to achieving the European Union's objectives of the digital and green transitions. I am confident that this partnership will be transparent and calls for proposals in the field of metrology will be published on the Horizon Europe portal. I wish this partnership success.

Madam President, Commissioner, first of all, I would like to welcome the discussions on the energy crisis in the margins of the extraordinary European Council meeting last night in Slovenia. Expensive energy is an undeniable global phenomenon today, which is why, for me and many citizens, some ideologies have lost. We now know that the European energy market is influenced by the increase in the prices of green certificates and the increase in the price of natural gas, which is also influenced by the policies of the Russian Federation. In the context of the European taxonomy debates, I support investment in technologies that produce nuclear energy and natural gas. And today the European Commission should facilitate investment in natural gas and avoid creating additional barriers. As a solution for the near future, it is imperative to exploit the natural gas in the Black Sea, from which one billion cubic meters per year can be extracted. Knowing the negative impact of the increase in energy prices, it is mandatory and urgent for the European Commission and the Member States to find solutions to protect the population affected by this increase and support the economic environment. That is why I expect a serious reaction from you next week, Commissioner.