Debate contributions by Elena SANCHO MURILLO

Madam President, Madam Vice-President Virkkunen, digital networks are the backbone of key sectors for our economy. They allow information to travel in real time and very important services to work, from hospitals and advanced production to artificial intelligence and advanced computing, but Europe is lagging behind. The Digital Networks Act is an opportunity to create a single market for telecommunications and secure connections and protect the European Union’s digital sovereignty. The single passport procedure is a step in the right direction: It will allow companies to notify their activity to a single authority, rather than in all EU countries, thus reducing market fragmentation. The indefinite duration of spectrum licenses is also good news: It will help operators plan investments and deploy advanced networks, from autonomous 5G to future 6G, with more speed and better quality for the user. However, we are concerned about the lack of ambition in the transition to fiber optics, which is the basis of a fast and modern network. We cannot rely on copper, Member States must invest in fibre if we want to have a European digital infrastructure that competes with the US or China.

Mr President, Madam Vice-President, the Social Democratic Group is committed to a digital package that fosters digital innovation and reduces the competitiveness gap in Europe. The one-stop shop for cyber incidents and the integration of rules on non-personal data are important developments in this direction. But we want competitiveness that puts citizens at the centre and protects their data. Unfortunately, the Commission seems to have given in to pressure from big tech, turning simplification into lowering safety standards. This package reduces the protection of sensitive data, exposing citizens to discriminatory procedures. The same goes for the Artificial Intelligence Act. The delay of high-risk obligations, the elimination of digital literacy or the dilution of traceability threaten the European humanist digital model. We will not support this deregulation agenda because this strategy should serve Europe and not big tech. We must apply our rules and inspire international partners, but always protect our sovereignty and our digital security.

Madam President, Commissioner Virkkunen, in the past plenary session, the President of the Commission placed European sovereignty at the centre of her speech on the EU debate. But sovereignty is not defended by speeches, but by decisions. While large digital platforms violate our rules, spread disinformation or condition our markets, the Commission looks the other way and delays its response for fear of retaliation. Defense is not limited to tanks and missiles. The decisive battle is to enforce the rules we already have. The DSA makes it possible to require changes to algorithms that curb disinformation. If not implemented, we leave Europe exposed and vulnerable. The monopoly of platforms robs us of revenue that sustains independent journalism. We need bold structural remedies to restore the free press. In addition, the Commission warns of dangerous dependencies, but allocates billions to US technologies. Investing 40 billion euros in foreign chips while neglecting our cloud and our data is, quite simply, technological autoboycott. What we need is a sovereign and robust European EuroStack, because sovereignty is not proclaimed, exercised and defended.

Mr President, Commissioner, gentlemen on the right, stop lying. Stop fooling European citizens into believing that they will not be able to use their combustion cars. What is legislated here is the end of CO emissions2 in order to have a better future. But of course, lying interests them. Why not fill their mouths talking about the lack of recharging points by 2035 but not talking about the €500 billion a year Europe spends on importing fossil fuel? They talk about helping the industry, but ignore the economic and logistical effort that manufacturers are already making. But of course, what really interests them is to demonize the electric car because it goes against the interests of their allies or their business colleagues. Although electricity will be the only truly sustainable technology and what they would have to focus on to help the demand of the sector. And you know what? That we are not here to work for your interests. We are here to work for the three million workers in the European automotive industry, to deliver a prosperous future with industrial investments and consumer aid programmes. And we also hope to continue to be able to work with the European Commission for the same purpose. Please keep the 2035 horizon.

Madam President, Commissioner, we welcome this second simplification package as a necessary step forward in adapting the CAP to the challenges facing the sector and adapting it to every worker in the agri-food industry. This simplification should help us to improve the efficiency and proportionality of the sector without leaving environmental and social objectives behind. Measures such as the increase of the maximum threshold for direct aid or the new ERDF intervention to mitigate the effects of natural disasters are necessary in this new revision. But we cannot forget the protection of soils and pastures, because without them we will have no future in our fields. And, in addition to simplifying, we have to ensure the work of farmers and ranchers. That is why we have to insist on mandatory written contracts. We must safeguard the legal certainty and stability of our farmers by guaranteeing them a more equitable position in the value chain. Let's keep working for a simpler CAP, yes; but also for a fair and sustainable CAP as insurance for this sector.

Madam President, Commissioner, science and innovation are our present and our future and that is why Choose Europe for Science must be the roadmap to meet the challenges of the coming years. What would have become of our history without Marie Curie, the Spanish Margarita Salas, Charles Darwin or Grace Hopper? I assure you that history as we know it would not have happened. Let's continue to break down barriers in defense of science and technology and also break glass ceilings so that women are also leaders and are present in this transformation of innovation and science. Development in R&D, technology, artificial intelligence and digitalisation must be strengthened as tools of advancement, freedom, security and European competitiveness in the face of threats from US oligarchs such as Donald Trump or Elon Musk. Choosing Europe for science must be the commitment to Europe's leadership in innovation so that our young people choose to come and stay in Europe. The investment announced is good news, but we must remain ambitious. We must continue to attract talent to Europe through more investment and good working conditions. If we want scientific progress in Europe, we must be on the side of scientists.

Madam President, 28 April, 12.33: 15,000 megawatts disappear leaving a widespread blackout in Spain and Portugal. What followed during the following hours in my country was the management of the crisis in record time by a government and a president in the first person who continue to investigate, although many doubt it, the cause of this. And what also follows in Spain is a destructive and scavenging opposition that only seeks to defame a government that, because it can, is doing, and is doing things right. An opposition that also asks for transparency, and I ask them: transparency like Mazón's, who still can't explain where he was while his neighbors died during the damage? Or transparency like that of the Ayuso protocols, which left thousands of elderly people to die during the pandemic? If that's the transparency you want, don't count on us: Socialists, with Pedro Sanchez at the head, we are to work for the security, connectivity and progress of Spain and Europe clearly, with data and with veracity, which is a word that many politicians of all the Spanish right seem not to know.

Mr President, Europe imports more than 80% of its digital infrastructure and key technologies. Our digital and technological dependence is an Achilles heel that powers like the United States already use to impose conditions contrary to our model of digitization. We can't continue to allow that. We need an ambitious European digital industrial policy that enables the development of EuroStack, ensuring a digitally and technologically sovereign Europe, from semiconductors to cloud and artificial intelligence. We also need resources: We need the next MFF to include an item for a Digital Sovereignty Fund. Public funding is vital to reduce dependencies and ensure our autonomy. We must also use public procurement as a lever for change. We must bet on open source and prioritise European companies to protect them from dependence on US and Chinese suppliers. And let's not forget something essential: talent. Today, only half of Europeans have basic digital skills and by 2030 we will need 12 million more ICT professionals. If we do not invest in digital training, there will be no technological sovereignty possible. Let us act now to secure Europe's future.

Madam President, Commissioner, the European Action Plan for Steel and Metals is a step forward. We welcome the Plan's commitment to decarbonisation and incentives for demand for green steel. We also support the expansion of CBAM to downstream products, which will be key to protecting our industry from dumping. But there is still much to be done. The current trade safeguards have reached their limit. The Commission will present a new instrument in the third quarter to replace them. But not only do we need that new instrument to be truly effective, we also need it to be implemented now. Market distortions and new US measures call for faster and more decisive action than the Commission has proposed. Nor can we forget the high energy prices, which remain a major obstacle. Without urgent measures to reduce these costs, our decarbonisation investments will continue to be blocked. The Commission must act urgently on these points to ensure the resilience and competitiveness of our industry and the jobs it generates.

Mr President, Commissioner Jørgensen, with the publication of the Affordable Energy Action Plan, the Commission recognises that the key obstacles to European competitiveness remain energy prices and dependence on external fossil energy. This is a big step in the right direction. Yes, we need to reduce grid tariffs and we need to bring more supply and flexibility to the system by shortening authorisation times, increasing the speed at which we incorporate renewables and decoupling renewables prices from fossil fuel prices. The Commission also correctly points out in this Plan some of the major bottlenecks that continue to hamper our objectives, such as grid capacity and especially interconnections. In addition, this Plan must go further and focus on a really decisive aspect: public investment. We must be able to reduce tariff prices and invest to improve and expand our networks and interconnections. We must take an example of the work that the Government of Spain has been doing in recent years, opting for renewable energies and achieving a historical decrease in prices. Let us work for a clean, connected and competitive European Union that leaves no one behind.

Madam President, I take advantage of this debate and the presence of the Commissioners to tell you about my land, Navarre, and the BSH company, where 660 people see their future in jeopardy after the announcement of the closure of the company. We can't play with people's work and lives. Our industry – Navarre, Spain and Europe – is competitive and, in the case of BSH, a factory and a competitive company. We owe it to the public, and I am therefore writing to the Commission to get it moving: We cannot stand idly by, 660 families and their futures are at stake. Commissioners, 660 people are fighting day by day, tooth and nail, so that in June they do not close their factory, their work, their future. Please, let's not leave them alone and act with them now. June will be late.

Madam President, Commissioner, the European automotive sector is at a crucial moment and that is why we cannot afford any more uncertainty. Reopening current legislation puts the competitiveness of our industry at risk. Target 2035 must be immovable. Changing it would only lead to delays and instability and affect the thousands of workers who depend on this sector. What we need to do is provide solutions within the current Regulation and not more endless discussions. Europe must focus on electrification, because – let us not be fooled – technological neutrality would not benefit industry, because that means betting on technologies that are more expensive and less efficient than electric vehicles. We must invest in batteries and provide stability in the sector. The solution is not to postpone objectives, but to create policies that help both citizens and producers. Therefore, we need direct incentives for the purchase, a leasing European social or retraining actions for workers in the sector. The transition must be just, ambitious and without reversal.

Madam President, the European steel industry is facing a crisis. Global overproduction, unfair trading practices and high energy prices pose challenges to the competitiveness and employability of the sector that we must undoubtedly address. However, these challenges are structural and should not push us back on our path towards climate neutrality. The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is an important milestone in our fight against climate change that incentivises our trading partners to take climate action, ensures a level playing field for European companies and also prevents carbon leakage. Therefore, to achieve this without leaving anyone behind, we must help the sector through an action plan for steel that, first, supports the decarbonisation of the industry, ensuring the correct implementation of the CBAM, and, second, has a strong social pillar that invests in training and retraining for workers, so that they can maintain their employability. Only through these measures will we be able to preserve a resilient and sustainable steel industry that does not put jobs or the clean transition at risk.

Mr President, the European Union's automotive sector is facing a series of transformations that require a rapid adaptation of its business model. Rising wage costs, energy prices and global competition with other powers outside the European Union are posing new problems for the competitiveness of European manufacturers, problems that need to be addressed. It is therefore essential that the Commission develops an industrial policy that enables the sector to meet environmental requirements, but does so through a strong social pillar that is capable of creating sustainable local jobs. The European industrial fabric must adapt, and this means not only protecting existing jobs, but also investing in the training and retraining of workers to enable them to adapt to new technologies and maintain their employability in the sector. The solution to climate change lies not in postponing the objectives to achieve climate neutrality, but in developing policies that support citizens and businesses, facing the challenges of this transition...