Debate contributions by Lina GÁLVEZ

Mr President, High Representative, from the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality, which I chair, I would like to say that we condemn the increase in human rights violations around the world and, especially, the unprecedented crackdown on the rights of women, girls and the LGBTI community. The year 2026 continues with the systematic regression of our rights – those of women – in Iraq and Afghanistan, of course, and we have to condemn and act on them. But not only this, because we also condemn the instrumentalization of women's rights to encourage hate speech, as is done here with migration. So let's be consistent. Sexual and reproductive rights are fundamental human rights. Denying access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care, including abortion, is a form of gender-based violence. We also demand that Europe ensure the proper deployment of artificial intelligence and digital technologies, their democratic oversight and the assessment of their impact on human rights, especially with regard to what is happening to women and girls.

Madam President, Commissioner, the current state of the world shows how interdependent and vulnerable we are with regard to cybersecurity. That is why we very much appreciate this initiative, Commissioner. In the previous term of office, I had the honour of being rapporteur for the Cyber Solidarity Act, which was a key initiative to respond to an urgent need to strengthen the European Union’s capacity to detect, prevent and react to cybersecurity threats and incidents. That is why we welcome today's revision of the Cybersecurity Act, which aims to modernise the European framework in the face of a rapidly evolving threat landscape and an increasingly complex regulatory environment. That is why we need more digital sovereignty, more Europe, strengthening the resilience of the supply chain, harmonising rules to avoid market fragmentation, putting more emphasis on the protection of public services, critical infrastructure and SMEs, and also focusing on training and research and development. We know that cyber threats know no borders and grow exponentially. That is why we need to update our tools, strengthen cooperation and certainly join efforts to become more resilient.

Madam President, first I would like to send my condolences to all the victims of the fateful train accident that has occurred on my land, in Andalusia. We are in mourning, and I thank the Commissioner, the European Union and also this Parliament for having remembered us. As Chair of the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality, which has issued an opinion for this report, I would first of all like to thank the rapporteur, my colleague Leire Pajín, for introducing all the issues and aspects that have to do especially with women and gender equality, because in this context of polycrisis, women suffer greater vulnerability, linked to the increase in poverty, displacement, insecurity and limited access to food, education, employment, health and also sexual and reproductive health. And most especially, we suffer increased violence and sexual violence. And all this, moreover, is being intensified by cuts to aid by the United States. Europe must therefore be there, and we must do more than ever because women all over the world need it.

Mr President, Commissioner, we socialists have always been - and continue to be - on the side of women and their rights, respecting and accompanying the victims. Can you say the same, ladies and gentlemen of the PP and Vox? Mrs Montserrat, you are not interested in fighting sexual harassment, you just want to instrumentalise a problem that is very serious. Because, if they were interested, they would have supported this debate having a European dimension, firstly because we are in the European Parliament and, secondly, because one in three European women has been the victim of sexual harassment, and half of them at work. If you were interested, when the MeToo happened - and I would like you to let me speak - in this Parliament, you would have voted in favour of external audit as proposed by the Socialists. Instead you voted against it. I, too, could enter the 'and you more', Mrs Montserrat. All these are lists of cases, from the famous case of Nevenka to the one we have learned today from an adviser to the mayor of Algeciras, Landaluce, who is a leader of the PP of Malaga and who was pressuring a former councilor of the City of Algeciras to say that he suffered from mental disorder in order to defend the mayor from the accusation of harassment. But we must not enter the "and you more", because the victims do not need that, what they need is that we support them, they need protocols. When the windows are opened, as we have done, you see things that you may not like and the house is ventilated. The PSOE does not protect, cover up or cover up sexist behaviors or crimes. We make mistakes, yes, but we make them because we have protocols that you don't have. The harassment and the denunciation have no acronym, but the counterattack does have them, and they are the acronym of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party.

Mr President, Commissioner, today we are talking about lives, about European citizenship committed to democratic values and European values and, above all, to women's rights. The citizens' initiative "My voice, my decision" was born to raise the voice for those who often do not have it, for those who are often not heard. Because denying the right to abortion does not protect life: It attacks her, putting women's lives at risk. And millions of women in Europe are at risk, they have fewer rights than others. That is why today we defend this initiative, we defend the right of all women to decide without exception. No one is forcing, no one is forcing anyone to have an abortion. That is why no one should force anyone not to be able to voluntarily terminate their pregnancy. The right to abortion is the right to decide without guilt, without fear and without risk. It is equality, it is dignity and it is freedom. We Socialists are clear about this and we will support this initiative and I hope, ladies and gentlemen, that we will also support it tomorrow here in this House.

Mr President, research and innovation are essential pillars for Europe's security and autonomy. In an environment of growing threats, we must prioritise critical technologies such as quantum technology, artificial intelligence or cybersecurity, which will not only strengthen our defence, but also boost European competitiveness. Europe cannot afford to delay the uptake of disruptive technologies or finance this investment. That is why this agreement calls for greater safeguards against foreign interference and hybrid threats in the digital sphere, key to protecting our technological sovereignty, and strengthens cross-border collaboration and innovation in SMEs and start-ups. I would like to stress that this agreement is an exceptional response justified by the present moment and makes it clear that it does not undermine the civil approach of the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme. I urge you to harness the potential of the Rearm Europe Plan to build a secure, autonomous, innovative, united and, above all, peaceful Europe.

Madam President, Madam Vice-President, today we reaffirm our commitment to a fairer, more equal Europe, where women's rights are a tangible reality, and we do so by demanding that the Commission make progress not only in implementing the wonderful legislation we passed in the previous legislature, but also with new legislative proposals. In the historical context of regression and attack on women's rights and gender equality that we are experiencing, also within this Parliament, simply implementing what has already been approved is not enough, because to the challenges that we already had of gender-based violence, including digital violence, wage gaps, income gaps and poverty, we must add new challenges or some of those that we are now more aware of, such as negligence regarding our health, our limited participation in the digital revolution or in the security agenda and especially the attacks on feminism and women within the enormous democratic setback that we are experiencing. Socialists have it clear, very clear: We are pushing this strategy forward because as women move forward, Europe moves forward, and we expect the Commission to listen to us and I am sure it will.

Madam President, Commissioner, Europe's Beating Cancer Plan stresses the importance of screening and preventive health in a disease where early diagnosis saves lives. And that's what the Andalusian women have been robbed of: save their lives free of cancer and metastasis, save their breasts, their bodies, their lives. More than 2,000 women have suffered delays of up to two years in breast cancer diagnosis. Moreno Bonilla's government has abandoned women and subsequently blamed them for undermining the prestige of the Andalusian health system. And, Mr. Moreno Bonilla, is it more important to appear and retain votes than the lives of women? Because we still don't know what happened today. They have given several versions, changed diagnoses, deleted the names of radiologists in the records. There is a lack of information, transparency and respect for victims and their families. That is why we demand responsibilities from the Government of Moreno Bonilla. Stop lying, clearly explain what has happened, listen to the associations of those affected, act with an effective plan. And I say this as a socialist MEP, as president of the Committee on Women's Rights in this Parliament and as an Andalusian who is in the screening system, who had a mammogram last year and who still does not have the results. That's anxiety, Mr. Moreno Bonilla. No government can violate the fundamental rights to health and information. What do they have to hide? What private interests are above health? Because privatizations in healthcare cost lives. Yours too, Mr. Moreno Bonilla.

Madam President, gender mainstreaming and gender budgeting are not a luxury, but an essential tool in the Union's arsenal to show our political priorities. A way for us to make our money go further. We have made progress in gender budgeting over the last few years, but we still need to effectively monitor the application to ensure the budget works for all. I am pleased that the importance of items such as the European Social Fund Plus or the Daphne Programme are recognised and have their budget increased to some extent at least. Let me remind you that gender-based violence has an estimated economic cost of billions per year. This is why the FEMM Committee has repeatedly called for Daphne to become an autonomous programme with its own separate budget line. Finally, I would like to highlight the importance and valuable role the European Institute for Gender Equality plays in helping the Union achieve its objectives. Yes, EIGE has had its budget increase, but it still needs more resources and staff to deal with its increased tasks, especially now that there is orchestrated attacks against the gender-equality agenda.

Mr President, Commissioner, today the President of the European Commission said that the European Union must remain free and independent, but this trade agreement with the United States does not seem to facilitate it. Socialists are well aware of the importance of avoiding a trade war and we will certainly work to improve this agreement, but we are not sure that accepting asymmetric conditions prevents it, nor does it guarantee stability or security, as was demonstrated only a few days later, when tariffs were raised on 407 European items. In addition, this agreement can bring about an economic contraction that can provoke a reactionary political wave, destabilizing Europe's liberal democracies and the European Union itself, which, perhaps, is what Trumpism wants. That is why its implementation cannot weaken the European legislation that is key to our autonomy. The European Union must preserve unity while defending itself against excessive coercion and protecting key sectors such as security, industry, energy, technology or agriculture. We have the resources to do so, we have economic weight, regulatory influence and commercial tools to use: Let us do so and continue to defend the rules-based multilateral system, our sovereignty, our jobs and strengthen trade agreements with our partners.

Madam President, Commissioner, the identification of the extreme right of immigration with violence against women and girls is simply false. It is not based on any evidence and there are many studies that deny it. Think only of Pelicot and his colleagues, whether or not they came in a boat. But of course, ignorance is the basis of racism. Your speech generates disinformation and is nauseating hate speech, inciting fear of violence against women that you yourself deny. You deny that there is structural violence against women, you cover up your own sexist violence. You have been very skilled in attracting a part of the male electorate, but, of course, the female one resists them and hence they try to conquer us with these things. They need to scare us with the foreigner, because they need us to achieve their racist plan, their xenophobic plan, to stir up the "great replacement" fable, their authoritarian socio-economic engineering plan that just wants to control our bodies and our lives. Stop using us for other purposes and join us in achieving women's rights on an equal basis.

Mr President, Commissioner, from the S&D Group we support the renewal of the mandate of the Internet Governance Forum, which is key to multilateral and multisectoral dialogue on the sustainability, stability and development of the Internet. We also call for it to become a permanent mandate to ensure the continuity of its work, and that the internet should be free, open and secure: must be a global public good. This forum is of particular relevance to ensure the strength of our democracies and facilitate innovation. The European Parliament has demonstrated its support and commitment by participating in its annual conferences - in which I have had the honour to participate since 2019 - and we now urge the Member States and the Commission to step up their efforts to achieve a favourable resolution regarding the future of this forum, because the future of our democracies is primarily at stake on that internet that we need to be free and a global public good.

Madam President, Commissioner, at a time when, on the one hand, Europe needs to improve its competitiveness, but, on the other, academic freedom and science are also being challenged in other parts of the world, the Choose Europe for Science initiative is more important than ever. Europe must position itself as a refuge for researchers who seek to develop their ideas in an environment of freedom and respect for diversity, for the critical thinking that inspires the scientific method itself, and Choose Europe for Science is a step in the right direction, but it must be a truly European project to avoid creating inequalities. We cannot allow this measure to benefit only some territories: That is not the Europe we want. We want Europe to be a place where they can freely research and address global challenges, where they can collaborate with experts from around the world and where funding opportunities can be well seized. And for that we must guarantee, mainly, two things: firstly, a strong budget, and secondly, an autonomous European science and innovation programme. Fortunately, the President of the Commission the other day announced that this would be the case. We have to convince ourselves that, without science, there is no competitiveness, no democracy, no European project.

Mr President, as rapporteur for the opinion of the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality, I would like to thank the rapporteurs for including the concerns of the FEMM Committee in the resolution. A gender equality perspective should be integrated into and ensured across all policy areas. Gender budgeting should be implemented at all stages of the budgetary process, in order that we could continue the Union's commitment to gender mainstreaming, to continue the efforts made and the need to further focus on combating violence against women and girls in the European Union, because it is indispensable. For instance, the funding of the Daphne programme – it is crucial. But combating violence against women will not be successful if we do not eradicate structural gender‑based inequality. That is why we expressly approved of the high success rate of the European Institute for Gender Equality in developing actions and communication campaigns to gender equality and the continuous high level of budget execution, despite the persisting understaffing of the agency. So that's why we strongly support the assessment to grant the director of the EIGE the discharge and the explicit recommendation in our resolution to allocate more staff to the institute.

Madam President, Commissioner, academic freedom has been diminishing for years thanks to illiberal proposals and also to the commodification of knowledge. But now, in addition, with the arrival of the Trump Administration, censorship, the anti-scientific narrative and the cancellation of funding for many research projects and academic programs have put the scientific community in a position to the United States in a context of lack of freedom, especially in areas of knowledge such as the environment or gender studies, which are being dismantled. In this context, the United States' source of competitiveness, which has always been its ability to attract talent, may disappear. So Europe must activate and equip the programme proposed by Manuel Heitor, known as "Choose Europe", to recover and attract talent through better funding, facilitating visas and strengthening international collaborations. But not only: the defence of democracy, equality and welfare states can and should be the plus that brings Europe to our bid to attract the best talent as a source of competitiveness and wealth in the broadest sense of the term.

Madam President, Madam Vice-President, the wealth of nations or territories throughout history has not always drank from the same sources, but there is one that is very important, especially now: have a well-formed population. That is why we Socialists welcome the Union of Competences and all the initiatives it contains; also the strategic plan for training in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, with a particular focus on girls and women. Thank you very much, Vice President. But we also have to form, break stereotypes and break segregation between men and women. And, for that, we also have to pay attention to boys and men and include them in feminized professions, because only an adequate use of resources will be the key to our competitiveness. This must also include not only the right to move, but also that "right to stay" of which Enrico Letta speaks and that "choose Europe" of which Manuel Heitor speaks. I assure you that, as a woman and as an Andalusian, I know what I am talking about. Thank you very much and good luck.

Mr President, Vice-President, we really welcome this roadmap on women's rights and gender equality. So thank you very much, Vice-President. Thank you also to Commissioner Lahbib to show a clear commitment to gender equality. In a moment, we are facing a backlash on gender equality and women's rights. So especially also for including sexual and reproductive health rights. It is very important and we really appreciate that this is finally in. However, this is not the end of this journey. True equality means more than what we have achieved so far. It is about creating a world where every woman in every corner has the freedom and the material preconditions to choose her own path and the power to shape her future, and to participate in an equal path in our common future. Because we have to design also this common future. So let's do that. This roadmap will be really the origin of the new strategy and work together on this.

Mr President, we are debating a lot this week about the reorganisation of the world order and the need to guarantee strategic technological autonomy for the European Union, for the survival of our democracies and, ultimately, of the European project itself, and we must achieve this in order to really guarantee the development of our own artificial intelligence, economic resilience and, as I say, the European project itself. The potential agreement of the Government of Italy with Starlink - Elon Musk's satellite communications service - is paradigmatic and we must know that the connection between politics, business and friendships is not innocuous and has very direct implications in strategic sectors of our economy and in our security, in our freedoms throughout Europe, not only in Italy. Therefore, we must accelerate and finance projects such as the Iris2, because, in the face of divisive actors, what we need is more Europe and more democracy.

Madam President, Commissioner, two things are clear today. The first, that artificial intelligence is a disruptive technology and that it will end up applying to all economic sectors, to all productive, administrative, medical processes, to the generation of knowledge. And the second is that a new world order is being designed, in which key players no longer respect the rules of multilateralism or international law. In this context, Europe needs to achieve its technological sovereignty and, for that, we need to act with unity and ambition, giving it the priority it undoubtedly deserves, defending our most democratic and most humane model of artificial intelligence development, and not the American standard of law of the strongest that Vice-President Vance defended this morning in Paris. That is why we call on the Commission to act swiftly and support boosting the production of artificial intelligence chips in Europe in all its regions, taking advantage of all the knowledge that already exists. Because if we don't take this train, we're certainly going to stay ashore.

Well, I think that the socialist parties have dedicated themselves to families, because it is precisely the socialist parties that have been behind the formation of the welfare states. They have been behind public services and quality employment, because there is a direct correlation between women's employment and fertility rates, which is the number of births per woman of childbearing age. Therefore, let us also allow women to participate in equality and freedom to do what we want with our lives. There are ten million more women in Europe and, for two decades, there have been more women than men with university degrees. Instead, we continue to be held accountable for care. Care is also the responsibility of men; It's everyone's responsibility. Therefore, let us move on to another social organization of care. We will do so as long as the public sector, the private sector and all men, especially men, are also jointly responsible for care. Because children, as far as I know, are not yet born from a coffee machine.

Mr President, Commissioner, Europe is certainly experiencing a demographic winter, but also an intentional use of that demographic winter to send regressive messages, such as the role of women in our society and in our economy. We just heard it. It's like the demographic winter, in the end, becomes a kind of blackmail for women against our sexual and reproductive rights, as if we were responsible for that demographic decline. We're not. Nor are we responsible for the loss of competitiveness. We must bet on innovation and improve productivity. Nor are we responsible for the lack of sustainability of our social model. What needs to be done is to ensure quality jobs and a fairer distribution of benefits. These measures, plus quality public services and greater co-responsibility, will also help women to have children if they want to. That is the socialist bet, as is guaranteeing the dignity of the people who give and receive care, favoring their autonomy. Let us therefore use the demographic crisis to advance gender equality, decent employment, innovation, sustainability of public services and a more humane and smarter look at migration.

Madam President, Commissioner, innovation in nuclear fusion - nuclear fusion, I insist, non-fission, which is what we normally have now and which does involve many accident risks and other problems - is a paradigmatic example of a strategic sector to advance European autonomy, putting the European Union at the forefront of clean energy technologies and supporting the competitiveness of our industry. It is also a sector in which international collaboration is very important; That is why, especially now with this difficult geopolitics, we need international collaboration, but also the involvement of universities and public-private collaboration, which are essential to achieve progress in results. I stress collaboration because we need it. Also of great importance is the role of research infrastructures and support for R&D, from European projects to projects in the countries themselves, and also in the regions, so that innovation reaches all places, as we did in the previous Socialist Government in Andalusia, promoting the consortium of IFMIF-DONES in Granada, which we hope will have very good results, especially also in the application in fields such as health.

Mr President, I will start in English and then move to Spanish. Thank you very much, Commissioner, for your words, for your commitment, because we need it and we count on you. Thank you very much for all the inputs we have received for this file, even the absent inputs of the Presidency that is absent from this debate, even the inputs that are really against gender equality, against women's rights, and the ones also that are xenophobic, identifying gender-based violence with immigrants. This is strange enough on the day that Pelicot has been condemned – as far as I know, he has not crossed the border recently. So thank you very much for all these inputs too, because they all show how important and central are women's rights and gender equality when we are talking about democracy, when we are talking about human rights, and also when we are defending our European project. So thank you very much. I now move to Spanish. Thank you to the interpreters. And I want to end this debate by saying loud and clear that we cannot afford to go back. Every right that is lost, every woman that is silenced in one way or another, is a reminder that rights are never guaranteed. This recommendation, which we are now debating, and which we will shortly be voting on, establishes the need for the Council, on behalf of the European Union and its Member States, to underline Europe's full commitment to the Beijing Declaration, which demonstrates this commitment by implementing gender equality and women's rights in all aspects of the European Union's external action, towards a feminist foreign, security and development policy. The Beijing Declaration gave us a bold vision for the future. It is now our duty to fulfil it, to expand it and to avoid setbacks. The time to act is now. So I ask you to approve and support this recommendation. And I wish you a happy holiday season and a prosperous feminist 2025.

Madam President, Commissioner, thank you very much to the various parliamentary representatives who have participated in this report and also to all your teams. Almost three decades ago, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action paved the way for gender equality and women's rights. It was a historic moment, which ignited hope for a more just and equitable future. However, as the 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women approaches, we face a worrying reality: not only are we moving too slowly to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals related to gender equality, but we are seeing a global setback in women's rights, resignifying concepts such as freedom and the very concept of equality and developing a project of political economy of our bodies, which again serve the purposes of others and not for our own purposes. Let me be clear about this: These setbacks are not accidents, but are the result of organised movements that seek to stop the hard-won progress that goes against democracy and the founding values of the European Union. The data speaks for itself: It would take 286 years just to close the legal gaps and eliminate discriminatory laws. But even more alarming is that, in many parts of the world, women are losing rights they had already won. And I'm not just referring to less developed countries that don't yet have formal democracies. Some countries are restricting fundamental rights such as access to sexual and reproductive health, cutting funding for services that protect women and girls, and normalizing discourses that perpetuate gender stereotypes. Even here, within the European Union, we have seen how the global backsliding finds a worrying echo. This is not only a threat to women, especially those who are crossed by other axes of inequality. It is a threat to our democracies, to the European project itself. Because when women's rights go backwards, the whole society goes backwards. This setback not only harms women: by limiting our participation in politics, the economy or the generation of knowledge, we are holding back our collective ability to innovate, to thrive, to face global challenges such as climate change, humanitarian crises or the challenges of the digital transition. This setback also has material consequences for millions of people: poverty is further feminised, girls see their dreams truncated and gender stereotypes reinforce cycles of exclusion and violence. But the important thing is that we are not doomed to accept that setback. And the European Union - the women and also the men of this House - has a responsibility to prevent this. That is why we call in the Recommendation for addressing the systemic and root causes of inequalities between women and men, as well as women's poverty and lack of opportunities. We are talking about education, training, lifelong learning, non-discriminatory job opportunities, access to social services, balances in unpaid care through legislative initiative, the fight against sexist stereotypes and the promotion of women as models of leadership with authority, with power, in short. Similarly, in the Recommendation we call for gender mainstreaming in all policies and throughout the policy cycle with adequate funding. Thus, when the Council negotiates in New York, it should be able to point out that the European Union leads by example, with women taking their rightful role in decision-making alongside their male counterparts in all areas of life. We cannot condemn backsliding beyond our borders if we do not do enough to ensure equality within our own borders. For that, we need to push for feminist policies that address the root causes of inequality, protect and expand sexual and reproductive rights, and support civil society organizations that are all day at the bottom of the canyon.