Debate contributions by Sandra GÓMEZ LÓPEZ

Madam President, first of all I would like to thank the shadow rapporteurs for the work we have done in committee. With the approval of this report we will approve a historic aid for the municipalities devastated by the Dana in Valencia and by the cyclones in France. But historical doesn't mean enough. It barely reaches 10%, in the case of Spain, and 2.5, in the case of France, of the total money invested. That is why I would like to appeal to the Commission. A Europe of solidarity means a Europe that protects and helps the territories most vulnerable to increasingly violent climate change. And that is why the proposal they have made for a financial framework is absolutely insufficient for this Europe of solidarity. And I want to make another appeal as well. Just because it's historical doesn't mean it's good. Valencians don't want to receive any more aid. We don't want to have such a deep wound again. Therefore, I want to tell the Popular Party and Vox that, before reaching an agreement in Valencia that abolishes and eliminates the Green Deal, remember that they do so in a land where climate change has left 229 dead and tens of thousands of families destroyed. Let them remember. And, finally: we are more than 700 people – 720 – very different. But I think there is one thing that unites us and that is the will to help those who are worse off, those who need it most. That is why I ask you to vote in favour so that Valencia knows - if you do not respect me, at least respect my city and the memory of the victims when we are talking about this - and so that the victims know that the dignity and memory of what has happened will remain forever in this House.

Mr President, Commissioner, we do not agree with the structure of the plan, but what we do agree on is that it must be an ambitious financial framework. And, to be really ambitious, the current framework does not meet the objectives we have set ourselves. It is not possible to cover new priorities, such as the European Competitiveness and Defence Fund, to maintain traditional priorities, such as agriculture or cohesion, and to pay for NextGenerationEU. That's a reality. Therefore, we have to go much further and we have to make a proposal for own resources that is more ambitious and therefore includes the digital levy, and my group will not stop insisting on that. And I want to address the Popular Party: it is absolutely incoherent to defend defence and competitiveness, to sign manifestos in favour of maintaining the CAP and not to support the Commission's own resources proposal. We have to get wet, we have to decide and we have to support the proposal made by the Commission.

Mr. President, learning from dana is not just investing more in prevention, emergencies or resilience. It is also to do so in humanity and empathy. Because when the institutions mistreat or ignore the victims, as the Generalitat Valenciana has done, that is also damage. The vice president went so far as to blame them for not knowing how to protect themselves and, therefore, for their deaths. Mazón has not met with them, has ignored them, has defamed them and has also accused them of being politicized, as if a mother could pretend or exaggerate the pain of having lost her daughter. Insinuating that is institutional maltreatment and neglect. And it's also part of the disaster. And we have to learn from the political failure of the People's Party in my land. Europe not only needs more and better infrastructure, it needs human institutions that listen, accompany and repair. That is why we should create the European status of victims of natural disasters, so that empathy does not depend on who governs, but is a guaranteed right for all. And we should also talk about how we treat those who suffer these catastrophes.

Mr President, Commissioner, Minister, Europe and its families are facing a very complex and complicated moment: climate crisis, housing crisis, growing inequality, loss of competitiveness and war. And from us they expect a firm response, with a strong, fair and people-centered budget. However, the proposal made by the Council is for cuts in programmes with unquestionable European value. And why? Because there's no money. We don't have enough resources. And this has to be a clear sign that, if we do not arrive in 2026, we cannot defend maintaining the same size of the financial framework until 2034. It's just absurd. That is why we need to be more ambitious and take advantage of this to support the increase in the size of the financial framework. And I would ask you to please also vote on the amendment that we have tabled as a political group so that women on maternity leave can vote electronically. Because it is shameful that in this House we see women who have to bring their newborn baby to be able to exercise their right to vote. An embarrassing image that we must eradicate from this House.

Mr President, yesterday Trump once again threatened Europe with reopening the trade war, because we sanctioned Google, a large American technology company that blocks legitimate competition from our European search engines. And all that, in addition, in the framework of a dinner, where the owners of the big platforms dined with Trump while boasting that they squeeze, subjugate and subject Europe to their own interests. That is why, Commissioner, the digital tax is not only tax justice, it is also European sovereignty. It is democratic dignity and it is telling Trump that he can put the tablecloth on and serve dinner to a table of millionaires, but that the only thing that matters to us Europeans is that, when they get up from the table, they pay the bill first.

Madam President, today we are talking about a European citizens' initiative. This means that it does not come from any government or any elite, but from the direct voice of citizens: citizens who have said that they value our cohesion policies, but who also want them to respond to the diversity and richness of our territories. I, as a Valencian, know what it is like to have a cultural identity and linguistic richness of my own within a Member State. I can therefore tell you that, if citizens ask for more decentralisation, how can the Commission envisage for the next financial framework a single centralised national plan? It doesn't make any sense. Europe must listen and defend cohesion. That doesn't mean imposing uniformity, but protecting the diversity that unites us and... (spoke in an unofficial language).

Madam President, I listened carefully to the previous speakers. Everyone has their own priorities: defence, competitiveness, agriculture... Even the far right dares to raise its hand for its exclusionary and migratory purposes. But my question is: How do you plan to pay for it? Because a competitive Europe needs more investment, a Europe that defends itself needs more budget, and a Europe that guarantees housing and our climate needs more funding. That is why this financial framework must be accompanied by an ambitious proposal for own resources, and not only to pay the debt, but to respond to these challenges. Enough, Commission: We have to break the hypocrisy of asking for more and contributing the same. The Council must understand that it has to unlock and that we need to exceed the self-imposed 1%, move forward on common debt and design new revenues aligned with the values of the European Union.

Mr President, we call for the vote to be postponed on the basis of paragraphs 1, 4 and 12 of the motion for a resolution, because it was adopted in the Committee on Petitions in breach of the rules, because it was rejected by four political groups, because it is not a citizens' petition – MEP Romana Tomc had the nerve to write on her social networks that she herself had written the petition and the resolution, which is further proof of the politicisation that the right wing of the Committee on Petitions is doing – but, above all, because it criminalises the people who fought against fascism and presents as possible victims possible Nazis and collaborators, which is an insult to the values of the European Union, but, above all, to the memory of the people who built this Europe. I want to address the popular: His partner Ursula von der Leyen said not to let the far right rewrite history. You only point them out, except when you lend them your vows. Don't take us for stupid. Do not insult our intelligence and stop feeding the monster, because he does not want pacts, he wants to devour them, and this Thursday he will make it very clear.

Mr President, from the S&D Group we strongly support the 2024 EIB report, because it reflects a Europe that invests responsibly, with climate ambition and social commitment. Whether it is known today as the "climate bank" of the European Union or after listening to the interventions of the far right means that it is on the right track. The arrival of Nadia Calviño has marked a turning point. Under his leadership, the EIB is leaving behind that logic that was purely financial to become a true engine of cohesion and social justice. And we want to talk about housing, since it has invested more than 8.7 billion in affordable housing, energy rehabilitation and urban regeneration. In the midst of the housing crisis, the EIB is providing answers, but we want more: more ambition, more resources and more collaboration with local governments, because access to housing can no longer be a privilege, it is a right and the EIB must help us make it possible.

Madam President, the Recovery and Resilience Facility was not only a response to the COVID-19 crisis. It was the most ambitious proposal for European solidarity and cohesion since the creation of the euro, which represented a paradigm shift between the Europe of austerity and the Europe of strategic public investment. And look, at the time of the execution, I was deputy mayor of the city of Valencia and, in addition, responsible for Urbanism, and I can guarantee that it was a before and after for the urban transformation of our territories and for economic resilience in one of the worst economic moments we live as Europeans. That is why, yes, I can guarantee you and say firsthand that it has been a resounding success, and that is why it must be completed. And that is why those eighteen months are so vital for all small local administrations, so that they can see their projects completed. And look, those who are worried about debt: that has a very easy solution. To be able to attend to it, more new own resources are needed to be able to face new challenges of the future like this.

Mr President, from the S&D Group we deeply regret the result of the vote in the Committee on Petitions. Despite the constructive work we have done with the rapporteur and the compromises reached with the pro-European groups, probably due to the influence and imposition of the Spanish People's Party - which is the one who really politicises and gropes this committee - the Committee on Petitions decided to break the consensus and ally itself with the extreme right, leaving a report that hardly reflects the true interests and concerns of the citizens. I am sorry for the rapporteur, but what is important about this report – this debate – is not even the amendments or the report, it is the strategy of the Committee on Petitions, especially in 2023, which has been to politicise, use and manipulate it for the People's Party's own agenda. And, really, petitions that are important and belong to the public were never answered or, as we are seeing, are vetoed by political interests, as is the case of a Galician petition or one about the DANA in Valencia, where its citizens – the victims – have been able to see Úrsula von der Leyen or Roberta Metsola before appearing in the Committee on Petitions. I would like to ask a question to the other delegations of the People's Party or Patriots. Will they continue to consent to a specific delegation using a committee, which should cater to the public, but which has become a kind of branch of the Congress of Deputies? Are they using resources from the European Parliament to oppose a government of a Member State? We are not going to accept that a commission, which should be a real instrument of citizen participation, is a mere factory of political confrontation, a propaganda screen, and that it has become that, in addition, exactly in 2023, under the presidency of the Spanish People's Party and Dolors Montserrat. We are not going to be complicit and, therefore, we are not going to allow what cost so much to build to be destroyed: a Europe at the service of citizens and not of their parties.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the amendment to Regulation (EU) 2023/956 as regards the simplification and strengthening of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, as you well know, aims to simplify the administrative burdens for our European companies that are going to import goods subject to the CBAM. From our point of view, that of the Committee on Budgets, the budgetary impact of this reduction in administrative burden is modest: It hardly seems that 1% of the potential revenue we would get from CBAM, about €20 million, is going to be reduced. But I would like to stress the word 'potential', because I would like to recall that, although it is an own resource that seems to have the agreement of the vast majority of the countries in the Council, the reality is that, at this stage, it is still blocked. Therefore, I want to take advantage of my speech to ask for the unblocking not only of this resource, but of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 2023, and that they be courageous and seek new genuine own resources, because, just as we want more policies for housing, defence or competitiveness, we have to ask ourselves how we are going to pay for them if we do not have new own resources.

Madam President, today we must raise our voices for the thousands of Ukrainian children forcibly deported to Russian territory. They are children torn from the arms of their families in an act that can only be described as heartbreaking, as a war crime. Imagine those children who have lost their home, their school, their friends and, most terrible, their parents, who wake up every day calling their mother and do not understand why she does not answer them. But also imagine the mother, the father. Imagine the terrible emptiness you must be feeling. Where's your son? How do you treat him? How do you feel? Or if he's not even alive. The international community must have immediate access to those children. The documentation of every life taken away is fundamental to their return. This Parliament must demand that Russia cease this criminal policy, but also that the United States impose as a condition for signing peace the return of these children, who matter much more than they can access the exploitation of Ukraine's rare minerals.

Mr President, Europe cannot aspire to lead the green transition, ensure common security or social policies if we rely on funding from the last century: The challenges of the 21st century cannot be solved with the resources of the 20th century. That is why we need a much more ambitious framework, but above all we need new own resources that are truly European, that give us autonomy, sustainability and social justice. Therefore, the Council should already unblock the proposal it has on the table since 2023. And yes, it is necessary that we open a debate on the issuance of a new European debt, because, in the face of common challenges, as we did during the pandemic, there are only common responses, and we cannot let the lack of political will drown out our ability to act on issues such as security, competition or housing. Europe can no longer improvise: We must equip the Union with the means it needs to be useful to its citizens. Without resources, there is no sovereignty, and without sovereignty, there is no Union.

Mr President, Commissioner, in the coming years, Europe is at stake in its cohesion, its security and its competitiveness. And the Mediterranean Corridor has to be part of that response. We are not talking about one more infrastructure; We are talking about connecting the south with the rest of Europe. While we are talking here about strategic autonomy, military mobility and economic resilience, we must not forget that sections of the Mediterranean Corridor are still pending execution. Although in Spain we are moving forward with determination, the truth is that France has postponed the connection of Montpellier with Perpignan until 2044, putting at risk the continuity of the Corridor and rail interoperability with the rest of Europe. In addition, barriers to competition continue to be placed, making it difficult for operators such as Renfe to enter. So the Commission knows: Investing in this network can generate almost half a trillion euros and millions of jobs, but that will only be possible if all Member States are aligned and deliver on their commitments. Therefore, from the south we ask what is right: more policies and more resources for the Mediterranean Corridor.

Mr President, Commissioner, war has returned to our borders. Russia not only attacks Ukraine, it attacks the idea that Europe represents: democracy, freedom and rights. That is why the future of Europe is also played out in other countries. Russia seeks to destabilize our eastern and southern neighbors. And it doesn't just do it with tanks, it does it with disinformation, with energy blackmail and with funding from anti-democratic actors. At the same time, the United States hesitates and in that doubt Europe has to decide: Either he assumes his role in the world or he will lose it. We cannot rely on third parties to defend our values or our security. But that is not only done by investing more in defence, it is also done by investing more in cooperation and neighbourhood policies. And that is why we need more resources in this budget for all this. Because betting on our neighborhood is not only a gesture of charity, it is an act in self-defense. To protect our neighbouring countries is to protect Europe. And betting on it is not an expense, it is an investment in peace, stability and democracy.

Mr President, Sudan is experiencing one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world and today I want to tell you about its worst face. Sexual violence against children is now shaking the world. And I'd like to put it that way, but it's not true, because it's one of the most invisible conflicts we live in today while babies under the age of one are being raped. And look, today I don't want to talk to you as a politician, I want to talk to you as a mother, and I would like to ask you to put yourself in the situation of a mother who cannot protect her child, of a baby who is not even able to speak yet and who has suffered one of the worst atrocities. And, as I said before, this conflict does not fill the big headlines. He is not even the protagonist of our political debates. And that is why I want to ask you to demand justice from here today. Because if we are not able to protect a child from a rapist in uniform, from a military man, what exactly are we doing here in this Parliament?

Madam President, I have heard in this House that we must stop talking about 'climate ideology', as if it were a hoax. Look, when we started this debate to talk about RESTORE, we came from the floods in Romania, from the fires in Portugal, from the worst flood in the history of my land, from Valencia, with more than two hundred dead... and today we have to add the worst natural catastrophe that France has experienced according to its own Government, such as the cyclone on the island of Mayotte, with more than one hundred dead. Don't you see, don't you realize that here the only hoax is your denialist ideology, that climate change is a reality since it is killing thousands of people across Europe and destroying territories? But, look, in the face of your hoaxes, answers, and here is the European Union's answer: a change in the regulation that will allow us to use EUR 3 billion now to rebuild territories, to rebuild families. As for the hoaxes, president from my region, to president of the Generalitat, which says that these aids must be returned, we must tell it to leave The Ventorro already, who is not only an incompetent who has killed many people in my land, but who can no longer steal their future and hope.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, today we come to discuss the report on the European Ombudsman, a key institution in transparency, accountability and the protection of our rights. I want to thank Emily O'Reilly for the extraordinary work she has done in these ten years, as well as to thank comrade Alex Agius Saliba for the work she has done in carrying out this report. Look, it is precisely in the drafting of this report that we have once again put on the table a key issue, that of immigration. I would like to thank Mrs O'Reilly for her courage in pointing out that Frontex, an agency of the European institutions, of the Commission, had important shortcomings that could violate human rights. That is why, frankly, I cannot understand how the PPE and PfE groups have not accepted the improvement amendments so that a misfortune such as that of the European Parliament does not happen again. Adriana, in which more than 600 people died, and instead an amendment by the PfE Group is adopted which speaks of the fact that the rights of the premises also exist, which is absurd, unnecessary, ladies and gentlemen. We have to defend the values of the Union, which is a fairer and more humane Union.