Vlad VASILE-VOICULESCU

Policy topics Vlad VASILE-VOICULESCU is active on

What Vlad VASILE-VOICULESCU has said (25)

• “Political follow through on tobacco, alcohol and healthier food environments still moves too slowly. Citizens don't really experience strategies or plans. They experience prices, marketing, labeling, and availability. Now, if we want fewer cancers and fewer and a lower burden, we need fewer exposures. And we should also say that plainly in this committee and in this House. Second screening and early detection, the commitment is clear. By 2025, 90% of the people eligible for eligible people should be offered breast, cervical and colorectal screening. The offered but offered the term is not the same as reached, and recommended is not the same as implemented. We must now support member States that are lagging behind because otherwise the screening gap becomes a survival gap. Third, we need to close the treatment gap, and that includes making cross-border care work in practice. And Professor Vassell just mentioned it in a place that's crucial. And that's for kids with cancer, for patients needing, um, highly specialised diagnosis or treatment such as children. But not only cross-border access should be a safety valve. Yet too often, patients face complex procedures, uncertainty about reimbursements, high upfront payments and inconsistent application of prior authorization. Plus, of course, sparse information and support. This is limiting access, and it hits disadvantaged patients first.”
  EU measures on lifestyle-related behaviours (smoking, drinking, eating, etc.)
• “Thank you, Commissioner and the rapporteur for the work done. Um, I you actually answered my question, Commissioner. It Commissioner was, uh, it was going in the direction of showing us the potential advantages of AI and where we are and why we need to speed up things. Uh, we've discussed earlier in the committee about the research funds that we are providing. And, um, I think I'm not the only one having the impression that, uh, Europe funds research while others are developing their industries and their products, and we end up buying a license for several products that have been actually developed or at least partially developed here in, in, in Europe. And second, on AI. And I would like to take a different angle from my, from my colleague Ignacio here. Um, also coming from a part of Europe, which definitely needs, uh, additional capacity, uh, so we could use some help from, from AI. Now in the United States, AI medical devices will Receive FDA clearance in about. In a median of 142 days in Europe. Ce marking under the medical devices regulation takes an estimated of 13 to 18 months. Um, I hope I'm mistaken. I hope the data I have is is just wrong. Uh, this was better actually, before the MDR, uh, took effect in 2021, Europe was actually ahead of the US, uh, in approving, uh, AI, medical devices, whatever was out there. Um, but, um, uh, now we also know that the FDA has authorized over 1200 AI devices. We don't know exactly, or at least I don't know it. Uh, I don't know how many, uh, Europe, uh, actually, uh, authorized. I didn't, I wasn't able to find any centralized register or comparable count for that. Thank you.”
  Medical devices
• “President Lagarde, dear colleagues, um, European citizens are asking a simple question. Can we bring inflation down and we build confidence that the economy will deliver opportunity again and that it will do it in a sustainable fashion? The ECB is doing the hard work of restoring price stability. Now Europe's political responsibility is to make that stability translate into investment, productivity and good jobs. I listen to your speech earlier very carefully, and it seems to me that, um, that three, um, three items, three objectives are particularly important in order to achieve that first credibility to through through clarity. In an age of misinformation and uncertainty, people need to understand not only what the ECB decides, but also why. More transparency on the analysis, the scenarios and the distributional effects strengthens trust and therefore makes the monetary policy more effective. Secondly, a stronger financial financing ecosystem in Europe is important for Europe's businesses. It is essential we need faster progress on the capital markets union and completion of the banking union so that innovative firms, especially SMEs and scale ups, can access funding across borders with less fragmentation and less red tape. Europe should not be the continent where savings are abundant, as you mentioned in your speech, but risk capital is still very scarce. Third, European sovereignty in payments and resilience in the digital age. A digital euro can be a public anchor for European payments, but it must also be designed to protect privacy, financial stability and coexist with cash while supporting Europe's payment innovators. Independence is essential. Accountability is equally essential. Thank you.”
  Digital euro
• “Here we have the largest number of young people taking up smoking in the world. Every fifth, uh, youngster, 15 year old, every fifth, uh, 15 year old is taking up e-cigarettes has been vaping over the last 30 days. So the data is clear. Uh, they are some of the industry is saying or the industry is saying that this is they are going to leave smoking, give up smoking and take up more healthier alternatives. This is not true. A young person that starts with vaping is three times will three times. It's more productive by three times that that he or she will take up smoking. This these are facts. These are clear studies. We have 16,000 16,000 flavours, influencer marketing, colorful designs that mimic toys and candies that that make young people take up vaping and then smoking. So this is not this is not accidental. This is this is this is business. And it's bad business for all of us. Uh, then we have allowed ourselves to have, uh, for treatment, to have little centers of, uh, lack less than excellence everywhere in Europe, whereas for rare diseases we should have a common approach, a common European approach. And finally, for research, we have allowed ourselves to fund research that does not result in, in, in, in commercial or policy actions that are actually in favor of the of the European citizens. I'll stop here and looking forward to work with you on that.”
  Electronic cigarettes
• “We cannot tell a citizen whether their screening was funded by the plan, or why their chances of survival are far lower than in the country next door. Colleagues, we also need to be frank about prevention. And I want to stress this. This is on us here in the European Parliament, here in the European institutions. 40% of cancers are preventable. Over 1 million cases a year. That need not happen. If we are serious about preventing cancer, then we cannot keep delaying the difficult decisions. The revision of the Tobacco Products Directive has not happened. Mandatory health warnings on alcohol have not happened. This is a strategic problem, a strategic failure. This is a political failure and this is a moral failure. Europe produces excellent science. Science. Europe produced the world's first randomised controlled trial on AI in cancer screening. The Masai trial in Sweden and the prime study in Germany showed that AI can detect more cancers while cutting radiologists workload by 44%. The evidence was generated in Europe on European patients within European screening programmes at the same time. A single American imaging company, Radnet, has absorbed three of Europe's leading cancer AI developers in under three years. Quanti. Aiden's. Kiran were developed with tens of millions of euro. They received through horizon and r e f to tackle prostate, lung and breast cancer. Three of the four most common cancers. Three companies developed inside the European research ecosystems with a meaningful public contribution are now American subsidiaries licensed back to the European hospitals that helped build them.”
  EU measures on lifestyle-related behaviours (smoking, drinking, eating, etc.)
• “Yes. Finally, finally, while we rightly focus on sexual and reproductive health and rights, I believe it is equally important to recall some fundamental principles, namely the right to to be informed that to, to, to, to sorry, the right to informed choice in contraception and the need to promote a more balanced sharing of contraceptive responsibility between partners so that it does not fall disproportionately on women. I look forward to working together on this file. Thank you.”
  Sexuality and reproduction
• “Thank you president. Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen. In a world that's marked by geopolitical tension and strategic competition, access to medicine is no longer a matter of public health alone. It is about European sovereignty. There's a lot of talk about sovereignty in Bucharest, in Paris, in Warsaw, or in other European capitals. However, when it comes to medicine, there is one simple truth you can only be sovereign if your patients do not depend on decisions made made elsewhere in the world. You cannot be sovereign unless you have access to active substances or to production capacities or if your patients were. Wait for months and years for treatments that are available elsewhere. Sometimes in other EU member states. Real sovereignty is not on TV. It's not done through isolation. It's done through investment, research, industry and common negotiation power. And this cannot come from a country with a few millions or a few dozen million citizens. We can only have it together in a Europe that's strong. For Romania, this is a painful truth. Romanian patients are often among the last in the EU. In the EU to benefit from innovative treatments. And this must change. That is why last week, agreement on the Critical Medicines Act, of which I was responsible as a new member, is a very important one. Access to medicines should become a strategic priority for the European Union. Thus, we shall reduce our dependence to third countries and will make investments in strategic projects here in the European Union. Joint procurement can provide additional bargaining power for every member state and benefits for patients, including for Romanian patients. This is the sovereignty that matters, not slogans. This is the sovereignty that puts medicine on our shelves, treatments in our hospitals and gives our patients real chances. This is the Europe that truly protects its citizens.”
  Joint EU procurement of medicines
• “This means EU funded tools can remain pilots rather than becoming standard practice across member states. A plan A prolonged a new version of the plan should move from more initiatives to fewer but interoperable, used at scale solutions, with sustainability and national uptake built in from day one. Third, accountability progress is tracked via an implementation roadmap. Yet there is still no robust monitoring framework to assess achievements, results and, when feasible, impact. Without common indicators, baselines, data quality checks and a clear evaluation timeline, we cannot credibly claim success or correct course early enough. So with that in mind, I would dare to conclude with two questions for the European Court of Auditors representatives. The first one is based on your audit work. What are the what is the minimum annual reporting package that that sounds our committee here should require from the Commission to make parliamentary scrutiny of the next phase really meaningful. And the second question is which single governance change would most improve implementation? Systematic consolidation of overlapping initiatives, mandatory sustainability uptake plans for EU funded tools, or a stronger link between EU funding and measurable national delivery. Thank you and thank you, chair.”
  Accounting and auditing of EU budget
• “Thank you. Um welcome to the European Parliament again, Commissioner, and thank you for your work and indeed for your leadership balance and dedication. Uh, for, uh, to European, uh, healthcare and European service. Um, I have two points. Uh, first is the European health data space. This is an important achievement, but it is at its core, an infrastructure primarily for professionals, less for citizens. Uh, nowhere in the, uh, do we find a concrete citizen facing, um, facing digital tool that empowers Europeans to proactively manage their health before illness strikes. Meanwhile, millions of European citizens are already turning to American AI platforms such as ChatGPT or Claude to ask questions about symptoms, interpret lab results, and manage their health. Every one of those conversations transfers sensitive personal health data to servers governed by US law. We are living in a paradox. The EU regulates health data more strictly than any other jurisdiction in the world, yet it offers its citizens no European alternative. The result is that European health data flows to the United States by default, not by choice. So when will the Commission develop or commission developing a European health prevention application built on EU infrastructure, compliant with EU values and designed to keep European citizens health data on European soil? An app that goes beyond data exchange between professionals and actually reaches citizens where they already are on their phones, asking about prevention, wellness and early warning signs.”
  Processing of health data
• “Thank you, chair. I will read on behalf of my colleague, uh, Veronica Conover. Um, her text. So dear colleagues, I would like to highlight several priorities that are particularly important for my group and that I will be working on, are to be implemented in in the report. First, we must significantly strengthen prevention, both primary and secondary. Today, harmful products such as alcohol and colorful or flavored vapes are marketed online in a very appealing way, especially to children. These strategies normalize harmful behaviors and expose children and young people to lifelong cardiovascular risks. Prevention from a young age must therefore be central to our approach. Stronger school based programs and stricter limits on the marketing of unhealthy and addictive products are essential in the context. In this context, the upcoming evaluation of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive offers a key opportunity to better protect young people. Age verification can only. Can also play an important role. The EU Digital Identity wallet is expected to be implemented by the end of this year. Could help prevent children from purchasing restricted goods such as tobacco or alcohol. At the same time, we should work towards harmonised regulation of marketing across the digital environment, including social media platforms, websites, gaming platforms and apps. However, prevention also means ensuring regular health checks so that people truly know their numbers and with cardiovascular diseases, with a genetic predisposition are detected, family screening should be provided. I would also like to stress the importance of patient centred approach. Young people living with cardiovascular disease often have very different needs from older patients with. When it comes to rehabilitation, for instance, personalised care can significantly improve their mental well-being and overall quality of life. Finally, addressing gender disparities in cardiovascular health is crucial. Women still face barriers in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. We need balanced gender representation in clinical research and gender sensitive analysis of outcomes to improve care for everyone. I look forward to working with you all during the negotiations. Thank you.”
  EU measures on lifestyle-related behaviours (smoking, drinking, eating, etc.)
• “Thank you. Chair. Uh, first of all, I would like to thank the rapporteurs for their work on this draft report. It's, uh, really good work. Um. The rule of law is not just another principle. It is the cornerstone of our union, and it is what safeguards citizens trust and ensures that European funds are used effectively and fairly all over the Union. The conditionality regulation we adopted in 2020 is a key tool for this, and its very purpose is, of course, very clear, and that's to protect the EU budget. Whether some like it or not, and the financial interest of our union whenever the rule of law is at risk. I therefore welcome this report, which looks closely at how the regulation has been implemented. It shows its benefits, its shortcomings, and also offers guidance for how we can improve it. We have already seen it work in the case of Hungary. Uh, we're measures were applied and funds were lost irreversibly, unfortunately. But there is more we can do and there is more we must do. For me, one important addition is to emphasize that media freedom and the role of independent civil society must always be considered when assessing when assessing systemic breaches in member states. Without free media and Hungary is unfortunately another here a good example and a strong civil society, the rule of law cannot truly function, and without that, the mechanism cannot be applied in a way that is timely, transparent and impartial. This is the right moment to draw lessons, to strengthen this mechanism, and to make sure that it can deliver on its purpose. And that's protecting both the European project and the citizens in the member states who depend on it. I am confident that together we can work constructively and agree on a solid common text. Thank you.”
  EU Supervision of the Rule of Law
• “Thank you. Dear colleagues, please excuse my colleague, Olivier Chastel. That's the renew shadow on this file who was unable to attend due to other commitments in the count committee at the same time. I will read his intervention on his behalf. I would like to thank the rapporteur for her work, as well as our colleagues in the Femm Committee, for the solid initial text. From my side, I intend to table amendments related to antimicrobial resistance, which constitutes a growing public health challenge and also has a clear gender dimension. According to the W.H.O., women are 27% more likely to receive antibiotics throughout their lifetime than men. I also welcome the fact that certain conditions, such as endometriosis are now receiving greater attention and are firmly on the political agenda. At the same time, other less visible diseases and syndromes must also be taken into account. I am thinking in particular of polycystic ovary syndrome, which, like endometriosis, remains widely underdiagnosed or diagnosed only after many years, with cascading health effects and a significant impact on fertility. Finally, while we rightly focus on sexual and reproductive health and rights, I believe it.”
  Sexuality and reproduction
• “Thank you. Um, thank you, Commissioner, for being here. And thank you for your statements. Uh, we're totally in line. Um, we have a budget that we're discussing now, and numbers, uh, might, may or may not have a label on it. And that's a pretty important issue. You mentioned the Competitive Fund Competitiveness Fund 2020 2.6 billion. We can compare that to the EU four health fund of 5.3 billion, uh, reduced then to 4.4. Now The big question is what do we understand that the competitiveness, do we see it in a broad sense, or rather in a narrow sense? And the big danger that we see here is that we would that some might see it in a narrow sense. And then the question, the next question is will preparedness be seen as competitiveness? Will collaboration be seen as preparedness as as competitiveness? Will mobility be seen as competitiveness? We definitely need preparedness, collaboration, mobility and healthcare in Europe. And that's at the very core of the European Health Union that we want to build. So can we insure us? Can you ensure that programs that are already successful, like the earns the Beating Cancer plan, the cancer mission and all the others that they will not be cut funding, but rather they will be supplemented and that they will continue as they have demonstrated that they work. The second question is regarding is also building on something that you mentioned. You mentioned prevention is cheap and you're right. Uh, my colleague here mentioned, uh, just a minute ago that prevention is not only cheap, but it's also an investment. And you also also mentioned the triangle, uh, a famous triangle of cardiovascular diabetes, obesity. That's very important. And I want to applaud also, uh, the new mechanism that, uh, we've seen in the MFF that could generate up to 11.1 billion annually, that's a tax on on tobacco. But given this triangle of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular, why don't we look at a similar excise duty on products with high sugar content? Because that would mean, again, that we are aligning the public health protection with fiscal Instruments. Why haven't you proposed that already? And would you support something like that?”
  EU measures on lifestyle-related behaviours (smoking, drinking, eating, etc.)
• “Yes. Finally, finally, while we rightly focus on sexual and reproductive health and rights, I believe it is equally important to recall some fundamental principles, namely the right to to be informed that to, to, to, to sorry, the right to informed choice in contraception and the need to promote a more balanced sharing of contraceptive responsibility between partners so that it does not fall disproportionately on women. I look forward to working together on this file. Thank you.”
  Sexuality and reproduction
• “My colleague was talking about and asked to. Where does health start? Health starts at home. Uh. In school, uh, and often in the kitchen. Obesity is presented as a result of a wrong individual choices, but the reality behind it is more complex as we very well, as we all know. It's not a choice. It's a result of social, economic, and environmental conditions. And we like to say that we're all responsible for our own health. To a certain extent that is true. But what happens when the healthiest option is also the most expensive? Um, this is, uh, this happens all too often. We have the information, but we don't have the money. Let's think about a single mother with two children. She works a lot. She wants the best for her children. And she knows that it's important to have healthy foods. But when she has to choose between cheaper foodstuffs and more expensive ones, she has to choose the cheaper ones because she just can't afford it otherwise. So we need to keep these realities in mind. Preventing obesity is not just awareness campaigns, but having access to affordable foodstuffs to gyms and support for vulnerable families. This is where our political answer starts. Thank you very much.”
  EU measures on lifestyle-related behaviours (smoking, drinking, eating, etc.)
• “This means EU funded tools can remain pilots rather than becoming standard practice across member states. A plan A prolonged a new version of the plan should move from more initiatives to fewer but interoperable, used at scale solutions, with sustainability and national uptake built in from day one. Third, accountability progress is tracked via an implementation roadmap. Yet there is still no robust monitoring framework to assess achievements, results and, when feasible, impact. Without common indicators, baselines, data quality checks and a clear evaluation timeline, we cannot credibly claim success or correct course early enough. So with that in mind, I would dare to conclude with two questions for the European Court of Auditors representatives. The first one is based on your audit work. What are the what is the minimum annual reporting package that that sounds our committee here should require from the Commission to make parliamentary scrutiny of the next phase really meaningful. And the second question is which single governance change would most improve implementation? Systematic consolidation of overlapping initiatives, mandatory sustainability uptake plans for EU funded tools, or a stronger link between EU funding and measurable national delivery. Thank you and thank you, chair.”
  Accounting and auditing of EU budget
• “Thank you. Um as rapporteur I'm my my my goal here is to reach some kind of compromise for this report and for the action that will follow it. Um, so what I heard in the room was basically from everyone that we are not enough. Ambitious enough. We're not politically ambitious enough. And that, uh, what I've also heard, and I also share my opinion pretty bluntly, uh, I think this is we are in a sort of a dolce vita in, uh, the field of healthcare, not only in Europe. We have allowed ourselves to postpone stuff, to postpone things, to postpone, postpone policy measures that shouldn't have been postponed for a day. Um, screening has been mentioned. Breast cancer, it's around 10% in the eastern part of Europe at almost 90% in other parts of Europe. Breast cancer screening, HPV vaccination. So I heard that some vaccines might produce cancer. Uh, I don't believe that at all. But, uh, I think no one, nobody will, will say that HPV vaccines, uh, produce cancer. On the contrary, we have the examples of Australia that basically, uh, eradicated, uh, cervical cancer with the HPV vaccine. So this is something that we can definitely agree upon. Uh, then we have heard and I've heard from the Patriots. I'm grateful for that actually about, uh, about, uh, young people, uh, taking up, uh, smoking. We have allowed ourselves to be fooled around by lobbyists. And two, three days before any vote here in this parliament, the phones are ringing and pressures are being put on, on, on each of us.”
  HPV prevention
• “Thank you, Madam Vice President. I don't normally share anecdotes, But in Romania, when I was involved in the health authorities, there were 7 to 67 cases. In 2016, we declared a national epidemic and we continue seeing, uh, under the socialists, under the same government that is refusing to support the only, uh, pro-European candidate. That same government is still refusing to recognize the fact that we are faced with a measles epidemic. Over 30,000 cases, Russia, Azerbaijan and the UK are other cases. If the EU really wants to do something about health, then we really need to look at infectious diseases such as measles. First dose of vaccination is 78% in Romania, 62% for the second dose. There are only four EU member states reaching the 95% figure. Hungary. Malta. Portugal. Slovakia. Congratulations to them. But the recommended threshold 95%, is only met by those countries. And in 2024, 87% of cases of measles are in Romania. And looking worldwide, there's a war on truth and a war on science. And we've seen the consequences of this in Romania, too. Not only politicians but elsewhere in society. We're seeing the consequences of this for health. So if we really want to protect citizens, we need to win this battle. And we need to ensure that responsible politicians and civil society to combat criminal fake news about medical issues, because there are so many extremists, we talk about them a lot in this chamber. There are actually politicians who thrive on lies and we have to take them on. The pandemic was a traumatic event and unfortunately it has led to a growth in such extremism. We need to look at reality for our own survival.”
  Vaccination
• “Thank you. Chair. I will take the floor on behalf of Veronica Canova eyeshadow and will get her notes. Dear colleagues, I would like to thank the rapporteur for her excellent work on this report. Uh, it is a strong and well balanced draft. I also want to thank her for organizing the webinars and, uh, for involving health professionals, which has allowed us to ground our work firmly in scientific evidence. I would like to highlight a few priorities that are particularly important for my group. First, we must significantly strengthen prevention, both primary and secondary. Today, harmful products like alcohol, alcopops, and colorful and flavored vapes are widely available and aggressively marketed, especially on social media. These strategies normalize harmful behaviors and expose children to lifelong cardiovascular risks. This is why prevention from a young age must be central to our approach. Stronger school based programs and limits on marketing of unhealthy and addictive products are essential in this context. The upcoming evaluation of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive is a key opportunity to better protect young people. However, prevention also means ensuring regular health checks so people truly know their numbers. Secondly, I would also like to stress the importance of a patient centered approach. Young people living with cardiovascular disease have different needs than older patients, and personalized care can dramatically improve their mental well-being and overall quality of life. Finally, addressing gender disparities in cardiovascular health is crucial. Women still face barriers in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. We need balanced gender representation in clinical research and gender sensitive analysis of outcomes to improve care for all. I will table amendments accordingly and look forward to our continued cooperation. Thank you.”
  EU measures on lifestyle-related behaviours (smoking, drinking, eating, etc.)
• “Yes. Finally, finally, while we rightly focus on sexual and reproductive health and rights, I believe it is equally important to recall some fundamental principles, namely the right to to be informed that to, to, to, to sorry, the right to informed choice in contraception and the need to promote a more balanced sharing of contraceptive responsibility between partners so that it does not fall disproportionately on women. I look forward to working together on this file. Thank you.”
  Sexuality and reproduction
• “This means EU funded tools can remain pilots rather than becoming standard practice across member states. A plan A prolonged a new version of the plan should move from more initiatives to fewer but interoperable, used at scale solutions, with sustainability and national uptake built in from day one. Third, accountability progress is tracked via an implementation roadmap. Yet there is still no robust monitoring framework to assess achievements, results and, when feasible, impact. Without common indicators, baselines, data quality checks and a clear evaluation timeline, we cannot credibly claim success or correct course early enough. So with that in mind, I would dare to conclude with two questions for the European Court of Auditors representatives. The first one is based on your audit work. What are the what is the minimum annual reporting package that that sounds our committee here should require from the Commission to make parliamentary scrutiny of the next phase really meaningful. And the second question is which single governance change would most improve implementation? Systematic consolidation of overlapping initiatives, mandatory sustainability uptake plans for EU funded tools, or a stronger link between EU funding and measurable national delivery. Thank you and thank you, chair.”
  Accounting and auditing of EU budget
• “Thank you. Chair. We have a plan proposed against cardiovascular disease. And congratulations to the commissioner. It is not a plan that's about paper, but about lives. My father has had his first heart attack when he was a bit over 50. I remember I was a child, and I was afraid my whole childhood that I might lose him. It's something that never goes away. That is why I know that cardiovascular disease is not just statistics, it's its stories about people and their lives. Europe must prevent more. The commissioner was speaking of 1.7 million lives that are preventable in Europe. Lives that could be saved if we didn't intervene so late. We need better checkups, better screening care and recovery for everyone, not just for the lucky ones. 1.7 million preventable deaths. If we are honest, prevention starts with what we eat less sugar, less ultra processed food, clear labeling and real support for smart choices for healthy choices. Healthy choices that should be available, not just a luxury. 71. 700,000 deaths preventable because of tobacco. We should be harsher on tobacco industry. We have the highest prevalence of tobacco consumption around the world. 50% of smokers die of a premature death 14 years younger. 40% of the women smoking around the world are in the European Union, according to the W.h.o. Thank you.”
  EU measures on lifestyle-related behaviours (smoking, drinking, eating, etc.)
• “Yes. I'll read the speech on behalf of our new shadow rapporteur, Mr. Olivier Chastel. Dear colleagues and in light of all the amendments submitted to this own initiative report, it is clear that there is a strong interest in this topic. I am also pleased to see that many of us share the ambition to make this report more forward looking and enthusiastic about what biotechnology can offer for the health of our citizens. And let us be clear, the potential of biotechnology goes beyond health care alone. It also holds important promise in areas such as sexual and reproductive health and rights. I have therefore tabled an amendment to reflect this dimension, particularly the major impact of biotechnology in the field of medically assisted reproduction. I also wish to highlight the transformative role of our technologies. Including these elements is essential to ensure our report fully reflects the the broad societal benefits that biotechnology can bring. I also welcome the attention in several amendments to the importance of the importance of the workforce and human capital needed to support this transformation. This is key. As in the gender dimension, we must ensure that women are equally able to benefit from this evolution and help close the gender gap in Stem. These points should be clearly reflected in the final texts adopted by our committee. Let's keep in mind our shared objective, a positive report that reflects Europe's full ambition in the field of biotechnology. Thank you.”
  Sexuality and reproduction
• “Thank you. Welcome, Commissioner, in this House congratulations for your work. And thank you for the cooperation with this house. We we knew we obviously support the ambition of the biotech act. We also think that we must be honest especially in our new line of strategic autonomy objective. We can't we don't think that we can build the strategic autonomy on a sick and shrinking population with ever increasing costs of health care. So I think we're currently facing a double deficit that that threatens, literally to bankrupt our future. So first, we face a competitiveness deficit while we regulate pretty properly here in Europe. And that's a good thing. The US invests five times more venture capital in biotech startups that Europe does. And what we're doing, we might argue that is training the scientists that will work for our competitors worldwide. Second, we're facing a health deficit, and this is probably even more alarming. Today, 80% of EU healthcare budgets are burned on treating chronic diseases, most of which are preventable and driven, as you very well mentioned in your speech, by tobacco, vaping and unhealthy nutrition. The math will simply not add up by 2030 and we are approaching demographic. Demographic. Cliff. Where there will be less than two workers for every retiree that comes with health care costs. And they must we must be able to bear those. So it's a business deficit. It's a competitiveness deficit, but it's also a prevention a health deficit. Thank you.”
  EU measures on lifestyle-related behaviours (smoking, drinking, eating, etc.)
• “Dear colleagues in Romania, we already see what heatwaves mean, and that means elderly people fainting at bus stops in Bucharest, farmers watching their crops burn, workers in Spain and Italy collapsing under the sun. These are not statistics. They are our neighbours, our families. Last summer, in just 12 European cities, heat waves killed over 2300 people. I can only imagine what the true number across the continent is. Beyond the lives lost. Hospitals overheat, children missed. Schools, schools and harvests are destroyed. We cannot wait. We must invest in homes that stay cool, in farmers who need resilient crops and irrigation, and in health systems that can protect the most vulnerable. We must plant trees that can survive the new climate. These are the trees that will provide shadow for our kids. We must accelerate the green transition. The planet has run out of patience. Our people, though, are still expecting us to act. Thank you.”
  Climate efforts · EU climate adaptation and disaster preparedness