Speeches

Madam President, I do not want to leave this House without thanking Mr Borrell for his clear messages which, together with the Spanish Government's commitment to the Palestinian state, shed some light when we take to the streets to ask for the confidence of European citizens in the new Parliament which will be set up from July. Plenary after plenary session, we denounce war crimes, the destruction of hospitals, the use of hunger as a weapon of war, the death of journalists and humanitarian workers. However, no concrete action has yet been taken against the Government of Israel. The only thing the Israeli Government can understand is sustained and unequivocal pressure from the international community. We are one of the largest donors of both cooperation and humanitarian aid to the European Union, but we must also use our economic power to put even more pressure on Israel. There is an urgent need to increase funding for UNRWA, but there is also an urgent need to assess the Association Agreement with Israel and suspend it. Only weeks before the European elections, we cannot continue to have double standards. After six months, let's move on to concrete action. The same thing we did with Russia or Venezuela or many others.

Madam President, I believe that one of the main challenges of cohesion policy is intra-regional inequality, the lack of opportunities for the most vulnerable groups such as Roma, migrants, people with disabilities, who live in the richest regions of Europe. Specifically, the Community of Madrid is a clear example, is one of the richest communities in all of Europe, but has a structural poverty rate that does not fall in recent years of 20%: the Gini index rose by more than three points in recent years; 20% of the richest have almost eight times more income than the poorest; 1.4 million people, from Madrid and Madrid, live at risk of poverty; 40% of families in Madrid have difficulty making ends meet. That is why we need to set the goal of combating intraregional inequality. GDP cannot be the only indicator used. We need to incorporate meters, variables of gender, ethnic origin, disability to combat this intraregional inequality, as in the Community of Madrid.

Madam President, I regret that Mr Várhelyi is not here, because the explanations given are totally inadequate. The relationship with Tunisia is the chronicle of an announced death and is proof of the double standard in foreign policy, which comes just as we are facing the mid-term review of the NDICI, the largest instrument for development cooperation. Just a year ago we were clear with the resolution passed in which we condemned human rights violations, the detention of journalists, the criminalization of immigrants. However, President von der Leyen, Meloni and Rutte announced a disbursement of 150 million euros. For more inri, a memorandum of understanding. With whom? With human rights violators, with those who reject the mission of the European Parliament, with those who do not reject 60 million euros in aid for COVID? Without consulting this Parliament, the Commission announces the special measure in favour of Tunisia, with an urgent procedure to circumvent the opinion of this Parliament. It violates our rules and guarantees, which are the essence of our Union. There are no excuses: If we continue to violate our own rules and procedures using double standards as we did with Tunisia, we will only continue to lose international credibility in foreign policy. This Parliament cannot support these agreements. We don't want any more deals like this.

Mr President, fighting rising inequalities and promoting a more sustainable and equal world between men and women are our core values and must accompany our funding. As the world’s largest donors of cooperation, we cannot be indifferent to the increase in inequality following the pandemic – closely linked to gender and climate change. From European experience, we know that technical cooperation creates strong governance and institutions that tackle inequality. Therefore, Commissioner, we are not opposed to strengthening physical infrastructure through Global Gateway investments, but we believe that it is imperative to create and maintain social structures. We have the opportunity now, with the mid-term review of the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI), to maintain and create issues such as more inclusive societies, access to education, health and strengthen cooperation programmes in Latin America. Let's raise our voices so that non-viable funds are increased according to the CAD, those that allow us to continue working with middle-income countries. Latin America remains the most unequal continent in the world alongside sub-Saharan Africa. In Colombia, who is born poor, dies poor and eight generations are needed to overcome poverty.

Madam President, we must take advantage of this resolution to put pressure on the Commission to implement the commitments made by Mr Borrell last year – and, previously, by Mrs Mogherini – with more technical cooperation to speed up the process of economic recovery on the island, correct distortions and incentivise production through the creation of small and medium-sized enterprises, the development of which will be one of the driving forces for the Cuban economy. The Global Gateway strategy is very good, but it needs to solve the payment gateway to be able to develop, because the blockade in Cuba does not allow companies to make investments. Let us explore new ways to extend this cooperation to areas such as resilience, natural disasters or biotechnological inputs for the fight against future pandemics. The Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement is the expression of our policy with Cuba, based on a critical but constructive dialogue. It has been key in this construction of a favorable climate in these six years, leaving behind a common position and alignment with the United States. Let us use this Parliament to provide avenues for strictly compliant solutions... (the Chair withdrew the floor from the speaker).

Mr President, our values are increasingly needed in a world marked by wars, pandemics and the impact of the climate crisis, suffered more by those who have contributed the least to warming. That's why we must expand our partnership programs to be more useful in the world and bring the best of ourselves. The Erasmus+ programme is already working for young people around the world, including people with disabilities. But there is a need to strengthen other programmes, such as the Union Civil Protection Mechanism, which is essential to prevent the impact, precisely, of this climate crisis on those countries that cannot afford to have a satellite like Copernicus. Also, in the digital section, there is the Connecting Europe Facility, extended by the BELLA programme to connect Europe and Latin America and be really useful in this transatlantic connection and allow the connectivity of millions of people. Horizon Europe, to which you referred – the Faroe Islands, New Zealand and soon Canada have already become associated – is likely to be undermined by these budgets. Therefore, the specific question is: Are you going to defend the Horizon Europe programme so that it is not cut? Will this Parliament be more involved in extending these programmes?

Mr President, Commissioner, we who are engaged in international cooperation have said so from the outset, and recently the High Representative reaffirmed it: prevent Global Gateway, with its emphasis on physical infrastructure, from making us forget the importance of social infrastructure, which builds the dignity of living in freedom. We need more transparency; more inclusion projects with measurable social impact standards, e.g. through the EIB; greater involvement of local civil society in the implementation and choice of projects; that the call Advisory Board is binding and not only figurative; more Parliament’s presence – let us not allow ourselves to be mere observers of the follow-up: the Board does not meet since 2022; adaptation also to the regional level of each partner state, as sometimes the competences are not only national; and most importantly, that the earmarked amounts of EUR 300 billion – by the way, only EUR 45 billion for Latin America, being one of the regions most affected by the pandemic – are not to the detriment of traditional cooperation programmes, which have a real impact on the people who need it most. Technical cooperation creates governance, which is more difficult than making roads or airports.

Mr President, the first thing is to express solidarity with the Ecuadorian people and especially with the Ecuadorian women who suffer from this situation in Ecuador of unprecedented violence associated with the great scourges such as drug trafficking and transnational crime, which must be fought in an internationally articulated manner. We know that the drugs that are grown and passed through Ecuador end up in European ports and cities. It is time to be with Ecuador, yes, strengthening institutions. The answer can not only be a heavy hand or a state of emergency as proposed, but reinforcement of public policies, implementation of police reform, innovation in criminal justice and social inclusion policies. From the European institutions, we can, without interference, without paternalism, through international cooperation, lead the expertise European. We have the right tool: the technical cooperation programme El PAcCTO, and Copolad (aimed at improving the coherence, balance and impact of drug policies) on security and justice. We invested nineteen million euros over five years, implemented by highly experienced agencies such as Expertise France and the FIIAP of Spanish Cooperation. Therefore, we have and know how to do it. I believe that Ecuador is already in the line of signing a new cooperation agreement on Europol issues and will chair the Latin American Security Committee this year and next. Now more than ever, let's help build strong institutions in Latin America and continue to help Ecuador along this path.

Mr President, some in this Parliament - the rapporteur and his group - are committed to criminalising NGOs, but the danger lies not in them, but in the influence of companies with interests that run counter to our values. NGOs are essential to the democratic functioning of our institutions and even more so to the materialisation of European solidarity, to the materialisation of development cooperation and humanitarian aid such as, for example, now in Gaza or in Ukraine. They are guarantors of the rights of the most vulnerable people and we owe them many of the advances in diversity, gender or migration. The European Union could not be understood without its work. They must, of course, follow strict transparency rules. Most already do, in proportion to their size. Let us also support smaller NGOs. Therefore, increasing bureaucracy will only weaken their actions. If we demand more from them, we must also be willing to assist them in the process. There should be rules for those receiving funding from the European Union, but adaptation time is needed. Let us not silence critical voices. Let us not allow the demands of transparency and the fight against foreign influences to be used as an excuse.

Madam President, welcome is this report and welcome is the excellent work of the rapporteurs because, among other important things, concrete actions are called for to remove physical and legal barriers to voting for people with disabilities. In 2019 we were all happy that voter turnout was higher and in part it was because 200 000 people who were previously unable to exercise the fundamental right to vote – people with disabilities in Spain – were able to vote. Indeed, they were able to vote thanks to a reform of the electoral law that is born from a regional parliament such as the Assembly of Madrid. But let us remember that still more than 800 000 people were denied the right to vote in other Member States. In Spain we have achieved it: that the active and passive suffrage – electing and being elected – of persons with disabilities is a reality. We in Parliament are constantly insisting, as well as on the reform of the electoral law, that all legal barriers be removed in relation precisely to the link between legal capacity and the fundamental right. There are still 14 Member States where this right is denied. This is enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ratified by this Parliament and whose implementation we assessed 12 years later. We must arrive with our homework done. All persons with disabilities must be able to exercise their right to vote.

Madam President, Commissioner, Mr Buxadé is not here, but I understand that everyone in your group believes that the poor are poor because they want to, right? Fortunately, in this Parliament we are the majority who defend this global alliance to combat not only poverty. And, as has been said, we are halfway to meeting the objectives of the 2030 Agenda, halfway through the Multiannual Financial Framework and the NDICI cooperation instrument. That is why, Commissioner, this debate is closely linked to the one we had yesterday on the need to move forward with a negotiation on the revision of the multiannual financial framework in order to implement this Agenda as well. In order to achieve Goals such as those related to hunger, education, energy, peace, justice or strong institutions, we need, first of all, more money to be able to implement, to contribute in part to this goal. gap funding of €500 billion per year, which was said at the summit in September to be needed. Secondly, we must strengthen traditional cooperation programmes. Not everything can be investments, not everything can be the Global Gateway. Thirdly, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, we know of the commitment of the Spanish Presidency, but we need mandatory monitoring and control mechanisms. It is not only voluntary national reviews that are worth it, we must require mandatory reviews within our Member States. Fourthly, there is a need for debt restructuring and debt relief that also includes defaults for the countries of the Global South, and for them to commit effectively to investing these amounts in development. We are the largest donor of cooperation and humanitarian aid in the world. We must consider whether we want to settle or move towards achieving these Goals. The SDGs are not just a list of goals, they are people's rights. We have the solutions, we know them. There is a lack of political will to implement them.

Mr President, this Parliament's main message must be addressed to the women and girls who continue to survive under the Taliban regime: You're not alone. They bring us names like Matiulah Wesa, founder of The Pen Path and candidate for the Sakharov Prize, Zholia Parsi and Neda Parwani, activists for the rights of women and girls, who are in detention. But it is important that the issue be put back on Parliament's agenda and that we continue to accompany them from this House. We must continue to push for girls to return to higher education, to work, to undertake. In the meantime, it is time to organise ourselves to see how, from European cooperation, we can offer protection to activist groups that fight endlessly for the education of girls, how we can expand humanitarian visas, how we can keep this issue on our agenda. We must move from words to deeds. We remain one of the first donors of humanitarian aid in the world. Also in Afghanistan, although not lately. Items are not enough, we need more resources for humanitarian aid. We demand the release of all those detained and we ask for resources for the protection of activists.

Madam President, thank you, Commissioner, for being in this important debate at an opportune time, which is the very beginning of the school year. The Fundamental Rights Agency says: 71% of the Roma population aged 18-24 left the education system prematurely and have not continued any other type. They are also victims of harassment. In Spain, fortunately, at the national level the data are encouraging. The percentage of Roma who have dropped out has been reduced from 13 to 6.5 and the percentage of those who have completed secondary school in recent years has increased. But there is a problem of intra-territorial inequality that you, as Commissioner, are well aware of: the Community of Madrid, one of the richest and most unequal communities in all of Europe. Only 20 minutes from the center of Madrid, in the metropolitan area, live more than 1 800 children who do not have an education, children who are in one of the largest Roma settlements in Europe, without access to light, without access to drinking water and, therefore, this is a problem that also prevents them from pursuing an education in conditions, due to the policies of the Community of Madrid, policies that segregate, not only the Roma population. A Community which, once again, is one of the most unequal communities in all of Europe.

Madam President, there is a message in unison of all the political families that have participated in the Electoral Observation Mission that the will of Guatemalans must be respected. This is a message for defenders of indigenous peoples and human rights defenders to tell them that they are doing a great job of putting up with the terrible pressure they are enduring. We have to be consistent. The European Union invests a lot of resources in an Election Observation Mission. Therefore, the position must be unequivocal, respect the will of Guatemalans, support the elected government at the polls, Bernardo Arévalo and Vice President Herrera. But we can also go further. Why? Because this situation has been under discussion for a long time. Guatemala is the country that has the highest rate of support for democracy, against democracy, which has the highest rate of indifference to political issues, in which authoritarian preference rose more than 23%, and where more than two thousand human rights defenders have been attacked. Therefore, we can and must act. Let us use the instruments we have, such as the Association Agreement, which includes the chapter on political dialogue and cooperation – certainly not ratified by Belgium, which prevents its implementation. Let's use it. Let us also cooperate in the field of foreign and security policy. International cooperation. Let us strengthen governance programmes with more technical cooperation to help improve institutions. If not, then let us not be afraid when more Central American governments are elected in totalitarian forms. The Guatemalan people must know that they are not alone. Let him not be afraid, that the international community, that the European Union, that this European Parliament will accompany him until January so that we can reach a transition with the will that has come out of the polls.

Mr President, every time we visit countries in the Global South, such as Latin America, which contains 70% of lithium reserves, they ask us, from Europe, to put an end to extractivism. They ask us to help finance and develop their processing and refining industries and create added value, as President von der Leyen herself said today. Mining is threatening the rights of indigenous peoples and their ways of life, and is polluting their rivers and territories. And free prior and informed consent is not duly complied with. The opinion of the Committee on Development on this important regulation that is being debated today was not possible precisely because of the refusal of some who continue to think with an old extractive concept and development cooperation from the donor-recipient approach. We must be consistent with the interests on the raw materials we need, but they have to be in line with our development policy. We need raw materials, yes, but implementing the Due Diligence Directive. Let us honor the memory of Berta Cáceres and thousands of human rights defenders in the different countries of the Global South, such as, by the way, the finalists of the Sakharov Prize, Defenders of Guapinol, of Honduras.

Madam President, congratulations, Mr High Representative, and congratulations to the Spanish Presidency on the organisation of the EU-CELAC summit, which was successful and marked a before and after - but which took place, obviously, after the effects of the invasion of Ukraine - to look back at the region most affected by COVID-19. No one misses the Chinese interests in the expansion of the BRICS, increased with the inclusion of Argentina as the only Spanish-speaking country in this group. Reviewing the Latinobarómetro concerns, and much, the support of citizens to the growth of authoritarian postulates in the region. Supporters of authoritarianism have grown to 18% in the past year. A growth of more than five points. Or the abstentionism in the elections in Guatemala and the unprecedented violence in Ecuador. Do you think, Mr High Representative, that the answer can only be the Global Gateway investment package, with more than 300 billion investments, but of which only 45 billion will go to Latin America in a very unequal geographical distribution? Recall that more than 8% of the NDICI development cooperation macro-instrument has already been removed and there was no compensation after the effect of the pandemic. As a European, as a Spanish, but as a Latin American too, I believe it is necessary to evaluate and redefine traditional development cooperation programmes, such as Euroclima or Eurosocial, measure impact and focus on education. More education will lead to more support for democracy and less radicalism. These are the European values that we must bring to our Latin American partners.

Mr President, Commissioner, rapporteur Montserrat, to learn from the mistakes made in this terrible pandemic I would like to say two things. The first is to take care of those who take care of us. To learn from what happened, we cannot just stay on purely health issues. Let's learn from mistakes and not remember immigrants only when we need them; learn how to deal with new pandemics and how to improve working conditions for essential workers. The report does not sufficiently reflect the essential work that migrant workers did during the pandemic in sectors such as transport, construction, cleaning work or care work, and we see that, during the pandemic, migrant workers in the European Union accounted for more than 25% of cleaners and helpers and 17% of construction workers. The second issue is also to learn from mistakes, such as preventing the "protocols of shame" of the Community of Madrid, where more than 5 000 elderly people died without health care by decision of President Ayuso.

Madam President, one of the three negotiating points offered by this Parliament is precisely the vote of people with disabilities. That is why we ask you, Commissioner, lady of the Council, to start negotiations as soon as possible, because there are still eight Member States where people cannot go to a polling station because of accessibility barriers, because of reduced mobility or simply because they are declared legally incapable. Therefore, reforming this Regulation aims to ensure that all persons with disabilities – regardless of their legal capacity – can vote, the right to vote of people living in closed residential settings, and equal access to all materials, both in campaigning and in voting. We in this Parliament cannot allow this regulation to be treated in the same way as the horizontal directive on equal treatment and non-discrimination, which has stood for 15 years in the Council, after having been adopted in this Parliament.

(start of off-mic intervention) ... of European solidarity and in particular humanitarian aid we have been since the beginning of this terrible war. We have been able to meet Ukraine's needs without neglecting other major forgotten crises. But this crisis is being prolonged and actions are needed in the medium and long term after the terrible situation of this ecocide that has occurred. Humanitarian aid needs more money. It needs innovative funding and new sources of funding to meet needs. For example, the incorporation of the private sector with monitoring and control mechanisms is necessary. These mechanisms are also needed for Member States to honour the contributions to which they commit and to respect the mandatory nature of the contributions on a proportional basis. Special drawing rights, as has been called for for many years, must also be used to meet these needs, as well as confiscated funds. Ukraine is a good example where to address the triple nexus: humanitarian aid, development and peace-building at the same time.

Mr President, it is all very well to celebrate European Union Day for the victims of the global climate crisis, but if we really want to protect the victims, we must recognise as soon as possible in this Parliament the direct link between climate change and climate migration. We must define the figure of the climate refugee. More than 243 million people are already moving across borders, and this Parliament still does not have a clear definition. If we want to protect their victims, we have to include climate as one of the causes of eligibility in the international protection of these people, in the legal instruments we have to protect them. Let us define as soon as possible the figure of the climate refugee.

Mr President, the report we are debating today, in addition to sexual harassment, refers to harassment at work and psychological harassment: I believe that there is a red line that we must not confuse between sexual and moral harassment, and this must be very clear. But I believe it is necessary to humanise this institution by providing both Members and staff with safe and informal opportunities to be heard through confidential, independent and impartial assistance through informal means such as coaching, diplomacy, facilitating debates and mediation services that do not exist today. It is APAs and sometimes politicians who judge without specific training. It may be necessary to provide us with a mediation service such as that already operating in other international institutions, which have a service with independent external bodies. It is urgent for this Parliament to provide these alternative dispute resolution services in order to find meeting points. This service should facilitate communication between the parties to a conflict. If we do not, if we continue to apply the Bureau’s leadership of 2018 six years ago – rushed to respond to the #MeToo movement – many of the real victims will continue to suffer the acts of their perpetrators with impunity and the right to self-defence will remain absent.

Mr. President, we are the greatest development agent in the world. That is why we have an added responsibility. This directive, the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, in line with EU trade policy, is precisely in support of our objective: prevent corruption in global value chains and business relationships. However, it is also important that SMEs are included, that this new rule applies to all types of companies, whether public or private, and that it has a liability system that includes administrative, civil and criminal liability. We must now continue to fight in the trilogues to achieve proper implementation, including with regard to the agreements that are being negotiated, such as the Mercosur Agreement. The adoption of this directive will keep us at the forefront of respect for human rights and sustainability worldwide. Please do not support the amendments; keep the original text, with which all committees agree.

Mr President, from a purely humanitarian point of view, we are concerned and concerned not only with the cruelty of attacks on critical infrastructure, but how to be effective in helping people, in view of the snowfall and temperatures of less than twenty degrees below zero, deadly if we do not help. Thanks to Team Europe, we have been able to locate EUR 19.7 billion, which has materialised in more than 18 000 tonnes of aid, through the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism; more than 1 600 patients transferred to 18 countries via the Medical Evacuation Centre flights; more than 800 power generators, located in hospitals and schools; bulbs, more than 30 million in energy savings; the establishment of the new RESCUE health and energy centre in Poland, which will facilitate the transport and storage of donations from third countries. Assistance to winter shelters remains the absolute priority, more so after the events we have known of damage to infrastructure, and we must support the work done by ECHO. Of course I do. But it is also time to regulate the contribution of the private sector to humanitarian aid, which, together with other third countries, is allowing Ukraine to have 75% of the needs met. That is why we in this Parliament are also calling attention to the need not to neglect other major crises that have been forgotten elsewhere in the world.

Mr President, Commissioner, we know that the development scenario is becoming increasingly difficult and will become more difficult to meet the objectives of the 2030 Agenda. It is therefore urgent to create a financial architecture for effective development, with monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to measure its impact. We do a lot, but we do not know the real impact, for example, in Latin America, where we see that China is increasingly present, also in terms of development. To make the Global Gateway a reality and not just a European declaration of intent, in this financial architecture, the European Investment Bank, together with national banks and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, must play a key role, but must be coordinated. That is why we ask you, Commissioner, to lead this coordination. The incorporation of the private sector, regulated and supervised from the public sector, is increasingly necessary, since we cannot cover everything from official development assistance alone. Leverage can be a solution, but it must have clear monitoring mechanisms. We need innovative funding. It has the support of this Parliament, as it is already giving it in the field of humanitarian aid, to work along the lines of innovative funding.

Mr President, Mr High Representative, Russia's war against Ukraine is increasing hunger. It's clear. And they have nothing to do with the sanctions that we have imposed on Russia from the European Union. FAO data – from the United Nations – show that prices were falling in September, with cereals falling by 1.4% and wheat by 5.1%. As good news, a few days ago the pact on the export of grain by Black Sea ports was extended, but we must clarify that its main destination - more than 70% - are middle-income and upper-middle-income countries that depend on this Ukrainian cereal. But what about middle- and low-middle-income countries where famine is on the rise? What additional measures is the Commission taking in the medium and long term that do not depend on specific agreements, but allow millions and millions of people not to have to depend on extensions of these agreements? Will the Global Gateway investments you just announced serve to create opportunities and mitigate famine? What follow-up mechanisms do you have? What dates do these investments have? Let us take hunger seriously and its link with the migrations that will continue to arrive in Europe. Long-term solutions must be sought so that famine in the Global South does not become chronic.