Speeches

We now move to the next item on the agenda: one-minute speeches pursuant to Rule 172.Members are invited to take the floor from their seats. We will start with Mr Sokol. Mr Sokol, the floor is yours.

The next item on the agenda is the report by Urmas Paet on a European Parliament recommendation to the Council and the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy taking stock of the functioning of the EEAS and for a stronger EU in the world [2021/2065(INI)] (A9-0045/2023). Mr Paet is not present yet. We are searching for him, but I do not want to interrupt the debate, so I propose that we continue, and I invite Executive Vice—President Timmermans to take the floor and hope Mr Paet will join us very soon.

Madam President, dear Commission Vice-President, dear Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly, and dear colleagues, first of all, I would like to thank our rapporteur, Anne-Sophie Pelletier, for the excellent work she has done on this file and the shadow rapporteurs, the colleagues, I think we did a good work to make this report a success. Since her first election, our Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly, has been working on increasing the standards of EU administration. This is not only making us happy here in the European Parliament but this is very important for our citizens and they appreciate it very much, so thank you very much for that work. We, the S&D, welcome very much the hard work of the small office of the Ombudsman that increased its efficiency and has proven to have an important role to bridge the gap between EU citizens and the EU institutions. The structural organisation and the efficiency of the Ombudsman’s office, the need for full transparency, the management of the COVID-19 crisis, the management of our agencies, the avoidance of the risk of conflict of interest for officials from EU institutions – all these are topics covered by the Ombudsman and included also in our report and very important subjects. Transparency is the basis for our citizens’ trust and we must make sure to honour it, especially when it comes to the use of public money. Access to work-related documents is very important and has been discussed in your report, in our report, also including instant messages, the access to which must be included and guaranteed. Indeed, in this particular period, it is important to demonstrate our capability to be close to our citizens. Fundamental rights are the core values of the European Union and they should apply to all of our policies also inside the institution when it comes to ensuring equal access to work and teleworking for all workers, especially persons with disability but also when it comes to the management of our agencies such as Frontex. I am glad to see how the Ombudsman’s recommendation can help to improve our internal functioning in terms of transparency, accountability, but also make our institutions and agencies a better place to work. I would like to apologise to the Ombudsman and to the President that I will leave now because I’m going to the EP Bureau where we discuss cooling-off period, which is also a subject which you are very interested in. So thank you very much and keep on your good work.

The Minutes of this sitting will be submitted to Parliament for its approval at the beginning of its next sitting. If there are no objections, I shall forward forthwith the resolutions adopted at today’s sitting to the persons and bodies named in the resolutions.

Dear colleague, I heard you were speaking on the minimum income resolution, which was not on the vote. We are on cycling right now, so it’s just ‘get on your bike’.

The next item on the agenda is the debate on the European initiative to promote civic engagement to protect and better support European volunteers (2023/2564 RSP)

The Minutes and Texts Adopted of yesterday’s sitting have been distributed. Are there any comments? I see no comments. (The Minutes of the previous sitting were approved)

The next item is the topical debate under Rule 162 on ‘The erosion of the rule of law in Greece: the wiretapping scandal and media freedom’. I should like to inform Members that for this debate there is no catch-the-eye procedure and no blue cards will be accepted.

The minutes of yesterday’s sitting and the texts adopted are available. Are there any comments? I see no comments in the room so the minutes are approved.

So far I would like to thank colleagues for respecting the speaking time. This makes it very easy for me during my first chairing not to use the hammer. Thank you very much, and I hope it will continue like this!

We now resume our debate on the Council and Commission statements on ‘A Green Deal Industrial Plan for the Net-Zero Age’ (2023/2559(RSP)). I would also like to inform you, dear colleagues, that we will finish the list of registered speakers and, due to the time constraints, we will not have a catch-the-eye on this debate.

Madam President, dear Vice-President of the Commission, dear colleagues, the scandal of corruption put all of us in a state of shock. This is now not the moment to defend the status quo that allowed the poison of corruption to fester. We have to act quickly and forcefully to protect the integrity and increase transparency of the Parliament and the European Union as a whole. That is why my political group has been so proactive when dealing with the case and supporting the judicial investigation. That is why we welcome President Metsola’s commitment and her proposals on strengthening integrity, independence and accountability as a good first step. And that is why we, the S&D Group, have set up an internal inquiry and put forward a 15-point plan to prevent and combat corruption and corruptive political interference to complement President Metsola’s proposals. And that is why we as the S&D Group will unilaterally start to implement our plan where possible to lead by example. We hope that our proposal can also be the basis for stronger rules for the Parliament as a whole, and we are looking forward to having that discussion with the other political groups. My political group strongly supports the revision of the Parliament’s Rules of Procedure to align them with the EU Whistleblower Directive. We will also continue to advocate for an ethics body overseeing EU institutions and agencies to be set up before the end of this legislature. We therefore call on the Commission to urgently come up with a proposal in this regard. It is indispensable that we tighten the screws when it comes to the implementation of the current provisions of the interinstitutional agreement on the transparency register. And we must also increase the information for the public, for example, by making it compulsory to publish all scheduled meetings with lobbies and interest representatives. We equally welcome the proposed strengthening of the Special Committee on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the European Union, including Disinformation, allowing it henceforth to identify measures to remedy shortcomings in the European Parliament’s rules on transparency, integrity, accountability and anti-corruption. Madam President, a high level of transparency can minimise the possibility for corruption and restore the trust that was lost by the criminal acts of a few. Let us all work together to restore that trust.

Mr President, dear Commissioner, dear colleagues, if we want a successful green and digital transition, it is crucial that we involve the workers in decision—making. When workers are empowered to shape decisions, we know that productivity, innovation and working methods improve. Good governance requires more democracy at work, and strong trade unions are playing a key role related to health and safety measures, in job retention schemes and organising new trends like telework. So empowering trade unions also strengthens social Europe. Reinforcing the European Works Council Directive when it comes to the right to information and consultation for representatives of employees – and particularly, as we heard yesterday again, during restructuring processes – is an absolute necessity and an incredible tool to strengthen the role of employees vis—à—vis employers in policy—making on the daily life cycle of the company. The recast directive on the European Works Council failed in its original objectives. Indeed, employers can easily stall or completely block the establishment of a European Works Council. European Works Councils are often informed after final decisions have already been taken and transnational and confidentiality clauses are too often misused. So it is now time to solve this issue with legally binding changes by ensuring timely and meaningful consultation; clarifying the scope of confidentiality; improving dispute resolution; introducing effective, dissuasive and proportionate penalties, but also by granting access to justice for the representatives of workers and securing resources and access to trade union experts and support. Companies have to show their willingness to work in close cooperation with their workforce and the unions in order to make the digital and green transition a success for all. The implementation of the European Works Council Directive has been ongoing for 15 years already, without enough concluding results and successes. The European Commission can no longer hide behind case studies and recommendations. It is time to deliver now and to turn this report into concrete legislative proposals. Dennis Radtke and the shadow rapporteurs did a fantastic job. Thank you so much, Dennis, for having invited so many participants who know how it works on the ground. They told us where corrections were needed and you did it in your report, so thank you very much.