Viktória FERENC

Policy topics Viktória FERENC is active on

What Viktória FERENC has said (15)

• 2025-06-16 “E-002405/2025 Answer given by Mr Várhelyi on behalf of the European Commission As announced in the Communication on a comprehensive approach to mental health 1 , the Commission supports those most in need, including those affected by the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. This includes actions to strengthen mental health and psychosocial support for vulnerable groups, and access to trauma-informed care for children, including for children in alternative care. The EU-PROMENS project 2 , funded with EUR 9 million, offers multidisciplinary training on the mental health of those affected by the war in Ukraine. A project by the International Federation of the Red Cross 3 , funded with EUR 31.2 million, delivers essential psychological first aid to those affected by the Ukraine crisis, including Hungarian-speaking women fleeing from the Transcarpathian region. Stakeholder-led projects 4 are implementing best practices that improve mental health and psychosocial wellbeing with support of EUR 3 million. Projects implemented by the World Health Organization (WHO) are strengthening the health system and building resilience of rehabilitation services including in mental health. The Commission will engage with WHO to further strengthen projects in this regard. The Commission adopted on 23 July 2025 the EU4Health Work Programme 5 , that was developed in collaboration with Member States. It sets out the strategic policy orientations for 2025 and supports the EU’s priorities in health policy, such as lifelong prevention for a healthy life, including mental health. 1 https://health.ec.europa.eu/publications/comprehensive-approach-mental-health_en. 2 https://eu-promens.eu/eu-promens. 3 https://www.ifrc.org/our-work/health-and-care/community-health/mental-health-and-psychosocialsupport/eu4health-and-ifrc. 4 https://hadea.ec.europa.eu/news/eu4health-projects-improving-mental-health-and-wellbeing-ukrainianrefugees-2023-05-22_en. 5 https://health.ec.europa.eu/publications/2025-eu4health-work-programme_en.”
  EU-Ukraine relations · EU Development & Humanitarian Aid
• “(14:50:13 – 14:50:15): Thank you, chair. I will speak in Hungarian. Dear colleagues, cars are not just a means of transport. It's also a symbol of freedom. It makes us free to go to work, to travel, and makes our life easier every day. The automotive sector makes this possible, and maybe this is our last chance to save the automotive sector. The phasing out of internal combustion engines by 2035 was unrealistic from the get-go, and this could have cost thousands of jobs in Europe. A one size fits all technology is not good for this sector. We need hybrids, sustainable biofuels, e-fuels and all kinds of innovative solutions which contribute to reducing emissions. Therefore, we support the idea of regulating separately vehicles running on carbon neutral fuels, and then they should fall under the same category as completely zero emission vehicles. We should not have artificial ceilings. Biofuels should play a role in this conversion, so the current limits are simply not justified. Instead of the 3 year compliance period, we should have the average of a 5 year period. This makes it more predictable for the carmakers. We need to review our rules and regulations regularly. Technology evolves. We need to be able to respond to this. That's why a biannual review would probably be the best idea to make sure that European car industry remains competitive. We think we need more flexibility, and of course, we are ready to work on amendments that make sure that we can save the European car industry, preserving jobs, competitiveness, and also Europe's industry. Thank you.”
  Road transport environmental policy
• “I will speak in Hungarian. Thank you very much. Now, 2 million people in the EU lose their lives and 60 million are affected by these diseases. And so all of these cases are death. Cases are 37%, 37%. And at the same time, this is a huge burden for our economy. Many, many billions of euros and specifically women, many women are affected by this. So we need to have specific steps and a comprehensive strategy. And this should be based on prevention, innovation and cooperation between member states. This new strategy also needs to build on the Council conclusions that were adopted under the Hungarian presidency. The three levels in the strategy are very important. Firstly, support of a healthy way of life, fight against tobacco consumption, correct nutrition and also health in working places and in schools. And these are absolutely fundamental. The second point of preventive work is early recognition and early detection methods in medicine. And at the same time, we also need to observe risk factors. For example, in the case of patients with a high liver protein level. At the European level. We also need to build on the good practices that we have in member states. Hungary, for example, within the network of the health bureaus, has contributed by ensuring that children have to move regularly and are have a clear and nutrition plan. And this has led this has all been supported by the strategy. Ai and new technologies will also help us find solutions, and quick answers for citizens. Health and heart health needs to be a key issue for specialists. When we look at the strategy, we won't just be saving lives, but we'll also be lifting, helping the economy and helping for the stability of Europe. Thank you.”
  EU measures on lifestyle-related behaviours (smoking, drinking, eating, etc.)
• “Thank you. Chair. I was speaking Hungarian. This administered. Dear Mr. Minister, I would like to welcome you here in the committee. Over the past week, the Commission's 2040 climate target has been the focus of attention. And I have a question related to that. The EU has to submit a new Nationally determined contributions in 2025, and that is before the Cop 30. The Danish presidency's objective is to adopt a general approach on the 2040 climate target in the council already in September, and here in Parliament, we can also hear at this meeting there are some people who are urging to speed up the process. At the same time, the positions in both the Parliament and the council are strongly divided. There are some who support the 90% target. There are others, including Hungary, who expressed serious concerns. Therefore, my question is how does the Danish Presidency intend to ensure that there is sufficient time and space for a professional dialogue that would respect the specificities of member states. And does the presidency support the idea of separate negotiations on the NDCs and the 2040 target? Thank you.”
  Climate efforts
• “Thank you very much, chair. Dear Representatives of the warehouse. Narada. I would like to express my appreciation for the opportunity to engage in this direct and personal dialogue, which is essential for achieving meaningful progress. It has been nearly two years since the European Union opened accession negotiations with Ukraine. At that time, clear and binding conditions were said, among others, concerning the rights of national minorities. In line with article two of treaty of the European Union, the Copenhagen Criteria and the Constitution of Ukraine. These commitments form part of the agreed legal framework that Ukraine has undertaken to uphold all Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for the European and Euro-Atlantic integration also confirmed that Ukraine would fully address and implement the 11 points raised, particularly by Hungary, concerning the protection of national minorities. At the same time, nearly two years on, it is important to reflect on where we stand. While there have been statements of intent, we have so far seen limited, tangible progress, particularly in terms of clearly identifiable and enforceable legal acts. The Hungarian community in Transcarpathia, for example, has not yet fully regained the scope of rights it previously enjoyed. This makes continued constructive dialogue even more important. In this period, I would like to respectfully raise a few questions. Could you kindly elaborate on how Ukraine currently ensures the right to national cultural autonomy, and how the free use of national symbols is safeguarded in practice? Furthermore, could you share how the issue of parliamentary representation for national minorities is currently being addressed in Ukraine? These are, of course, only a few elements among the 11 points, and they do not cover important areas such as the language of education or broader human rights considerations. But I sincerely hope that these commitments will soon be reflected in clear, tangible and measurable outcomes. Thank you for your answers.”
  EU-Ukraine relations
• “I will speak in Hungarian. We cannot be in favour of a target for 2040, which requires two faster transition and imposes on citizens and companies. I think it's hazy. It's too high and there is no dialogue whatsoever. And ultimately it is citizens and companies in Europe which will bear the burden. Currently, it is not even sure that we can achieve the 2030 targets. Nonetheless, we have to pay the price now. High prices for the energy, less competitiveness, whole sectors closing down. We have to emphasize that without technological neutrality there is no just transition. So nuclear energy has to be acknowledged. Especially it is important for Hungary. The 90% net reduction target is too ambitious. As many have said, we need objectives that are pragmatic, feasible and contribute to the competitiveness of Europe, and it's not a continuation of the green ideology of the commission that has failed already.”
  Climate efforts
• “Madam Chair. Madam Commissioner, this citizens initiative is the is the common fight of the autochthonous minorities who are 50 million within Hungary. But it also provides hope for minorities living outside the European Union. Sending the message that the EU takes a step forward to stand for national, ethnic, cultural, religious, linguistic, minorities, identity, especially cultural, national and linguistic and um characteristics can be Overprotective nature. Just like in the Ukraine war, where trans Carpathian Hungarians are dying day after day because of bombardments, we cannot bring back our dead. But it's important to stress that the mental integration of those who stayed alive cannot work in a cultural neutrality. So the support mechanisms should take this account in Ukraine as well.”
  EU and national cultural identities
• “Chair. I will speak in Hungarian. In its current form, this is not about protecting the environment, but much more about red tape. It is simply puts too much burden on the shoulders of European operators without any guarantees of really protecting our forests. Even before its entry into force, we can see its consequences. Prices of cocoa and coffee is going through the roof, and SMEs are trying to find their way out of this bureaucratic mess. Uh, thousands of operators, among them Hungarian operators, face new obligations and costs, which undermines their competitiveness. Third country operators are simply excluded from the from the European market. This is not a green transition. We are shooting ourselves in the foot. Madam Commissioner, are you finally going to listen to the demands of European operators before doing more damage from ECR?”
  Trade impact on forests
• “Honourable colleagues, Commissioner. When we look at the ETS, we need to break away from the Green Deal and its ideology because that has really weakened our economy. Our competitors are stronger because of cheap energy and because of targeted industrial policy. But Europe is punishing its citizens and its industry. The war has already led to many disadvantages in Europe. It's therefore unacceptable for ETS to. System is basically going to burden families by increasing heating costs and energy costs, so we need to get rid of ETS two and at the same time the ETS system, the free of charge distribution of quotas needs to be kept because if not, Europe might lose further jobs. We don't need ideology. We don't need climate ideology. We need energy safety.”
  Extension of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme
• “Thank you. Chair. First of all, I apologize that despite the tight timeline of our meetings, you had to listen more about the Hungarian issues than it was necessary. And secondly, on behalf of the Patriots, I would like to comment on the life science strategy, which is a very ambitious plan encompassing a wide part of the economy and agriculture, Culture. While the scale is ambitious, certainly we hope that it will facilitate a genuine and much welcomed turn towards competitiveness without any administrative burden for the industries. Regarding industry and with the background of the pharma package trilogue, my question is the following. In EU law, compounding medicines prepared in pharmacies for individual patients on the basis of a doctor's prescription are sometimes exempt from data protection and patent infringement in well-defined cases. However, this exception must not become a loophole that undermines Europe's system of incentives for pharmaceutical research and innovation. Given that you talk about a new ecosystem for health, how you stand towards the Parliament and the council's position. How do you intend to ensure that the pharmacist exemptions continues to serve its original purpose, which is meeting genuine patients needs and not erode necessary incentives. Thank you for the answers.”
  Pharma IPRs
• “Thank you. Chair. I will speak in Hungarian. Thank you very much for your speeches and your explanations. Antimicrobial resistance needs a strategic response to tackle this at a European level. I think, unfortunately, there are a lot of, uh, cases at European level. If we look at the Ecdc figures, I think it backs this up. The, uh, data from Hungary, I don't think is particularly bad when we compare it to other countries. It's 3% of these, uh, noncommunicable diseases, which I think is very much in line with the rest of Europe. We've been told that it's a particularly high rate in Hungary, but I don't think that is necessarily the case. It's important to put in place better practices, uh, in hygiene, for example, to improve the system, the, uh, surveillance systems at a national level and also controlling the use of antibiotics. But I think there are other issues related to antimicrobial resistance that we need to deal with. So I think the question is what can be done at a European level to tackle this problem more effectively, to reduce antimicrobial resistance? Perhaps we need a more research joint financing and to have a standards at European level.”
  Antimicrobial resistance
• “I welcome that the council put on the agenda the climate law, which is indeed a key issue not only in terms of the climate, but also in terms of the competitiveness of Europe. We hope that the debate will bring about tangible results and not hollow political statements. Only European businesses and citizens need affordable energy and not new burdens. What, for instance, the ETS two will bring about the upcoming before the upcoming Cop 30? We have to announce that the EU is already trailblazing in emission cuts, but we are only responsible for 6% of global emissions And our burdens are in proportionate. It is high time that the big players in a mission like China should shoulder their shares. A new ideology, ideologically driven target would not help the global climate, only endanger European competitiveness. We hope the Council will understand this tomorrow.”
  Climate efforts
• “Thank you. President. Commissioner. Dear colleagues, the European car industry is on the brink of collapse. The industry is facing serious competitiveness problems and is lagging behind in the global market. The reasons for this are. War driven energy prices and excessive green regulations imposed by the commission, which make it impossible for a sustainable but competitive automotive industry to operate. Unfortunately, the action plan presented by the Commission is a missed opportunity. On the one hand, it has arrived late and on the other it is not comprehensive enough. There has been a shameful lack of consultation with all industry stakeholders in the Strategic Dialogue, and the direction remains the same. The automotive industry is being held captive by the European Commission to an excessive and inflexible regulatory regime. In addition to the removal of unnecessary and industry destroying penalties, positive incentives are needed. Energy prices should be reduced along the lines of technological neutrality. Electronic charging, electric charging infrastructure should be strengthened and alternative fuel types should be.”
  Road transport environmental policy
• “President. Commissioner. War conflicts as well a vulnerability of supply chains have made it clear that Europe needs to reduce its reliance on. Third countries for critical substances and materials. It has shown us that sovereignty in the health sphere is something that is in Europe's strategic interest, and that is why we, as a legislator achieved agreement on the principle of a Critical Medicines Act. We want to reduce dependencies and also make sure that we guarantee the availability of critical medicines, medicines that are absolutely essential for millions of people, such as antibiotics and blood pressure medicines. We also need to go beyond joint procurement mechanisms. We need to have a strong pharmaceutical industry, and we need to have highly developed research capacities and also work on our decades long industrial experience to come together to make their contribution, because we will not be able to do this through administrative measures, but by having genuine production and innovation capacity. And we are, of course, are a key player in this. We need to work on R&D in the pharmaceuticals industry. That has proved its worth, and we need to continue to do so in order to allow to make its contribution to Europe's strategic sovereignty. And that is why we need to look at the regulatory environment. We don't need to have unnecessary environmental measures, but we need to have reliability and genuine support for a European industrial policy. European patients aren't expecting political promises, but they want to have continuous access to generic as well as other medicines.”
  Pharma companies manufacturing and production obligations
• “Thank you. Chair. I will speak in Hungarian. Dear madam, I honestly ask you. What do you think? What serves a citizens interests better? Continuing war or peace? Hundreds of thousands have lost their homes and people in Ukraine are surviving for years and years. And there is a danger that these horrors would spread to Europe. And I come from that area. And there's another lady. Who comes from Transcarpathia, and she has lost her brother because he had to go and enroll in the army. How many of such tragic losses will people have to suffer? And you can deny it, but the situation is the same. You can see the reports of the Ukrainian human Rights Commissioner. People are forced to join the army. They are very cruelly treated. You are just sitting and sitting by and you watch a flowering corruption and this situation continuing. Thank you.”
  Russia-Ukraine conflict (10th term)