What Petar spoke about.

10 Apr

2024

EN Speech

Discharge 2022 (debate)

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Mr President, I would also like to thank the Commission for the efforts to implement the 2022 budget. As we reflect on the findings of the European Court of Auditors, we must acknowledge the evident need for a sufficiently high Connecting Europe Facility transport budget line in order to ensure the implementation of TEN-T network. Funding the network is essential for finalising its core corridors …

13 Mar

2024

BG Speech

Type-approval of motor vehicles and engines with respect to their emissions and battery durability (Euro 7) (debate)

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The need for additional measures to reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality is undeniable. The air in my hometown is one of the most polluted in the European Union, resulting in hundreds of deaths every year. Euro 7 legislation proposes strict emission standards for vehicles aimed at combating air pollution and mitigating the effects of climate change. While the ambition for this is commen…

12 Mar

2024

EN Speech

Artificial Intelligence Act (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, 87 % of the respondents to the Eurobarometer Survey on Digital Rights and Principles say that Europeans should be protected against risky or unethical application of digital technologies including artificial intelligence. We are answering the demand of the people by introducing this legislation – the first comprehensive set of rules about AI systems. We have already sai…

5 Feb

2024

BG Speech

Union-wide effect of certain driving disqualifications (debate)

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Mr President, I am also really pleased to see that so many people from different political families support this proposal. And I think this is not only because we are all road users, or because there is no one in this room whose family member, relative or acquaintance or friend has not been the victim of a road accident. But I think that, regardless of the political family, the two basic principle…

5 Feb

2024

BG Speech

Union-wide effect of certain driving disqualifications (debate)

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Member of the Commission. - Mr President, every right that we receive and exercise as citizens of Europe also carries with it responsibility. The right to drive implies the responsibility to obey the law and, when you break it, to bear the consequences, regardless of where you are. When this does not happen, tragic accidents are inevitable. The road war continues to scare us with gloomy statistics…

12 Dec

2023

EN Speech

European Health Data Space (debate)

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Madam President, Madam Commissioner, personal health space data generally is highly sensitive information that deserves highest level of protection. The EHDS is intended to facilitate the sharing of health data across the EU, which could be beneficial to patients, for instance, accessing health services cross-border. This must be done, however, in a way that protects the privacy and security of in…

22 Nov

2023

BG Speech

This is Europe - Debate with the Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Nikolay Denkov (debate)

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Commissioner, Prime Minister, welcome to the European Parliament. You come on a day when, albeit indicatively, proposals for a future treaty change for the European Union will be voted on, including enlargement-related decision-making, and so I take the opportunity to ask: What is the position of the Bulgarian government on the issue of qualified majority and unanimity when it comes to enlargement…

21 Nov

2023

BG Speech

Strengthening the CO2 emission performance targets for new heavy-duty vehicles (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, first of all, I would like to thank all those fellow shadow rapporteurs, especially in the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, who have made this report a significant step forward in our efforts to decarbonise transport and set clear and very firm targets. Standards for heavy goods vehicles play a key role not only as a legal framework, but also…

12 Sep

2023

EN Speech

Sustainable aviation fuels (ReFuelEU Aviation Initiative) (debate)

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Madam President, Madam Commissioner, the ReFuelEU Aviation Initiative is not merely a regulation; it is a bold declaration of our commitment to sustainability. With this initiative, we are paving the way for aviation fuels that can reduce carbon footprint up to 80%. At the same time, the Commission needs to ensure long-term funding for the aviation project to accelerate the green transition in the…

12 Sep

2023

BG Speech

Ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe (debate)

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Mr President, 1200 people die every year in Europe as a result of air pollution, according to data from the European Union Environment Agency. The total number of deaths exceeds 400,000 people. What else do we need to realize that the air we breathe makes us sick and takes lives? With the adoption of this report, the European Parliament will send a clear signal to Member States and specifically to…

13 Jul

2023

EN Speech

Global Convergence on Generative AI (debate)

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Mr President, Madam Commissioner, glad to see so many familiar faces again. Well, generative AI systems amaze us with their ability to create art, music, even entire stories. They also pose significant risks and challenges that demand our attention. And one of the foremost challenges lies in the domain of ethics. Generative AI perpetuates biases, present in the training data, leading to the creati…

10 Jul

2023

BG Speech

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)

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on behalf of the ECR Group. - Madam President, I think I have been favoured because the regulation on which I had the honour of speaking had almost no remarks. This is an attestation of the excellent work done and the symbiosis between the various shadow rapporteurs and the main rapporteur. However, two things impressed me. One of the few criticisms to leave things on the market was mentioned, but…

10 Jul

2023

BG Speech

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)

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Madam President, mobility and transport are vital for European citizens and key to the European economy. Alongside the benefits, however, transport also causes enormous environmental damage and is responsible for over a third of Europe's greenhouse gas emissions. I am sure that the aspiration of every single person in this room is to change the transport sector so that it is less and less dependen…

13 Jun

2023

EN Speech

Artificial Intelligence Act (debate)

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Mr President, Madam Commissioner, all the colleagues spoke about the benefits. I am not going to repeat it. I also believe that we are on the verge of adopting legislation that will find this thin balance between the protection of fundamental rights, protecting the rule of law and promoting innovations. At the same time, I have to raise some concerns because some colleagues from the EPP, they alre…

10 May

2023

BG Speech

Ukrainian cereals on the European market (debate)

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Madam President, Bulgaria has been and continues to be in solidarity with the difficult fate of Ukrainian citizens. But as an economic unit, the European Union must also take care of European producers, because they are key to increasing well-being and developing rural areas. We welcome the decision of the European Commission with increased solidarity for the frontline producers of the five countr…

20 Apr

2023

BG Speech

IPCC report on Climate Change: a call for urgent additional action (debate)

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Mr President, when a fire breaks out, we do not expect it to go away, but we do everything we can to put out the fire before it turns into a disaster. However, fires and floods have not passed Europe in recent years. In winter there was no snow and the ski season and the settlements for which winter tourism is a livelihood suffered as a result. In other parts of the world, the drought is dooming h…

19 Apr

2023

EN Speech

Dieselgate: suspected widespread use of defeat devices in cars to reduce effectiveness of pollution control systems (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, less than a month ago, the European Court of Justice decided that car buyers may be entitled to compensation in the event of an illegal defeat device. And this is a fair decision because the consumers need to get their rights protected and I would say that this is the most important thing. The other important thing is that thermal windows are no longer allowed with E…

17 Apr

2023

BG Speech

Revision of the EU Emissions Trading System - Monitoring, reporting and verification of greenhouse gas emissions from maritime transport - Carbon border adjustment mechanism - Social Climate Fund - Revision of the EU Emissions Trading System for aviation (debate)

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Member of the Commission. - Mr President, just a few decades ago, natural resources seemed inexhaustible in the eyes of our predecessors, and therefore they rarely showed an interest in production tailored to Earth's capacity. Today, the global ecological crisis, leading to serious climate change, threatens the existence of humanity itself. Through the unreasonable use of resources, human civiliza…

15 Mar

2023

BG Speech

Need for immediate reform of the internal rules of the Commission to ensure transparency and accountability in light of alleged conflicts of interests (debate)

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Madam President, the last few months have proven that no one is immune from corruption. It has no political preferences, no favorite country, no favorite institution. However, there is in this situation. I see three problems from the point of view of the European project and two solutions. Firstly, we cannot use the European Parliament as a cover for someone who has abused their powers or their po…

16 Feb

2023

BG Speech

Developing an EU cycling strategy (debate)

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In fact, bicycles embody everything we want to achieve with the green transformation: decarbonisation, by way of example, improving the health of European Union citizens, reducing congestion, reducing noise in cities. My colleague is already talking about the economic benefits, about the big market that can be created, about the additional one million new sustainable jobs that will improve the wel…

14 Feb

2023

EN Speech

CO2 emission standards for cars and vans (debate)

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Madam President, I come from a region where people live two years shorter than the average European citizen because of the polluted air they breathe. Exactly, sir. And we have the oldest cars but many still find it more convenient to drive their personal 20 year old vehicle rather than use the public transportation, for example. Sophia, my capital often gets on top of the world air pollution chart…

23 Nov

2022

EN Speech

Legal protection for rainbow families exercising free movement, in particular the Baby Sara case (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, LGBTI people living together and creating families raise a number of situations that our juridical system is not prepared for, from the right to free movement across different EU countries, taxation, social policies, the right to inheritance of your parents’ property and so on. And very often we forget about the juridical aspect of the debate. It’s not just about whethe…

22 Nov

2022

EN Speech

Resilience of critical entities (debate)

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Mr President, I would like, first of all, to thank the rapporteur, of course, and all the shadows for the excellent work that they have managed to provide, because I am absolutely positive that especially after 24 of February, nobody’s going to underestimate the importance of this file since we are witnessing how peace and democracy depend on the level of security and on the strength of our critic…

17 Oct

2022

EN Speech

Sustainable maritime fuels (FuelEU Maritime Initiative) - Deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure (debate)

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Mr President, Madam Commissioner, over the past year we should all have seen that Europe’s prosperity is in direct relation with its independence – independence from imported fuels and energy sources. The war in Ukraine has forced us to take a hard look at problems that we have turned a blind eye to for a long time. On the other hand, the environmental catastrophe is not just knocking on the door,…

6 Oct

2022

EN Speech

COVID-19 – Sustaining EU preparedness and response: looking ahead (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, I share the Commission’s own assessment that among the many unpredictabilities of this pandemic, one thing is certain: COVID—19 is here to stay. Scientists shows that the virus will continue to evolve, and the emergence of new variants is highly likely. That’s why we have to maintain a high level of readiness and to step up vaccination coverage with targeted efforts to …