Maria Zacharia

MEP · Greece

Plenary speeches · European Parliament

Plenary speeches · EU Parliament

What Maria spoke about.

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Speeches updated 43 minutes ago

All Contributions

Since July 1, 2024

Time at the Floor

1.9h

≈ 112 min

Average speech length

1:14 min

≈ 1.2 min · Rank 627/694

Activity

Monthly speeches

Speeches Ranking

Since July 1, 2024

Top 5 Show all

Rank	Name	Country	Group	Speeches
1	Lukas Sieper	GermanyDE	Renew Europe (Renew)	392
2	Sebastian Tynkkynen	FinlandFI	European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR)	354
3	Juan Fernando López Aguilar	SpainES	Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D)	326
4	João Oliveira	PortugalPT	The Left in the European Parliament (GUE/NGL)	221
5	Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis	LithuaniaLT	Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D)	209

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EL Written Statement

The future of European competitiveness (debate)

I strongly disagree with the Draghi report, which is completely in the wrong direction and essentially favours the rich, leaving the poor behind. Business competitiveness reduces bread at the household table. The future of work in Europe is at a crossroads. Artificial intelligence can increase business productivity, but without preventive measures it will lead to increased unemployment and inequal…

8 Oct

2026

EL Speech

EU strategies for islands, coastal communities and outermost regions (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, I have the impression that some people in Greece and Europe imagine that the Greek islands are inhabited by Croats. Because it is not explained otherwise. You need a doctor, you wait for a helicopter, or you pay a fortune to get around by boat, if you can. Schools, hospitals, doctors and teachers, few to non-existent. The electricity, the fuel, the food too expensive…

8 Oct

2026

EL Speech

Escalations in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean following persistent Turkish provocations (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, let us finally speak clearly. Greece does not ask for anyone's permission to exercise its sovereign rights. Cyprus, 52 years after the Turkish invasion, is advancing, evolving, even though it still has an occupation army on its territory. The European Union wants to play a role on the world chessboard, but you still don't know who that is. On the one hand you cling to t…

7 Oct

2026

EL Speech

Empowering Europeans to address the cost-of-living crisis (debate)

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6 Oct

2026

EL Speech

Affordable Housing Act (debate)

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Mr President, the Affordable Housing Regulation cannot be about how the market works better: The market, speculation, have brought us here today. In Kypseli, Athens, families are fighting for their own homes, after serious damage was done to apartment buildings by a private contractor in the metro projects. In Greece and across Europe, citizens are faced with auctions by private banks, servicers a…

5 Oct

2026

EL Speech

Psychosocial risks, stress and mental health at work (debate)

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15 Sep

2026

EL Speech

Presentation of the Fair Labour Mobility Package (debate)

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15 Sep

2026

EL Speech

Devastating heatwaves, wildfires and droughts in Europe: lessons from summer 2026 (debate)

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9 Jul

2026

EL Speech

Feasibility of a 28th tax regime and its potential to support EU competitiveness (debate)

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Commissioner, I urge you to withdraw this proposal. The so-called 28th regime is not an innocent administrative change. It is a dangerous door for letterbox companies, social dumping and the weakening of collective rights. The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) itself warns that there are no binding guarantees for workers. The European Trade Union Institute warns that it is paving the way f…

9 Jul

2026

EL Speech

Evaluation of the Common Fisheries Policy and follow-up (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, climate change is already changing the temperature and chemistry of the seas. It causes species displacement, biodiversity loss and increasing pressure on coastal ecosystems. Nevertheless, the Common Fisheries Policy continues to treat marine ecosystems primarily as a habitat for fisheries resources and not as critical infrastructure to tackle the climate crisis. In …

8 Jul

2026

EL Speech

Defending European democracy and the integrity of the European Parliament in light of revelations that an MEP was subject to surveillance by illegal spyware (debate)

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Madam President, Europe was born on the ruins of a dark past. She promised her citizens that they would never fear again that someone was listening behind the door, reading their letters or watching their thoughts. Yet today another MEP – a second MEP – is revealed to have been the target of Israeli spyware. When a Member of the European Parliament is monitored, he or she is not alone in danger; T…

8 Jul

2026

EL Speech

EU’s response and preparedness to protect people against recurring heatwaves and upcoming wildfires (debate)

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Mr President, every summer we have the same debate, the same mistakes. Nature didn't surprise us. Science has been warning for decades. But every time you had to choose between environment and profit, you chose profit. You have given land and water – forest, coastline, natural resources – in the name of a supposed development. Today it is not paid by those who have won; People are paying him. Ther…

16 Jun

2026

EL Speech

2025 Commission report on Türkiye (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner and colleagues, when you read this report you feel that Europe is suffering from political amnesia. The first pages record violations of rights, imprisonment of dissidents, democratic backsliding, violations of the sovereign rights of Member States. And a few paragraphs later he talks about strategic cooperation, further customs cooperation, defence, security and deep…

20 May

2026

EL Speech

Recent proposals to fight poverty in the EU (debate)

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(EL) Madam President, 13 hours of work again being unable to pay for a · home They want us to consider it normal. We should consider it normal for young people to stay in their children's room until they are 35. We should consider it normal for older people to choose between medicine, food and heating. This is Greece's notorious success story. No, Europe does not have a problem of lack of wealth. …

20 May

2026

EL Speech

Reviewing the ETS system to support European competitiveness (topical debate)

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Madam President, Europe is telling citizens that the ETS system is a tool for saving the climate. In Greece, however, the world is paying expensive bills, small businesses are suffocating and we have an energy market where the few are becoming ever stronger. How is it that as the costs of the green transition increase for society, energy super-profits increase at the same time? People don't see a …

19 May

2026

EL Speech

Political repression and humanitarian situation in Cuba (debate)

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Madam President, Cuba is not punished for having a bad president. It is punished because its people still hold power in their hands and this remains a thorn in the throats of all those who want peoples subjugated economically and politically. Europe remains deafeningly silent, letting every Hitlerite kill the peoples. International law cannot be applied selectively. We cannot talk about human righ…

30 Apr

2026

EL Speech

How to secure a sustainable future for the EU livestock sector in light of the need to ensure food security, farmers’ resilience and the challenges posed by animal diseases? (debate)

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Mr President, today I am not just talking about livestock farming in general. I speak on behalf of people who see their herd being killed, their milk being thrown away, slaughterhouses being closed down and compensation coming in slowly and halfway. In Greece, more than 500,000 animals have been killed in the name of zoonotic disease management. No prevention, no adequate vaccination strategy, whe…

28 Apr

2026

EL Speech

The Commission’s 2025 Rule of Law report (debate)

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Mr President, I support the Rule of Law Report and would like to take this opportunity to denounce what my colleague, Mr Maniatis, also denounced earlier on the Predator spying in Greece. What has happened, that is, the dismantling of the rule of law, which is not a national issue, is an issue, a European threat that concerns us, colleagues, here in the European Parliament. Among the targets at th…

27 Apr

2026

EL Speech

Importance of consent-based rape legislation in the EU (debate)

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Mr President, I support the report because it raises a fundamental question of justice. Rape is defined by the absence of consent. Silence is not consent. Fear is not consent. Failure to react is not consent. Victims in Europe today are not equally protected. Some states are required to prove violence or resistance, and this is second abuse. Greece has recognised rape without consent since 2019, b…

12 Mar

2026

EL Speech

Rail transport safety in the EU – lessons learnt from the Adamuz accident and three years after the Tempi tragedy (debate)

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Madam President, three years after the state crime in Tempi: 57 dead – most students –, two trains on the same line, no telecommand, contract 717, European funding, safety system not working, signals not working, station chief alone, no automatic train protection · · Collision Huge pyrosphere, temperatures above 1000 degrees, unexplained explosion, unknown fuel, 27 young people burned, jam…

11 Mar

2026

EL Speech

Situation of the rule of law in Greece, following the Court decision on Predator spyware (debate)

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11 Mar

2026

EL Speech

EUCO and situation in the Middle East (joint debate)

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10 Mar

2026

EL Speech

Housing crisis in the European Union with the aim of proposing solutions for decent, sustainable and affordable housing (debate)

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Madam President, the housing crisis in Europe is not just an economic problem, it is a social problem. The report we are debating attributes responsibility mainly to the shortage of housing and proposes more funding for construction. But the reality that people live in is different. In many European cities, homes are transformed into products: Gold visas, funds that buy loans and drive families to…

9 Mar

2026

EL Speech

Gender pay and pension gap in the EU: state of play, challenges and the way forward, and developing guidelines for the better evaluation and fairer remuneration of work in female-dominated sectors (debate)

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Mr President, today we are gathered here to discuss a very important issue and I really want to protest, because before Mrs Latinopoulou invaded and said that what we are discussing before the war is of no importance, I asked with a blue card to intervene. I wanted to ask her how many years she has had employment stamps and whether she has lived outside the European Parliament. Because r…

9 Mar

2026

EL Speech

Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the European Commission (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, let us speak frankly. The main problem of the European Union is not the lack of dialogue between the institutions. It is the lack of a genuine democratic balance. Today, the Commission, a body not directly elected by citizens, has almost exclusive power to initiate the legislative process and determine the political direction of the Union. …