Speeches

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, as per this House's modus operandi, today we start with a good excuse: the alleged delay in appointing Slovenian delegates to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, which is, moreover, useless to attack the sovereignty of a Member State, Slovenia. I would dare to say a "non-theme", considering that the Slovenian government, headed by President Jansa, has not only appointed delegated prosecutors, but has also unlocked the necessary funding for the activity of the country's main news agency, as you have requested. Instead, you should ask the Prime Minister what and how many difficulties a government that has to solve historical problems, left as a dowry by an old regime, faces. But you don't care about that. You prefer to use the umpteenth instrumental controversy, which is so both for the timing and for the methods used by its creators, who have as their only interest to destabilize the government of a Member State. You see, we have recently been on a mission to Ljubljana and we can confirm that Slovenia is not a dictatorship, nor an illiberal democracy, but a sovereign state where public institutions function properly - says the LIBE Committee - with ongoing reforms, and that it maintains a political line, yes, that is unwelcome to you. But Slovenia has every right to express itself on how it sees its future and the future of Europe, where all voices must be heard equally, if it is true that dialogue is the basis of democracy. We are sorry, but you will not be able to impose on us a single thought on what our Europe must be. We are not witnessing the continuous transformation of Europe into technocratic cooperation. We aspire to democratic cooperation, based on respect for traditions, diversity and cultures, founded above all on respect for individual nations, the beating hearts of democratic traditions. We are here today defending Slovenia, as a sovereign Member State, to also defend our idea of Europe.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, the crisis we are witnessing in recent hours at the border between Poland and Belarus is yet another attempt by a non-EU country to destabilise Europe with a hybrid threat. A blackmail before which Europe trudges, remains to look, does not decide, indeed judges, put in place by those who favor the illegal smuggling of migrants. The threat, like the one in Brussels, of infringement procedures against Member States defending their borders, such as Poland, only serves to incentivise the business criminal. The defence of Europe's borders, be they those with Belarus, those between Greece and Turkey, or in the Mediterranean Sea, is the priority to be achieved by all means, even by raising walls. Images arriving from the border show thousands of migrants amassed, arriving after having paid, behind the false promise of being able to enter Europe. And you are accomplices! We look forward to decisive action in Brussels, with concrete measures to prevent illegal border crossings; We call for closer cooperation with third countries, especially in terms of readmission and the prevention of departures, by linking to them the receipt of economic and development aid and the conclusion of visa agreements. Unfortunately, in this House we often choose to tell only one point of view, that of the left, always ready to point the finger surgically against legitimately elected governments but unwelcome to them. Today's is just one example. We are at the side of Poland, at the side of those who decide not to be subjected to blackmail, always on the side of the European citizens. If it is truly united, Europe should do something instead of watching.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, one year after the presentation of the package on migration and asylum, as was easily predictable, we have not seen decisive steps taken, but only heard empty words that allow the stalemate on the issue of immigration to continue. Today we are discussing a measure, the Regulation for the European Asylum Agency, which should allow more support to States in processing asylum applications. It should be a positive outcome, but the Commission intends to use it to more closely scrutinise the work of the Member States through the monitoring mechanism which, rightly, the Mediterranean States have called for to be suspended pending tangible progress in the face of European accountability. The relevant articles cannot enter into force until after the package has been approved and, above all, after all European countries have committed themselves to genuine solidarity. Failing that, it is clear, we will not be ready to take on additional burdens to comply with reception standards, nor to demand additional sacrifices from those who have already, over the years, paid the cost of the European Union's inertia. We want first concrete initiatives to prevent departures and avoid irregular entries and deaths. It would be enough to replicate your "Afghanistan approach", that is, to encourage the reception of refugees in neighboring countries and assist them there. Finally, we take note of the Commission's communication on human smuggling, but we hope that this will be followed by tough action on states that encourage migrant smuggling or that do not comply with return agreements. This objective should also be pursued by taking strong measures in various policy areas, such as visa or financial assistance. The signal must be clear, otherwise we risk continuing on a path of international irrelevance whose price, thanks to you, is fully paid by our citizens.

(IT) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I think it is too early to take stock of the actual use of the digital COVID certificate, but as we had imagined, the tool is proving essential for the restart of tourism. After months of sacrifices and closures, airports are finally no longer empty and European citizens have resumed booking their holidays and can do so with the safety and simplicity that the digital COVID certificate wanted to guarantee them. The booking data is encouraging and the image we have in front of us is that of a positive season. Across Europe we record hotel bookings at 80% of 2019 pre-pandemic levels. But we still need to improve. Citizens are complaining about some difficulties in using the application and downloading the certificate and we therefore call on the European Commission to assist Member States in facilitating the issuing procedures. As well as several reports on difficulties and delays in obtaining certificates of recovery. We have said yes to this instrument, as long as it does not create a vaccination obligation for European citizens, so we remove all obstacles to an alternative real use of the certificate, without forgetting the free testing. During the negotiations, as the League, we have focused a lot on this measure and we expect the States to make it effective. Some are already doing so by announcing that they want to offer free tests for tourists visiting the country during this summer. What are we waiting for to invite all Member States to do so? We would thus really facilitate our citizens in travel without an overload of costs for those who, in full freedom and as their right, have also chosen not to vaccinate. This is also the Europe of rights we are talking about. The summer season has just begun and we must make sure that it is really a season of restart and smile.