Speeches

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! We do not best address the current crisis by distributing dashing and old-fashioned advice to the ECB. We wanted a politically independent ECB, and now we should let it do its work, and we should focus on what we can. At this point, I would like to refer to the Social Climate Fund, which we have recently launched here in this House. I wonder why the German Chancellor - who is doing nothing in his own country to combat this crisis, who has launched a relief package that does not deserve the name that does not include pensioners and students - is campaigning for the Social Climate Fund, which has already been reduced in size compared to the Commission proposal, to be reduced again? We should see that we launch this fund as soon as possible. We must see that, as the European Union, we are making a contribution to increasing food production in order to remove the pressure of prices from the market. And thirdly, in order to ensure employment, we must see that we free the industry from additional burdens, such as the Chemicals Directive, and that what can be postponed is now postponed at this point. We should discuss this together at a major social summit, including with social partners. That's what I'm advocating for here.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! It is, as always, when we discuss reports from the Committee: There is always great lamentation, Europe is exceeding its competences, an attack on national competences. Yes, of course, when it comes to health, when it comes to care, it is primarily a national responsibility. But we, as the European Union, cannot simply say on an issue that is deeply European and where we face the same challenges everywhere, or almost everywhere: Yeah, then take care, and we'll put our legs up in time. If you look at the European labour market, if you look at what is going on in the care market – there is hardly a second sector that is so highly mobile. Which German nursing home could actually exist if we only had German nurses there? That is why I think it is essential that we contribute to improving standards, to getting care out of the shadows, partly from illegality, from undeclared work and to making our contribution to improving standards and, above all, that we can effectively combat the shortage of skilled workers. We are making a contribution to this. I would like to thank the rapporteurs very much for this.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. First of all, thank you very much to my friend David Casa and to Esther de Lange for what they have submitted to the Social Climate Fund. I believe it is an extremely important contribution to support those who are most affected by change, by transformation, in this difficult phase. I believe that the fight against climate change is perhaps the greatest socio-economic challenge of our century; This is not disputed by anyone except a few Claqueurs who have not even taken part in the debate here. But it is precisely the current situation, the war in Ukraine, inflation that shows us in which direction the development is heading. And we must always keep in mind: We are still before the Green Deal, before transposition, before ‘Fit for 55“. We are witnessing an increase in prices, especially energy prices, which is simply threatening for many people. In Germany, model calculation: up to EUR 5000 extra burden for a family of four – these are dramatic developments. And that's why it's important: We cannot solve every problem here at European level, but we are making an important contribution to it.

Mr President, Mr Vice-President, Mr Secretary of State, dear Margaritis, dear colleagues! As an EPP Group, we were very happy to support Dragoş Pîslaru's initiative to place this issue prominently in Parliament. And I expressly agree with the Commissioner: This debate, including the European Year of Youth, is of course a good opportunity to take stock and say: What have we achieved? A programme such as Erasmus+ is closely intertwined, an important part of the success story of this European Union, but of course the knock-on-the-shoulder must not be at the forefront of this debate and also this year, but must be at the forefront of addressing the concrete problems of youth in Europe. For example, the issue of unpaid traineeships is a very important issue. For us as the EPP Group, however, it has always been clear: If internships are necessary for school education, university education, then we do not insist on payment. But what we don't want is internships to supplant regular employment. And that is why it is important that we have clearly addressed this point here again. And I would like to mention one last point with regard to youth unemployment. It has already been pointed out: It remains threatening and existentially threatening in some Member States. And for us, the task must actually be: How can we, in dialogue with the Member States, ensure that in countries where we have extremely high levels of youth unemployment, we bring young people to countries such as Germany, where we have a shortage of skilled workers, where we have unfilled apprenticeships? This could be a win-win situation for both sides, at least for a period of several years. And I am sure that we as the EU, as Parliament, can once again make an important contribution to this.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! The subject we are discussing tonight is not entirely new. Jean-Claude Juncker already spoke about this project in his State of the Union speech in 2017. It is the highest railway that we take a step forward. Because where employment biographies are becoming more and more European, we must also make contributions to how social insurance can keep pace. This project offers a lot of opportunities – on the one hand more transparency for employees and companies, on the other hand also effective fight against abuse. But what is particularly important to me: We see from the concrete implementation of projects such as RINA, dear Nicolas, that the devil is in many places in the detail and it is not enough to just push things. But my expectation then is that the Commission will also accompany them to the end, so that they will also be a corresponding success.

Madam Vice-President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! In recent years, there has been a lot of talk about the fundamental changes in the world of work that have taken place simply and poignantly through digitization and platform economy. This week, however, we have the opportunity not only to talk about these important changes, but also to set a real exclamation point and to make our expectations clear to the Commission. In the last few weeks and months, in the work on your report, dear Sylvie, we have found some good compromises in the middle of this House which, in my view, although the Commission is prepared to take them up in its proposal, are a real compromise. game changer They could be because, on the one hand, they lead to the fact that we do not stifle the dynamics in the platform economy, that especially the highly qualified, who are on the road as self-employed and also want to remain self-employed, are left out, so to speak, while, on the other hand, we finally, finally provide legal means for all those who have been literally squeezed into bogus self-employment, in order to give them the status and protection they deserve. Because what we can see in many areas has nothing to do with entrepreneurship. So where an algorithm, so to speak, determines the everyday work of people, one cannot speak of genuine independence and genuine entrepreneurship, but here it is simply a matter of passing on entrepreneurial risk to others. We cannot and will not tolerate such models. And also with regard to the algorithm, we want to have more transparency towards the employees. What we have presented here is a real slope for you, dear Nicolas, and that is why I am not only asking for approval, but also really asking for a clear signal. The Commission does not understand narrow majorities, but only clear majorities.