Speeches

Honourable Commissioner, Honourable Vice-President. At the beginning of our mandate, we talked a lot about the Green Deal. Very little was said about industry, about the competitiveness of the European economy. Covid has shown that we do not have strategic autonomy. The war has finally revealed how much protectionism, protectionist moves by various large countries, and how, all of a sudden, Europe lacks critical materials and how big economies overtake us on the left and right. Therefore, I support all efforts that go in the direction of increasing competitiveness, breakthroughs in various technological fields. However, I am a strong supporter of the need to do this by simplifying procedures, by acknowledging the principle of technological neutrality. Even in the American IRA Act, this technological neutrality is very much taken into account, they also support small modular reactors. Therefore, I think that we will succeed if we swear by technological neutrality, simplification of legislation and direct support for those who have development projects.

Dear Commissioner, Mr President-in-Office! As has already been said today, glyphosate is certainly the most inspected pesticide, a herbicide for weed control. I can safely say that probably no drug has been as reviewed as glyphosate has been in use for almost 50 years. This last review was also given and entrusted to four countries – France, Germany – France, the Netherlands, Hungary and Sweden. That is, four countries stand behind numerous reviews, 1500 studies, 100 new studies, 12,000 scientific articles, 180,000 pages of reviewed materials. We have already heard the Chemicals Agency, the Food Safety Agency, today the Commissioner responsible for food safety and health spoke to us on behalf of the Commission. I believe that some people are not convinced. European farmers certainly need pesticides to use in their work. I am also a fruit grower and have been using glyphosate in a plantation for 30 years. The sprinkler belt under the apple trees is getting narrower, because we use mechanical soil treatment. New technologies are coming, and we farmers are certainly the first to have an interest in our own safety, and none of us has an interest in anyone being harmed by our food or harming their health. This is one of the most ideological debates. And unfortunately, in ideology, the facts say nothing. However, I will support the facts and therefore welcome the Commission's decision to extend ... (The Chair shall take the floor from the speaker.)

Madam President! I come from Slovenia, where the firefighter is the most respected profession. In Slovenia, we have just under 900 professional firefighters, 160,000 members of volunteer firefighting associations, and I have been a firefighter for 40 years, among them about 60,000 firefighters who can go into action. It is essential that professional and volunteer firefighters work well together. In any case, we cannot imagine solving fires, and floods like last year and this year in Slovenia, in many parts of Europe, without this army of volunteer fire brigades and firefighters. We must first provide these firefighters with high-quality equipment so that they can protect themselves well. The state also helps by paying insurance for them. On the other hand, they are tax deductions on personal income tax and in this way encourage firefighters. In Slovenia, we have no problems with joining firefighting associations, young people are involved. In any case, we must provide them with normal conditions and, in doing so, also use European funds, which is what we are doing in Slovenia.

Dear rapporteur! Dear Commissioner, Vice-President! It was also with great pleasure and speed that we received this report in the Committee on Regional Development. We agree with all these basic goals of increasing the extraction of raw materials in Europe, of increasing the share of processing in Europe, of recycling as well as of diversifying our flows where these raw materials come from. Of course, we focused mainly on areas related to regional development. I therefore also welcome your reflection, Commissioner, on the importance of the role of local communities, regions, in this area. Without an agreement, there will be no social acceptance in the regions for these areas, which are very demanding. That is why, also from our side, the report adds to the importance of involving local communities early in the decision-making, placement processes, as well as for local communities to benefit from these projects in the form of new jobs, new challenges and opportunities for people in the field. We also put emphasis on the candidate countries for accession to the European Union. There are a lot of projects and also raw materials. It is right to include them in this debate, in strategic projects. In any case, we also agree that aluminium becomes a strategic raw material. We have accepted this in our report.

Dear Commissioner! Dear Vice-President! I very much welcome the fact that we are talking so much about agriculture in this area today. In her annual address, the President of the European Commission referred to agriculture and also said that she wanted to create normal conditions for farming. I think that this debate, which is the result of a letter from Commissioner von der Leynova, the president, to the profession to talk about wolf populations, is also part of this debate. I have grandchildren myself. I read fairy tales about them, but I only talk about wolves not because I would read fairy tales, but because I meet Slovenian farmers who are experiencing great trauma due to a very large population in the last ten years, the population of wolves and bears. It has tripled in the last ten years. And these beasts come into the courtyard, and barns, and do great damage. Hunters also warn that great damage is being done in forests, because wolves, bears have no natural enemies and the population of deer, deer, is decreasing, where wolves grow up, where there is a larger population of wolves. That is why I think it is right that we speak responsibly about this topic and that we also find solutions that will preserve the beasts in the long run. We can be glad that this Natura works, that we have this population, but it must not by any means pass through these figures that are normal for coexistence. That is why I very much support this debate and I believe that the experts will provide quality data.

Madam President. Hvala za besedo in tudi hvala za odlično razpravo, ki kaže na razdeljenost tega Parlamenta, kar je tudi jasen znak, da je ta predlog zelo problematičen. Europe is very diverse. In Europe, we have different, from Malta to Finland, I myself come from Slovenia, where we have 60 percent of forests, 39 percent of nature, excellent cooperation with beekeepers and also excellent biodiversity. Therefore, many of the measures envisaged here, which do not allow and do not take into account this specificity, are very problematic. Za nas je problematično, da izgubimo deset procentov kmetijske površine, ker imamo zelo malo kmetijske zemlje. We also want more hydropower, so we can't imagine how we're going to demolish the dams on the rivers. On the other hand, we do not even think about the flooding of agricultural land. I therefore think that it is right to ensure a good law, a new law in which we will also have sources of funding, predictable measures, and that farmers, foresters, landowners and, above all, young farmers will also support this, not protest, as they did today before Parliament.

Good evening, dear Vice-President of the European Commission, Madam President-in-Office, dear colleagues! Colleague Novakov prepared an excellent report in which we talk about very important topics, that is, about the connectivity of the European Union. We are talking about transport corridors that run from Portugal to the East, from the Baltic States, also through my Slovenia, to the South. And as we can see, we have a lot of problems with the implementation of these projects. First of all, these are the so-called administrative burdens, where procedures drag on for a long time, financing problems, on the other hand, also within countries: First of all, the lack of preparation of projects, and later, also due to various political changes, the replacement of different priorities. Therefore, it is right to warn and to continue with these major projects at an accelerated pace, because traffic is increasing. I also come, as I said, from Slovenia, which is basically connected to the west, east, south in Central Europe. In recent years, traffic has been growing. Thanks to TEN-T projects, we have also made some upgrades on the railways, and we have also built a road, motorway corridor, which is becoming increasingly problematic every day with 6% of traffic growth. The entry of the Western Balkan countries into the European Union will also be a major, major challenge for us. First of all, we must help them to be connected, and certainly additional traffic flows will also burden the already existing traffic flows, including through my country, so it is also necessary to think about this for the future.

Mr President, Commissioner, Vice-President. We can thank European farmers for having healthy food, food available at prices that average Europeans buy, and for having the most sustainable agriculture. Farmers are always supporters of the European Union, but today, waiting for these applications for subsidies for this year, they look with fear at what we are preparing for them in the European Parliament and, above all, at the proposal of the European Commission. That is why many European farmers are on the road – Dutch, but also Slovenian – who simply do not understand why we should ban the use of pesticides on almost half of the agricultural land we lack. Where are those new seeds that will be more resistant to diseases, pests? Where are the new methods of precision agriculture that could solve the problem? We need to help farmers, not impose new barriers, because otherwise Europe will be hungry, as it was after the Second World War.

Dear Commissioner, esteemed Vice-President, colleagues, honourable visitors, it is cohesion policy that implements two key principles of the European Union. On the one hand, the principle of solidarity, that is to say, more funding is given to those regions of the country that are more affected, whether they are remote regions, mountainous regions or less developed regions. Cohesion policy also complies with the principle of subsidiarity, i.e. it is up to the local level to decide how to move forward. In recent years, we have witnessed numerous crises, and in these crises, we are also rightly using state aid and reacting to sometimes these asymmetric crises that occur across countries. We have now also approached this principle of state aid in green technologies. I think we have quite a few problems here, because it can be seen in the end that it is easier for rich countries to pay for this aid. In March 2022, 77% of this aid was in Germany and France, 53 and 24% respectively. For example, these two countries have 42% of GDP and this aid is asymmetrical. I am even more afraid that aid will come to centres, not to the countryside, where we particularly need these cohesion policy instruments. I therefore ask and address, honourable Commission, that you have in mind the problem of steady development and, in particular, the problem of what our President Omarjee points out, the problem of these affected regions.

Dear Sir/Madam, The Fit for 55 package is an ambitious part of the Green Deal. It concerns energy and the topics we are dealing with today: emission allowances, CBAM mechanism, Social Fund. On the one hand, we want to help the climate, get rid of greenhouse gases, on the other hand, we also want to limit the access and entry of CO2 from other continents through products, and at the same time, with the Social Fund, help those who will be hit hardest by this arrival, the transition. The price of energy has risen sharply since the war in Ukraine. In Slovenia, we are closing the production of aluminium after 68 years. On the other hand, we need to think about people who live in hills and need vehicles, and the energy products will be loaded with coupons. It is also necessary to think, I do not know, about 16 million Poles who have district heating. That is why we are taking an important step, but at the same time we must be careful not to affect those who are most vulnerable in this situation.

Madam President, Honourable Commissioner, Honourable Colleagues! I come from Slovenia, which can be quietly called a beekeeping country. We have 11,000 beekeepers per two million people, the most per capita. We have an excellent beekeeping association, which was the initiator of the honey breakfast, so for decades in Slovenia, every third Friday, young people learn about biodiversity, the role of bees. We also have World Bee Day, which was an initiative of our beekeeping association. Since 2011, there has been no killing of bees in Slovenia. And you know why? Because beekeepers and farmers work together, because we respect each other, we respect the rules. Finally, the President of the Beekeepers' Association said: “As long as the rules are respected, there is no problem.” I'm a fruit grower myself. I use pesticides and have been driving bees into my orchard during flowering for 30 years. Do you know whose bees have been in my orchard for the last ten years? Bees from my son. Ten beehives are kept in the orchard every spring. No bees have ever died. I therefore think that, even with our regulations, we must be moderate, respect the rules, go in this direction, so as to give farmers the opportunity to have resistant varieties, adopt this legislation, have technical solutions in the context of precision agriculture, have other solutions that have proven to be suitable in agroecological methods, and we farmers are introducing them. Therefore, I do not think that the tendency to debate and to completely eliminate pesticides in a very short period of time is realistic. I support today's debate.

Madam President! Thank you to Norbert Lins for this question, so that today we can talk about the importance of fertilisers and, at the same time, we can calmly see how the war in Ukraine has revealed that we in Europe have not cared enough for all three basic security: on the one hand military, food, as well as energy. The sharp rise in the price of gas, which was largely linked to the war, made the production of mineral fertilizers more expensive. In the meantime, there have also been unjustified earnings for those who manipulate it, as these higher prices lead to increased food prices, inflation and, unfortunately, poverty among many Europeans. It is therefore crucial to ensure that energy supply in Europe is strengthened, that we have a stable market here, but also that we take care of the European mineral fertiliser industry and that, here too, Europe becomes strategically autonomous and that we have production on our own soil. Of course, other measures are also urgently needed: an even load on livestock production throughout Europe, which also results in sufficient organic mineral fertilisers for soil fertility; on the other hand, a ring in which we will use more legumes, more legumes, at the same time we will tackle both the problem of protein deficiency in feed and the binding of nitrogen from the air. Precision farming techniques, new breeding techniques that also yield better results, are important. Of course, we will also need additional funds for all of this, so let us pay attention to this when we also review this financial perspective and allocate more funds to agriculture.

Can we roughly say that, through this programme, there will then be as much investment as we have received from the countries that joined the European Union in the last ... after 2004? That's between $5,000 and $8,000 in the head. And will this money also be shared in some way more according to the principles of cohesion policy, where many people are involved in these projects, not just large national projects that are tied to governments and ministries. I think that the decentralisation of these countries and the fact that projects reach concrete people on the ground is important so that people [...] express greater willingness and enthusiasm to join the European Union.

Dear Commissioner, during the enlargement process, we talk a lot about these political problems, such as conflicts between countries, but also respect for the rule of law. I personally believe that the biggest problem in the Western Balkans is a growing backlog in various policies, including infrastructure, a large backlog in environmental infrastructure, broadband infrastructure. On the other hand, we also have problems with energy. Very much of the coal used to produce electricity is heated and, accordingly, pollutes the air. [...] And the third big problem is the poor perspective of young people and the departure of young people from this work all over the world. Do you think that an increase in these investments in this area would be, on the one hand, an approximation of this part of Europe to European standards, which they will have to respect anyway when they are members of the European Union, and, on the other hand, an increase in support for the accession of these countries to the European Union.

Madam President. We are discussing a very important topic, and energy is also one of those that, also because of the war, marked a great deal last year and will continue to do so in the future. We are also talking about US measures to de-escalate inflation, and one of these measures taken in the US is very much related to the use of nuclear energy. They plan on how to transform coal sites into nuclear sites, how to create an ecosystem, environment, production of technologies in the field of existing nuclear energy, subsidize with fifteen dollars per megawatt also the construction of power plants, as well as subsidize and accelerate the construction of modular blocks and investments in fusion. Is this possible in Europe? For I myself firmly believe that it will not help us to shape markets, talk a lot only about renewables, unless nuclear energy is included in this low-carbon mix. And we know that electrification is the basis for the transition to a low-carbon society. Is something similar planned for this year in the European Union's actions?

Mr President, the single market, with its four freedoms, is a very great achievement for the European Union, and we can peacefully call it the heart of the EU. Free crossing of the border, export of goods, services, exchange of students - this is something that we take for granted today, but it is because it was so agreed thirty years ago. It has brought prosperity to Europeans, and 450 million of us are enjoying these benefits today. I myself come from Slovenia, a country that is an open economy, where exports account for 80% of GDP, and three quarters of these exports are to EU countries. And for us, one study found that the effect of the common market, the benefits of the common market, is five times greater than the effect of European funds obtained from the European Union. The European market, the common market, also tries to influence global markets with its climate rules, labour rights rules, rules around respect for human rights. Surely we also proved ourselves in crises, because we had joint research and later the purchase of a vaccine. Today we are buying gas together. We certainly have some major challenges ahead: the digital market, digital services, including food security, will be our major challenge in the future. And we will have to address many of the climate challenges/crises together. Protectionism is something that is destroying the common market, and since it is happening both within the European Union and beyond our borders, with great competitors, it is also necessary to pay great attention to it.

Madam President-in-Office, honourable Commissioner, esteemed rapporteur, I am pleased that we can address the long-term vision of rural development. The vision with which we are actually rounding up the goals that we have already written into the concept of smart villages since 2016, i.e. to solve the problem of depopulation, on the one hand, the departure of young people from the countryside, and on the other hand, the ageing of people. It also provides all the necessary infrastructure, including broadband connections, which have been shown to be essential in rural areas too, in order to provide rural areas with opportunities for new jobs and, at the same time, for quality of life. Agriculture is a basic activity. Here, too, new approaches are needed in the context of precision agriculture. Agriculture has shown that it is resilient even during the Covid era. On the other hand, tourism, the energy sector, care for the elderly, e-health in rural areas must also be added to agriculture, and in this way we will do what we want – strengthen rural areas. That is why we need to secure funding from different sources. All levels, from local to European, must take care of this. In any case, this must become a common policy in the future, because without a rural development policy, rural areas will suffer similar problems as in the past. Rural development must become a public policy.

Mr President, honourable Commissioner, dear colleagues. The Habitats Directive works perfectly on the case of wild carnivores, because the population that was completely threatened has become so numerous that it now threatens others in nature. In Slovenia, the country where the Commissioner and I come from, over the course of 10 years, 300 wolves have produced 1 200 wolves, 20 to 30 wolves, and bears – 300 to 400 to 1 200 wolves. Of the 30 wolves, about 130 are now wolves. Dear Commissioner, I invite you to go together to Bloke, Kočevska, Gorenjska and talk to the farmers who are being attacked daily by the beasts of this animal. And I think we'll come to the conclusion that something needs to be done in the protection status. I am pleased that this hearing has finally arrived here in the European Parliament, but that will not be enough. We need to take action to change the protection status and help regulate the balance in nature that is being upset today.

Madam President, diabetes, diabetes, or even a silent killer, we like to call you a widespread disease. The silent killer, however, is because many of us do not know whether he is our companion or not. 33 million people are already diagnosed in Europe as diabetes patients today, 38 are expected to be by 2030, and I myself was diagnosed a month ago with a medical examination in the European Parliament that it is better to start taking pills and to catch sugar levels close to the limit. At the same time, the doctor logically told what needs to be done. Lose between 10 to 15 pounds, have a healthier lifestyle, exercise. I am speaking because I think the most important thing in all of this is that we really ensure accessibility to diagnosis, that people realize as soon as possible that diabetes is our companion, that we also have access to treatment that is at the same level throughout Europe. That is why it is right that this is a European action, that we also have research in this area and that, also with the help of European funds, and especially national funds, we finance preventive actions and also the treatment of this disease itself. The exchange of good practices is certainly very important. I am very pleased that, on World Diabetes Day, we are also addressing this important point in the European Parliament.

Madam President, Commissioner, thank you for the message we received today on food security and the link with mineral fertilisers. Yesterday in the Committee on Agriculture, and also today, you said how great these increases were and how the costs for the farmer have increased. And indeed he himself, as well as European farmers, expect some concrete help from the Commission. In the measures you have listed, there are measures by which, I must simply say, I do not know what to say to farmers, with what they will help themselves? By encouraging investment in hydrogen so that ammonia is produced from natural resources, I do not know whether we will save European farmers, nor food security, because I fear that the fall in the consumption of fertilisers and, consequently, of crops will be so great that next autumn we will be more afraid of whether gas will be in European storages, we will be afraid of whether food will be in European granaries. In the way we address it with this message, I do not think we will solve the problem.

Honourable Commissioner, Honourable Colleagues, Colleagues, Rapporteurs. The budget for each year is the most important political document that we are adopting and must at the same time follow the vision, development and also respond to the current situation that arises. Surely 2023 is an unpredictable year that will surely come with a lot of surprises. It is therefore right that the budget we are preparing should be flexible to a certain extent and that it should respond to these challenges caused by the war in Ukraine. First of all, helping Ukraine in its fight against the aggressor, on the other hand, also helping the countries that have taken in refugees as a result of this Ukrainian war, while at the same time addressing the consequences of this war across Europe. We know the problem of the energy crisis, which creates energy poverty, distress among people, causes a decline in economic power, the competitiveness of our economy. It is also necessary to find answers to this. Inflation is a particular problem. In addition to all these challenges, we must, of course, also be careful to preserve these so-called classic policies, such as cohesion policy and agricultural policy. These are the policies that meet the two most basic principles: the principle of solidarity and subsidiarity. And these two politicians are feeling it. We must therefore make these policies simple and make sure that the absorption of these funds is even better in the future.

Mr President-in-Office, honourable Commissioner, colleagues. The war in Ukraine has finally exposed how Europe is dependent on fertiliser imports from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine. On the other hand, what effect does the price of gas have on the price of fertilizers. Here, in the European Parliament and in the European Commission, we are aware of the problems of energy supply and we are taking a number of measures to keep people warm so that they can live as normal a life as possible. But I think we underestimate the problem in agriculture. And if we have realized in the energy sector that the wind and the sun cannot meet all the needs, and now we even use coal, lignite, to meet those needs. I have the feeling that in the European Commission you still believe that it is possible to produce enough food without fertilisers, without pesticides. Above all, this is clearly stated in the ‘Farm to Fork’ package, and I am convinced that, as with energy, we need all types of agriculture, both organic and integrated, as well as conventional, in the field of agriculture, and that is why we need fertilisers. I therefore think that we urgently need to take measures to ensure that we have enough fertilisers, to ensure that these fertilisers are accessible to farmers. And this is not about helping farmers, this is about helping the European consumer, because otherwise there will be food security, where food will be too expensive and, in the end, there will be no food security if we continue along this path. The measures are urgent and I urge you to take action as soon as possible.

Mr. President! Thank you for the opportunity. Dear Commissioner! To keep young people in rural areas, we need quality infrastructure, including modern broadband, and jobs. And all this together we also rounded up in the concept of smart villages, in which we want to create conditions for populated countryside. This includes agriculture, rural mobility, tourism, energy, care for the elderly in rural areas, e-health. Therefore, it is also clear from these many activities that we also need different funding pools. We have a "Leader" in which there are five percent of the rural development programme, but when we are already trying to get funding for this programme from the regional fund, there are problems at national level, it is not up to the countries, not even from the social fund, to decide. I propose that we have a special fund in the next financial perspective, similarly to what we have for urban centres, also for rural areas, in which we will pool resources from different funds and also ensure this synergy of action between different policies in rural areas.

Dear President-in-Office, Commissioner, esteemed rapporteurs. First of all, sincere congratulations to the rapporteurs for their excellent reports. Thank you very much, Mrs Constanze, for your unique cooperation over the years, as I have done in the European Parliament in the Committee of the Regions. As we have already said today, I think it is necessary to repeat that cohesion policy works and is very important. It is important from the point of view of reducing development disparities, disparities between regions. It is also very important because it is developmental in the sense that municipal budgets, regional budgets are also adapted to the orientations of cohesion policy. I also have extensive experience with this as a long-time mayor in Slovenia. In recent years, cohesion policy has also been able to respond to the challenges posed by, on the one hand, the migrant crisis, the COVID crisis or, if you will, the energy crisis. What is very important to me is that the principle of solidarity through cohesion policy is the easiest to implement. That is why this policy is the binding force of the European Union and is also understood as such by Europeans. I would also like to highlight the importance of the countryside, which is home to 140 million people. In the future, funds that are development funds, from regional, cohesion, social and other funds, need to be combined in rural areas and also make a comprehensive development there. Without a developed countryside, the European Union will be severely impoverished. Thank you and congratulations again for your work.

Mr President. Droughts, fires, climate change. These are the words we have said many times this summer. That is why I would like to thank the firefighters, volunteers and police officers who have helped people in the worst fires all over Europe and also in Slovenia. Airplanes from Croatia, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania also flew in the Karst, where the biggest fire in history occurred, so I very much support the rescEU programme. Agriculture is also a major victim in arid areas. Therefore, we must play an active role in the field of agriculture, build irrigation systems, modern, economical, and also build water reservoirs so that we do not drain water downstream. There is a lot of water in Slovenia. As a fruit grower this year, I saved three hectares of apple plantation from about 1,800 cubic meters. So solutions can be effective even with low water consumption.