Debate contributions by Vicent MARZÀ IBÁÑEZ

Mr President, unlike the Valencian Government, which is still more focused on fleeing justice than on repairing the pain of the victims, or Parliaments such as the Spanish State Congress, which are permanently mired in partisan anger, this Parliament – including the European Commission – has been relatively up to the task. This has been the first place where victims have been able to appear and be heard in parliamentary headquarters. And here we have agreed among representatives of democratic forces of different parties and different nationalities so that the funds reach the affected areas and to change regulations that had to be changed urgently. Therefore, thank you on behalf of the Valencians and the Valencians, even if it is not enough. And it's not enough because we have to learn, we have to learn and a lot. Funds cannot be conditioned. Look, right now the Valencian government has changed the law so that it can be built again in flood zones. And it will be done - it may be - with European money. This is unsustainable. We can't afford it. And second, the funds must be sufficient. Look, the Solidarity Fund has been totally inadequate. Only for the affected areas of the Valencian Community, of the Valencià Country, are 81% of the Solidarity Fund funds, and for the rest there are no more funds left. We also need to talk about how structural funds have been diverted to emergency situations. We have achieved it thanks to the Restore and funds arrive. But it cannot be that the structural funds are earmarked for emergencies and not for what they were established for, for essential infrastructure issues. Here I would like to draw attention to the right-wing democratic groups, if they still exist. And the consequences are not only personal, which should be enough argument. They are not only environmental, which should already be enough argument. So are economics. In the Valencià Country alone, the losses are eighteen billion. You tore your clothes this summer with the big fires. Yesterday they voted against protecting forests in a regulation that we had here. They must stop following the far-right trend of denying climate change, because the European economy cannot afford it. Climate change is being fought or wiped out. If you don't do it, if it doesn't seem enough to do it for people, if it doesn't seem enough to do it for the planet, do it at least for the economy.

Mr President, Vice-President Ribera, Google invoices more than 60 billion a year in Europe and, according to all studies, it does not even pay 8% in taxes. On the other hand, a waiter who works, for example, in Spain charges 1,300 euros and pays 19% of his work in taxes. The megarrics are breaking the European social model, evading taxes and deciding – attacking our democracy – what everyone can think, what everyone should think. And this goes through two issues: the first, which has allowed them to concentrate a lot of power; and, the second, that they are allowed to pay less tax. That is why we must end dependence on large foreign technology multinationals, protect data and support European platforms and those that are open. And a tax on the big tech companies must be made effective in a real way throughout Europe. And, above all, get to the end with the fines - like the one you have put - to those who evade taxes, to those who until now have been making the propaganda to Trump. Because here we must show that Europe is with its citizens, and not with Trump and his oligarchs.

Madam President, Commissioner, there are three major problems with European agriculture. The first, which is often paid to farmers below production prices. The second is unfair competition from third countries that enter without our standards. And the third is clear too: the unfair distribution of European funds. Today, you are taking a step forward in the right direction, which is to protect small farmers, make their lives easier and ensure that they will not sell at a loss. And that's very good. But this step forward can be left in nothing if you don't also move forward on the other two big problems. In fact, if you don't keep encouraging the other two big problems. As for the first, unfair competition, Mercosur must stop. It is impossible to move forward if you carry forward the agreement with Mercosur, which will facilitate unfair competition. And, as for the second, it cannot be that you defend farmers if you cut 22% in common agricultural policies, as proposed in the budget. Therefore, stop the agreement with Mercosur, stop the cuts in agriculture and continue in this good direction that you have proposed today.

Mr President, most workers in Europe have experienced this summer worse than the previous one. In Valencia, more than eighty nights have been tropical nights, in which, at night, you could not rest, and most workers could not rest because they can not afford an air conditioner. In my city, in Castellón, more people have died this summer from the heat wave than in some of the worst moments of the COVID-19 pandemic. And, in the face of this, what do the deniers do? Protect those responsible for this climate change. Protect those at the top, divert attention, protect the 180 most polluting companies, protect the megarricos who travel on private planes, because protecting those at the top and denying climate change is attacking those at the bottom. Because fighting climate change is protecting those at the bottom, it is protecting the social majority. That is why we ask the Commission to protect the majority of European citizens and to stop agreeing with the extreme right that denies climate change and only protects those at the top. Because fighting climate change is fighting for the European majority.

Mr President, Commissioner, they bring a bad deal, and we do not have to tell those of us who are against it from the beginning, so are those who are trying to come out and defend their deal. In fact, they should reflect on whether the only ones in this Parliament who are happy with this agreement – and defend it very intensely – are those who are in the service of Trump. We just saw him. The only happy ones are Trump's partners in Europe and, therefore, they should make a reflection, not only because it is humiliating and because it is unequal, but also because it generates absolutely no stability. The only ones who are defending this deal say it will generate more stability. 14 days later, we already had a tariff hike on aluminum. A month later, we already have Mr. Trump saying that he is going to raise the tariffs again, because American companies that do not comply with the legislation that we Europeans have sovereignly given us have been fined. What stability is this agreement giving, if only a month later it is already said that it will be broken? Therefore, we need to advance in compliance with the international regulations of the World Trade Organization and do so as benchmarks, because it is our time. It is time for Europe, if we remain anchored in our values and in those we share with the whole world and stop doing business with those who blackmail us and do not comply with them.

Madam President, Mrs von der Leyen, I would like to ask you whether you have today made a motion of censure yourself, because you have announced just the opposite of what you have been doing in many areas this year. You talk about a strong Europe and then humiliate us and subject us to Trump. You talk about climate change and then agree all the policies related to climate change with the deniers of the extreme right. You talk about housing and what you do is reinforce the budget in weapons and not in housing. And the most serious thing of all is that you, so far, have been silent in the face of genocide. She's been quiet, until now, saying she had no competition. And, suddenly, today I already had the power to announce partial actions, behind the mobilizations of millions of European citizens. To preside over Europe is to lead it, not to go after its citizens, like those in the flotilla that you must protect. To preside over Europe is to be consistent and to exercise its values, for example by acting the same in Ukraine as in Palestine, by acting, by defending universal rights throughout Europe and by exercising Europe's freedom throughout the world.

Madam President, Commissioner, in the last two years alone, the price of rent has increased by 40% in Valencia. Only in two years. In Elx, 70% of the homes in the city's rental market are hijacked for tourist rental, 70%!, and do not go to neighbors. Or in my city, in Castelló, it turns out that there are students who have stopped studying the university career they wanted because they can not afford a room, and that we are seeing happening throughout Europe. That is why we cannot talk about cohesion policies without talking about housing. And you have a responsibility, you have it, you can exercise it, not just the Member State. And that is why I am going to propose two questions to you. The first is that the cohesion funds that are dedicated to housing can only be dedicated to affordable housing and that if they are allocated to affordable housing, that these homes cannot then be transferred to the free market, that they cannot be speculated on. And the second, that the funds are not recentralized, because they have to go to those who know most what their citizens are suffering: cities and regions. And to that end, Commissioner, you have an obligation. Because we can't talk about cohesion without a decent roof.

Madam President, Commissioner, in my country this summer we are suffering from two historical events. The first, which has been the warmest month of June in history, with four degrees above what is usual at this time. And, at the same time, we are also suffering today from closed fire stations – for the first time in history in summer – and no forest reinforcement for the summer season. These are the diabolical consequences of two issues. The first is climate change – of course, of course – but also because we have negationists in governments, in our governments. And that is happening in my country, but it will happen and it is happening also in other countries in Europe. That is why we need courageous measures that really make it possible to increase funding for emergencies caused by climate change and to better coordinate the European rescue mechanism. But the Commission must also take courageous steps and stop agreeing with those who deny climate change. A year ago you and I spoke on the phone, almost a year ago, and I thank you for that, because of the floods that killed 228 people in my country, and in the emergency services they are now telling us that they are worse prepared than at the time and that is unacceptable. That is why we need more resources and we need better coordination of emergency services.

Mr President, Commissioner, you are going to have a lot of work if you really want this European regulation on freedom of the media to be implemented, among others, in my country, in the Valencià country. Why do I say this? Because Article 6(2), which says that editorial independence must be guaranteed, especially of the news media, shows that they have not read it directly, because in the midst of the crisis of the DANA, of the floods, the director of news media ceased because he was too critical, to seek the truth, and they did it in a totally political way. Article 6(3) speaks of the creation of internal bodies to guarantee the plurality and independence of journalists, and it turns out that, being far from being breached, because in the Law this body already existed, now with another Law, behind, they approve to load this body of independence of journalists and also change the Law to put the finger on the political direction of the censor of the previous public television. Moreover, not content with that, they directly attack the conditions of the workers. That's why I ask him: how will you ensure the implementation of this Regulation...

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, it has been ten years since the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled – very clearly – that charging for the carry-on suitcase is illegal, because it is an essential part of the journey and because airlines do not take responsibility for that suitcase. Therefore, they cannot charge for it. And what have some companies done for ten years? Well, look, ignore the law, laugh at the courts and get fed up. Forged - and a lot - because just in 2024, just for the illegal collection, I insist, of the carry-on suitcase, these companies invoiced €10 billion in Europe alone. In the meantime, every week we receive hundreds of complaints from citizens – from passengers – about breaches of their rights. And what happens when a minister finally exercises his powers and decides to fine those certain airlines for these abuses? So quickly - and after ten years - the Council reaches an agreement, not to protect or extend passengers' rights, but to reduce them and to legalise an issue that has been ruled illegal, which is the issue of carry-on bags, and, in addition, with an urgent procedure and limiting the capacity of this Parliament. Ladies and gentlemen, we cannot and will not allow it. That is why I call on us to dignify this Parliament and not only to vote against this proposal when it comes to Parliament, but also to extend the rights of passengers and to act truly for who we are. Because this Parliament was elected by all citizens and not by Ryanair's Board of Directors.

Mr. President, Mr. Commissioner, Trump's tariff policies are not a trade war. They are, above all, an attack on our values and our democracy. It is a struggle between the oligarchy and the Democrats. We've seen it in two episodes recently. First, it has become clear with the rejection of the Commissioner's proposal to generate a space of zero tariffs between Europe and the United States, as well as with the rejection of the visit of the Spanish Minister of Economy, which ended with a direct criticism of the taxes we have in the European Union, a direct criticism of our social, environmental and labor protection. That is why we ask you, Commissioner, not to give in to blackmail, to strengthen our workers and our economy, to strengthen our environmental legislation and - above all - to stop agreeing with the Trump administration's Trojan horse here in Europe, which is the extreme right that wants us weaker and more divided. Therefore, we tell you loud and clear that you do not give in to blackmail and that our values and our democracy are not for sale.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we are experiencing a critical moment in the European institutions. Millions of workers are distrusting Europe and embracing populist far-rights. And we cannot make the mistake of thinking that, suddenly, millions of citizens have become radical far-right extremists. That is, among other things, because Europe is failing them, because they feel unprotected, because we are not solving their day-to-day problems. And we have time to change that and make Europe truly social. And that means, among other things, effectively implementing the Minimum Wage Directive; means protecting workers from digital platforms who still lack basic rights; means strengthening collective bargaining to improve wages and also conditions; means making progress in reducing working hours to improve the quality of life; means betting on the "made in Europe'and to fight relocation, and that the new European plan for affordable housing really puts young people and families at the centre. We are on time, we can do it, and that only happens for a much more social Europe.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen of the European Commission, this week European citizens have received two clear messages by land, sea and air about their safety. The first has been that we have to rearm at the cost of even social cuts, that there will be moments of great pain because we have been left helpless of Trump's defense and that we will allocate that money to buy Mr. Trump's weapons. The second message that has come to them is about the safety survival kit - mats, matches, flashlights - and most citizens wonder where that is going to be stored. If 85% of young people do not have a home. If most working people can't make it to the end of the month because you can't afford a rent. If for them security begins to have a job that gives them to buy a house. If the security is that they are not expelled from their home because their landlord does not raise 30% of their rent. That's the security that needs to be put in the center. It is the question that the citizenry has above its head and that the citizenry suffers from. That is why I am writing to you, so that once and for all you will truly prioritise the needs of the European working majority and earmark that money for social improvements.

Madam President, on Sunday Israel cut off Gaza's only remaining electricity supply. Thousands of aid workers have been illegally expelled in recent weeks, including from UNRWA, the organisation you named, Commissioner. Today, right now, there are soldiers who are destroying, occupying and disabling Gaza's only remaining fertile strip, where Palestinians worked their land so they could eat; And that's happening today, in the midst of a cease-fire. And in the meantime, what is Europe doing, Commissioner? Looking the other way to please Trump? The same Trump who just arrested a Palestinian student at Columbia University to prevent him from freely expressing himself and continuing to try not to enforce human rights in Gaza or the United States? Ladies and gentlemen, European values are not just a slogan, they have to be fulfilled every day and, to that end, we must protect human rights in Gaza, increase humanitarian aid, carry out peace missions and truly build peace around the world.

Madam President, millions of Europeans are living in fear that Trump's policies could affect their lives. They live in fear that they may lose their job: for example, in the ceramics industry (which, in my country, in my region, accounts for one in three jobs), and also in agriculture. Families also live in fear of how rising prices can affect them with rising tariffs. Meanwhile, in this Parliament we have several parliamentary groups that applaud Trump's measures and some of them even kneel before his interests and then call themselves "Patriots." Patriots of what? Of the only homeland they understand: that of money and that of power. That is why I encourage all democratic parliamentary groups to protect Europe, to protect the working majority, to protect our jobs; to do so with more reindustrialisation, with more cohesion policies, with more integration policies; and that we do so to protect ourselves from Trump's policies, but also from the policies of those who from here work for the interests of large multinationals.

Madam President, Commissioner, you cannot cheat the loner. You cannot say that it is good for the European agricultural sector and, at the same time, say that compensation for the European agricultural sector must be increased. What are we up to? If it is good, it should not be compensated. If compensation needs to be increased, it cannot be good for the agricultural sector. Question 2: You have achieved in this agreement with Mercosur two unanimities which are absolutely incredible. The first, unanimity of all agricultural sectors and their representatives from Europe, but also from the Mercosur countries. You have also achieved unanimity against all European trade unions and Mercosur trade unions. Who benefits from this agreement with Mercosur if it has against all the European and Mercosur agricultural unions and all the European and Mercosur workers' unions? Who does it benefit? Clearly, not Europeans, because it makes us more dependent. Whose? From the big multinationals, who are the only ones who will benefit. That is why we are against it, clearly and forcefully. We need more real commitment to workers, more investment in Europe to make Europe much stronger, more investment in European agriculture and no more vulnerability and dependence on third parties and, especially, on large multinationals.

Yes, Mr Oliveira, urban pressure and the savage urbanisation of today are the victims of tomorrow. We have seen it in our land with the dana: It has been built where it could not be built, because it has been seen that the territory was only a space for speculation and not for people to have their living space guaranteed and their lives protected. People have died for being, among other things, urbanizing territories that cannot be urbanized. There has been a damage that has come with that brutal amount of water because it was absolutely all cemented, because the earth has not been able to take in all the water as well. That is why it is so important to combat such initiatives as the one of the Portuguese Government that you say, because to urbanize, I insist, in a savage way is to create victims in the future.

Mr President, in the last ten years, the desertified area on the Iberian Peninsula has increased twenty-threefold. It is especially worrying in the south of Alicante, in the Vega Baja, a transitional territory, precisely where the urban pressure is wild, where the pressure of overtourism is wild, and where now it no longer happens in isolation that the water is cut, but it is already recurrent. And it is not only cut in summer, also in other periods of the year. Nor does it happen only with the water intended for people and, therefore, with the mouth water, but also with the one used by farmers. In the same territory there is also already a struggle going on throughout Europe, which is for the privatization of water. We have less and less water and every time it is managed by fewer hands and always looking towards the business. Therefore, we need once and for all courageous policies that protect the territory, that adapt us to climate change and that protect citizens, for example, in situations such as the damage we have experienced in Valencia. And it is necessary that water be managed publicly so that it is a guaranteed right for all citizens.

Madam President, does the European Commission justify the infiltration of police into social movements in Valencia, Girona or Barcelona, without any judicial guarantee and without any democratic control over their actions? This is what journalists from Directa or TV3 have uncovered and the activists themselves who suffered these infiltrations for years by four national policemen who were infiltrated in leftist social movements, environmentalists, feminists, anti-racists, independentists. They were spied on as if they were terrorists, without any judicial endorsement. This is not isolated: It has also passed in Germany, also to collectives of the left and social movements; it has also passed in Austria, also to left-wing social movements; And it has also happened in Holland, also to left-wing social movements. It is always the same social movements that you want to criminalize and with which you want to use the police in a political way. Therefore, from here we want to denounce these facts. We want the Commission to open an investigation and not use the police in an undemocratic way...

Mr President, Commissioner, do you know the first thing the Government of the Popular Party of the Generalitat Valenciana has done after the damage that left 222 dead? Award a contract for 3.9 million euros to a company convicted of illegal financing of the Popular Party. Do you know the second thing he's done? Finger award a contract of 4.2 million euros to a company convicted of irregular financing of the People's Party. And you know the third thing he's done? To award €34 million – €34 million – to different companies convicted of irregular financing of the People’s Party. It is indecent that there are rulers who use public service to defraud all citizens and to return favors to their parties. That is why, Commissioner, we want to ask you to be forceful in these anti-corruption directives, to go to the end and that not one euro of fellow Europeans can be allocated to sponsoring, helping, illegally financing parties and enriching companies that have participated in corruption processes.

Mr President, Commissioner, if we really want to reflect in depth on the European tourism model, we must quickly address the negative externalities of the mass tourism model, and we must do so on a social issue, because the pressure that short-term tourist rentals are exerting on access to housing, on the right of access to housing, is unbearable. We have neighborhoods, whole neighborhoods, that are being abandoned by their inhabitants because they can not assume, because they can not be paid, a house by the pressure of the companies that are dedicated, some of them illegally, to the tourist apartments: We must put a brave stop to this situation. Also from the point of view of the economic structure: those territories that are most dependent on tourism monoculture are territories that have worse working conditions, which are more unequal; That is why we must also talk about working conditions in the tourism sector, about improvements in wages, and also about the dependence on tourism monoculture that exists in some areas and that does not exactly contribute positive things to the economic structure of our countries. And finally, from an environmental point of view: we need to clearly and forcefully address the contribution that the tourism sector is making to the acceleration of climate change, the impact of climate change on the tourism system itself. And it is not worth eco-laundering with sustainability labels, for example, the cruise industry, which pollutes more than a thousand cars with cruise ships alone. We therefore need to address it courageously and hopefully in this new Commission.

Mr President, President von der Leyen has just announced the agreement with Mercosur as a success. How can something that worsens the lives of most Europeans be advertised as a success? And we can be clear with only three examples. The first one: the agreement with Mercosur will allow unlimited entry of fish and seafood, whose fishing here we are limiting. How can it be? What nonsense to limit fishing here and have to import from outside! The second example: the agreement with Mercosur will allow 60 000 tonnes of rice to enter without control at source, which will cause, for example, the price of Valencian rice to plummet. And the third example: the agreement with Mercosur will allow the entry of industrial products already produced in Europe, which will jeopardise thousands of jobs in industrial sectors that already exist in Europe. That is why, from here, I would like to encourage you to stand up to the agreement with Mercosur and that, together, we can stop it from here, from the European Parliament, but also from the streets.

Madam President, what the people concerned are asking us to do is to ensure that the funds arrive quickly, and that they are used to rebuild better and that this does not happen again; The fact that they arrive quickly is precisely what we have proposed from our Group and also that this does not happen again, because fifty days ago and, still today, there are four hundred houses, not isolated, but farms, apartments, which have mud in their garages putting their structures in difficulty, endangering the people who live above. It is that there are people who have lost their car, more than one hundred and thirty thousand, who previously took thirty minutes to get to their jobs and now it is costing them more than three hours, or people who do not yet have a kitchen at home ... That is why the funds must arrive quickly, Commissioner, but they must also arrive to rebuild better, and we have raised this from our Group, and here I say it to the Honourable Members of the People's Party: It cannot be that you are using these funds in violation of the meaning of these funds and the purpose of having amended laws to re-build in flood areas and put people at risk again. We cannot use these funds to continue making these structures that continue to endanger people: That is why we say that they have to come now and that they have to be used to rebuild better.