Debate contributions by Marlena MALĄG

Dear Mr President, Poland is a democratic state governed by the rule of law, guaranteeing equality for women and men in all areas. Making a complaint here about the lack of equality between women and men before the law, i.e. alleged discrimination against women in the field of free, informed decision-making about having children, is a serious abuse. Once again, under the guise of combating discrimination, ideological content is introduced that undermines Christian values and promotes liberal politics. Abortion is a drama, a mother's drama, and the murder of a child. The Union should focus on actions that should support the mother so that she does not have to decide on such actions and steps. Abortion is nothing more than a manifestation of discrimination excluding, above all, the premise of protecting the life of a conceived child. Everyone should have the inalienable right to life from conception to natural death.

Mr President, thank you very much. Ladies and Gentlemen, As a result of more than 50 years of the centrally controlled economy, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe are facing the problem of unmet needs and poor housing conditions. In connection with the construction directive adopted in March, we are facing a revolution in the construction industry. There is also a demographic crisis: it is important to maintain a balance between the expectations and opportunities that we will have, so that it does not turn out that the dreams of young people about housing, and often, therefore, about expanding the family, will fail. For the first time, housing will be in the Commissioner's portfolio. That is why I call for prudence and a real assessment of housing needs, so that too ambitious climate goals do not overshadow real social needs, nor are they a breeding ground for developers. The topic of housing is very important both for young people in Poland, but also for seniors, but also for the whole European society.

Dear Mr President, Ladies and Gentlemen, The concentration of wealth in the hands of an increasingly narrow group is undoubtedly a cause for concern. According to Oxfam's calculations, the richest 1% of humanity has accumulated $42 trillion in new wealth over the past decade, which is 34 times more than the poorest 50% of the population. Most of the current tax system is not socially fair enough. It is based on the taxation of labour and consumption instead of wealth, which leads above all to a distortion of the natural expectation that the richer, not the poorer, should bear a greater and proportionate fiscal burden to their wealth. However, we must be aware that one of the main reasons for weaker investment in the European Union is high taxes and a climate unfavourable to large capital. It is no coincidence that out of the world’s 20 largest companies, as many as 16 are American and only 2 are European. The same is true of the richest: By trying to tax their wealth more, we will only discourage the investments we so desperately need. Will we gain anything? This is doubtful. From a seemingly huge cake of $250 billion...

Madam President, thank you very much. Mr. Commissioner, I would like to thank you. Ladies and Gentlemen, After the publication of the Draghi report on competitiveness, the word "crisis" can be changed by all cases. It actually affects many industries, including the automotive industry. The author first of all points out that as a remedy we should reduce labor costs, which is very negative for employees, but also their families. But we must remember that the crisis also affects the railway industry, which is facing downward trends. An example is the Polish company PKP Cargo, where mass redundancies occur, while the principles of social dialogue or workers' rights are violated. Despite the fact that the Polish railway market is the second largest railway market in Europe, these exemptions do not guarantee that this company will survive. Not only that, if the economy reverses, it may turn out that they will not be competitive. If we want Europe to become a power, we cannot rely solely on lowering labour costs. We cannot continue to implement the devastating Green Deal. Strategy and investment are needed first and foremost, and such processes, which are negative restructuring, should be the last resort.