Speeches

Madam President, dear colleagues, in order to discuss the state of the Union, we need to really know and understand the state of European citizens. The pandemic, widening discrepancies, falling living standards and rising energy prices are making life harder for many citizens. Unfortunately, political instability and weak governance, as is the case in Romania, a country that you ignored in your speech, require concrete and prompt actions. That is why the European Union needs to be involved in new areas. In this context, education must become a priority. All European citizens must be able to learn in decent and quality conditions. No child or young person can be left behind. As you want to focus on the future of Europe, I am asking for your support to build a Europe of education. An educated Europe means a stronger Europe, capable of responding to new challenges and projecting itself as a global leader. I propose that we organize a global summit on education, in which we focus on increasing investment in the field. I count on your support to put education at the top of the European agenda.

Madam President, the European Council meeting in June represented an opportunity to make an assessment of the current situation at European level, but European leaders should do more in addressing the present challenges. Indeed, we are at a better moment right now when it comes to the pandemic, but the danger has not disappeared. We need to implement the necessary preventive measures in order to avoid a fourth wave. Some countries are incapable of implementing the target of the vaccination campaign and are completely ignoring the need for a recovery that takes social aspects into consideration. The recovery plans should be about doing things differently, but some are promoting austerity measures. The approval of 12 plans is good news, but this is not enough. Some governments – this is the case in Romania – presented weak recovery plans that failed to provide adequate answers to citizens’ needs. We have to intervene to make sure no one is left behind. We need to work together in helping each Member State to develop strong recovery plans and making sure our common targets are reflected in the measures adopted by European governments.