Speeches

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I have chosen to speak today about the functioning of the internal market. Why? We celebrated 30 years. We still have four months, this Parliament and the Commission, and I think we need to think about what we are leaving, what we are handing over to the next Parliament. Does the internal market work or not? The answer, even today, in the debate on tax policy, shows that we have a lot of areas with regional disparities, with people with very different incomes, distances between the high incomes of a few European citizens and a lot of poor people. And we have another problem: we do not have a single market; In the internal market we still have two spaces. I hope that by the end of the mandate, however, there will be only one market, the "single market", as we call it, because that is why the European Union was founded. This is where it started, from a single market and I hope that yes, my country, Romania, as well as Bulgaria, will also be in the Schengen area.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we are discussing a very important subject: successive crises. Where has the impact, until the end, on the citizen, certainly, of small and medium-sized enterprises, micro-enterprises? We know that every state has the right to determine its fiscal mix, to adapt it to local, national needs, but we also need to have a harmonisation. There is now a huge gap. We say we want social cohesion; we have salaries within the internal market, in the 27 states, with differences from 1 to 1000. There are people who can't pay their current bill, they can't get food, they get sick, they can't get medicine. We must intervene and here I welcome the citizens' initiative, that of going to tax great wealth and, to be clear, you cannot have the same tax when you buy a plane or a private boat with a tax on a micro-enterprise with three people who are trying to earn an income to live with their family. It is therefore clear that, in addition to the fact that Member States have this right, the Commission must make a guide to good practice. The best measures have not been taken to protect the vulnerable consumer – I am also Vice-Chair of the Consumer Protection Committee – neither in terms of paying bills, nor in terms of the impact of the COVID pandemic and all inflation, the inflation shock has gone to the citizen. That is why I think it is also the role of the Commission to propose a guide to good tools for money support for vulnerable households, to have that wealth tax. Money cannot go to a small number of people and most European citizens are poor.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I would first like to thank the Spanish Presidency, with whom I work very well as rapporteur, and I believe that we must respect that. Secondly, Commissioner, I want to tell you that we have warned since we introduced this mechanism for the functioning of the rule of law that it can be used with a double measure. I would like to remind you that the legislative initiative on which we are currently debating is an internal matter. Any government can have legislative initiative, whether it passes or not is not the problem of the European Commission. When I wrote you a letter, Commissioner, in which I asked for uniform judicial accountability in all Member States, you replied that the organisation of justice and the functioning of justice is subsidiarity. This is the answer you signed. Then why do you want this? If the EPP has bothered you so much, why did you not complain that the rule of law does not work before the elections and not after the results?

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I have always advocated that the ambitious objectives be brought into line, of course, with the reality and the situation on the ground. It is good that we all want to fight to reduce packaging waste, but let's not forget that packaging or the amount of packaging is directly proportional to the amount of fruit, food that the population consumes. Yes, it is overconsumption and we know it. Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we could make good rules if we also took into account the recommendations of those who are good at it. There are amendments here, I have also recorded and I hope.... For example, let me give you one example: amendment 417, which provides for a derogation for the best-performing packaging formats, because not every packaging fits every product. Here we must take this into account, and I believe that tomorrow we must vote very intelligently and objectively on amendments to correct the Commission's proposal, which, in my view, was not everywhere objective and did not take account of reality.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, if farmers listen to us now - this debate - they will say this: Everyone knows everything. I am very curious if those who are extremely supportive of banning pesticides have been to see a cornfield felled to the ground by pests. I believe that we must protect the environment, but I also believe that we cannot do twofold, Commissioner, because you have approved, for example, imports from Ukraine without phytosanitary analyses and destroyed producers in my country, in Romania, and in other states, and at the same time, the pressure is on farmers and producers in the European Union. At the same time, it is absolutely discriminatory, as in my country, if we reduce by 50% to reach 300 grams per hectare, and in the Netherlands to 4,000. So if we do not try to have rational measures and find substitutes first and then ban, we will destroy European agriculture and live off imports that are full of pesticides, as many colleagues have said. I believe that we must first build a bridge and then tear down the one that exists, and I believe that citizens have the right to do so. Let it be known very clearly that this extremism of green protection is harmful to the citizen and not beneficial.

Madam President, Commissioner, honourable colleagues, sure, citizens often ask us what we do for them, specifically, what we do for them? Here is a new example: in addition to roaming, in addition to the common charger, we are now once again giving consumers and citizens in our countries something concrete: Right to repair. Let's not imagine that until now it has not been repaired, but everyone had to deal with it, sometimes paying a lot, giving up the repair... Now there are some things that are clear enough here, but it is important how the Member States will also get involved, because they have to take into account what we are regulating here: have - each Member State, at least one platform where the consumer can meet the repairers, know where to go to repair. And it is very important what you said, Commissioner: the product must be repairable, because if it makes it disposable, it is in vain that the consumer can no longer make it. That is why I will be very supportive and I hope that this report will pass tomorrow, because it brings something very good, on the one hand for consumers, on the other hand the decrease in waste, because we all know how much waste from all products has increased.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, of course, the Commission has set itself a reindustrialisation strategy. Ultimately, the European Union must increasingly decrease its dependence on imports from third countries. We know what happened to us in the pandemic. Value chains are not being restored and it is clear that the transition must not shatter SMEs. That is why I believe that we must rely on innovation, research, technology, safe, low-emissions, but we cannot remain dependent on third countries. That is why I think it is good - and it is good that this was mentioned in the report - to strike this balance in reindustrialisation, in modern technologies that are low-emission, but to complete our value chains and become competitive, because dependence on third countries makes us uncompetitive and takes us out of the global market.

Doamnă președintă, doamnă comisară, stimați colegi, au trecut 34 de ani de când s-a declarat Ziua Internațională a Drepturilor Copilului. And where are we? We have 5 million children in poverty, and I am not talking about the crisis, the pandemic, the war, I am talking about the fact that in these 34 years, in fact, the crisis related to the rights of the child has deepened. I'm not just referring to the fact that there are children who may eat less or sleep in less heat. I am also referring to the fact that they are plucked very often, the children, from the family and nothing is more valuable than the love of the mother and the parents. I believe that this is where we must follow, the European Union, and, of course, the Member States. I dealt with cases of children taken, who were recovered by families after 3, 4, 5 years, children who remained with trauma. Why were those children taken? For imaginary reasons? Sometimes it is because the family is poor. But let's intervene here, to provide families, parents, jobs, to have incomes, so that children grow up in the family and not in those centers and in those state institutions.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, nothing can be more important for the functioning of the internal market than resources, own resources. And it is good that we have this report and we are doing an analysis, but I want to say very clearly: We must stop lending money on the back of the citizen. Commissioner, we have some agencies to deal with, from Europol, the European Court of Auditors, the European Public Prosecutor's Office, which was set up with the aim of reducing, if not putting an end to, tax evasion, tax havens. So a good policy for own resources is to collect, not add taxes. That is why I think it is a very important task, because an extended internal market with 35 states will not be able to function if we do not end the policies of ultimately circumventing the law and moving money to other areas, to areas of tax haven. I think we need a new policy, a new thinking, but above all a correct implementation of fiscal policies.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, of course, I am also reserved for the results of this Summit. And why am I reserved? I recently visited as Vice-Chair of the Committee on the Internal Market in the United States. There were other committees present, a lot of dialogue, but let's remember that in the last term we were not able to finalize in the Trump administration the TTIP and my hope, and probably that of many, was that in the Biden administration we would finalize this transatlantic agreement. Of course, it's good that we have a trade and technical council. The problem is to look at the results. And yes, there will be elections in the United States, and I think we are entering a new leadership of the United States without any concrete results. It is very good that the lifting of visas was also mentioned, but you see, my country, for example, is not a beneficiary of the lifting of visas, and these are just statements that are not covered in the facts, and I think that this is what we need to emphasise, Commissioner and the Presidency of the Council, to have results. The United States is an important partner for the European Union's internal market.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, today is World Education Day, and let me extend my congratulations and ‘Happy Birthday’ to all those who work and strive for the education of children: teachers, teachers, educators and parents, and to give them the hope that today, on Education Day itself, we are talking here about something extremely important – how to have a strategy for a safe internet for children. The situation shows that violence has increased in schools. Suicides are internet calls for violence. Look at the cartoon movies, their content, the language of the characters in the cartoon movies. We'll never be able to get teachers or parents to watch them minute by minute. It's important and I think the key to success is content. It must not appear online what is not allowed in the educational act, offline. There should be no violent content, no urges to use drugs. Violence has increased between students, but also between students and teachers. That is why, Commissioner, I think we need to think seriously about how we can regulate content.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the revision of the Directive after 30 years is a necessity. The treatment of urban wastewater is a matter of human health and that is why I think the revision is very welcome and I think that the focus should be on the polluter pays principle. It must not be enough for the citizen to pay to have access to clean water, because it is a citizen's right to have access to clean water, and the energy neutrality that we proposed in 2040 is also related to this. The responsibility of the Member States to adapt the directive into national law is major, because here we clearly have the responsibility of Big Pharma, the responsibility ultimately of all industrial sectors and even of citizens to manage waste and not to pollute waters. It is our duty to adopt this directive and, of course, congratulations to those who have worked and I hope that it will be implemented as soon as possible in the national legislations.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, amending Directive 2011 as regards financial services contracts concluded at a distance was a necessity. As we move forward in digitalization, of course we also need adaptation. And I am very glad that by increasing the protection of citizens' freedom of choice also in the area of distance contracts, it increases citizens' confidence to work with distance contracts. Of course I enjoy the fact (Words that are not heard) the right of the consumer to request human intervention, because we know well that we have a different level of skills in the Member States on digitalisation, and it is good that we have made this clear, especially for older people. It is also important that we have rules on pre-contractual information in the Directive. It is important to know the consumer before and also importantly that we have regulated the right of withdrawal. I believe, however, that it is very important, Commissioner, that Member States add to what we are now doing in national legislation also sanctions if they do not comply.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the case of migration and what we are discussing today is a clear example that you must not take decisions before regulating. When Mrs Merkel made the decision to let go of migration, but we did not have it regulated, it happened that we had hundreds of thousands of migrants here and, of course, we could not provide them with what they needed. I agree to stand in solidarity. I agree, Commissioner, that we should finally have a migration pact that clearly explains and clearly regulates legal migration, that we should stop trafficking, because here we have problems. I do not agree with your phrase, that we have a half-built house, we have the house of the European Union, but we must know clearly how much we can receive, how we can receive and, when migration is illegal, reject it, because solidarity must go hand in hand with the security of European citizens. This is how I think we need to regulate, and I hope that the Council will finally let go of this migration package.

Mr President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, it is not often that we have such a common position in Parliament and I want to thank our colleagues, regardless of the political group, who claimed today that yes, the Republic of Moldova must go on the European path and, if it has to, then we must also support it. And it's not just the funds that are needed. I am a member of the Delegation for the Republic of Moldova, I know the Republic of Moldova very well, I frequently go there. They also need technical support, because reform in administration must first and foremost have the human resource for this. When I spoke with the government of the Republic of Moldova, they complained about this, that they do not have enough civil servants and, therefore, I ask the Commission, as I have asked before, in addition to financial support, to provide this technical assistance, so that reforms can be made and, yes, to start the path of accession to the European Union. There is no other way for the Republic of Moldova.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, of course, we are discussing a situation that concerns people's lives. Food, water, medicine ensure people's lives after all. I cannot help but say that I agree with what you have put forward, Commissioner, but my natural question is: I have been in Parliament since 2014, why a list of critical medicines that you say you want to do, are we doing it for the first time? Have we found out that health is a priority? It's good that we do. The problem is: when do we get those stocks of essential medicines for all citizens? You also said that no matter where a citizen lives, and so it is, they must have access to medicines. In my country, I receive petitions weekly, not monthly. Epilepsy drugs, thyroid drugs, cancer drugs are missing. Doctors in Romania have to choose who they give treatment to and who they abandon. It is terrible for a doctor to decide fate because of the shortage of medicines. You said we had measures, but here we are, 60% of the shortage has increased. What are we doing concretely? Because things need to be solved now and not in the future, because people's lives don't wait for us to solve problems. Health is a priority.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, frankly, I did not understand your message, Commissioner, and I will explain why. You started by saying that the Schengen area is the greatest achievement of the European Union, then you say that the Schengen area does not work, then you say: ‘Oh, we boast, we had 485 000 tourists’. When are you telling the truth? Do you like to be a free-moving Schengen area? If you like it, be the guardian of the treaties. What have you done with Romania and Bulgaria? How do you get humiliated by a man from Austria? If by December Romania and Bulgaria do not enter the Schengen area, be sure that you will be decreed by European citizens as a gravedigger of the European project. It is not possible, guardian of the Treaties, to accept that a Member State violates a regulation in operation, to be clear. We have a migration regulation and we have a Schengen regulation. The Schengen Regulation is breached without a legal reason. What did you do as guardian of the treaties? Come say here that you suddenly want to analyze corruption. But the corruption in the European Commission related to the President's process with public procurement, what do you do with them? How do you want to be credible? How do you want to increase the trust of European citizens in the European Union? If you don't change your attitude, of course, next year will be a disaster in the European Parliament elections.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, of course, the road transport sector is responsible for many: emissions and, unfortunately, loss of life. We know that efforts have been made in recent years to improve infrastructure. We need to have a smart road transport system. The problem is implementation. I must say, Commissioner, you mentioned the car parks. As a member of the Committee on Transport and Tourism, I visited several car parks - not only in my own country, in an eastern country. We've been to France, where we know drivers were killed in parking lots. Parking is not secure. From my point of view, I think there is a huge difference between the possibilities of implementation, which I do not contest. Everyone knows the benefits of a smart system. The problem is implementation, because as long as we have very big differences in the internal market (and now I am speaking as Vice-Chair of the Committee on the Internal Market), we risk fragmenting the market, if not all Member States will be able to be connected to this system in real conditions, obviously, and not ultimately affect by the technologies of the integrated system, which must be complementary, be reliable, be tested. That is why I think it takes a lot of caution and a lot of monitoring of how it is applied in each country and what financial possibilities (after all, it is also about money) each state can have, so that this strategy really brings the effects that we all want, namely intelligent, safe and with fewer accidents, if possible, on road transport.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, today we are debating the working conditions of firefighters and volunteers, who do the same with qualified firefighters. I want to congratulate all firefighters and tell you that I am proud of the firefighters in my country, in Romania. We celebrated Firefighters Day in Romania on September 13th. Firefighters in my country have participated in many actions in other states and in my country, but in addition to these congratulations, we need to have concrete measures, for example: European standards for equipment - stop their helmets melting, Commissioner, in their firefighting actions. We also need a treatment of volunteers to attract them, to become qualified firefighters afterwards, because there is a minus. We also need equal health insurance in the European Union, because firefighting teams go from one country to another. Last but not least, we need an equal regime in the 27 states regarding the retirement of firefighters. Of course, the living conditions of firefighters and, as has been said here, the risk is much higher. That's why we need to do concrete things to be credible.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, it is clear that the European Union needs reform. It needs reform so that citizens' trust is at the level we need. President Ursula's speech yesterday did not reach the hearts of the citizens. It was a personal praise. He didn't talk about the citizens. He didn't talk about how to get facts, not words. People expect their lives to improve, and you can't have double language. President Ursula praised Romania for good practice at the borders and, at the same time, Romania has been kept outside the Schengen area for 16 years. We can't say one thing and do another. There's another problem: I believe that the fact that one man can block the votes of 26 does not mean democracy. We let Austria fly, hypocritically, in the European Union, blocking the internal market, fragmenting the internal market and nothing happens to it, although the Commission obviously has the Treaty at hand and, when a regulation is breached, it must act against the Member State. This is why the European Parliament needs to be able to take initiatives. It is the only Parliament in the world that does not have this right.

Madam President, Commissioner, I must say that I am disappointed because the things you have listed that you want to do for SMEs have been going on since 2014 when I have been in this Parliament. About what? Cutting red tape: We had the Small Business Act, where every piece of legislation had to pass, so that there would be no administrative burden unless something else was brought out. Late payments: We have a directive, studies have been carried out in the past mandate, we have shown that it does not work. What do you want to do now with late payments, because we have a legislative act? Access to public procurement: the Directive on public procurement has been amended. I have personally called for the directive, when it has been amended, to clearly and clearly include access for SMEs, for contracts to be fragmented so that SMEs can take out a contract, that they cannot take out very large contracts, and for payment to be made to subcontractors. Nothing's been done. What to hope for SMEs, because we have been hearing these things for years. I worked as an SME, I was Minister for SMEs, I am in the SME intergroup, I am Vice-President for the Internal Market. Commissioner, convey this message to the President. Today it has praised itself, but nothing has been done about the concrete problems for the internal market and especially for SMEs.

Mr President, Commissioner, of course the question is welcome. What do we do with the agreement with the United States? You are well aware that in the past mandate the TTIP agreement was tried and failed. It was a failure. I believe that America, through the IRA, is practicing protectionism that puts our companies at a disadvantage and it will not be easy to negotiate, but the Commission must carry out this negotiation. I was on Parliament's side the Internal Market Committee a month ago in Washington and we met with the Biden administration. Perhaps it is good now to press, until the elections in the United States, to conclude this agreement and I believe that we must resume the abandoned trade agreement, that TTIP, which will ensure us a reciprocal market, to the European Union and the United States, to the companies in the European Union and the United States, so that we do not have to resort only to the Chinese market for the materials of... important raw materials.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we are debating an extremely important regulation. I think we're debating it late. I think that this regulation should have been launched at least with the launch of the Green Deal, because we need to understand that things must be done at the same time. We cannot launch the Green Deal, we cannot launch the reindustrialisation strategy of the European Union without having this regulation, this legislative document related to ensuring the sustainable supply of critical raw materials. That is why I believe, Commissioner, that this is also part of the budget. We need to see how we can work at the same time on substitute raw materials, because the European Union can be competitive with other states only if it has secure, sustainable raw materials. Let's not depend on China and other countries and produce in the European Union, because yes, we want a green economy, we want a clean economy, but we also want sustainable competition and jobs.

Mr President, Commissioner, there are 32 weeks left and you are out of office, we are out of the European Parliament. One of the mottos of the European Union is that all citizens are equal. I am returning home with sadness, I tell you rightly, because since 2014 I have been advocating for Romanians to have equal rights with citizens and I will give you three examples in which the citizens of my country are discriminated against. One example is the Schengen area. Parliament voted 5-6 times. Nothing's going on. The Commission is the guardian of the Treaties. There is a legal basis to act on Austria. Nothing happened. What should we tell Romanians in the electoral campaign to come to vote for the European Parliament elections? The second discrimination is related to the visa for the United States. Commissioner, the Treaty provides for reciprocity. If the United States does not allow Romanian citizens to enter there, you can apply that point. And I also have a discrimination that I can't respond to. It's about subsidies for farmers in Romania, compared to what they... (The Chair withdrew the floor of the speaker)

Mr President, Commissioner, I want to tell you that I am very glad that we have come to have on the table and to vote, I hope, tomorrow, because I even tried with your minister, Commissioner from France, in 2013, to make such a proposal to the European Commission at that time, because I found that the porcelain from France and the ceramics from Romania were counterfeited on a large scale and I believe very much that there are many benefits. In addition to protecting producers, we also protect consumers from buying fake products, we develop these professions and trades in rural areas and pass them on. We also have a cultural heritage and it is very, very important that you have focused and stressed, Commissioner, that we are developing small and medium-sized enterprises, micro-enterprises. In my country there are in rural areas many craftsmen who make pottery, traditional folk costumes, which until now were totally unprotected. International protection is very important. It is also important that in this regulation we simplify things as opposed to trade mark protection. I hope we can implement them as well.