Martina Dlabajová

WHO AM I?

• A relentless and active optimist. A workaholic in a good way. Diplomatic in negotiations and bullish when it comes to achieving my aims and goals.

• Holder of a doctorate in Political Science with a focus on European integration from the University of Padua.

• A former entrepreneur, connecting Czech and Italian companies. For the entire twenty years… During this time I was also the chairwoman of the board of the Regional Chamber of Commerce, the director and project manager of several non-governmental organisations, and the president of the Rotary Club of Zlín.

• I am currently an independent MEP in my second term. I am the kind of politician that is convinced of the rationale of their actions through the reactions of voters and also from the number of awards, both Czech and European, that I have received.

• I am the chairwoman of the Supervisory Board of the Zlín Creative Cluster.

• A patron and initiator of a number of projects related to my sincere priorities as an MEP. For example, the perspectives of young people, to whom I offer the chance to intern with the best managers, scientists, government officials, and other leaders in their fields through the PročByNe? (WhyNot?) project.

• I also try to foster creativity through the project "It's OK to feel DOWN"… Sharing challenging stories of people who have been successful in creative industries, thus encouraging perseverance and the overcoming obstacles.

• My attitude of not surrendering is also present in my role as the patron of the Czech Special Olympics Movement, which unites and supports athletes with mental disabilities.

• Last but not least, I am a collector of Exupéry's Little Prince in all languages and dialects of the world, a big fan of the king of shoes Tomas Bata, and a promoter of Czech and Moravian culture in Brussels…

• Above all, I am Homo europae, a European person. Although I am a patriot with a strong attachment to my hometown of Zlín, I consider the entire European Union to be my homeland.

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

My workplace. I am one of the 705 representatives in the European Parliament.

WHAT I BELIEVE IN AND WHAT I TRY TO ACHIEVE

• I believe in a strong and united Europe, in the EU itself, and the meaningfullness of the European integration. I strive to ensure that the Czech Republic is not overlooked in the EU and is perceived as an active and creative state, which has something to say on EU issues and has a voice worth hearing.

• My mantra is the EU Single Market and its four freedoms - the backbone of European integration.

• I believe in truth and justice. Even though fighting for these virtues is the hardest thing I do in politics.

MY VISION

• The European Union must focus on key challenges and major issues.

• We need to distinguish between where the EU can help Member States and where they can do better on their own. Doing less, but in better way and more efficiently. Focus on areas where there are reserves and which we need to address together.

MY COMMITTEES

There are 20 committees in the European Parliament. I work in three of them.

• Budgetary Control Committee (CONT), where I am vice-Chairwoman. This committee assesses which projects were supported - when, how much money they received, and how this money was spent.

• Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE), where I act as the coordinator for the Renew Europe political group, which is the third largest fraction in the European Parliament. In this committee I focus on supporting entrepreneurship in Europe, creative industries, and research and innovation.

• Committee on Budgets (BUDG), where we deal with the EU budget - a multi-annual outlook and a precise budget for each year.

MY PARLIAMENTARY GROUP

In September 2020, I re-established an informal platform for MEPs across political fractions to meet with union representatives, associations, academics and entrepreneurs themselves.

This is the Parliamentary Group for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME Intergroup), which I co-chair.

The reason for re-establishing this group was my interest in small and medium-sized enterprises, which are often forgotten when EU legislation is drafted. Furthermore, they are essential for both the European and Czech economies. I focus on topics such as: better access to direct economic support and EU financing as well as an EU single market without barriers and with a stable and predictable regulatory environment. I am particularly interested in supporting innovation and digitalisation.

WHAT I AM PROUD OF

• In the European Parliament, I was at the initiation of a project to support cross-border apprenticeships and pushed for a significant increase in the budget of the Erasmus exchange programme.

• I was the first Czech in history to oversee the control of the European Commission's finances.

• I managed to obtain funding for creative industries in the EU budget. My colleagues and I pushed for a new sub-chapter in Horizon Europe, the largest EU science and research programme.

• Thanks to Horizon Europe, small and medium-sized companies offering innovative solutions will also receive grants.

• Thanks to my proposal and after some justified criticism, we excluded international truck transport from the directive on the posting of workers, which would significantly complicate the lives of Czech transport companies. Thanks to completely new rules which I also helped to set, truckers no longer have to worry about complications and limitations.

MY EUROPEAN AWARDS

• 2015 / MEP Award for the best Members of the European Parliament - MEP "Oscar", which I received as the first politician from the Czech Republic. It was in the Employment and Social Affairs category.

• 2018 / Re-nomination for the MEP Award.

• 2019 / Gold Badge of the Italian-Czech Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Camic) for contribution to the development of economic and business relations between the Czech Republic and Italy.

• 2020 / MEP Award for the second time, this time for my contribution to the Digital Single Market.

• 2020 / “Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy” (Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia) awarded by the Italian President for outstanding contribution to Czech-Italian relations.