- “Thank you. One would expect one has particular expectations. Sometimes women are indicated, are pointed out as being kind of hysterical and paranoid. But the greatest freedom for women is European legislation using European legislation. Every constitution makes mention of equal pay for equal work, and this is something that one has to simply respect. Uh, women are Are extremely important in innovation. And we have to take example here. See women as wonderful examples as far as how things are done in the realm of innovation in sports and in other fields as well. Little is said about that, and the European Parliament ought to be are to make sure that, uh, equal job equal pay, uh, prescriptions in national constitutions that that be respected. And also look very closely at those particular fields or those particular jobs where there is no proper remuneration. Make sure that this is stigmatized as such. Thank you very much.”
Gender pay transparency
- “Thank you very much, Commissioner. I have to join Mr. Corbyn and Mr. Buddha, who are speaking about the senior farmers, because I think that this proposal is not very good. It's discriminatory if you really want to go this way. Because if we say that the people over 65 should be discriminated because of their age and shouldn't do that, and this is the way how we want to solve the issues with young farmers, then also in the College of Commissioners that the issue because Madam Commissioner, the president of the commission is 67. So she shouldn't be doing her job. If we take this as a rule. So but coming back, I like very much the renewal proposal for the young farmers because they don't need only money and access to the land, but they also need a guidance. And this is mostly the most important thing in general, because there is a lot of failures when you start a new business, especially in farming. So that's something which we should stress. And I'm very much supporting, uh, doing doing it this way. Uh, also, I would like to support Mr. Kobina in the idea to have the Year of Young Farmers for 2027. And I would like to listen from you if you if you support this idea, because I think this is really great. And there is also the chance to have a lot of discussions about the issues with young farmers for the future. Also, when some of the colleagues spoke about the protection of the farmers, I would like to know why there was this proposal when you you said the things about the future of the agricultural policy, uh, that there was a special fund for the Eastern European farmers and Eastern European countries, which are neighbouring Ukraine, in order to help them to access the new territories or to to change, because there is a lot of grains coming from Ukraine. You said that we should grow quinoa, but this is not the way. We need also the money and why this money is now shifted to defence for the Baltic countries. That's my question. Thank you very much.”
Agricultural funding
- “Thank you very much, colleagues. When we say that the industry is the backbone of the European Union, the farming system is the heart and veins nurturing everybody. This is why we have concluded that we need the system to work. I think several proposals from the commission are good, but we cannot simplify the agriculture by reducing its funding Doing and making it simpler. Putting all these funds together and pretend that this is the simplification and everything is great. This is the first thing I want to say, that agriculture and agricultural policy deserves its own program, its own funding, independent of others. What we need is less control, less bureaucracy for farmers. And I'm glad that the reports prepared that I'd be happy to support include, uh, support to smaller farmers, uh, in reaction to the farming protests. We also request, uh, less environmental burden for smaller farmers. We certainly need to promote and support farmers bringing value added. And I'm very happy that the commission is going this way. Thank you very much.”
Agricultural funding
- “Thank you very much, president. Ladies and gentlemen. All of us here are dependent on the internet and modern technologies. Acknowledges. I think as far as I can see, all of us are looking at our smartphones and we adults know what is harmful. But it's a real problem with children. The digital world is growing faster than our rules. We can protect our children by telling them to do certain things out on the streets, but we also need to protect them online. There is a lot of manipulative content online, a lot of things that are harmful to children. So there are two things we must do. Firstly, we need to ensure that we implement EU rules. Platforms must be held accountable, not just in terms of deleting things, but also in terms of what they disseminate. Then secondly, we need to ensure that we. Teach children to understand what is harmful. And then thirdly, we need to avoid children being exploited for commercial reasons and becoming targets of advertising.”
Safety features & content control for child protection online
- “Thank you. It's clear that you're not going to give me a round of applause. You want to have EU legislation so that we don't import energy from Russia. And apparently nuclear fuel is also part of that. And we're supposed to be doing all of this by 2026. If you look at countries like Slovakia and Hungary, and if you want to prevent them from importing these products, our countries. And you want them to support this nonsense that you're promoting, and you want them to import fossil fuels from the USA. They're the ideal partner. And you're hurting not only Eastern Europe, but the entire E.U. it's not something that you should be proud of. And with these kinds of statements, you're just saying that you think that the war is never going to end and that the relations with Russia can never be improved.”
EU approach to energy security (home-made vs import sources)
- “Might I point out that we do actually have suitable and adequate words in German for what you want to say? Thank you very much, Commissioner. Thank you very much, above all, for presenting your proposal to us. Um, it's good that this is moving swiftly. You talked about this recently, and now we are in May and we're in a difficult situation. We need fertilisers urgently to produce our foodstuffs. We need to increase our reserves. This is what you want to do, which is a good thing. Hopefully we will manage to put more money into farming and agriculture in the future. I think you've got some excellent ideas in terms of some of the proposals that you have made with regard to slurry and organic waste as well was mentioned. I'm presuming you're also talking about manure and so on. This could be a good idea as well, and it would be also good not to be importing from Russia and Belarus. Sustainable fertilisers. Ecological fertilisers, which might mean that we have a lower supply of foodstuffs, which is not necessarily the best solution, but we look forward to implementation.”
Use of fertilisers
- “Thank you very much, president. We are remembering the 80th anniversary of the end of World War two. And in the EU, we're talking about finding new ways to spend even more money on war. There are reasons that we created the EU. Um, but we have to look at the problems we're facing. We've got issues with energy. We're facing problems with energy prices. And so I would like to ask the Commission to help the countries in Eastern Europe, to help us to, um, make up for the loss of, um, Russian gas. We're going to be facing new issues in Slovakia, for example. Um, we have a significant automotive industry, and so we will also need help for the future.”
EU approach to energy security (home-made vs import sources)
- “I would like to ask the Commission to send us the presentation, which was presented, because it was very hard to read on the screens and it was very small numbers, so I will. I have three questions. First, what are the proposals which you are ready to implement? If one of them is the French legislation, which is forbidding to sell the milk or to buy the milk under the production cost. The second question would be because you said that the the saldo of all of the export is positive. How the new agreements which we have, especially with the United States and Mercosur, are affecting the international trade of milk and dairy products. And the third question, because you mentioned the fertilizers and there is we forbid to import the fertilizers from Russia and Belarus. We are now banning the import of the Russian gas, which is also the source of fertilizer products. And now we have the the problem and crisis in Iran and in the Middle East. So how is this affecting us? How much can we count on the fertilizers cut in this regard? Thank you very much.”
Use of fertilisers
- “Thank you very much, colleagues. This decision is really bad and really stupid for the European Union, and I believe that we should also listen a little more to what our citizens want, and not what the citizens of Ukraine want. Cutting off Russian gas, which is close to us, which goes through a pipe which is much more ecological than the gas that goes in tankers from the US, is something really, really silly. We can't cut off from something that is really close to our territory. We are discussing how this is great for all of us. And I listen to you, Commissioner, when you presented this in the committee, you said that, uh, that not even a molecule of of Russian gas should enter the territory of the EU. Well, I know this is your policy, and I don't believe it's correct, because the territory of the EU includes Slovakia, which, uh, needs gas and uses a lot of gas by cutting off Russian gas. We are saying that the Russian war in Ukraine is ever going to end, and that we are ever going to cooperate with Russia again. I know, I know, we have dependencies. Some countries support this because they are obtaining transit payments from us. But it's silly, it's bad, and we are not going to help either the competitiveness of the EU or our own companies because they need cheaper and better gas, which is coming from Russia in this case. So do not cut off Russian gas. Don't shoot our other foot. Don't make silly decisions that will have to. Just like in case of combustion engines which will have to review in five years. And I promise you this will happen.”
EU approach to energy security (home-made vs import sources)
- “Thank you very much, Commissioner. It's not a nice place to sit here today for you. I see, but this is not a sympathy contest. This is politics. And we have to be really pragmatic. Uh, I can tell you that last week we had this adoption of the nice, uh, committee report about the future of agriculture, which you praised as well. We had a nice exchange in the European Parliament with you in the plenary about the future of agriculture. But you said that there there will be some security and there will be support, and there will be the money for the agriculture. So we were all super happy to hear this. I can tell you that many of us in this room, we joined the farmers who are by chance also sitting here in the back rows today because they are representing different national organizations of farming, uh, representatives. And they are listening to you very carefully. And many of us here, We joined them in a march towards the European Commission to show our support for the farmers. So don't don't expect us to accept this without noise. Don't expect us to say that this is a great proposal because this commission, the same one several months ago, proposed eight €800 billion for defense and 300 billion for agriculture. This is this is a top.”
Agricultural funding
- “Thank you. One would expect one has particular expectations. Sometimes women are indicated, are pointed out as being kind of hysterical and paranoid. But the greatest freedom for women is European legislation using European legislation. Every constitution makes mention of equal pay for equal work, and this is something that one has to simply respect. Uh, women are Are extremely important in innovation. And we have to take example here. See women as wonderful examples as far as how things are done in the realm of innovation in sports and in other fields as well. Little is said about that, and the European Parliament ought to be are to make sure that, uh, equal job equal pay, uh, prescriptions in national constitutions that that be respected. And also look very closely at those particular fields or those particular jobs where there is no proper remuneration. Make sure that this is stigmatized as such. Thank you very much.”
Gender pay transparency
- “Colleagues, the European Union faces a fundamental question. Are we going to carry on with unrealistic green experiments, or are we going to listen to industry, trade unions, our citizens in Slovakia? We want a sensible transformation of the automotive industry, not an ideological one. I. I welcome the extension by three years that the Commission has come up with, because it would have been ridiculous to impose fines already. Now, we know that 2035 is a crazy target for banning the internal combustion engine. We have to review all of that and we have to look at synthetic fuels, hybrids, hydrogen, not just electric cars. European car makers don't need bureaucratic restrictions. They need fair conditions. If the EU can't look after its own manufacturing in a few years time, we'll only be seeing foreign cars sold, our factories will close and millions of jobs will be lost. Electric cars don't need as many workers. We need to pay for reskilling and not just talk about social responsibility.”
Road transport environmental policy
- “Thank you. Colleagues. Agriculture nowadays is an innovative space. We have new technologies. We have satellite navigation, many new tools. I'm very pleased that more and more young people find agriculture more attractive. My brother has recently passed a driving licence for a tractor. He wants to use his opportunity. We need to make sure that these young people stay in our agriculture, and therefore, we need to maintain sufficient financial support for the agriculture. I'm very pleased. Commissioner, you've said that the agriculture will in future also play a crucial role in in the next budget as well. But just as many colleagues have said before me, we need to maintain the financial support as well, not just talk about new priorities. But finance really is the key cornerstone. We need to make sure that direct payments are equal and fair. Because even after many years of being part of the EU, we do not Slovakia reach the same level of direct payments at some other. Some other Western European countries. We need to make sure that also imports are fair. I will be curious to see how the new agreement with Ukraine sets new conditions, so that it's fair for farmers.”
Direct payments to farmers (pillar 1)
- “Thank you very much. Colleagues, affordable energy is a right is not a another privilege, and we should strive to make sure that the energy prices are accessible. But the situation isn't. Thus, the situation is completely different. And I simply wanted to ask. Or I wanted to say to the commissioner that I am in favour of this plan. However, in Slovakia. We need a period of Transition. We need time in order to establish that energy security not only for us, but for Europe as a whole.”
EU approach to energy security (home-made vs import sources)
- “Well, you want to say that you are good and that the only bad guys are Visa and Orban. These are the ones that are being criticized. If you really did follow what was happening in our countries, you could see what was going on. We're not afraid that we're going to be cut off. We just think that this is the wrong decision taken by the EU, and we know that the majority is in support of it. But despite that, we will criticize this majority decision because it is not right.”
Rule of law in Hungary
- “Thank you very much. I'd like to thank you for coming today. We obviously all understand that the situation here is very serious, and that it is important for the differences between regions to reduce and for us to be able to help people. Now the error rate is improving, and it's good to see that with time that is going in the right direction. Do you think that we are just kind of going to have to wait for these things to drop slowly over time? Or do you think it might be possible to get rid of errors completely in some areas? Now we were talking about simplification in certain areas and whether that might be a possible way forward as well. I think often. Four recipients. Everything works at the level of the kind of first controls, but then later checks highlight issues, and it means that recipients have to pay funds back at that point later down the line. And so I was wondering whether it might be possible to do something kind of beforehand, if you like. So to have maybe fewer checks, but just more clarity to start with so that these kind of errors don't happen in the first place. For example, I know in the agricultural sector certain changes have been introduced because farmers were asking for that.”
Conditions to access EU budget
- “Thank you. One would expect one has particular expectations. Sometimes women are indicated, are pointed out as being kind of hysterical and paranoid. But the greatest freedom for women is European legislation using European legislation. Every constitution makes mention of equal pay for equal work, and this is something that one has to simply respect. Uh, women are Are extremely important in innovation. And we have to take example here. See women as wonderful examples as far as how things are done in the realm of innovation in sports and in other fields as well. Little is said about that, and the European Parliament ought to be are to make sure that, uh, equal job equal pay, uh, prescriptions in national constitutions that that be respected. And also look very closely at those particular fields or those particular jobs where there is no proper remuneration. Make sure that this is stigmatized as such. Thank you very much.”
Gender pay transparency
- “Thank you very much. I've listened to what's been said, and I've just heard lots of ideology. And here we're talking about European citizens. Our key aims should be supporting Europeans and ensuring their lives are better, and trying to achieve lower energy prices for them. So I do not agree with your proposal because it does not achieve these aims. It jeopardizes the energy security of many countries, including Slovakia, and this should be discussed further. And This is not going to provide solutions to what we're trying to achieve. It's not going to help us. We believe we should have a partnership with Russia, and obviously we're just going to be replacing our dependence on Russia with the dependence on us. And we should be doing.”
EU approach to energy security (home-made vs import sources)
- “Thank you very much. Mr. Lagarde. Your political speech was politically correct, but I had expected more sanctions, not just on Russia, but on others as well, that have an influence on our economy. How can we free ourselves from Russian gas? Didn't say anything about that. Now we are dependent energetically on the US. We've got a number of economic problems, but we're now we're dealing with the digital euro and new banknotes. Could we discuss perhaps how we could introduce the digital euro? The general public doesn't want this. In Slovakia, the general public is actually against introducing the digital euro. Let's discuss it. Let's discuss economic problems though. Price stability. That's in your mandate. I understand that, but you also need to bear in mind that you have a lot of influence on how people live. Access to credit for housing, that's got much harder. These are practical problems with the next annual report, please tell us something about the real economy and not bank, just banknotes.”
Digital euro
- “Colleagues, first of all, competitiveness. That's not arms. We have the new draft budget. And we've been talking about the Drudge Report for a year and what to do to make the European economy more prosperous. But instead of that, we are suggesting further arms we are cutting from agricultural policy, from social policies. It's even suggested that people should. Will be, uh, providing warranties for our bad decisions. If something happens in the future, I think we should really think about what competitiveness is. How can we, as the European Union, be competitive towards the USA or China? And we say they are so bad because they did so and so, but it was our our bad decisions that led us to problems like the Green Deal. We wanted to cut it down. We wanted to change it. Even Draghi said that we should be talking about simplification, but everything that's been proposed so far is only bringing new problems and it's not helping the European economy. Let's abolish the Green Deal. Let's invest into people's social policies, regions, agriculture and then we'll be competitive.”
Climate efforts
- “Thank you, Madam Chair. Colleagues. There is no ideal agreement, just a compromise and the art of the possible. And when you talk about farmers, I don't know where you were when we were talking about the Slovak and Eastern farmers who are being flooded with Ukrainian products, I think we should be pragmatic. In this case, when we decrease the burden on our farmers, we would help them. We should increase their salaries, create new jobs, support the industry. And this is exactly what this agreement is offering us. I think it's an opportunity for our economy because we are export oriented and we need to find new export markets, just like the commission has said. Focus on tariffs, on taxes for our cars, which are very important for Slovakia, for instance. I think this is a great opportunity and this is a positive side of this agreement. For 20 years this has been negotiated. I think it's high time. I think we should be really pragmatic, look at the positives that this agreement can bring. And just remember what the commissioner said. We are talking here about the quality of our foodstuffs. We do not want to diminish our standards. The commissioner has said that the standards will be maintained. This will be included in the agreement. So let's not lie to our voters and to our listeners, please.”
Agricultural trade: Ukraine imports