Speeches

Madam President, I'm sorry. In recent years, the European Union has made significant progress in promoting the rights of persons with disabilities. In this context, I would like to mention that in the part up to 2025, which has been specifically developed, 6 of the 7 flagship initiatives have already been implemented. For example, the European Disability Card or the Parking Card, which we are waiting for, is a framework that guarantees excellent social services. This is remarkable and I would like to thank everyone who has worked on this. What other tasks do we have? Specific objectives should be set for the period up to 30. I have consulted with the national and some European organisations for the protection of the interests of people with disabilities, and they expect more from us. One is to focus on the employment of people with disabilities, as this is not only an important tool for their financial independence - and I am also involved, I am in a wheelchair - but also for social inclusion. The second is that they strongly resented the fact that the new structure does not pay special attention to the issue of disability. In Hungary, a new state secretariat has been set up to deal with disability issues, and here there is a step backwards. I am very confident that this structural step backwards does not mean a professional step backwards, and I would like to support the Commissioner in her work and I would like us to achieve as many results as possible. I also have a suggestion, a specific suggestion, that, just as Member States recognise national sign languages, our hearing-impaired fellow citizens should also be able to communicate with the institutions of the European Union. And this means that deaf citizens who use sign language can also communicate with us in their mother tongue, sign language. So, once again, thank you for the work we have done so far, and for our further work, I wish you all success and a blessed, peaceful new year!

Madam President, I'm sorry. First of all, I would like to thank the Ombudsman O'Reilly and her colleagues for their dedicated work over the past 11 years. In 2023, it continued to address a number of very important issues that contributed to increasing the transparency of the activities of the EU institutions (e.g. by facilitating public access to documents) and reducing the possibility of corruption (e.g. by tightening lobbying). As a disabled Member, I would like to thank you in particular for focusing on the rights of persons with disabilities. Among other things, it has helped EU bodies to implement the UN Convention themselves and Member States to correctly transpose the European Accessibility Acts. As a member of the Committee on Petitions, I can confirm that many petitions have been received from people with disabilities, and this should also confirm to the next Ombudsman that this work, which his predecessor started on the disability issue, should be continued. As far as the future is concerned, as coordinator of the Petitions Committee of the Patriot Group, I will pay close attention to the work of the next Ombudsman, and I hope that the next Ombudsman will put an end to political discrimination in Parliament, which is prohibited, as is discrimination on the grounds of disability or any other grounds. In this connection, let me express my regret that Mr Saliba, the rapporteur for this report, has not adopted any patriotic amendments. Perhaps it is also a ‘cordon sanitaire’?

Dear Mr President, Housing support and affordable housing are important issues. In Hungary, we have not just started to make plans, but we can show serious results. Within this framework, the Family Friendly Hungary programme provides non-refundable support, preferential loans, interest rate subsidies and mortgage remission in the case of the purchase or construction of an apartment or house. It provides home renovation support, supports accessibility, and only 5% VAT is charged on the purchase of new homes. The Hungarian government has spent more than HUF 560 billion to support home creation, and we have the lowest household electricity and gas prices in the EU. There is still work to be done: Housing for young people should be encouraged. The government has announced that the professional programme is being prepared and we are happy to share our professional experience with you.