Bogdan RZOŃCA

Policy topics Bogdan RZOŃCA is active on

What Bogdan RZOŃCA has said (52)

• 2026-07-14 “(10:34:40 - 10:35:37): You have the floor. Okay. Thank you very much. I have just 1 remark. I do want Hungary to get the money. They have been waiting for it a long, long time. I'm not going to comment on what happened there. However, right now, we are just wasting our time. As the budgetary committee, we should be focusing on what is going on the European market and the damage that is being inflicted on it by China, for example. And we should just stop discussing the situation in Hungary. This is not going to change anything, now anymore, but China is, taking over our European companies. We are going to, be on the losing side, and this is a huge problem. And this is what we should devote our attention to.”
  Trade relations with China
• 2026-07-14 “(09:41:01 - 09:43:31): Thank you. Thank you, chairman. Thank you, chairman. We all mention mainly financial consequences for the EU, which is only natural. We all know the figures. We know that the deficit cost us €1,000,000,000 per day, and the total amount is around 360,000,000,000 per year. So this is something we need to focus on. It's extremely important. But to those of you who worked here in the previous term of office, I'd like to take this opportunity and remind you that apart from economic and political consequences, many of our trade agreements included other provisions, moral, ethical, for instance, Indonesia and timber. If you remember, we wanted to make sure that our partner made sure that fundamental human rights are kept with special focus on women's rights and the right to abortion. At that moment, I thought I thought it was absurd. What does international trade have, in common with certain ideologic ideological, provisions? However, such provisions found their place in those agreements. So on China, will we be also, making reference to fundamental human rights, especially especially the so called underground church of Christians that have been persecuted for years now? Because if such moral ethical clauses, European values, Christian values were mentioned, will we be also reminding China about those values in this agreement? I think we have to be consistent and act the same with regard to every trade agreements. If these are the standards that we've put in place, then this particular agreement should also reflect what we put into previous, agreements in the previous terms of office. So I hope to, hear your answer. Unfortunately, I have other responsibilities and commitments. I'll have to leave the room, but”
  EU-China relations
• 2026-07-09 “(11:32:27 - 11:33:10): My question to you is this. I liked what you said. You spoke a lot about investments. That is very important that you can notice as DPP that we have a problem there. Hence, my question, what is your opinion on this? There is a there is a group of member states in the EU who say it straight that if the new, financial framework for 2834, we have the principle of no significant harm, then many sectors will be unable to take advantage of this budget, and we will no longer be competitive against China and India. So who's right? Those to allow all sectors to use the budget and not to limit or those who want the limitation? Thank you. Well,”
  EU policy on sustainability criteria in public funding
• 2026-07-07 “(11:59:54 - 12:00:55): President, prime minister Tirshak's, it's a great pleasure up to now. But now a couple of details. 1 of the European think tanks has said that in 2025, the European Union lost €95,000,000,000 because, there's a huge, offensive on the part of Chinese industry in Europe, and taking over companies. And then we have a green deal. Energy has to be cheap for our industrialists, and then it has to be properly green. And I think under the Irish presidency, we know that historically speaking, the European Union has the largest debt and never ever has, the European Union been in such debt, and we have a huge problem. All of us have to, assume responsibility, draw attention to this. We know that companies are going out of business. They're going bankrupt, and there are companies that, want us”
  Chinese clean tech competition: trade barriers and investment caps vs. open market
• 2026-06-15 “(18:07:31 – 18:08:03): Thank you very much, for the possibility to ask you a question. I'd like to ask you, since you are a liberal, how do you like the report by mister Draghi where he says that Europe needs to buy 3 times as much of photovoltaic panels in China in order to catch up with the energy needs in Europe Should the Chinese regime be financed by the EU?”
  Chinese clean tech competition: trade barriers and investment caps vs. open market
• 2026-03-10 “Answer given by Mr Várhelyi on behalf of the European Commission 19.5.2026 Written question The EU has a programme to support the development of medicines for rare diseases [1] . At present, one medicinal product has received authorisation in the EU for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), while 34 others are undergoing development and possess active orphan designations within the EU [2] , [3] . None of these 34 products has yet reached the stage of assessment by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for marketing authorisation. The EMA provides monthly updates on the list of medicinal products currently under evaluation [4] . In certain cases, patients who have a disease with no satisfactory authorised therapies or who cannot enter a clinical trial can receive unauthorised medicines. A ‘named-patient basis’ treatment’ allows — if agreed by the national competent authorities and under the personal responsibility of the healthcare professional — the use of a non-authorised medicine for a specific individual patient, to fulfil special needs [5] . Member States may also exceptionally allow under a tool referred to as ‘compassionate use’ the supply of a non-authorised medicine to patients [6] . Compassionate use programmes are generally intended for products under development. They are regulated by national legislation and the way they work varies from country to country [7] . For medicines that have the potential to address unmet medical needs, the EMA provides early and enhanced advice to medicine developers to optimise development plans and speed up the evaluation so that these medicines can reach patients faster [8] . When the EMA accelerates its assessment, the Commission provides for an expedited decision-making process. [1] https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/news/development-medicines-rare-diseases. [2] https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/human-regulatory-overview/orphan-designation-overview. [3] https://ec.europa.eu/health/documents/community-register/html/reg_od_act.htm?sort=n. [4] https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/medicines/medicines-human-use-under-evaluation. [5] Article 5(1) of EU Directive 2001/83/EC. [6] Article 83 of Regulation (EC) No 726/2004. [7] https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/human-regulatory-overview/research-development/compassionate-use. [8] https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/human-regulatory-overview/marketing-authorisation/accelerated-assessment.”
  Joint EU procurement of medicines
• 2025-10-06 “E-003914/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Fitto on behalf of the European Commission Focusing on the specific needs of border regions is a requirement for the National and Regional Partnership Plans as set out in Article 22(2(f)(iii) of the Commission proposal 1 . This is complemented with Article 4 of the proposal for a regulation establishing the European Regional Development Fund and the Cohesion Fund 2 , which considers regions bordering Russia, Belarus as well as Ukraine as disadvantaged areas. The governance model for the National and Regional Partnership Plan can be built on the existing implementation structures. The Commission’s proposal 3 enables to have regional chapters under the National and Regional Partnership Plans, similarly to the current cohesion policy programmes. As set out in Article 6 of the proposal, the Plans must be prepared and implemented in partnership with regional, local, urban, rural and other public authorities in accordance with the multi-level governance principle and a bottom-up approach. All authorities implemenging the plan will also remain in direct contact with the Commission (Article 49(1)). In assessing the submitted Plans, the Commission must ensure that all requirements of the Plan have been complied with and adequately reflected, including via appropriate funding to these regions. Furthermore, the Commission is working on a Communication on the Eastern Border Regions. to further enhance the efforts the Commission is already making to help these regions. 1 COM(2025)0565. 2 COM(2025)0552. 3 COM(2025)0565.”
  Cohesion and rural funding
• 2024-10-29 “E-002307/2024 Answer given by Mr Brunner on behalf of the European Commission The new rules under the Pact on Migration and Asylum will become applicable as of mid2026. Member States are currently working, with the support of the Commission and relevant EU bodies, offices and agencies, on their national implementation plans, setting out the actions and timeline for the implementation of the various instruments under the Pact. Member States had until 12 December 2024 to establish their plans. The Commission has received almost all plans and will report on the state of play of Pact implementation with indications of next steps. While the migration management system established by the Pact is based on solidarity and fair sharing of responsibility between Member States, the solidarity mechanism is designed to be flexible and able to swiftly adapt to the evolving nature of the migratory challenges. Each Member State will have a choice on the type of solidarity to be provided (relocations, financial contributions or through alternative solidarity measures such as staff and in-kind support). At the EU level, the Commission has developed a comprehensive approach to migration with clear rights and obligations for third-country nationals. The Action Plan on integration and inclusion 2021-2027 1 promotes an integrated approach to third country nationals’ inclusion to prevent and respond to possible social tensions. 1 Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions Action plan on integration and inclusion 2021-2027, COM(2020) 758 final, 24.11.2020 and https://migrant-integration.ec.europa.eu/news/ec-reveals-its-new-actionplan-integration-and-inclusion-2021-2027_en”
  Asylum & border control · Legal migration
• 2024-10-29 “E-002302/2024 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Fitto on behalf of the European Commission Poland’s recovery and resilience plan is financed by EUR 59.8 billion, of which EUR 34.5 billion in loans and EUR 25.3 billion in grants, which are available for payments subject to fulfilment of the relevant milestones and targets. Poland received EUR 5.1 billion in pre-financing on 28 December 2023. The REPowerEU prefinancing consisted of EUR 551 million in grants and EUR 4.5 billion in loans (in both cases calculated as 20% of the respective total allocations). Following a positive assessment of Poland’s first payment request under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), submitted on 15 December 2023, the Commission disbursed the first payment to Poland of EUR 6.3 billion (net of pre-financing) of which EUR 3.6 billion in loans and EUR 2.7 billion in grants. On 12 November 2024, the Commission endorsed a positive preliminary assessment of Poland’s payment request for the second and third instalments. On 17 December 2024, the Commission disbursed the payment to Poland of EUR 9.4 billion (net of pre-financing) of which EUR 5.3 billion in loans and EUR 4.1 billion in grants. Therefore, to date, the Commission has disbursed EUR 20.8 billion in grants and loans to Poland: EUR 5.1 billion in REPowerEU pre-financing and EUR 15.7 billion in the context of the first, second and third instalments.”
  EU Supervision of the Rule of Law
• “A few words in Polish, if I may. Well, first of all, I'm very happy that you have achieved so much and that European researchers are so successful. However, I googled the ranking of the 50 top universities globally and there is not a single one coming from Europe. There is not a single university from the from the European Union in the ranking. How would you explain that? Perhaps, you know, we have excellent researchers. Yes, but there is no EU university in the top 50. There are those from China, from the US, from Canada, from Japan, but not from the EU. So perhaps you or the scientific community knows why this is the case, because, well, I would like to boast of EU institutions. We know that we have excellent researchers, but it doesn't work for the for the universities.”
  Governance of academic priorities within the EU
• “And Poland has no rule of law. Please do not disturb me when I'm trying to speak. Please. You will have an opportunity to speak. Now it's my turn. So I don't think it is very elegant. If the European Commission does not guarantee that everyone will be treated fairly and justly, including when it comes to the money spent. What has recently happened in Poland with the money from the r f yachts, sailing yachts were being bought and other stupid purchases were made, Poland was being harassed, persecuted. So was Hungary. Other countries not so. My question to the court is as follows. What is the source of your information on efficiency, effectiveness and indicators? Are you working based on the information from the European Commission, or do you have your own independent sources of information? Do you have information on the money spent by the member States? I think the member states provide to the European Commission whatever they like. Then we complain it's not efficient, but no one really knows in the end where the money goes. Thank you.”
  Accounting and auditing of EU budget
• “Well, thank you very much, chair. Now this discussion is very important indeed. We are talking about new own resources for the EU. But I am really interested in this whole area, namely in order to recycle, investment is needed. I have read a report to the effect that countries would need to invest ten times or more into recycling than the amounts that the EU gets from recycling. So my question is how expensive this whole business is. Well, member states would need to invest a lot into recycling because such equipment is expensive. So my question is, well, does it make any sense? Yes, the EU generates revenue, but the member states will need to invest a lot into recycling. So plastic packaging will not disappear. A lot of people say that the packaging industry Cannot live without plastics. So here is my my next question. Eco has discovered a major irregularities. And I think this whole system is is flawed and it is unjust. So can you give us a more examples of countries that have been damaged by the fact that they paid more than was necessary? Thank you.”
  Own resources (plastics)
• “Welcome everyone. Ladies and gentlemen, today during a meeting, there is a public hearing scheduled. The public hearing of a party committee about Hungary's accession to the European Public Prosecutor's Office, and how such accession could help to unlock EU funds for Hungary and Hungarians. And this is based on petition zero 617 nine 2024. And. Well, it is my pleasure to welcome all of you to this hearing. The purpose is to present the legal framework for the membership of EPPO, with a view of the results achieved by the Member States participating in enhanced cooperation. The hearing will consist of a first panel of the general topic EPPO legal framework and the role in fighting crime. And then we will move to the review of cooperation between the European Public Prosecutor's Office and the Hungarian Public Prosecutor's Office. And in the aftermath of those two presentations, we'll have a tour of 20 minutes, time of questions and answers. Then this will be followed by a second panel, where we'll analyze how competent, competent authorities of Hungary will ensure effective and timely cooperation with EPPO and then, if needed, Q&A will follow again. So panel one EPPO legal framework and legal aspects of cooperation with Hungary. It is my pleasure to extend our welcome to Petrzalka ahead of a unit on criminal justice in DGs. Just. European Commission. So let me hand it over to you, Mr. Zonca. The current legal framework and the objectives of EPPO membership. So to start with, you have ten minutes. The floor is yours, Mr. Zonca, please.”
  EU law enforcement cooperation in criminal matters
• “Thank you very much. Are there any other MEPs willing to ask questions? If this is not the case, let us move to the second panel. The second part. And now we'll speak about the EPPO mechanism and anti-corruption mechanisms in Hungary. And we will start up the second panel in our hearing. I it is my pleasure to welcome Mr. Istvan Janos Toth, director of the Corruption Research Center in Hungary, and I will hand it over to you for ten minutes.”
  Rule of law in Hungary
• “Thank you so much. I will speak in Polish. Please take a chance, because I have a small question for you. Uh. My question is about something you have failed to mention because you have mentioned road transport and railway, but you did not say anything about waterways. I know that Germany has very good experience in terms of waterways. Could you try to convince these organizations that have been blocking the development of waterways in the EU? Because I think this is one of the cheapest ways of transport, very important in the times of war.”
  EU transport infrastructure integration
• “Another important issue is prevention of conflict of interest and maintaining ethical standards in the EU institutions, and the relations between public institutions and different interest groups. The Ombudsperson's job should not just be paper observations of events. When mismanagement is observed, the institutions should react but not react in a defensive, but rather in a constructive way. Offering access to documents and improving their ethical standards. These are not optional elements. These are obligations, legal and democratic obligations. Citizens expect the EU institutions to meet the highest standards of accountability, and that's why the ombuds person's post should lead to direct practical applications in the institutions. The report also underlines the decision making process based on data and scientific analysis, which is particularly important in areas like environmental policy, agriculture or the management of natural resources. Areas where European decisions have a direct impact on the life of citizens and local society. Another important part of the report is the comments on new challenges facing administration. So AI in decisions taken by public authorities. New technology can support institution's work, but they can't replace the responsibility held by human beings. Transparency and accountability of the institutions for the decisions they take are absolutely key. I'd also like to underline the fact that the ombudsperson's activities is not something that is against EU institutions. The goal is to reinforce them by improving the quality of public administration, improving transparency and the accountability of those institutions to their voters and our voters and their citizens. This means better EU administration and better administration means more faith of citizens in the EU institutions. Thank you very much.”
  Activities of EU Ombudsman
• “Um, may I ask you a question? I. Okay. I listened to what you said very cautiously. I agree with what you say. We have to increase the sovereignty of production of steel in the EU. Okay, but where do we take cheaper energy for steel production? This is energy. Uh. And this is sector consuming huge, huge amounts of energy. The green deal, doesn't it kill the production possibilities of steel in the EU?”
  Energy (green transition)
• “Money coming from the European funds. And I would like to invite the rapporteur to take a look. Look at these reports. And it's not about being on the right or on the left side of the political scene. The truth is as follows. The EU funding has been used to finance individual investment of colleagues of Mr. Donald Tusk, people from his party and from the Peasant Party. You cannot say that I'm lying. You can check that. These are the facts. I'm talking about things that are being currently discussed in Poland. So I would be greatly, greatly happy to see somebody look at that. I'm really ashamed of what has happened in Poland over the last few months. In what way? This money has been spent. And that's the money that was put on hold for two full years. That got devalued over those two years because, well, you were saying that there is no rule of law in Poland. And right now, those same money, the same funding is being used by the wife of a member of parliament from the Civic Platform. She's buying additional equipment for her restaurant, and there are so many examples that are similar. I honestly feel ashamed to see what's happening to those funds, which were allocated to rebuild the economy after the Covid pandemic because Covid pandemic touched and affected all of us equally the French, the German, the poles. And now I think that we should be looking at that and that Olaf and the European Commission should be taking a keen look of that at that, because I really don't want such situations to happen in the future in the European Union. Thank you.”
  Accounting and auditing of EU budget
• “Madam president. Minister. Commissioner. Well, it will only get worse, unfortunately. And we have no time to lose because the European Commission has been leading us into the precipice. And they want more deaths. We are losing our, um, chances to finance the cap. For example, 20% less than until now. The regions will be blackmailed. It will be really bad for the future. The regions will only get money once they push through their reforms. This is unacceptable. And then we have this enormous debt. €300 billion in the new MFF. So we are losing right, left and centre. Anything that was good has already finished. We will only have less and less money, more and more unrest. And if we do not vote down the European Commission, it will be even worse. Thank you.”
  Size of EU budget
• “Thank you very much. I think this is a hugely important debate, but I regret not to many of us are here, however. Yes, inequalities and fighting them is crucial. But what we are doing here is we're just trying to describe the situation because while we are talking here about Inequalities. The European Council is meeting right now and they are discussing the problem of the EU of two speeds. There will be countries that will be more important and less important. We don't like this idea at all. Is, Madam Commissioner analysing the last letter that Madame von der Leyen had sent to all the EU leaders? Because if some countries are going to resist the ideas of the European Commission, then they will be just pushed aside. This will result in Europe of two speeds. And are you familiar with the explanation of what Mr. Tusk has done in Polish Hospital?”
  EU political integration
• “Thank you so much. I will speak in Polish. Okay. Okay. Very well then. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. To the European Court of Auditors. I have been watching you for years and you are doing excellent work. You are being very objective. I wish other institutions were so objective as well, and I wish other institutions worked as well as you. That would make our EU better. The budget is as it is. That is my second comment. We keep saying we do not have enough money, but the key is to be efficient. Our money needs to be spent in an effective manner. And here comes the question. In my opinion. All political groups here have some misgivings about what the European Commission is doing. The European Commission is not informing. The Parliament is not acting under control of the Parliament. It is doing what it likes. And I think Commission. Sorry, I have to say it, but you are undermining the good atmosphere. You are undermining the European project. Why am I saying this? There has been a lot of unfairness when it comes to the assessment of the funds that were spent under the RR. I'm in the petitions committee. We are, uh, we are bombarded by a huge number of Spanish petitions about the dodgy prime minister, dodgy ministers, and they have a rule of law with all those petitions.”
  Discharge of EU institutions and agencies
• “So I have the impression that the European Union is holding back, that it is taking not taking its responsibility for agriculture. Perhaps you would contradict me and I'm wrong. I am not sure whether it's better for the member States to take responsibility, or whether it is better if the European Union does it, because it'll be more efficient. A Spanish expert once said that. 90 out of €100 of the funds for cohesion policy in the Member states. Ends up in the public purse and not by private institutions and organizations. Would it not be good to make sure that this problem doesn't persist? Because we need private companies, as well as the public purse to handle this?”
  CAP delivery architecture: ring-fenced common fund vs integrated national plans
• “Thank you so much. I will speak in Polish. Okay. Okay. Very well then. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. To the European Court of Auditors. I have been watching you for years and you are doing excellent work. You are being very objective. I wish other institutions were so objective as well, and I wish other institutions worked as well as you. That would make our EU better. The budget is as it is. That is my second comment. We keep saying we do not have enough money, but the key is to be efficient. Our money needs to be spent in an effective manner. And here comes the question. In my opinion. All political groups here have some misgivings about what the European Commission is doing. The European Commission is not informing. The Parliament is not acting under control of the Parliament. It is doing what it likes. And I think Commission. Sorry, I have to say it, but you are undermining the good atmosphere. You are undermining the European project. Why am I saying this? There has been a lot of unfairness when it comes to the assessment of the funds that were spent under the RR. I'm in the petitions committee. We are, uh, we are bombarded by a huge number of Spanish petitions about the dodgy prime minister, dodgy ministers, and they have a rule of law with all those petitions.”
  Accounting and auditing of EU budget
• “Thank you very much. Thank you very much, president. And we are very pleased that 1,270,000 European citizens have signed up to this European citizens initiative. This initiative expresses the idea that the EU is at its strongest when it is diverse, not only linguistically diverse, but also regionally diverse. The treaty on the functioning of the European Union. Talks about These kinds of issues. But regions face a number of different issues, such as demographic challenges and erosion of local cultures. This endangers the cohesion of the EU and the single market. This initiative calls upon the European Commission to take steps to ensure equality among regions. We are particularly talking about regions that are in a difficult position that face a series of different problems simultaneously. It's a question of regions which have cultural, geographical, geographical or economic challenges. It's the question of their identity. It's a question of regional traditions. It's a question of the cultural and social inheritance of Europe. It's also a question of sustainable development and support for local economies. And support indeed for demographic development in the regions. We also have to think about direct democracy in Europe. This citizens initiative. Is not supposed to be a divisive one. It's supposed to unite people. It's a question of equality. Equality. With regard to EU policy. Cohesion policy has to respect this mosaic of cultures.”
  EU cohesion/structural-fund architecture: consolidation vs ring-fenced separate funds
• “And Poland has no rule of law. Please do not disturb me when I'm trying to speak. Please. You will have an opportunity to speak. Now it's my turn. So I don't think it is very elegant. If the European Commission does not guarantee that everyone will be treated fairly and justly, including when it comes to the money spent. What has recently happened in Poland with the money from the r f yachts, sailing yachts were being bought and other stupid purchases were made, Poland was being harassed, persecuted. So was Hungary. Other countries not so. My question to the court is as follows. What is the source of your information on efficiency, effectiveness and indicators? Are you working based on the information from the European Commission, or do you have your own independent sources of information? Do you have information on the money spent by the member States? I think the member states provide to the European Commission whatever they like. Then we complain it's not efficient, but no one really knows in the end where the money goes. Thank you.”
  Accounting and auditing of EU budget
• “Let me speak in Polish. All of this looks very bad. The EU is in the process of ceasing to be European. We see an ever growing role for the Commission. All of this smacks of European tyranny to me. So basically at every stage of adoption of this budgetary proposal proposal we see a growing role of the Commission. So far member states have been responsible for two thirds of the budget now it is going to be fifty percent. The role of the Commission is also boosted compared to the roles of regions. Our regional policy is being dismantled as we speak and from now on the Commission will dictate terms to those who will come to Brussels to negotiate some regional programs. Also the role of the cohesion policy is being reduced. Now we see another proposal to the effect that twenty five percent of this money should be at the disposal of of the Commission as some sort of reserve. So the role of the Commission is growing more and more. The Commission is getting stronger member states and regions are getting weaker. There is no idea of savings nobody talks about saving money why are we in debting ourselves and why are we to finance EU's future from debt and from new taxation. We will be taxed more and our voters will take us to task for this.”
  EU political integration
• “Bogdan. Joints, please. You have the floor for one minute. Thank you very much. I came this afternoon to learn because I'm not an expert on international policy. I'm focused on other things here in the European Parliament. But my question is, where do we go from here? I've heard a lot of divergent opinions here. The Germans have spoken from a German point of view, the French from the French point of view, the Italians from Italian point of view. What I don't see is an EU stance, a clear EU stance. Now I don't have a problem condemning Azerbaijan when they kill and rape Armenians. I don't have a problem condemning Azerbaijan when they are an avant garde for Putin on the international stage. I think that we as a parliament should create a stance. So why are we having this debate today, this afternoon? Why couldn't we have had it earlier in the week when there had been more?”
  EU-Azerbaijan relations
• “I have a short comment and a very short question. I am not worried that the money will not be spent. Of course it will be spent. The Commission has a very strong position. It will redefine the milestones. And finally the money will be spent. But I wonder about the indicators and their objective objectivity. This reminds me of socialism, actually, because there are times when we hear that President Trump is about to give 500 billion to AI, and we are talking about social reforms, which are very difficult to measure in terms of their effects. So this is the situation. Is it not the time to change something in this vicious circle? Because this project is very bureaucratic. And my question. Generally speaking. The European Commission will give money in exchange for reforms. Will this only happen in the situation when these reforms are desired? Seems desirable to the European Commission?”
  Conditions to access EU budget
• “Mr. president, Commissioner, this experiment for borrowed money. The recovery and resilience facility was a failure. That was a performance of the Commission giving money to those whom they liked. And not giving them to those whom they didn't like. The recovery facility led to more debt of the EU. It did not restore the competitiveness of the EU. If we compare it to China or the United States, I believe that the European prosecutor should also check why some countries did not receive the money. What happened in Poland? The government of Donald Tusk boasts on blocking the national recovery plan that the money was not available. What is it to boast about that they voted in favour of blocking money for roads, for investors, for ordinary citizens that the European Commission did not fund hospitals in Poland that the patients suffered. Are you proud of not offering money to modernize electricity grids and that electricity is more expensive in Poland? Rf is a disaster. We cannot act this way. Poland should be. The EU should be a community of nations. Thank you.”
  Conditions to access EU budget
• “Thank you very much. Briefly on my side. I do share the comments of all of those who think that transparency is crucial, especially when we are talking about spending money from RF. I'm saying this as a pole because we were never against investing the money. Well, in the member states, Poland was at some point, let's say, persecuted because of the implementation of RF and DDR. Reynders himself, uh, took such a stance that resulted in Poland not getting all the money that it was supposed to get. So now I'm following very closely what is going on with Mr. Reynders. How he is doing at the moment. Poland, in the meantime, has caught up with the time that it lost. But I must say that, um, the evaluation of our situation, the assessment was very arbitrarily done, and that shouldn't have happened.”
  EU Supervision of the Rule of Law
• “President Ombudswoman. Commissioner. Let me first of all, just make a procedural point to begin. After the vote in the Petitions Committee, the original rapporteur of this report decided to withdraw from that role as a result, and according to the standard practice in the European Parliament, I, as chair of the Parliament's Petitions Committee, have been asked to take on the role of rapporteur for this report. Today's debate on the activities of the ombudsperson for 2024 is a report which relates to Emilia Reilly's work. She was ombudsperson for a number of years and has very much reinforced the high administrative standards in the EU. One. At the same time, I'd like to congratulate the Ombudsman woman, Teresa Angino, and wish her success in further reinforcing transparency of the European institutions. The Ombudsman's. The scope of the Ombudsman's work shows how important this is. In 2024, 18,000 citizens were offered assistance and 400 investigations were begun into possible cases of. Mismanagement in the EU institutions. Now, most often they. Related to transparency in the institution's access to documents. Administrative culture in public administration as well as recruitment practices in the EU institutions. One of the most important topics is transparency in decision making process in the EU and citizens rights to accurate access to EU documents. This is a fundamental principle derived from the treaties and one of the conditions underlying democratic scrutiny of the institutions. That's why it's particularly important that we restrict delays in access to documents, and that we make sure that the legislative process is transparent. The report highlights the need for more transparency in the work of commissions, export groups and advisory bodies. Their composition and the way they work has a direct impact on European public policies.”
  Activities of EU Ombudsman
• “We have a possibility now that we could give you the floor flaw within the framework of catch the eye procedure. Do we have any? Catch the eye. Speakers.”
  EU public communication strategy
• “President. Commissioner. The document appears not to be courageous enough. Given the very difficult times that we are faced with. We have to look. We have to update our expenditure. Let's face it, gender equality is not a main priority now. The Green Deal is an economic mistake. It's killing off businesses. And it means that companies are leaving the EU to go to other continents. Decarbonisation. It's a doctrine. It's a mistake as well. Fossil fuels are a sound and secure source of energy, and they're natural. The coal fired, coal fired power stations in the US are zero emissions now, and photovoltaics are getting more and more expensive because rare metals are expensive, energy is more expensive. And this is a continuing problem. Own resources. Now, this is a difficult issue. A lot of people saying it'd be better if we had more than 1% in own resources, but who's going to pick up that bill? Nobody wants to pay more money into the budget. So here too, we have issues. The suggestion is further borrowing. That's another terrible mistake being made by the EU. Yes, the goals might be good security, employment and what have you. And borrowed to finance that. But the Commission wants to rule alone. It doesn't listen to what the Parliament has to say, and sometimes it even blackmails individual member states, saying we'll help this country and not help another country. This is what we're worried about. So let's give more power back to the member states. The union will be better and the future will be better.”
  Own EU resources · EU political integration · Climate efforts
• “Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm not. I don't belong either to an extreme right or extreme left. I'm just your regular conservative conservatives. Take a very calm approach to whatever is happening around us. We like smart farmers, smart scientists, and smart beekeepers. We listen to those who actually put things and try them in practice, and their experience is very valid for everything we talk about. And let's look now at what we do. If today in the EU, we decide to open our markets, uh, from, uh, for products for, for instance, from, uh, South America. Let us remember that, uh, it's those countries that, uh, basically reduce, uh, forest areas and as a result, reduce, uh, pollinators populations. So, uh, we might say that we have the agreement with Mercosur. We have new foods imported. But the truth is that we should look at the broader picture. I would repeat, let's listen to smart beekeepers and smart farmers. Our life will get so much better.”
  Trade relations with Mercosur
• “And Poland has no rule of law. Please do not disturb me when I'm trying to speak. Please. You will have an opportunity to speak. Now it's my turn. So I don't think it is very elegant. If the European Commission does not guarantee that everyone will be treated fairly and justly, including when it comes to the money spent. What has recently happened in Poland with the money from the r f yachts, sailing yachts were being bought and other stupid purchases were made, Poland was being harassed, persecuted. So was Hungary. Other countries not so. My question to the court is as follows. What is the source of your information on efficiency, effectiveness and indicators? Are you working based on the information from the European Commission, or do you have your own independent sources of information? Do you have information on the money spent by the member States? I think the member states provide to the European Commission whatever they like. Then we complain it's not efficient, but no one really knows in the end where the money goes. Thank you.”
  EU Supervision of the Rule of Law
• “Short question for you. I will be speaking in Polish because my question is very detailed. We both work in the Budget Committee, and a couple of colleagues have said that the right is at fault for everything, and that it has nothing to do with the CMU. It's because we don't have a banking union and it's the right's fault. We know it's not the right's fault. Spanish banks, Italian and Greek banks handed out an awful lot of dodgy credit dodgy loans. Now my question is, look, the Germans are stopping the next step of the banking union because they don't want to pay for these suspicious loans. Do you agree with that?”
  European Banking Union
• “Yes. Thank you. I would like to say a few words about the current situation in Poland, because what the rapporteur has just said is of great interest to all of us. As Poland, we are keenly interested in the rule of law and the good use of EU money for the implementation of European and national goals. We have always taken care of that and we still are taking care of that. We need to spend the extensive amounts that we have received in the right way. Neither Olaf nor any other European institution has as yet decided that the money has not been spent well. The first scandal has erupted. Right now the whole Poland. People across Poland are laughing at what the current government is doing. Doing. Colleagues of of Mr. Donald Tusk from the Civic Platform, those MEPs, those members of Parliament and their families are buying themselves yachts, sailing boats, which are financed from the national Programme of reconstruction. They are equipping their coffee shops, they are providing furniture to agencies of ill repute. And this is what's happening in Poland. European journalists have already taken note, and we will very soon explain this in much detail in a different way. The truth must prevail. The current government in Poland is using the money in the wrong way, and that's the money that has been allocated under the reconstruction plan. Let me remind you that this money has been withdrawn and not offered to the Polish local self-government, Polish power grid, etc.. You withhold these monies were withheld because as as you said, the rule of law was not observed. But now we are the laughing stock of the whole world. I'm not happy about that, to be honest. I'm very sorry to see that this is how money is being spent in Poland right now.”
  Conditions to access EU budget
• “(12:12:54 – 12:14:04): Thank you. Thank you, chair. A couple of very general comments. First of all, if it were up to me and, well, really, my colleague is not there, but, if it were up to me, I would reject it all. That's 1 of the voices, very strong coming from ECR. And another thing, actually, in none of the documents have I found a statement confirming that the EU is the most indebted project since its foundation, and that worries me, especially that the adviser to madam von der Leyen, mister Draghi, mentions more indictments, more loans. In his report, he says that the EU should spend 3 times as more on photovoltaic panels to have enough energy to drive EU economy. It's completely nonsensical. And I do agree with those who say that what we need is more oversight from the European Parliament over the tricks, that the European Commission is trying to implement.”
  Size of EU budget
• “Thank you very much, chairman. Now, we looked into the budgetary aspects of the protocol for the years 2529 with regards to the implementation of the partnership between the Sao Tomé and Principe. And we also assessed whether this act complies with the necessary financial means. We also assessed the. Um, um, motion. Uh, with regards to the Interinstitutional Agreement and also the principles of the budgetary instruments. Uh, this is about 3 million, €300,000 for four years. So the Committee on Fisheries, uh, is kindly asked to confirm the this agreement. And I'd like to thank everyone involved for their kind assistance.”
  Fisheries access for developing countries
• “Thank you.: Thank you. Chairman. Now the ECR will be against the own resources as they stand now. Commissioner, would you have any knowledge whatsoever on the. Electro trash issue? How different member states will be dealing with that? We have a very negative experience in Poland with regards to the plastic tax. So we do have some concerns. So would you know, how are we going to funnel the the tax among the member states?”
  Own EU resources
• “Thank you so much. I will speak in Polish. Okay. Okay. Very well then. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. To the European Court of Auditors. I have been watching you for years and you are doing excellent work. You are being very objective. I wish other institutions were so objective as well, and I wish other institutions worked as well as you. That would make our EU better. The budget is as it is. That is my second comment. We keep saying we do not have enough money, but the key is to be efficient. Our money needs to be spent in an effective manner. And here comes the question. In my opinion. All political groups here have some misgivings about what the European Commission is doing. The European Commission is not informing. The Parliament is not acting under control of the Parliament. It is doing what it likes. And I think Commission. Sorry, I have to say it, but you are undermining the good atmosphere. You are undermining the European project. Why am I saying this? There has been a lot of unfairness when it comes to the assessment of the funds that were spent under the RR. I'm in the petitions committee. We are, uh, we are bombarded by a huge number of Spanish petitions about the dodgy prime minister, dodgy ministers, and they have a rule of law with all those petitions.”
  Discharge of EU institutions and agencies
• “Thank you very much. This is a very serious discussion, and I would just like to underline that in the UK, the Netherlands and Sweden, we're already seeing serious restrictions on the use of this substance, and that's a very good thing. We're talking about something that's used in medicine on the one hand, but at the same time, this is also a narcotic. Yes, a narcotic. It's a chemical substance that is undesirable and that has turned up on the market in unlimited quantities. So where's that come from? Who's flooded the market with this substance? Who's selling it? Who's making it the money? These are the questions we should be asking. And there's one other thing. The use of these chemicals in cooking. This is used in cooking, but that's not necessarily a good thing either. In Poland, we got the first import of meat from South America. And now we can see that there are chemicals in that meat that shouldn't be in the meat. So let's look at this substance holistically. This is a problem that we have to limit. There's too much of this substance on the market. Thank you.”
  Regulation of drug precursors in the EU
• “We commonly know that richness comes from savings and wise legislation. This is what we need. We have too many regulations, too many regulations. And unfortunately, we have to go away from this way. I'm killing coal, gas, nuclear power and using only the Green Deal brings European companies into disaster. Because companies go away from the European Union, they escape to the states, to China, to other places. This is what we need to stop. Companies are a value. Businesses are the value of Europe. Of course. Energy. Energy. Expensive energy is also a problem. And it's a huge burden for the operation in the EU. To my mind, a great area of the European Union is going away with stopping relations with the USA. Um, we need to use the best technologies and those best technologies are in the USA. We need to cooperate wisely. Thank you.”
  Energy (green transition)
• “My question to you is this. My question to you is this. We've been talking about social inequality. I've been listening to what you said. And let me ask you about something that is quite recent. Your country recently adopted the euro. The adoption of the The euro. Is this going to deepen social inequalities or perhaps alleviate them to a certain extent?”
  European Banking Union
• “(18:17:56 – 18:18:35): I ask you a question? I okay. I listened to what you said very cautiously. I agree with what you say. We have to increase the sovereignty of production of steel in the EU. Okay. But where do we take cheaper energy for steel production? This is energy cons and this is sector consuming huge huge amounts of energy. The green deal, doesn't it kill the production possibilities of steel in the EU?”
  Energy (green transition)
• “Again in Polish. Well, I think that Olaf and the European Court of Auditors to be very serious institutions and one of the most needed, needed institutions within the EU and also the institutions that are the least politicized. So thank you for what you are doing because you are needed, and it seems that it will be even more needed. And the question in French and German television, I saw some comments ridiculing Poland. As far as the expenditure of money during this financial exercise is concerned, People said or the journalist said that yachts were bought from these funds. Uh, or coffee making machines and very strange kinds of equipment. And that was broadcast by European television channels. Do you know of this as Olaf? Do you know that there are many circles around, uh, the current government? There are many people, many circles who use that money for their own benefit in Poland. Do you know this?”
  Accounting and auditing of EU budget
• “I will speak in Polish. Please take the headphones. Okay. My speech will be in Polish language. You're from the Greens, and you probably know about the environmental protection details. Now, I wanted to ask you. We've heard that Brazil used 4000 pesticides to produce food products. Knowing that, do you support the EU Mercosur agreement? Do you like the fact that firms producing in Europe can't sell pesticides in Europe, and then they sell them to Brazil. Do you support the agreement? Do you support foodstuffs produced with all these chemicals?”
  Trade relations with Mercosur
• “Thank you so much. I will speak in Polish. Please take a chance. You said. You said a while ago that we on the right side. We do not understand everything. Therefore, I would like to ask you a question. A couple of hours ago, the European Commission said that as of the 1st of January 28, in the European Union budget, there will be €30 billion missing to repay the debts in the European Union annual budget. Now my question is, do you insist on maintaining ets2 and the carbon tax, which are to be the income of the EU, that is, to continue the area which is already an inherent error of this term. Thank you.”
  Own EU resources
• “I've been listening to you with great attention. You mentioned startups. You're a young person, and you will be probably, um, having your career for a long time. If you support startups. So do I. But don't you think that the overt regulation as in the EU. I have just read that there are more than 100 acts on digital technologies, 200 institutions supervising digital technologies. If we have even more rules. Aren't you afraid that your startup will have to start in the US because there is more freedom there than here in the EU?”
  EU rules on digital competition
• “Exactly. Okay. The comments and observations, I will switch to Polish. A change of paradigm of the budget towards an approach based on results is very dangerous for member states, and it risks depriving them of their freedom to shape their own economic policy. What can we do in a situation when the European Commission imposes such an approach? We have to make sure that obligatory requirements do not limit the freedom too much. And most of all, they must not make the regional partnership plans dependent on climatic policy.”
  EU policy on sustainability criteria in public funding
• “I'll be very brief. And a very brief question. And, Commissioner, I'm making every attempt to understand how difficult the situation is. But here is the question. Then she noticed, Commissioner, that by the proposals that have been put forward with regards to the budget, the European Union is actually abandoning the Union itself. Paradoxically, now there is a relationship between the European Union or Commission and the national governments. This is what I am afraid of. And the second question. Those letters that have been sent to the Commission now, the ECR has drafted the letter saying that there is a problem with coordinating of the Common Agricultural Policy. So the future of the cap. So if the Commission is going to have only relations with the national governments, and a conflict is afoot between the Commission and the national governments. If various funds will be directed to the agriculture. And this is what I am afraid of.”
  EU political integration
• “Thank you very much. I speak Polish now. It's a draft decision of the council. Um. And here the most important issue is Greenland, whose geo strategic role is growing. We would like to improve cooperation in the area of critical resources or. Sustainable tourism, among others. I support 530 million appropriation for Greenland. It is justified by its growing importance as far as access to critical resources, human resources, and this country needs support. But I have some reservations on the transparency of the budget, and I'd like to criticize the lack of division of funds within the program, because this gives too much freedom to the European Commission to set priorities, and this can restrict democratic oversight. So I propose different envelopes for individual regions. Uh, there is also too much aggregation, uh, which restricts our, Oversight and oversight of the Council on Spending and therefore, I think we should have specific budget lines. This would improve transparency and. Another issue important issue is granting loans through global Europe. To sum up, we generally support this proposal, but we would like to improve transparency and strengthen the role of the Parliament. Thank you.”
  Funding for EU Neighbourhood