Speeches

Madam President, I am using this debate to call on you to assess the competitiveness of European firms according to their ability to create well-paid jobs, to guarantee a safe and healthy working environment and to protect our nature. The competitive capacity of European firms should not serve to increase the profits of multinational corporations, but the social and economic development of our regions. I am in favour of making our companies more competitive in public procurement by prioritising companies that employ our workers, including disadvantaged people, or those that have a collective agreement and guarantee employees benefits beyond legal obligations. I am in favour of investment modernisation subsidies to European firms, but subject to the condition that part of their profits be used for social policy for employees. I refuse that the competitiveness of corporations should be paid by workers by deteriorating salaries, weakening their rights, forced trades or the misuse of their taxes for subsidies that private companies will turn into astronomical profits and, moreover, export them to tax havens.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, today we can show that we are serving working people and their families, that we are on their side, even if it does not suit the big corporations. When they talk about restructuring, they mean layoffs, worsening working conditions and lowering wages, but not management. The Volkswagen Group announced the need for restructuring in a year when it earned €16 billion in the first nine months. While in 2018 each member of its board of directors earned €4.5 million, in the crisis year 2021, each member of its board of directors already earned €7 million. And the workers at Volkswagen in Slovakia earned 27,000 euros in the same year, which is more than 250 times the difference. This is a reality for all international corporations, so we must prevent their management from deciding on restructuring regardless of the impact on workers. With this vote, we can set the rules so that our economy serves the people, not the people selfish interests of multinational corporations and oligarchs.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the most absurd is the accusation made by the Georgian Government that it is pro-Russian. How can there be a pro-Russian government that has not reconciled itself with the occupation of more than 20% of its territory, which demands that the Russians withdraw and fight to restore the territorial integrity of Georgia? Today's situation is the result of ignoring Georgia's reality and the unprecedented interference of various European politicians in Georgia's internal affairs. The changed attitudes of the Georgian government over the past two years are a defence mechanism in response to unfair pressure from Europe. Instead of tolerance and understanding of the complicated Georgian reality in relation to Russia, the Union began to dictate to Georgians regardless of the impact on their economy and defence. Georgia is doomed to a balanced relationship with Russia because the EU does not even offer it security guarantees. The Russian army can be in Tbilisi in three days, and I remind you that the EU has worked amicably with Russia for many years, regardless of the long-standing occupation of Georgian territory. I therefore call for a change in our approach and the resumption of a fair and partnership dialogue with the Georgian Government on the basis of mutual respect.

Mr President, Slovak workers are also facing a deterioration (The Pardon of Lifeworking conditions, in particular by multinational and foreign companies. Subcontractors seek to reduce costs at the expense of workers' salaries and safety. Particularly dangerous is the pressure for employees to become self-employed, who are not entitled to holidays, food allowances, fair social security and to whom companies do not have to guarantee a healthy and safe working environment. The result is tragedies such as the death of four workers in eastern Slovakia, freelancers who were formally subcontractors, and the company they worked for took their hands off them. These companies are looking for subcontractors only to cut costs and increase profits, at the expense of workers, their health and even their lives. What we need is legislation that introduces the principle of first-company responsibility in the chain for all the people who work for it throughout the entire chain of subcontractors. And only firms that have signed a fair collective agreement must have access to public tenders.

Mr President, although at national level in Slovakia social dialogue operates at the level of sectors and companies, foreign firms in particular are putting unfair pressure on trade unionists so that they cannot sufficiently represent the interests and needs of employees. The practice of unlawful dismissal of trade union leaders who refuse to compromise at the expense of workers is widespread. We therefore need to modernise the labour code so that it effectively protects workers' rights and cannot be used to intimidate those brave people who reject the deterioration of working conditions and pay in favour of corporate profits. At European level, we must add to the legislation the condition that no public contract can be awarded to a company that does not have a fair collective agreement. The European Social Fund must support the ability of trade unionists to conduct collective bargaining in a high-quality and professional manner. Public spending is meant to serve workers because it is their taxes to work in decent conditions and for wages that allow them and their families to live in dignity.

Madam President, the RESTORE proposal is a positive example of using EU funds to help ordinary people, especially those who have faced natural disasters. I support an increase in European co-financing up to 95%, which will save resources from national budgets. Also an accelerated advance payment of 25% of costs, which will help Member States to respond to natural disasters. Therefore, I would urge you not to delay the approval of the proposal, so that it can take effect from 1 January. May governments quickly mobilise unused EU funds and transfer them, in particular, to measures that will protect people from the effects of the weather. The Slovak Ministry of Labour promptly provided humanitarian aid in millions of euros to thousands of people affected by earthquakes and floods, and now it is important to use EU funds for preventive and protective measures. We have a billion-dollar instrument in our hands for the benefit of the people, let us not hold it, but hand it over to the Member States as a matter of urgency, because speed is crucial in natural disasters.

Madam President, on this occasion, I would like to call on you and the Commission to make our Union a peacemaker once again, not just in words. According to the UN, at least 8 620 children were killed or maimed in 2022. More than a year earlier, 338 boys and 275 girls have already died in Ukraine, and in fact not all cases are documented, so there are undoubtedly more child victims. Save the Children estimates up to 21,000 missing children in Gaza, of whom around 4,000 may be buried under the rubble, and children make up around 40% of all victims in Gaza. According to UNICEF, Yemen's civil war has claimed at least 10,000 children killed and maimed, and there have been around 12,000 in Syria in ten years. The 35 years of the Convention on the Rights of the Child is an alarming anniversary in the interests of children. Thus, as a Nobel Peace Prize winner, the Union must send diplomats instead of weapons and seek even painful compromises in favour of peace.

Mr President, the current situation in Georgia is the result of an unfair policy by the EU, the US and many Western states to punish Georgia for not joining the sanctions against Russia. In doing so, the European Union cooperates smoothly, even considering as its allies countries that are helping Russia to circumvent the sanctions. The European Union's attitude towards Georgia ignores reality. Georgia has been an occupied country for almost 20 years, and the European Union has never responded to this Russian occupation with sanctions. On the contrary, it has developed political and economic cooperation with Russia. Georgia is not a NATO member and the EU offers no security guarantees against further possible military aggression. The EU is also unable to compensate for the widespread negative effects of possible anti-Russian sanctions on the Georgian economy. Therefore, punishing the Georgian Government for a balanced, not friendly or even allied relationship with Russia, thanks to which Georgian citizens do not face a social catastrophe, I find it crazy. Instead, I call on both the Commission and Parliament to immediately start a rational partnership dialogue with the Georgian Government.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, when investing so that workers' knowledge and skills match technology or new work practices, we must emphasise that it is not only companies that benefit. In our country, we are strengthening the minimum wage so that others grow too, because employers are still little aware that better earnings and better working conditions are a key motivation for lifelong learning. If people are not to earn more, why should they acquire new knowledge and skills just because the companies they work for will be competitive? But the competitiveness of companies, ladies and gentlemen, only makes sense if it is reflected in better working conditions and higher wages for employees, not just in corporate profits. In Slovakia, we are creating a system of individual accounts that will provide people with funding for training courses. I want to push for employees to be educated exclusively during working hours, so that companies pay them for the time they spend on the course. Since we pay the courses out of people's taxes, I think it's fair for companies to contribute at least that way.

You mentioned that profit and social benefits come from companies. But I want to stress that these are not just companies, but much more their employees. And therefore let's speak not just about what we need to do for companies, but what we should do for their employees, for workers. Because in fact, companies, firms, are nothing without their workers and without their employees. So stress please, not just working for companies, but working for workers and employees as well.

Mr President, excessive bureaucracy not only imposes an unreasonable burden on businesses, municipalities, self-governing regions or voluntary organisations, but also leads to an increase in the cost of taxes paid by our workers and their families. Indeed, any new administrative requirement is linked to the creation of new office posts, the purchase of new IT systems, the renting of new offices, the simple expansion of existing or even the creation of new offices, which have no added value, and their task is only to collect data, report, process databases and check where and, in particular, to look for ever new arguments to defend their existence and the increasing costs of their operation. I therefore propose that our parliamentary committees carry out, within the next six months, their own assessment of the bureaucratic burden in the areas for which they are responsible - and we must not leave this to the Commission - and we will then use this assessment as a basis for setting up a new seven-year budget for the European Union. I will personally push for less money for bureaucracy and more money to develop our regions and improve the lives of the people who live there.

Madam President, I have been approached by steel trade unionists from the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia, who are demanding immediate measures from the European institutions to preserve their jobs. They call for the application of ecological standards that meet green objectives not only on paper. If only European producers of energy, steel and other products have to comply with strict emissions rules, this leads to unfair competition and not to an improvement in the environment, because the climate knows no borders. This is why trade unionists are calling for a tightening of the mechanism that determines tariffs according to the amount of harmful emissions emitted, so that our producers are not disadvantaged. They also call for the export of scrap, which is the basis for organic iron and steel production, to be restricted. In the US, presidential candidates announced that they would prevent the sale of U.S. Steel to Japanese hands. There is therefore no reason to avoid political interference in a sector in which 303 thousand people work today and 80 thousand jobs have been lost in the last fifteen years. We are obliged to be the voice of the workers and to act for them, not against them.

Madam President, I condemn the imprisonment of people because of political views, but I also condemn the genocide of a nation that has chosen a different political direction than the United States of America likes. This is the case with Cuba, which the US has been systematically terrorising for decades. According to publicly available sources, the US has invested more than $250 million in subversive activities against Cuba. In violation of UN resolutions, they apply sanctions against her in violation of international law and to the detriment of ordinary people. For example, during the Covid 19 pandemic, Cuba could not buy testing technologies or vaccines because shipping companies were afraid of being punished by the US. Today's debate is sponsored by the U.S.-Cuban Foundation, which is not an impartial arbiter but an aggressive initiator of biased and deceptive attacks against Cuba. The European Parliament, on the other hand, should call on the United States to immediately remove Cuba from the list of states supporting terrorism, which is the EU's long-standing position. Parliament should be an actor in strengthening relations with Cuba and not an instrument of aggressive American propaganda.

I would like to draw your attention, fellow Member, to the fact that you are right that there are major shortcomings in Cuba. For example, lack of access to medicines or even some food. But all this, my colleague, is the result of a decades-long embargo and sanctions by the United States of America, which are illegal and contrary to international law, which has also been repeatedly condemned by the United Nations. It has repeatedly been condemned by the UN General Assembly. Because this is how they punish Cuba for choosing a different political path than the United States of America imagines. So I warn you that this huge shortcoming, look at what sanctions Cuba has been facing for decades, especially on the part of the US.

Mr President, I would like to draw your attention to Slovakia as a country whose government, by preparing and mobilising its own forces in a timely manner, was able to minimise the damage caused by the floods. The Ministry of the Interior mobilized rescuers immediately after the horrific weather forecast was published, and the Ministry of the Environment took measures to extraordinary regulate the endangered flows. I want to thank all rescuers, volunteer and professional firefighters, police officers, water managers and soldiers who took part in the rescue work. Thanks to this and the number of volunteers and capable mayors, no one died in our country. The Minister of Labour and Social Affairs immediately launched humanitarian aid. However, I consider it necessary for the European Commission to show flexibility in the use of EU funds and to allow them to be used without hindrance for renovation, which will also be an investment in the modernisation of the affected areas. We need to invest effectively in infrastructure that will slow down climate change, mitigate its destructive effects and help protect ordinary citizens from possible damage in the future.