What Gheorghe spoke about.

7

May

2025

Speeches RO

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The fine against TikTok and the need to strengthen the protection of citizens’ rights on social media platforms (debate)

Madam President, the Irish Data Protection Authority fined TikTok EUR 530 million on the grounds that user data is sent to the Chinese Communist authorities and the platform is not transparent enough. However, all online platforms collect personal data without our consent, in a non-transparent manner, which they turn into predictive products and targeted advertisements. They all declare in a slightly transparent manner that they also transfer this data to third parties. Most likely, this data is also transferred to the states where the major online platforms originate. In the pandemic, for example, they made our data, including biological data, available to the US authorities and practiced censorship. It's a fact acknowledged by Mark Zuckerberg, the owner of Meta. In order to eliminate the impression of double standards and improvisation, the European Commission must go all the way with the sanctions. The Digital Services Act is exactly for such situations, not to justify political censorship.

6

May

2025

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Discharge 2023 (joint debate)

Mr President, the European Commission is wasting our money on the pretext of European solidarity. The ReArm Europe programme, with a colossal value of €150 billion, is built on a fundamentally flawed and abusive legal basis. Article 122 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, aimed at real crises and disasters and not at disproportionate military ambitions, is still used by the Commission to give such a legal basis. Re-arming the European Union is not an extreme emergency. All members of the JURI committee unanimously said so. This programme is nothing more than a new reason for Ursula von der Leyen to accumulate even more power from the Member States of the European Union and to concentrate even more financial resources in her own hands. It is a way to turn the European Parliament into a mere spectator. This tactic of bypassing the European Parliament every time an emergency arises cannot be continued indefinitely. Otherwise, the role of the Parliament would become evanescent, and we, the MEPs, irrelevant, although we have millions of citizens' votes behind us.

1

Apr

2025

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Presentation of the New European Internal Security Strategy (debate)

Mr President, we are talking here about security, but the White Paper for European Defence is not just about security, it is about transforming our economy and our political system into a state capitalism that puts military industry at its core. It is not an economic adjustment. It's actually building a war economy, and a war economy is not a market economy, it's not a democracy. A war economy means requisitioning resources, strengthening arms production in monopolistic cartels and subordinating the entire industry to military needs, it means operating under a system of opaque and confidential public procurement, where responsibility, both legal and moral, is blatantly eliminated. It means that we will live in a permanent emergency, where decisions are made behind closed doors, justified by the need for security, and not by democratic debate. Do we really want to redefine Europe around arms and war? Are we willing to accept a future where economic planning serves military strategies and not social well-being? Security is essential, but not security created at the cost of democracy, transparency and economic freedom.

11

Mar

2025

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White paper on the future of European defence (debate)

Mr President, financial security and stability are being put to the test now, after the ineffective struggle with the financial crisis and the pandemic and the failure of the irrational climate ambitions of the European Union's bureaucracy. The prolongation of the war finds both the Union and the Member States economically weakened, weakened and politically vulnerable. The European Union's military plan foresees the mobilisation of 800 billion over the next four years to strengthen Europe's defence capabilities. A good idea in itself. Some 650 billion will be collected from EU member states, which will have to increase their defence budgets and borrow. Another 150 billion will be covered by new interest-bearing loan facilities. Most weapons factories are now closed in countries like Romania on the grounds of decarbonizing the economy. We'll borrow to import weapons. Romania has the longest border with Ukraine, so it will also have the highest military cost relative to GDP. The effects? Over-indebtedness and economic imbalance. Who benefits from this plan?

10

Mar

2025

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Order of business

Madam President, within three months, Romania has achieved the record of banning two candidates, cancelling a round of elections and arresting a candidate without evidence. The judicial system is now a political weapon usable against anyone. Both competitors who won the first round of the 24 November 2024 elections, both of which, including Lasconi, were denied the second round, consider the annulment of the elections and the banning of some candidates to be illegitimate. The Romanian precedent could extend throughout the Union, which would lead to the breakdown of the people's trust in democracy and justice. We don't want that, colleagues. The democratic foundation of the European Union is political pluralism and free elections. But the European bureaucratic system does not trust the choices of the common man, whom it sees as incapable of responsible voting decisions. For the greater good, the European Union has established the European democratic shield as a kind of dissident vaccine. But what makes us different from the Soviet Union?

12

Feb

2025

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Competitiveness Compass (debate)

Mr President, the new Soviet five-year plan is called the Competitiveness Compass. With the same obtuse bureaucrats, with the same pseudo-scientific theories, with the same weaknesses, the European Commission hopes to convince in the trade war with China and the United States and save the European economy from bankruptcy. Green Deal It's a weakness, as Donald Tusk said. The poor development of the technology industry, Draghi said, as well as the overregulation and bureaucratic burden, von der Leyen said, are weaknesses. Breaking the dialogue with the Trump administration as well. Without removing these weaknesses, Europe will not be able to save itself. Sustainability, gender ideology, the so-called European democratic shield, are not about hunger. Irrational flow of funds to third countries, including through programmes such as Global GatewayIt will only drain all the resources of an already arid continent. Doing the same thing repeatedly and hoping for a different result is Einstein's definition of insanity.

21

Jan

2025

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Need for actions to address the continued oppression and fake elections in Belarus (debate)

Mr President, rightly so, the political regimes in Venezuela, Russia and China, of course, and Belarus, are to be condemned. They are condemned because they are totalitarian. We consider the heads of these states eternal dictators in power. We reward dissidents who oppose them. But in the EU dissidents are stamped extremists and kept away from decision-making processes through the health cordon. In the European Union we cancel the elections if we do not like the result based on evidence from the secret services and then pretend that in this way we defend democracy and freedom. How does that make us different from the Lukashenko and Maduro regimes? Fortunately, the people perceived the lie. More than 100,000 people marched on the streets of Bucharest on January 12, demanding democracy and freedom. Democracy is not a privilege, it is a right. The European Union will lose the trust of its citizens and the world if it continues the charade of the European democratic shield. We won't allow it!

21

Jan

2025

Answers RO

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Need to enforce the Digital Services Act to protect democracy on social media platforms including against foreign interference and biased algorithms (debate)

I'm not a TikTok fan at all. If it were up to me, it could be banned in Europe tomorrow, but pay close attention to what I'm telling you now: One on hand, there is no evidence of interference by a state actor through TikTok, there are only briefing notes from the secret services. This is not evidence, according to civil procedure, anywhere in the world. The second issue, that funding on TikTok of the campaign - you will know from me this issue, that you do not know from the press in Romania - was made by the National Liberal Party, which is a party in power.

21

Jan

2025

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Need to enforce the Digital Services Act to protect democracy on social media platforms including against foreign interference and biased algorithms (debate)

Mrs President, recently, in an interview, Thierry Breton claimed that the annulment of the Romanian elections was the result of the application of the Digital Services Regulation, saying: "We did it in Romania, we have to do it in Germany too, if necessary". I mean, cancel the election if it doesn't go according to plan. The DSA is therefore only apparently for the protection of consumers and honest commercial practices. It is for censorship and totalitarian measures of the nature of those taken by the Romanian authorities. Why would it be necessary to strengthen the DSA? In order to repeat the anti-democratic precedent created in Romania? If the hidden purpose of the DSA is to interfere in elections, i.e. to neutralise the principle of representative democracy enshrined in Article 1 of the Treaty on European Union itself, then the DSA should be annulled in its entirety by the Luxembourg Court and not strengthened. On this course of totalitarian endeavors, democracy can turn into a luxury of elites not chosen by anyone. The people of Europe firmly reject this new feudalism.

17

Dec

2024

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Misinformation and disinformation on social media platforms, such as TikTok, and related risks to the integrity of elections in Europe (debate)

Mr President, by a decision unprecedented in history, the presidential elections in Romania were annulled on the basis of intelligence briefings, on the basis of assumptions, not proven facts. There has been talk of interference by unnamed state actors. We don't know who it is, what it's about. The power system believes that voters can be manipulated through TikTok to vote for a candidate as if they were being forced into voting booths. This reasoning, folks, infantilizes millions of voters and nullifies the concept of universal suffrage as a fundamental element of democracy. We despise, don't we, what happens in Belarus, Venezuela, Russia or China, where presidents are stuck in power for life? But what's going on at our house? The European Commission congratulates Klaus Werner Iohannis for ensuring Romania's stability, cancelling the elections at the cost of suppressing freedom of expression and destroying the principle of representative democracy, which states that sovereignty belongs to the people. The European Parliament cannot guarantee such a slip...

27

Nov

2024

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Promoting a favourable framework for venture capital financing and safe foreign direct investments in the EU (debate)

Madam President, China is a Trojan horse built on dumping, subsidies that disregard free market rules and cheap products. An EU-China agreement could turn from a successful European market into an aggressive manipulation of the EU single market. For many European companies, competing with Chinese prices and volumes of goods means not only financial losses, but even bankruptcy. The EU-China Investment Agreement signed in December 2020 needs to strengthen its investment policy. de-risking. Some states are still permeable for Chinese investments, because they have tolerance from the EU. Others, however, do not. It is a double standard and a breach of the single market. In other news, foreign investment in Europe, including Chinese investment, should not escape the principle of taxing capital gains where they occur. Companies Big Pharma, Tech or Finance they should be banned from exporting surplus value to tax havens.

27

Nov

2024

Speeches RO

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Presentation by the President-elect of the Commission of the College of Commissioners and its programme (debate)

Madam President, in this very House, Mrs von der Leyen made a statement in July, uttering a cliché: "we will leave no one behind". Primarily, this would mean that the European Union should take care, first and foremost, of the citizens of the European Union who live on the verge of poverty. In 2019, there were 100 million poor Europeans and 102 million in 2023. Of these people who were left behind, 6.5 million are Romanian citizens. It was more about the mirage of climate change, the war, the pharmaceutical, banking and technology businesses, including unnecessary vaccines, with the iconic Pfizergate at the forefront – there is a criminal case with that name. In its new form, the European Commission is moving further and further away from the original project of the European Union. The new College of Commissioners has reserved a special train for the neo-feudal elite of the European Union. Ordinary citizens will be left on the station platform. That is why my vote is against the investiture of this Commission.

13

Nov

2024

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EU-US relations in light of the outcome of the US presidential elections (debate)

Madam President, the US elections have proven that reality is above ideology. So as not to fall further into the pit that the current bureaucratic establishment is so enthusiastically digging for it, the European Union should learn something from this. The European Green Deal is an ideology parallel to reality and insensitive to the specificities of each Member State. It violates the principle of ‘leave no one behind’, impoverishes our world. The Green Deal needs to be rethought, perhaps even abolished. Individual rights and freedoms must be restored in the natural order. The priority of collective rights over individual rights and the censorship of expression and opinion are traits of totalitarianism. The U.S. election showed that power belongs to the people, not to self-mandated elites, the media, or global corporations. People change elites when they are bullied, humiliated and lied to. The people do not want to die in the wars of decadent empires. With today's illegitimate elites, the European Union will collapse like Constantinople.

22

Oct

2024

Speeches RO

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

Madam President, the Council remains committed to supporting the Ukrainian people, but is allocating money from the 2025 budget for the continuation of the war in Ukraine. Not for peace, but for defense. There is no guarantee that this mechanism can be functional and that Ukraine's debts will be paid out of the money confiscated from Russia. In a long-term perspective, in which the war will end and relations between Brussels and Moscow will be harmonized, the Russian Federation will be able to claim compensation for all assets currently seized. The economy of the Member States will suffer and the bill will mainly affect small countries. Savings will not be able to absorb such a rebound. The Council reverses the levy quotas on funds resulting from the confiscation of Russian assets. It will no longer be 90% for the peace facility and 10% for Ukraine, but vice versa. How are these two completely contradictory objectives, incompatible with the European Union's mission, systematised? Is this a prudent budget?

8

Oct

2024

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The crisis facing the EU’s automotive industry, potential plant closures and the need to enhance competitiveness and maintain jobs in Europe (debate)

Madam President, the situation of the Romanian automotive industry can be described quite well by a Romanian saying: ‘the tailor has no clothes, the shoemaker has no shoes’. Romania is the sixth country, the largest in our area, the sixth country in Europe in terms of the number of cars produced each year. This amounts to more than 513 000 units, to be delivered at 2023 level. Unfortunately, Romania is also among the first countries in the European Union with the largest fleet of old cars, older than 16 years. There are no less than 5.23 million such cars older than 16 years. Therefore, Romanian citizens, although their country produces new cars, cannot afford them. These figures, which are antithetical, reflect the effectiveness, in quotation marks, of the European green zero-emission strategy. Owners find it hard to get rid of old cars because they can't afford new cars. This rigid greening machine in Europe must also take into account programmes for car scrapping and real support for citizens to buy new cars. And I wonder how the European Commission intends to comply with the principle of the European Union ‘Not to leave no one behind’?

19

Sep

2024

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The historic CJEU ruling on the Apple state aid case and its consequences (debate)

Mr President, the problem in the Apple case is not only that this company has received illegal State aid from Ireland, which is confirmed by the Court of Justice of the European Union. The real problem is that the double standard of friendly taxation vis-à-vis large companies has so far been tolerated. Thus, we see how some Member States are free to favour tax competition, which, of course, is not fair, but only some. It's not just Ireland in this situation, it's the Netherlands and it's Luxembourg, for example. On the other hand, there are countries like Romania that are not allowed to practice friendly taxation with large companies. The problem is one of principle. In a Union where all members should be equal, according to the Treaties, why are some allowed practices that turn others into the black sheep of Europe? We are equal and that's normal. But it is not normal for some to have favors, while others to be put on the wall. Is the European Union going to reflect on this issue, or will we continue to pretend that we are equal?

18

Sep

2024

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EU response to the Mpox outbreak and the need for continuous action (debate)

Mr President, according to the risk analysis carried out by the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention on 17 September 2024, the overall risk of monkey pox for the population in the European Union is assessed as low, i.e. the probability and impact are very low. It's also proof that we have a huge empty hall. So the interest in debating this topic is huge. There is not a single additional case reported in Europe, after the only one reported by Sweden on 15 August. In the context of alarmist statements by the World Health Organization, the purpose of which should be clarified without delay, I draw the attention of the European Commission that a reaction vitiated by panic and economic interests could lead both to economic losses for the states of the European Union - for example, Romania is a country affected by millions of vaccine doses, which now need to be destroyed and extremely expensively destroyed - and to the suspension of some fundamental citizens' rights and freedoms through questionable restrictions in terms of efficiency or scientific basis. I recall that the reaction of the European Union, and in particular of the European Medicines Agency, in the field of Covid, has been exaggerated, inadequate. This is a recent audit by the European Court of Auditors, which says so. We don't want to see a scenario where a problem is created just to immediately propose an antidote. I recall that it is now recommended to increase the doses of the vaccine for the Republic of Congo, where there appears to be an outbreak of monkeypox. Finally, I want to say that, as the Covid pandemic has unfortunately shown us, the European Union, on the basis of crises, is arrogating to itself powers that it does not have under the Treaties of the European Union, and we do not want that.

17

Sep

2024

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The future of European competitiveness (debate)

Madam President, Mr Draghi was the head of the European Central Bank, he said at the time that he would save the euro at all costs, and through his programme of quantitative easing it has managed to save the euro by reducing its purchasing power by tens of percent and amplifying Member States' budget deficits to astronomical proportions. Now, Mr Draghi proposes to save the competitiveness of the European Union at all costs. So we start again, in the same way. The price is 800 billion euros per year. How will this price be paid? By issuing Eurobonds, that is, again by hyperindebtedness, again by decreasing purchasing power. Einstein said that insanity is repeating the same mistakes over and over again in the hope that the results will be different. How irresponsible would it be to want to destroy the future of our children and grandchildren? How can you applaud? How can you believe such a program?