Debate contributions by Juan Ignacio ZOIDO ÁLVAREZ

Mr. President, Donald Trump last night put Spain in the BRICS group, the allies of China and Russia, that is, as one of the rivals of Washington and the Western bloc. His conclusion can be reasonable if we consider that Pedro Sanchez has tried to negotiate for free with China in an unsuccessful way, has made us the European country that buys more gas from Putin and has labeled NATO's efforts to invest more in defense as a "militaristic drift". The consequence of our international alignment, according to Trump, will be 100% tariffs on Spanish products, a real economic catastrophe. The European Union is trying to avoid it by negotiating already with Trump, quite the opposite of Sanchez, who has preferred to insult the president of the United States and call to rebel against his allies. Their recklessness will have disastrous consequences for our companies and workers and, unfortunately, we will see it soon. I hope that the Government of Spain will reflect urgently and put the interests of all Spaniards ahead of its ideology.

Mr President, Commissioner, on 24 December, when Pedro Sánchez sits at the table on Christmas Eve, it will be very difficult for him to know if he is at a family dinner or on the bench of the courts: his wife is charged with misappropriation, professional intrusion, influence peddling and business corruption; His brother is charged with influence-trafficking, prevarication and a continuing crime against the public treasury, a complex corruption plot that splashes not only the president's family, but several of his ministers, the presidency of Congress and the Socialist Party's senior leadership. President Sanchez has allowed corruption to infect the main institutions of the state and is now completely cornered. Therefore, when the European Commission demands Sanchez to reform the Criminal Procedure Law to combat corruption more effectively, he turns a deaf ear. Therefore, when the European Commission asks him to equate the European Public Prosecutor's Office in Spain to the standards of independence, he hides his head. Because he's embarrassed, and he's normal. Let it be known in Europe that its attorney general has been charged for leaking data reserved for the Socialist Party with clearly political motives. Sanchez is dragging Spain to levels of corruption unfit for a European Union country. Our responsibility as representatives of the European institutions is to denounce you and, above all, to stop you.

Mr President, in recent years, Europe has faced the four riders of the economic apocalypse: pandemic, war, Frans Timmermans And now Teresa Ribera. After endangering the future of Spanish industry and agriculture, Mrs Ribera disembarks in Brussels ready to replicate in Europe the failed and ideological model she imposed in Spain. But we still have time to rectify, to stop his feet. Today we pay a very high price for not having foreseen the damages of the green regulatory tsunami imposed by the Commission in the previous legislature, often without even having impact assessments. Or, worse still, ignoring them and going so far as to hide them from this House, as was the case with the Farm to Fork Strategy. That's why it's time to learn the lessons of the past and change course. The European Commission must listen to the voices of alert and work, together with the European Parliament, hand in hand with our productive sectors. And this goes through an urgent regulatory simplification, since we cannot continue to burden businesses, let alone SMEs with more administrative costs, and a substantial reduction in green bureaucracy, especially that affecting farmers, especially if we want them to accept the new trade agenda.

Madam President, we could sum up the challenges facing the steel sector in one word: overcapacity. Over the past two decades, China has increased its production by 639%. You have heard correctly, ladies and gentlemen: 639 %. Far from reducing this excess capacity, Chinese manufacturers continue to expand it. According to the OECD, by 2026, China will increase its production by an additional 630 million tonnes, five times the total of all European production. Vertigo figures that are not only generating fear about the future of the European sector, but also factory closures and layoffs of millions of workers already in the present. If we want to ensure the survival of the sector in Europe, we need urgent measures, measures that go through an assertive trade policy that makes it possible to reduce this overcapacity, using trade defence instruments more effectively, putting an end to the avoidance of tariffs via third countries and reviewing the safeguarding of steel until it responds to the reality of the market. We must act and we must act now.

Madam President, Mr Vice-President Schinas, thank you very much for the legacy of your effort and dedication over the past five years. Let's face it, since 2020 drug trafficking in the European Union has doubled: There are twice as many addictions, twice as many vulnerable young people and twice as many families destroyed in just four years. And with it, the threats to our security have also increased. Behind the narcotrafficking lies the rise of street violence. Brawls, shootings and robberies are more common today than ever in our cities. Behind the drug traffickers there are also human traffickers on the migratory routes of the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands. And there are also jihadist groups that use the proceeds of drug trafficking as a source of financing. That is why, in order to face a threat that is twice as dangerous, we too must double the resources of agencies such as Europol, double European funding for the fight against drug trafficking and double the protection that our police and security forces deserve. Otherwise, the narco threat will continue to grow until it puts the Member States of the European Union themselves in check.

Mr President, Commissioner, the European Commission has finally confirmed the tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, a well-intentioned measure that responds to the will to end the illegal subsidies that are threatening the very survival of the European automotive industry: the survival of up to 13.8 million jobs across Europe. However, we must not forget that the European Union is the economic power that most depends on international trade, at around 50% of GDP, compared to 20% in China or 10% in the United States. A trade war never benefits anyone, but it would be especially catastrophic for the European Union and our most vulnerable sector is, once again, the agri-food sector. That is precisely why he is being used as a scapegoat to blackmail us. Without going any further, this morning the Chinese Ministry of Commerce has announced measures anti-dumping against brandy European in retaliation. The Commission has a responsibility to protect a sector that exports worldwide not through unfair competition, but through the highest quality standards.

Madam President, Commissioner, the fight against drug trafficking in the European Union is increasingly similar to the fight against hydra: When you cut off one of the monster's heads, three others grow. When police persecution in one country escalates, as is happening in Belgium or the Netherlands, drug traffickers easily move the activity to other latitudes within Europe: As the Commissioner for Home Affairs has confirmed to us, the drug flows that reached the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp are moving to the ports of other Member States such as Spain, an increase in activity that is causing in recent months a resurgence of violence in areas of southern Spain such as the Campo de Gibraltar or the Costa del Sol, and all in the face of the frustration of security officials, who are overwhelmed in number and resources. Some criminal networks already have more sophisticated means than the security forces themselves in charge of combating them: narcolanchas, drones, communications encryption systems, satellite geolocation, etc. In short, a full-blown threat that, as public officials, we cannot tolerate. Firstly, because of the serious risk it poses to our police and civil guards, which all too often ends with tragic consequences for them; and, secondly, because it is a breach of the rule of law, the very foundation of the European Union. We simply cannot allow organised crime to be better organised than States; That is why we must urgently invest in the protection of law enforcement agencies, equip them with all the necessary means and recognise the dangerousness of their work, and we must do so in a coordinated manner in all Member States, facing a shared threat together. Otherwise, the narco hydra will continue to stick its heads out across Europe perpetuating an unaffordable escalation of violence.