Speeches

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, Madam President, Europe is facing a situation of great economic and financial uncertainty. The conflict in Ukraine has led to soaring energy and commodity prices. According to Eurostat, euro area inflation increased by 9.2% per year. After raising interest rates by 50 basis points in July last year, the ECB decided to continue with steady increases and quantitatively strengthening monetary policies. These measures will have a negative impact, removing liquidity from financial markets and making corporate mortgage installments increasingly difficult to sustain, resulting in lower employment. The idea of keeping inflation at 2% at all costs is an arbitrary and not necessarily acceptable objective, the effects of which will negatively affect the European economy and in particular the most indebted states. Most people will no longer be able to access credit and businesses will no longer have an incentive to invest. The ECB's measures to contain inflation are completely reckless and do not take into account the real causes that led to inflation. There is no need for rate increases and Quantitative Tightening. What is needed, if anything, is a relaxation of relations with Russia, in order to remedy the economic shock that has arisen. Unfortunately, we will only be able to assess the ECB's questionable measures in 2024, when European economies are in recession.

Mr President, colleagues, today I want to tell you a story, a story of a people, a story of a country. They heard from Ipiranga the placid margins From a heroic people the resounding cry, And the sun of freedom, in flashing rays It shone in the sky of the Fatherland at that moment If the pledge of this equality We managed to conquer with a strong arm In your bosom, O freedom Challenges our breasts to death itself Giant by nature itself You're beautiful, you're strong, you're impatient colossus And your future mirrors that greatness O Worshiped Land Brazil, of eternal love, be a symbol The Labarus you flaunt starry And say the green-blonde of this pennant Peace in the future and glory in the past But if you lift up from justice the strong You'll see that a son of yours doesn't run away from the fight Do not fear, who loves you, death itself Adored Land Among other thousand It's you, Brazil O beloved country! Of the children of this soil, you are a kind mother Beloved motherland, Brazil! God bless you, you're a kind mother.

(IT) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, recent investigations carried out within European states have revealed the existence of a system of control by the Chinese police, aimed at monitoring compatriots considered dissidents and exerting pressure until they are forced to return home. This interference is incompatible with the laws of the individual Member States and undermines the principle of freedom and the fundamental values of the European Union. The episodes of corruption to favor Qatar and Morocco, which also involved the former Social Democratic Vice-President Kaili, are no less significant. This stain on the institutions and the credibility of our democratic body comes precisely from that political group that has always had the arrogance to consider itself the bearer of moral superiority, from those NGOs that act in the shadows, masking themselves under noble intentions. It has been said that corruption has no political color. That's not true! The colour is and is the red of the left wings of the Socialist Group. This Parliament should start to be less hypocritical and take strong positions, to prevent Europe from continuing to be considered the playground of the world, where everyone can do what they want without paying the consequences. What instruments does the EU, together with the Member States, intend to use to enforce the democratic principles it has always claimed to protect?

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the European Union, the Member States and the European financial institutions have so far provided support amounting to EUR 19.7 billion. The new instrument will now provide an additional €18 billion. I think it is right to support Ukraine, of course, but I think it is equally important to keep a strict watch on how these money will be spent and by whom it will be spent. At this moment of objective difficulty in the Ukrainian government's management of internal problems, there is a risk that part of this aid may be intercepted by organisations or individuals with different purposes than the exclusive and proper support to the Ukrainian people affected by the catastrophe of the war. This new instrument allows for less detailed political conditions and disbursement arrangements, as well as a worryingly minor role for Parliament as regards its budgetary control function. But are we sure that the European institutions have adequate means to effectively control this funding? Are we sure we don't run the risk that this new instrument is just the first in a long series of loans? I hope that this aid can serve as a lever to finally achieve peace and put an end to a war that has devastated Ukraine and seriously damaged the whole of Europe.