What Maria spoke about.

18

Dec

2024

FI Speech

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Promoting social dialogue and collective bargaining and the right to strike in the EU (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, the world would look very different without workers' organisations, but now the right, with the support of the extreme right, is breaking down workers' rights and the conditions for trade unions across Europe. The culture of agreement has shifted to dictation and squatting. Finland alsossa The government is pushing down workers' rights by restricting unemployment protec…

27

Nov

2024

EN Question

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Rise of energy prices and fighting energy poverty (debate)

Relying on Russian fossil energy is the stupidest thing to do, during these times especially. And the EU has actually put more money into buying Russian fossil fuels than into supporting Ukraine. So my question to the speaker is, are you willing to support people in the European Union in this transition, rather than continuing to support Russia's brutal war against Ukraine?…

27

Nov

2024

FI Speech

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Rise of energy prices and fighting energy poverty (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, at least one in ten Europeans is living in energy poverty. This means that so many Europeans will not be able to cope with the necessary heating and electricity costs. Increasing fossil energy is not the answer to this crisis, but a quick exit from it. Dependence on fossil energy is a huge security threat to Europe and a threat to people's everyday security. Energy effi…

25

Nov

2024

EN Speech

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Outcome of the UN Biodiversity Conference 2024 in Cali, Colombia (COP16) (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner Schinas, when I left Montreal 2 years ago as a minister, the spirits were really high. After really long negotiations, the historical Kunming-Montreal agreement was really there. We did it. But since then, the optimism has been overshadowed by the lack of progress in implementing this important framework. A dedicated global financing instrument for biodiversity is sti…

22

Oct

2024

EN Speech

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Guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States (debate)

Mr President, dear colleagues, Commission, a just, green and social transition is the most critical challenge in our hands at the moment. It is imperative that employment measures support this huge transition. As the labour market is undergoing profound changes, we must ensure that new jobs that are created are quality jobs that enjoy the highest standards and labour rights. Workers in a vulnerabl…

22

Oct

2024

FI Speech

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General budget of the European Union for the financial year 2025 – all sections (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, we are living in the warmest years in the history of measurements. Climate change and biodiversity loss are advancing faster than ever before in human history. All this underscores the urgent and continuous efforts to combat biodiversity loss and climate change, which must also be reflected in the EU's general budget. Additions to the EU’s LIFE pro…

21

Oct

2024

EN Speech

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International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (debate)

Madam President, dear colleagues, I urge you to see poverty. Poverty that comes in millions of different forms. It can mean a person struggling without fresh water and housing thousands of kilometres away from here. But poverty can lurk in situations where your neighbour is not able to access medical care in time of need. Poverty can look like sleeping rough outside the European Parliament. But po…

9

Oct

2024

EN Speech

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Ensuring sustainable, decent and affordable housing in Europe - encouraging investment, private property and public housing programmes (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, nearly 1.3 million people sleep rough or without permanent accommodation in the EU. 400,000 children are homeless. And I welcome the long awaited affordable-housing plan by the Commission, which must build on the successful Housing First principle. This requires actually a change in our mindsets, because, previously, a home was an outcome when a person demon…

7

Oct

2024

FI Speech

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The extreme wildfires in Southern Europe, in particular Portugal and Greece and the need for further EU climate action on adaptation and mitigation (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, southern Europe is once again plagued by terrible forest and wildfires. Destructive wildfires, floods and other extreme weather events will become more common and their scale will only increase as climate change and biodiversity loss progress. We need to be better prepared for these challenges in the future. We need better cooperation within the EU…

17

Sep

2024

FI Speech

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The future of European competitiveness (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, I think it is valuable that the report puts a climate-resilient Europe and skilled people at the heart of competitiveness. However, competence must be based on a foundation where people's basic income, housing and education are guaranteed to everyone, where everyone, regardless of their background, has the opportunity to realize themselves, and in …