Speeches

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, it seems that today we are debating and voting on normality. But, frankly, I was surprised by the views of some colleagues in which they consider that there is no need to have this law, that everything is regulated between employers and unions, that it will create bureaucracy for SMEs. I come from the private sector. It's aberrant what our colleagues support. It is clear that we now have a difference in wages, in the same work performed by women and men. And if in a democratic society there is no voluntary compliance, we must intervene to regulate. That is why I believe this is necessary and I believe that everyone must understand that there must be no pay gap. Not like my colleague used to say about cleaning women. We are talking about the same job, the same responsibility, the same workload. So, at the same work, the same pay for women and men. And I will vote for this directive with all my heart, but enforcement is the responsibility of the Member States. We all need to see if this directive applies in our Member State.

Madam President, Commissioner, Ombudsman, I would like to congratulate you from the outset. You showed professionalism and courage, you had the courage to write correctly about the things that are incorrect in the European institutions and this is your role, that we are talking about the Commission, that we are talking about Parliament or the Council. What is unpleasant, however, is that we still do not have the answer to what you have tried to find out, namely from the President of the Commission. I am the rapporteur on the Commission discharge and believe me that I have a dilemma: what to do with the 2021 Commission discharge? We have not been answered to the questions, as the Committee on Budgetary Control, why are we still specialised committees in Parliament? I think you have to keep it that way. This is what European citizens want, because if the European institutions do not show transparency, citizens cannot trust the European Union and you must continue. In my opinion, Parliament supports you, a majority of Parliament, obviously, but if the Commission does not understand, and Parliament does not understand, that we have had cases of colleagues in Parliament, now, recently, do these European officials not understand that they must be examples in the lives of citizens? We cannot have a united European Union.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we all want energy efficiency, we all want the citizens of our country to pay a lower bill. I come from the private sector and I know that before you make an efficiency, you have a cost. Before you can achieve efficiency, you need to make an investment. That's the way it is here. And I think of the citizens of my country, especially those in the countryside. 60% of Romanian citizens will not be able to bear the costs. That is why, Commissioner, if the financial sector is also involved in supporting change, yes, we will be able to do so. If we don't, we'll impoverish people instead of helping them. And I think we need to take into account the cost-benefit ratio and adjust our ambition to the possibility of applying. Because if you are too ambitious in business and do not take into account the cost-benefit relationship, you go bankrupt. That is why I think it is good to find support mechanisms if we want to implement this directive.

Mr President, Commissioner, I would also like to congratulate the Commission on the fact that we can discuss this subject today. Since recent years, we can see that there is a great need to involve the civilian population in the results of natural or man-made disasters. That is why I believe that we need to increase the number of volunteers in each Member State, whether we are talking about volunteers in the field of firefighters or we are talking about volunteers in the field of health. The problem I see is, Commissioner, that we should... (The president interrupted the speaker). Commissioner, I am trying to repeat, I am glad that we are debating this and I am glad that the European Commission has also thought about the importance of volunteering, the fact that in recent years we have natural disasters, floods, droughts, here are earthquakes or disasters caused by people. It is clear that we need to increase volunteering in the European Union, in all Member States, whether we are talking about volunteering in the field of health or in the field of firefighters. But, Commissioner, I think we need to make some common rules, to train these volunteers according to the same rules, because, you see now, the case with the Turks, volunteers went, specialised teams went, but also volunteers from several Member States. And if every state has different rules on volunteering, I think we can't have the results we expect. Then, I think we need to motivate, to find levers through which to motivate the civilian population, the youth to do this volunteering in one field or another. Obviously, let's prepare them, because yes, I think that in other areas as well, not only in the ones you mentioned, we would need involvement as volunteers. In my country there is a law for volunteers and I think we could take examples of good practice from certain states where, in fact, through legislation, we motivate these volunteers: seniority is passed for this voluntary work and, of course, he accumulates for the pension period the necessary points to have an adequate pension. In a word, I would like to repeat, from my point of view, volunteering now is somewhat different in the 27 states. I think we need common rules, very good training and especially motivational factors for the civilian population to get involved in voluntary activities. Because we cannot foresee all natural catastrophes, we cannot foresee man-made catastrophes either. We need urgent intervention and then, with the help of volunteers, together with specialized teams, we can save lives, we can shorten the time to recover from the damage created by these disasters.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the situation of farmers is deteriorating from day to day. The answers you gave, Commissioner, to the questions asked, do not encourage farmers. And I'll explain why. And you know that. The Commission itself showed the dramatic increase in gas prices. The Commission itself points out that we do not now have the capacity to cover the needs of fertilisers in the whole range of fertilisers. What should farmers do? What should farmers do in my country, in Romania, Commissioner, if we cannot answer them why there is a different subsidy? We don't have two Europes, we have one Europe. Romania has a very good soil for agriculture, but if the conditions for using this soil are not at the level of the other states, obviously the farmers cannot use it. And I believe that food security, in addition to security, must be put first. I ask you directly, Commissioner: the measures ... you said you had no other measures - do you plan to rethink the CAP with a bigger budget halfway through the financial framework? Do you find alternative financing solutions? Because with that 50 euros a farmer can't do anything and we risk leaving the land uncultivated.

Mr President, High Representative, I would like to begin by congratulating you, Mr Borrell, for having made this extraordinary statement in your speech, namely to pronounce the word peace. I do not agree with what my colleague said before, that if we say peace we help Putin. No, we help stop people dying. And yes, you have to do this at the UN. Putin has killed enough people in Ukraine. I don't agree with what's been said, that guns don't help, they don't kill people. Guns kill people. That's why, Mr. Borrell, you're going down this path. We keep in touch, as the European Union, and with NATO, because we know well, Moldova is now supervised by Putin and we must also give importance to Moldova. My country is on the border with Ukraine. We helped Ukraine, Romania helped Ukraine, the European Union helped the citizens there, but we need to find a way to stop this disaster and the deaths of thousands of people.

Mr President, Commissioner, Minister, of course, we have all now seen that, in fact, Tunisia has taken steps backwards, through everything that has happened there, but that does not mean that we must abandon. This is where diplomacy comes in, Commissioner, Minister, let's see how we do not abandon the citizens, that it is not the dictators who are interesting to us and important, but the citizens. And yes, Tunisia is a partner, we have an agreement with Tunisia, we cannot abandon it. The important issue is to find the mechanisms by which, indeed, human rights are restored, the Constitution works in favour of the citizens and not in favour of a dictator. And yes, of course we must continue, through the levers we have, because we cannot do anything in a third country, but through the levers we have, to go to be close to the Tunisians and to return Tunisia to the path of democracy, as it started very well and, behold, the citizens had to endure such measures taken, from my point of view, by a dictator.

Mr President, Commissioner, Minister, ladies and gentlemen, we have been discussing in the European Parliament for almost four years about the need to have a body that analyses, ethically, behaviourally, implications. But, Commissioner, do you think it is a coincidence that the President of the Commission, having promised, when she took office, that she would come up with a proposal, stopped, because even because, or because, a suspicion of conflict of interest hangs over her? Today, I learned that an American publication has sued the Commissioner for refusing to give the conversation with Pfizer's contracts. Maybe that is why the Commission did not come up with the proposal and maybe that is why we need to urgently amend the regulation so that Parliament can have the right of legislative initiative. It cannot be that unelected people are superior to Parliament, with people elected by us. And I'll say one more thing: if we do not define the conflict of interest uniformly - in my country I was both a minister and a parliamentarian, there is that integrity agency and we make declarations and assets, not only of interests - if we have 27 models of conflict of interest, there will be nothing here in the European Parliament.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, of course, the European Union is a leader in environmental protection and we must stick to it. Every step towards human health is welcome. But listening to today's debate, I thought about what two important people in Romania were saying a long time ago: What can a historian learn from an engineer? And the answer of the politician of that time was: measure. We must think that here we are not regulating for ourselves, but we are regulating for the citizens, and we must understand how we can strike this balance, because today's regulation is not over with the vote we are giving this week, but we are going to have, Commissioner, policies, to transform European industry, to implement industrial policy, the reindustrialisation of the European Union, and obviously we have to think about how we protect citizens, not only from an environmental point of view, but also from an economic point of view, because it is clear, the financial capacity of citizens and Member States is different.

Madam President, Commissioner, since 2014, since I have been here, I have spoken several times about the rights of the child, the rights of Romanian children, who live in various states and who have been taken, simply brutally abducted, from their families, that they have been to Denmark, Norway, Finland. Now we have the case of a boy terrorized in Israel, although the court also proved that the father can take care of the child. From the age of 7 - and now he is 13 - five years old, practically, the father wants to recover his child. What can we do for the rights of the child? People are no longer trusting us. We have the 2021 social services report, we also have the 2022 medical expertise made, which recommends the immediate return of Ben's child to his father. What can we, the European Commission, do? What can we do, the European institutions? Because they are our children, Europeans, who live in one of the Member States or in third countries.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, of course, if it wasn't for this case of corruption that I think people of good faith regret, we regret it because it brings a stain on the institution we represent, I don't know if we had a debate. And I think we need to periodically propose, both the Commission and us, to analyze the work of NGOs as well. On the other hand, it would be a mistake to say that all NGOs are corrupt. The problem is that we have to have transparency, Commissioner, and you were talking about those rotten apples. How do you find them? You just said you must, you must, you must... but you didn't even give us an idea: how to identify those rotten apples that spoil the others. Then we have to start... In Romania, there is a proverb: The fish in the head is spoiled. The Commission itself does not have transparency on certain contracts. How do you conclude contracts, as was the case in the pandemic? How do you conclude contracts for certain studies? How are these auctions done? We don't know anything, we don't know, members of Parliament. That is why I believe and propose at the same time to have a regular analysis of the activity of NGOs working with European money, transparency, traceability of those who finance NGOs.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, of course, any crisis, any transition costs the poor most, poor citizens, small and medium-sized enterprises. The fact that we have an extra 20 billion through this REPowerEU programme is very good. The problem is to see how we spend it to get to the right place. And I am glad that through the efforts of several MEPs it was possible to introduce this amendment through which the recovery plans can be modified if they are well argued. Because, Commissioner, the conditions have changed and I am sure that we have an interest in spending efficiently any euro from this programme, and I think it is also very good for the fact that yes, at last, it has been put in this regulation and for the fact that we need to know the top 100 largest beneficiaries of this European money. We, in the Committee on Budgetary Control, have asked to know the final beneficiary of all European funds, but it is a step and I hope that we can continue so that the money reaches the right place.

Madam President, Commissioner, honourable colleagues, of course, I also start by expressing my condolences to the families who have lost a member, two or more, and to congratulate the rescue teams - and from my country they have been there - teams that have done their duty, they have also taken out people who are living after 100 hours, but that is not enough. I've seen politics here. I think we're talking about humanity, humanity, humanism. We don't have to do politics anymore, it's Syria, it's Turkey, we have to help people, we have to help families, children, women. And, Commissioner, these figures are not figures, they are people, and if we do not act further in Syria, by lane, with the exception of sanctions, other figures will come, with people who died because they do not have what they need, they are in the cold, they do not have medicines, they are those who were removed after 100 hours, who must have assistance. So I don't think we should congratulate each other. I believe that we must put politics aside and people's lives must not be on the right, the left, or the centre. We must act to save people.

Madam President, Minister, Commissioner, I want, first of all, to thank my fellow citizens who have helped Ukrainian refugees, millions of Ukrainians, since the start of this bloody conflict. Yes, everything must be done to stop the massacre of the civilian population, because innocent citizens are dying there and I believe, Commissioner, that your message given today is a timid message of peace, diplomatic support. That's what we're talking about. We have to do, we have to give support to the citizens, because there is no food for the population, there is no water sometimes, and we have to go for diplomatic support. But Ukraine must understand, as a state that has signed an accession agreement, that it must respect the rights of minorities and that is why I ask you, Commissioner, to check the respect of the status, of the agreement that Ukraine has signed, because, yes, Romanian minorities cannot speak in Romanian, they cannot learn in Romanian and now oppressions have started against Romanian Orthodox priests.

Mr President, Minister, Commissioner, of course, as the President has said, the issue of migration must be resolved - we have been hearing these things, at least I have been hearing them since 2014 - I think not with fences, as has been said here, because it would be the return to primitive, I think by very clear measures, by very clear implementation, by very clear procedures in which to define what irregular migration means. I am a humanist in my country, in a humanist party, and I want to help any man who can be helped, but we must not sell illusions that we are moving continents to Europe. Here we have to be very clear and I think I understand the anger of the Member States in which illegal migrants have arrived, but I do not think we have to resolve an injustice with another injustice and the deliberate confusion made by Austria, through which it invokes migration as a reason why Romania and Bulgaria should not enter, is actually a violation of the regulation. And I ask, Minister, the Swedish Presidency and I ask you, Commissioner, you know Romania very well, to stop mixing things up: a voted European regulation is binding on all Member States, and therefore also on Austria.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, from the outset I want to say that yes, we need to adapt the legislation, we need to strengthen workers' rights and the relationship between works councils and workers. But, Commissioner, you do not think that in management the personal example is very important, and I will refer here to three things that have been said. It is confidential information used by works councils, trade secrets, conflict of interest. Don't you think that even in the context of the Commission's conduct towards us, towards Parliament itself, these three things need to be clarified? Because, behold, I, in the Committee on Budgetary Control, asked the Commission, for example, the contracts on vaccines, and the Commission said that the commercial contracts are confidential. Very often we make resolutions and propose certain changes to you and the dialogue between us and the Commission is bad. I am relying on your experience, Commissioner, and I believe that in order to be able to implement regulations in the European Union, in the Member States, as is this need to amend the directive, the European Commission must lead by example through its own behaviour.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the fight against fraud and the protection of public money must be the constant concern of both the European Union and the Member States. Unfortunately, if we look at the figures, we find that we are taking a step back, because if we see the causes of fraud in 2021, compared to 2020, they are the same. Although we have added an institution with powers of control, such as the European Public Prosecutor's Office, and it is good that we have added, the problem is efficiency. I very much believe that we need to go to prevention and I think that the focus should be on how to focus manipulations in certain situations where money can be defrauded, for example public procurement. They're the same people who win public procurement. We still don't know where it is, who the final beneficiary is, and we are still debating this in the Budget Control Commission. Of course, we need to resolve conflicts of interest and it is good that you have proposed to review, because you, Commissioner, said, we have regulations, we have directives, we have procedures, but the results are very important. And I also told the Court of Auditors when I presented the report, it is not only important for the accountant to be able to justify the money, but we need to see the efficiency of the money invested. Finally, I draw particular attention to the major threats posed by cross-border crime, and here a solution must be found with the institutions responsible.

Madam President, Commissioner, esteemed EIB team, dear colleagues, we all know that banks in general are very important for the economic development and social life of people, but now we are talking about the EIB. And yes, the European Investment Bank has also been through the problems of the pandemic and the crisis, and we all know that we have all faced this crisis. As a member of the CONT Committee, however, I am of the opinion, as always, that it is good to take into account as much as possible and to make an analysis that all the measures you take have an impact on the economy and especially on SMEs. And I am glad that you reported here that you had loans granted to SMEs, but I believe that you need to strengthen this in the future and increase support for SMEs, that in the end SMEs are the backbone, we all say in the European economy. And I cannot conclude without telling you that, I think very well, it was very good that the 2021 agreement with Europol was concluded, because it is always cheaper to prevent than to correct afterwards. That is why I believe that risk prevention and detection is very important and now for the Commission I have a recommendation that there should be more transparency when you give opinions, which projects are financed by the EIB?

Madam President, Commissioner, of course, it is good that we are looking at how to increase industrial competitiveness. First of all, we must have a European industry. Let's not forget that we depend on imports. There is almost no industrial product to which we do not need imports to supplement. Therefore, I believe that in order to start capacities that complete the value chain for each product we need investments, we need targeted investments. And there is another problem, Commissioner, there has been talk here of America's strategy - First America. We can't stop the Americans, but let's do it too. first Europe, to find solutions in which to complete these value chains, to integrate SMEs there, to allocate budgets and Member States and the European budget for innovation, because otherwise we will not be able to be competitive. And I think it is possible, the important thing is to want to do this and to make it organized.

Madam President, Mr President of the Council, Commissioner, I must say that I liked the conclusions, they are correct, they are good. It is important how we apply them, because I remind you that we have a two-year reindustrialisation strategy and nothing has happened. Now we have an industrialization plan, I hope it's in the sense of that strategy, but I would add three things that, frankly, I'm surprised you didn't catch. Mr President, Commissioner, there is nothing written here about SMEs. What do we do with SMEs? SMEs are being crushed by all the overlapping crises and I would have liked to see measures for SMEs included in this project. Two, of course they're good to have new trade deals, but it's important how we do them. We still have unfair competition on the internal market and I say it as Vice-Chair of this committee and three cannot talk about the single market and I said and yesterday I will not use this term, I will talk about the internal market until the market is single. That is why I think you should propose that Romania and Bulgaria be part of the internal market. Let it really be a single market, let us not have the fragmentation of the internal market. And yes, I would have loved to see and hear the word peace. How do we walk the path of peace between Ukraine and Russia, because the entire European euro continent suffers?

Madam President, Prime Minister, ladies and gentlemen, I too wish to express my hope that the Swedish Presidency will bring good results. Prime Minister, you said you wanted a more ethical, greener, safer Europe. I haven't heard the word fair, more social, more just. Because, look, yesterday we paid tribute to 30 years since the establishment of the internal market and we still do not have a single market. You used this term, single market. You have the opportunity, Prime Minister, to enter the history of the European Union, to unify the market and, as has been said here, to make the two states and the millions of citizens in Romania, my country and Bulgaria, have full rights to the movement of goods. The citizens of my country have listened to you. Do you think that drivers who stay for 3-4 days at the border because they are not part of Schengen, have the hope that you will correct this fairness? Please, Mr. Prime Minister, answer me, so that I can also answer my citizens. And I wish you success, because only together, with solidarity, can we be strong in the global market.

Mr President, Commissioner, it is almost a year since the war between Ukraine and Russia led to the loss of lives. And there perish not only Ukrainians and minorities. My country has helped, received millions of Ukrainians and helped Ukraine. What is the reward? President Zelenskyy promulgates a law, although he was warned, and I made these steps, not to promulgate the law prohibiting minorities, Romanians, over 400,000, to speak and learn in Romanian. Yesterday, Romania celebrated the Day of Culture and the day of the greatest poet, Mihai Eminescu, internationally known poet, born in Chernivtsi, which is now Ukrainian land, once Romanian. The Romanians there couldn't organize anything, they can't talk. Romanian priests are closing their churches. I ask the European Commission to verify the accession agreement. I voted for Ukraine's accession agreement. There is a point where respect for the rights of minorities is demanded. President Zelenskyy no longer respects this. And let's not confuse war with minority rights. I dressed in white as a sign of peace, but I fight for my Romanians there to have their rights respected.

Mr President, Minister, Commissioner, colleagues, the internal market - everyone has said here - is the heart of the European Union, it is the platform. You called it in every way. Yeah, it's like a house: base, foundation. But it's not just the foundation that matters. It is important how we build. That's why I think it's good to think about 30 years now: how to modernise the internal market, how to make it strong in global competition, how to make those rights enshrined in the Treaty: free movement of workers and free movement of goods? I will not use the term single market that you used because, in my view, as a Romanian, it is not a single market, it is an internal market, but it is not a single market. That is why I hope that Sweden will have the ambition to unite the two fragmented segments now: Schengen and non-Schengen markets. And I also believe, Commissioner, that it is very important how we defend, how we protect the internal market. That is why I believe that the Commission should present an implementation report on the Unfair Practices Directive, because we are well aware that we still have problems with imports from third countries that create unfair competition for producers. And then, and a safety for consumer protection. I think we all have an obligation: the Member States, the Commission, the Council, the Parliament and, ultimately, the citizens, to protect the internal market, because it is good for everyone.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I believe that everyone knows that the security of critical infrastructure has shared competence and responsibility. Obviously, the Member States have the obligation to take all measures to secure themselves, but also the Commission, because we cannot, it has been said here, cross-border, companies cannot defend themselves. That is why I believe that, Commissioner, the first thing we need to clarify is what falls within the competence of the Commission and what falls within the competence of the Member States, and explicitly to make this plan. We're in the cold season. What happened to the Nord Stream pipeline can still happen. People can't freeze to death in their homes. After all, we have an internal market. This was the basis of the European Union and we must also have a European strategy for energy and all other resources. That is why I believe that there should also be more cooperation between the Commission and the Member States, and between the Member States, but this must be done coherently and not randomly and we should not react only when something happens.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, if it has yet to be demonstrated that the right of veto is anachronistic, we are thinking of the vote on 8 December, when Austria misused that right of veto. Abusively because it had no legal argument present in the Schengen Regulation and, behold, it keeps almost 40 million people out of the Treaty right of free movement of citizens within the European Union. We signed the same treaty with Romania and Bulgaria. Citizens of my country and Bulgaria have the same citizenship rights. How can we talk about free movement? How can we talk about the competence of the companies from the two countries when there are 48 or even more trucks at the border? Commissioner, I have sent a letter to the Commission. Thank you to your colleagues who have signed and will sign that we still have a deadline. I urge you immediately to make changes, to amend the Treaty and to eliminate abuse through the veto of the Member States.