Debate contributions by Ana MIRANDA PAZ

Madam President, in my country, Galicia, the automotive sector is strategic and my city, Vigo, where one of the Stellantis factories is located, is one of the industrial engines. Any plan or measure implemented must take into account its social impact, Commissioner. Galicia lost 22 companies in the automotive sector between 2008 and 2024 and a total of 24 000 jobs. Precisely the Stellantis plant, between 2007 and 2023, increased its productivity by 33 %, while the workforce was reduced by 35 %, from 10 000 employees to 6 300. In this sense, as a curious fact, in 2007, each worker produced 56 vehicles, while in 2024 he produced 84. As the CIG union denounces, this is one of the most productive factories in the company, thanks to an extensive policy of job insecurity in all areas. What it cannot be is that the working class is increasingly impoverished. Take this into account, Commissioner, take into account the areas highly dependent on the automotive sector and its social impact.

Madam President, Mrs von der Leyen, in the face of militaristic and warmongering escalation, I would like to convey to you, as MEP of a pacifist organisation, our strongest opposition to this European rearmament. The war lady does not care that military spending is paid by the peoples, she does not care that the bill of war is paid by the citizens, she prefers to support warmongering rather than social policy, she prefers to support more military spending and less public services such as housing, health or pensions. We must return to the defense of peace, to the peaceful resolution of conflicts, to diplomacy, to the defense of human rights. We must return to democracy, not be subordinated to NATO or the United States. Not the rearmament, nor the military and warmongering escalation of the European Union. (Speaker pronounces a sentence in Galician).

Madam President, the world is changing at such a rapid pace that multilateralism and peace are shaking. The President of the United States, Mr. Trump, threatens European industrial sectors, such as the metal sector in my country, Galiza. As an MEP galega, I would like to convey the concern of thousands of workers in the metals sector and shipbuilding companies about the recent threats to apply 25% tariffs to the metals industry. It is a very serious trade threat, because this tariff war does not have anyone to defend it in Europe either, Commissioner. What is the European Union doing to boost its own shipyards and local auxiliary industry? Nothing. From the BNG we have advocated for many years that European industry be enhanced and supported with public aid. In the case of industry galega, We have argued that it employs many thousands of workers and this industry has suffered cuts, conversions, production constraints and unfair competition. And, the last nail that was missing, the imposition of tariffs on an industry that is an exporter. What will the European Union do to defend the metal sector?

Mr President, the Commissioner says that agricultural products must comply with the rules that apply in the EU. How will that be guaranteed, Commissioner? Is the Mercosur Agreement good for everyone? For Galician livestock farmers and meat and milk producers it is not beneficial. For small and medium-sized agricultural enterprises? It's not beneficial. Have you spoken to the 40 000 Galician agricultural producers who have been forced to close their farms in the last 20 years? The PP says that it is necessary to talk to the livestock farmers. Talk to them. Geopolitics and the interest of multinationals cannot crush our producers. This week, in the Galician Parliament, the Popular Party voted against our proposal, the NBG proposal, to analyse the consequences of the agreement on the Galician agricultural sector. Crush, pay to crush and disappear. Not with our vote, Commissioner.

My question is: you have made some very strange affirmations. You change the products with animals. I don't understand. So why are you making these kinds of affirmations?

I'm Galician, I'm from Galicia. We have a lot of farmers. They are from a fascist party. You are not right – you spoke about the Greens/EFA Group – sorry!

Mr President, according to the WHO, one in seven young people has some mental health problem – depressed, anxious, low self-esteem, distress, social isolation and other problems. Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among young people. They suffer. Do you know that for every 10 000 inhabitants there is a difference of 50 percentage points in the comparative proportion of psychologists between Sweden and my country, Galicia? In other European countries, Portugal, without going further, there is at least one psychology professional in each school. And do you know how many psychologists and psychologists there are in Galician schools? Zero. Going to a psychology consultation at study centers in my country is impossible. Endless waiting lists, long-distance queries between the first and the second aggravate the problem. How can continuous, rapid and lasting treatment be done in the face of the lack of psychologists in schools who could work with boys and girls in a preventive manner and prevent these problems from worsening? It is urgent to fight so that our young people stop suffering.

Madam President, President Trump has further increased his threats against those who support and defend the work and jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. This is unacceptable. The ICC is the first and only permanent and independent international court with the authority to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The court must be respected. The EU, Commissioner, must unanimously support the court, respect what it decides and always uphold human rights and international law. On 31 January, together with MEPs from this Parliament and representatives from nine countries, I participated in the initiative of the Hague Group to defend the legality of the international system and the work of the ICC. There can be no double standards, because Netanyahu and all those responsible for the genocide must be held accountable for their crimes. Commissioner, this is the inaugural joint statement of The Hague Group and, if you agree, I want to give you the document, please.

Mr President, I would like to refer to those obscene words of President Trump, who declares that he wants to annex Gaza, that he wants to expel the Palestinians – who are in their legitimate territory – from their place: of their place of life and the place where they want to enjoy a dignified life and not this life of genocide that Israel is putting them through. Removing Palestinians from Gaza... What an idea Mr. Trump has! And I'd like Mrs. Kallas to be here today. Precisely, Commissioner, you are there and you represent the Commission, but it is normal for the High Representative to be there, because this is the second time we have had such a debate and I should come here and say loud and clear what you think of those words. They are very obscene words and attack fundamental values and, in addition, with ethnic displacements prohibited precisely by the United Nations. And I also agree with the revision of the agreement with Israel and the relevant sanctions, because whoever commits genocide has to be sanctioned.

Madam President, I would like to ask Mr Oliveira, you come from Portugal, and both in Portugal and in Galicia, my country, there is a lot of solidarity. But in this Parliament, there was no minute of silence for the victims killed by Israel in Gaza. What is your opinion? And I also wanted to ask: Can you go to Palestine? I can't go, as Israel forbids me because I've been on a humanitarian boat. And there is a European Parliament resolution that says MEPs can go. Yet up there are Israel's delegates, and they enter here freely. What is your opinion?

Madam President, I would like to refer to Rule 10(4) of the Rules of Procedure. In parliamentary debates in the Chamber, Members shall not use offensive language: defamatory language, hate speech and incitement to discrimination within the meaning of Article 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights. UNRWA is not a terrorist organization, it is a United Nations organization, so I call for a rectification.

Commissioner, in my country, Galicia, job insecurity in the health sector due to the abuse of temporary contracts is normal. Health workers are lacking, public investments are lacking and decent wages and access to treatment are lacking. If the European average of nurses is 8.5, the Spanish state average is 6.3 and the average in Galicia, my country, is 5.1, with the worst rate of nurses in the European Union. It is essential that health workers have decent working conditions to guarantee their care, to guarantee the care that, regrettably, the right and the far right insist on dismantling and privatising, as the PP government does in my homeland. If we want quality medical care, professionals need the recognition of their rights and decent work. And from here, I send a greeting to SOS Sanidade.

Mr. President, do you know what the word means? facha? I'll explain. Watch the videos and photographs of the conclave of fachas that was held in Madrid last weekend: Abascal, Orbán, Le Pen, Wilders, Salvini, André Ventura. The worst of every house paid for by the Patriots for Europe Group of the European Parliament. Conspiracy theories, climate denialism, hate speech against democracy and the Europe of the peoples, against the most vulnerable groups, against the LGBTIQ+ collective, against us, women. In short, an exaltation and a fascist attack on democracy. Fascism that runs rampant, which already controls and sets the agenda in some Member States of the European Union. When will Europe wake up and stop this monster of fanaticism against rights and freedoms? In 2018 I was this Parliament's rapporteur for the resolution on the rise of neo-fascist violence in Europe, to stop their feet and resist this new onslaught. That resolution clearly stated that neo-fascism should not be exalted. Europe has done little to stop them; It washes their faces, especially the Spanish PP, which allows and whitens those fachas conclaves. Remember the word, gentlemen there: fachas. Don't forget them. A plague for Europe.

Mr President, we are talking about humanitarian law and where is Mrs Kallas? Second part-session in Strasbourg and second absence. Does it consider that Parliament's role is useless, unimportant? How many people have disappeared in Gaza? Can Mrs Kallas answer me? I will tell you about the genocide and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Since 30 January, UNRWA has been expelled from Israel. No statement by President von der Leyen on this unjust and arbitrary expulsion which constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law - none. And now we have Mr. Trump's proposal for ethnic cleansing. Selling Gaza, what is that, Mrs. Kallas? It's a disgrace! It is time to put an end to this unbearable cynicism towards international humanitarian law and to act: to act for peace, for human rights and for respect for the bodies of international law.

Mr President, with regard to the demographic winter, I am going to talk about my country, Galicia. Today, the Galician countryside is dying. There is no access to transport, there is no possibility of conciliation, because there are no jobs. There are only two options, Commissioner, namely job insecurity or emigration. Let me give you an example of this critical situation in my country: Galician farmers and breeders, many of them young and many of them women, feed their livestock naturally, sustainably and grazed. These are small calf farms certified by the Terneira Galega Suprema designation of origin. However, the Galician Government wants to change the rules by encouraging the feeding of concentrated feed. This change can lead small farmers to leave the countryside. This is just one of several examples of the demographic winter in my country. What does the European Commission intend to do for rural areas and to combat this emigration and abandonment?

When I hear speeches like yours or that of the previous VOX party speaker in which they talk about illegal immigrants, I wonder: Do you know why those people who come to live, who come to work and who come many times to save themselves from very difficult situations, because there are no legal avenues? I am talking about those people who, like the Galician emigrants who once lived in Molenbeek – who have also built Europe – are building Europe and are part of our reality. When are you going to end these hate speeches?

Honourable Member, you are talking about policies that are against the territories. I want to talk to you about an issue that has been removed from your country, from Portugal. There is an environmental bomb in the heart of my country, Galicia, which is Altri's project. Altri is supported by the Galician Government of the Popular Party and wants to produce 400,000 tons of soluble cellulose in Galicia and expel the village from our territories. You know that in Portugal. I want to know your opinion.

Madam President, Mr Costa, welcome! I speak in our common language, as I spoke to you a few years ago, when we spoke precisely about fires, a theme common to our countries. And I speak in this language, because it is a European language. I would like to tell you how important it is that the peripheral territories of our continent are not left out of the transport networks – such as Galicia, my country, and Portugal – and that they are not left out of these European priority networks. Also, that projects that intend to settle in Galicia, such as the Altri macrocellulose, will not destroy this important nature. And I want to talk to you about peace, too. You are a man of peace, and we want the history of this genocide no longer to be repeated in Gaza. And the Council has a lot to say and a lot to do. We also want the social dimension to be taken into account, social rights to be a priority for the European Union, and there is no cacophony like the one that existed here, with Gaza, between the Commission and the Council. Very good trajectory in this mandate, Mr. Costa.

Madam President, I have one point on the Rules of Procedure, which is the acceptance of the agendas of these committees and the monitoring groups, in this case the INTA Group, in which the Polisario Front is finally given entry as the legitimate representative of Western Sahara. Welcome back. That is respect for the rules of this Parliament and also for the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union, so do not come to amend what is of law and international law.

Mr João Oliveira, how fortunate that you ask me this question, and not a person from the far right, to whom I would never answer. I also want to say that the European Union has been absent. The proof is today's debate, in which the Commission was absent and only came at the end, after a historic day. We've been waiting for this ceasefire for over 470 days. The European Union must rebuild more, it must help with that solution in order to put an end to the illegal occupation and, above all, to guarantee the judicial measures that will impose sanctions on Israel for the acts committed. It was a genocide, and Israel has to pay for it. Because it says so, not this Member, not this Parliament, but international law.

Mr. President, the agreements save lives, but behind the agreements are the destroyed houses, the rubble, the demolition of hospitals and the relatives who will never see their own again, many of them children. The attempt to erase the Palestinian people in Gaza from history is a genocide and will never be a statue of freedom, as a Galician poet says. This deal saves lives, but it's taken too long. There have been too many lives lost, too many tears, too many unnecessary destruction and impunity. Behind the rubble is the silence of many, complicity. Gaza is today the mirror of the unsupportive world in which we live, in which the rulers silenced – including the European Union – while the peoples cried out in the street against Israel’s genocide. Let us never forget this photograph – look at it well – or many others of the Palestinians, who have risked their lives to save others while governments continued to export arms to Israel and prolong the genocide. We express all our solidarity with the people of Gaza and all our support for reconstruction and UNRWA. Peace must be lasting and stable and, more importantly, Israel must end the occupation, which is the cause of all evils: It is an illegal occupation, a colonization. Israel has to be sanctioned. The Palestinian people are resilient. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.

Mr President, the Board of Accounts of Galicia, my country, presented a report in which it points out that the new Álvaro Cunqueiro Hospital in Vigo exceeded 470 million euros for the work alone. How is it possible that the Galician Government, which is a Government of the Popular Party, reduced non-sanitary spaces and services, square meters ... and expanded the cost of that work? From the BNG, my party, we take this issue to the Parliament of Galicia, where, thanks to our twenty-five deputies, we force the Popular Party to give explanations about the cost overrun of this hospital, and what has been the response of the Popular Party that today comes here from the hand of VOX to bring a debate? Do you know what the answer was? Hide reports and also hide the former president of the Government, the current leader of the Spanish PP, Mr. Feijóo. Why does Mr Feijóo not appear in the committee of inquiry that currently exists in the Galician Parliament? Or do you want to follow in M. Rajoy's footsteps? From the European Parliament I want to denounce the concealment of documentation by the PP, which uses all kinds of tricks to hinder the investigation: is vetoing access to information regarding Galician Health Service contracts with companies linked to relatives of senior Popular Party officials.

Mr President, Commissioner, as a Galician MEP and granddaughter of a farmer and poultry farmer, I know that working on land is hard, tiring and dangerous. Today we are talking about the welfare of farmers. What is there is malaise. In my country, Galicia, we have been complaining for years about poor working conditions, low prices, sales below the cost of production, from which many landowners in Europe receive aid without working and small farmers, such as in Galicia, milk and meat producers, are discriminated against. To these uncertainties about the future of their source of income, we must add the Mercosur Agreement, which threatens the sector by having to compete unevenly with cheaper and less productive products, and in many cases produced with pesticides banned in Europe. In addition, in my country, they want to set up a polluting cellulose factory, which will occupy the most fertile agricultural productive land in our country and which will require even more eucalyptus plantations, consuming a lot of water. That, yes, causes discomfort. The unease of 100 000 people who went out on Sunday saying, Commissioner: "Altri not".

Mr President, Commissioner, when you look at this Parliament, you see that the People's Party and the far right are absent because they do not believe in collective bargaining, they do not believe in trade unions, they do not like workers. Look, it's empty, it's a parliament without MPs. Workers and public service workers in my country, Galicia, have been on strike for more than a month. Here, there is no MP from the People’s Party – neither Spanish nor Galician – who are responsible for the government of my country. Workers have the right to strike and public television in my country and public radio are being hijacked by the People's Party government. 344 weeks of denunciation and a recent strike. Therefore, all the support to the workers...