Debate contributions by Diego SOLIER

Mr President, I am Valencian – I was there and I am here every week – and what hurts us most is not only what happened on 29 October, but everything that has not happened since then. We are tired; tired of public institutions unable to coordinate, of promises that are not fulfilled and of aid that does not arrive. And, above all, a lack of absolute transparency. No one has clearly explained what happened that day. Did the flow alerts arrive? Why is there no public list of deceased? Why did the Tragsa company not let the specialized companies that were there clean the sewer well? Why, once again, does no one take responsibility? Meanwhile, administrations continue to tax families who have not even been able to return home. There are buildings without elevators, unusable garages and storage rooms, businesses that have not reopened, and every time there is a rain alert people relive the fear, the region goes into paralysis and it is a real trauma that continues to exist. And do not talk to us about aid when it has been civil society that has supported those affected. That is why we in this Parliament are asking for three things: truth, to know what failed; justice, so that the aid arrives now, and responsibility, so that this does not happen again. I appeal to society: Let us not normalize that a tragedy happens and no one pays the political price. It is time to demand a new, transparent, effective and humane institutional culture. Because when institutions fail, people suffer the consequences.

Mr President, as has been said before, this is the committee closest to the citizens and which reflects in some way the democratic quality in each country. Almost 23% of 2024 petitions came from Spain, it is the country from which they arrive the most. And one of the most recurrent issues is the rule of law. Here in this House and in the Commission there is immense hypocrisy: Hungary or Poland are pointed at with the finger while an accomplice silence is kept before what is happening in Spain. They put judicial independence at risk from the government, but nothing happens: You look the other way. In Catalonia, thousands of families have asked for something as basic as schooling their children in Spanish, the official language of all Spaniards. They have asked for it in the courts, they have won it and the Generalitat refuses to comply with the sentences. Where is the Commission or where are the defenders of the rule of law when citizens' language rights are trampled on? Defending the rule of law is also about protecting independent judges and families who only want to educate their children peacefully in their own language. From the ECR Group we say loud and clear: There is no democracy without law and there is no freedom without equality. Happy October 9 to all Valencians for good.

Mr President, Commissioner, let's see: Were Kodak reels banned when digital cameras came out? Were Blackberrys banned when the smartphones? Why do we have to ban the combustion engine to force people to buy an electric car? This is not a transition, it is an imposition. Europe has been talking about ecological transition for years, but it does so from carpeted offices, away from factory workshops and families who do not reach the end of the month. Do citizens who get up every morning and get up early to go to work know what they think? They think of their old car still working for them. They're thinking if they can buy a new one. And they think: Why are they forcing me to change what still serves me? And along the way we're leaving jobs behind, destroying industry and moving away from people. From the ECR Group we defend a Europe that does not punish, that does not impose, a Europe that listens, that accompanies and protects its productive fabric. Because Europe is not built with prohibitions, but with freedom, with work and with a lot of common sense.

Madam President, Prime Minister Frieden, Europe was built to unite free peoples, not to dilute identities. And yet today millions of citizens feel that this Europe no longer represents them. They are overwhelmed by bureaucracy, stifled by rules and, worse, do not see in Brussels a solution to their real problems: farmers who cannot sow, young people who have no future, industries that close, borders without control. Europe cannot be an ideological experiment or a mechanism of fiscal punishment. It must be what it was again: a cooperation project that defends our culture, our economy and, above all, the people who support them every day. From our group we believe in a strong Europe, but based on strong nations. And such a Europe does not impose, it cooperates; does not silence, listen; and protects the diversity of its Member States. We want another Europe; not less Europe, but a better, more humane, safer, freer Europe.

Madam President, Mrs von der Leyen, I share very little – or nothing – of what we have been told here today, but I share everything that farmers, ranchers and people on the street, in general, tell me. What about Europeans who are having a hard time? Those who feel increasingly insecure in their own streets, those who have been waiting for months for help that does not arrive, those who are rescued by their neighbors in the floods or those who put out the fires that are burning their land with their own hands? What happens when we have the problem within the European Union, when a Member State does not respect the separation of powers or when a system that is called democratic forgets the citizens and lives with its back to reality? What will the European Union do to help them?

Mr President, Commissioner, we said this in June: fires are put out in winter, with prevention, and helping the rural environment, farmers, ranchers and those who understand and know the mountains. But you didn't know... Couldn't it be prevented? High precipitations in spring are gasoline for the mountains in summer. So far in 2025, nearly 350 000 hectares have been burned in 223 fires, breaking the historical record of the European Forest Fire Information System. Meanwhile, regional and national administrations blame each other, without providing effective solutions. And again – again – civil society coming to the rescue again. Investing in prevention throughout the year equals less crisis management in summer. In the data age we have enough information to act accordingly and avoid human, agricultural, environmental and heritage losses. Let's act now or next year we will be in the same situation.

Madam President, Commissioner, fires do not start with fire, they start much earlier: When the field is abandoned, when the shepherds disappear, when the goats no longer climb the mountain, when the roads are covered, the firewalls are forgotten and the farmers throw in the towel. Europe and the governments talk a lot about the environment, but they have expelled those who cared for it, filled the field with papers, regulations that nobody understands and absurd sanctions. They forget that where there is a flock there is no weed; Where there is a tractor there is life. Today our ranchers and farmers are the only ones who act as firefighters without a uniform and do it for free. But, in the meantime, European funds do not arrive, aid does not compensate and the common agricultural policy punishes more than it supports. Do not put out a fire with speeches: It goes out with shepherds, with hands, with people who love the earth. If we do not protect those who care for the mountain, the mountain will not protect us, and then it will burn again.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, we are being sold the digital euro and digital identity as progress, but behind it is something much darker: full control over the citizens. This isn't just about technology, it's about power, about deciding how we spend, what we consume, where we are. It is the door to mass surveillance where our freedom is tied to a screen and who controls it. And the worst part is that there are no real guarantees; There is no talk of prohibiting their link to our fundamental rights or protecting cash as a guarantee of anonymity. A tool of obedience is designed, not of service. At the same time, we see content being censored in digital markets, innovation being curbed and SMEs being punished. What kind of Europe are they taking us to? Europe was born to protect freedoms, not to put barcodes on them. If we don't act now, tomorrow will be late. Freedom is not digitized, it is defended. And he defends himself here and now.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we can have the best car in the world, but if we put it down a goat road, we are not going anywhere. And that's what we do with energy in Europe: Get her down broken paths while we think we're champions of the future. Europe cannot afford to waste any more time. Today in Spain we already know what a total blackout is, what it is to see how inefficiency and political dogmatism dismantle the electricity system and punish the industry. This is intolerable. We cannot continue to criminalize some energy sources against others by ideology, while the network collapses, energy is wasted and our companies lose competitiveness. Enough of placing inexperienced politicians at the forefront of network operators. We want engineers, experts, people who know what they are doing, not magical or ideological solutions that escape logic, science and technology. Europe needs a modern, robust and connected network. Without that, the energy future is a chimera. Are we going to keep turning Europe off little by little or are we going to act now? Decide, because the next failure will be systemic. It's our responsibility.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, when in a State powers are withdrawn from judges to be handed over to prosecutors controlled by the Attorney General, put to the finger by the President of the Government, we are not talking about reforms, we are talking about institutional demolition: the Constitutional Court, the Court of Auditors, the General Council of the Judiciary, make the Attorney General of the State dependent, command the Council of State, instrumentalize the CNI, manipulate public opinion with the CIS, usurp the Bank of Spain, colonize the CNMC, the CNMV, AENA, Radiotelevisión Española, the Agencia EFE, Red Eléctrica, Indra, Renfe, Correos, Hispasat, Telefónica and even Paradores. What is happening in Spain is not a one-off crisis, it is a deliberate collapse of the balance of power. Today I appeal to parliamentarians of all colors. Party discipline is not a blank check, it never was, let alone now, with a president surrounded by corruption that uses the state as if it were a cortijo. The fight against corruption is an individual act, and I say this from my own experience. From civil society we cannot understand that there are not 176 honest deputies with values and a sense of state to stop this. And, while in Europe, what are the real mechanisms of the Union to stop a frontal attack on the Constitution of one of its Member States? Are we going to keep the symbolic gestures or are we going to defend authentic democracy? In addition, I express my sincere appreciation to the UCO and the Civil Guard.

Madam President, Commissioner, there are two strange things to see: a boat going to a communist country and a researcher thinking of staying in Europe. Europe wants to be the home of science, but for that it has to be a place where living, working and creating is not a risk sport. We are a continent with strong democracies: health, education, mobility... Yes, but can a young researcher afford an apartment in Amsterdam, Munich or Madrid on a three-year contract? We fund science with Horizon Europe, but we fill out papers and forms for researchers. Scientists spend more time crediting than researching. Moreover, we cannot allow our researchers to live in precariousness. We need more links with businesses, more employability and more synergies. If we want them to choose Europe, let us make Europe a real choice, not an unstable bet. Science needs freedom, continuity and stability. Without science there is no Europe.

Madam President, Commissioner, on 28 April the Iberian Peninsula experienced an alarming episode: A massive blackout affected Spain, Portugal and part of southern France. Millions of citizens, hospitals, transportation systems and communications were left in the dark. The cause? A fragile electrical system, exposed to green ideological dogmatism and hostage to it. At that time, 80% of electricity generation in Spain was of renewable origin, but, when the grid was destabilized, renewables could not sustain it. Why? Because they do not provide electrical inertia, they do not stabilize frequencies, they do not offer security when it is most needed. A modern network needs firm generation, nuclear power plants, hydraulics, combined cycles: It needs real engines, not ideological promises. But, in Spain, politics has criminalized this firm generation, nuclear power is penalized with confiscatory taxes, backup power plants are blocked and Red Eléctrica is chaired by a former socialist minister named by the finger. Technical warnings were ignored, operator reports were despised, and the result was an entire country in the dark. What would have happened if that blackout had lasted for hours, if it had happened in the middle of summer, with heat waves, with hospitals full? And this is not an isolated case: On October 29, in Valencia, a flood swept through entire neighborhoods. It was not an exceptional meteorological phenomenon, it was due to the lack of hydraulic infrastructure, dams and maintenance, obsolete drainage systems and projects blocked for years by ideological prejudices and the paralysis of dogmatic environmentalism. Ladies and gentlemen, the energy transition cannot be a religion, it cannot be based on prohibitions or ideological persecutions: Europe needs clean energy, yes, but also stable, affordable and realistic.

Mr President, Commissioner, Europe is at a turning point. As the United States and Asia accelerate their technological leadership, the European Union cannot get caught up in bureaucracy. We need agility and political courage. European start-ups – especially in countries such as Spain, where the entrepreneurial ecosystem has grown by 30% in five years – have global potential, but they want a clear, harmonised and less burdensome regulatory framework. Talent does not wait; Neither does the investment. Access to finance must be opened up with greater involvement of the European Investment Bank and tax cuts for high-impact technology projects. We will not win this race with more regulation, but with freedom to innovate and with institutions that listen and coordinate with the private sector. This is what entrepreneurs, scientists and investors are asking from the ground: not more obstacles, but conditions to compete.

Madam President, Commissioner, energy voracity and ultra-bureaucracy cannot destroy our industry. Today the European Union's energy policies are pushing our industry to the brink. We are talking about the electrointensive industries, which support more than 20% of industrial employment in Europe and are the basis of strategic sectors such as construction, automotive and defence. However, in Spain, steel, aluminum and ceramic factories are closing because energy costs are simply unaffordable. Brussels continues to impose increasingly ambitious climate goals, but without providing real solutions to achieve them. We are seeing how our production is relocated, how jobs are destroyed and how we move from being an industrial power to relying on third countries. We are seeing how the industry is exported and how dependence is imported. Accelerated decarbonisation, without measuring the economic and social consequences, may be the biggest mistake of this decade. What is at stake is not only our competitiveness, but also our industrial sovereignty and our social cohesion. We demand a rational and pragmatic energy plan that protects our economy and secures jobs. Because Europe will not be strong if its industry is weak.

Madam President, Commissioner, today we are not just talking about regulations or deadlines, we are talking about thousands of jobs, about factories that are the lifeblood of our economy, about an automotive industry that has made Spain the second largest producer in Europe. And yet we're dropping it. While China and the United States protect and subsidize their manufacturers, Europe imposes regulations that suffocate our own. Do we really believe that relaxing until 2027 will save our factories? It's not enough. We cannot resign ourselves to being everyone's market and anyone's engine. We need action, not excuses: real incentives for local production, strong support for innovation and a strong industrial policy to defend our market; Because protecting our industry is protecting our workers, our families and our future. Let's not wait to react when it's too late. Let's act now.

Madam President, Commissioner, if we continue in this direction, we run the risk that, by 2030, our industries will have disappeared and our sovereignty will be in the hands of foreign powers. Our industry relocates, our companies close, our competitiveness disappears... The only thing we bring them from Europe is bureaucracy, obstacles and suffocating taxes. Europe has gone from setting the course to being left behind: Before they imitated us, now they surpass us. As we discuss regulations, industrial and technological leadership slips out of our hands. The Clean Industry Pact is an opportunity, but only if we act wisely: less hurdles, more investment, affordable energy, strong industry. We cannot allow decarbonisation to be a brake rather than a boost. Europe has always been able to reinvent itself. It is time to regain leadership, to lead the way and to build a prosperous future.

Mr President, Commissioner, Europe is losing ground in the global technology race. As the United States and China consolidate their digital dominance, we continue to rely on third parties for our security, competitiveness and economic independence: We can't afford it. Spain has a key geostrategic position in this challenge. It is a nexus of union between Europe, America and Africa, with critical infrastructures such as submarine cables that cross our waters. This asset must be managed with strategic vision and not be at the mercy of other people's interests. Europe cannot be held hostage by foreign powers. We need a strong industrial policy that boosts our autonomy in artificial intelligence, semiconductors and advanced networks. We cannot continue to delegate our digital future to foreign actors. Let's act now, before it's too late.

Mr President, Commissioner, what is this agreement with Mercosur about? To sell them industrial production in exchange for them flooding our markets with products grown with pesticides banned in Europe? These controls that say they are going to be implemented, are they the same controls that let pass all the products that come from Morocco without control? That is, do we sell the health of our citizens in exchange for taking out industrial production? Either we protect our farmers and ranchers, so that they play by the same rules as the rest, or our farmers will not be able to maintain their productions. Do we want to leave in the hands of third parties what we and our children are going to eat? Really?

Madam President, Commissioner, the MiCA Regulation, although presented as a step towards regulating crypto-assets, represents a direct threat to citizens' rights. Under the guise of protecting the consumer and ensuring financial stability, this framework could undermine privacy, financial freedom and innovation. Imposing global standards on a system created to be decentralized is literally putting doors on the field. Measures such as mass collection of personal data, unattainable capital requirements for start-ups and the banning of certain crypto-assets not only stifles innovation, but also limits citizens' freedom of choice. In addition, surveillance and over-monitoring open the door to unprecedented digital control. My question is clear: Are we regulating to protect the citizen or to strengthen the control of the great economic and political powers over their lives? We cannot allow this Regulation to betray the essence of cryptocurrencies: decentralisation, autonomy and freedom.

Madam President, today we are talking about implementing the Digital Services Act to safeguard democracy and prevent manipulation. But I ask them: Safeguard her from whom? Avoid what manipulation? The real problem is that the European ruling class does not tolerate questioning the foundations of this system designed to suit them for decades. In Spain, the Government of Sanchez already controls traditional media through public subsidies or controls armchairs directly from public television or communications companies. The last episode, last weekend, was the dismissal of the president of Telefónica at will. The target?: placing puppets at the service of power by manipulating the means to maintain their absolute control. I hope that this Parliament will soon be able to give political freedom to those who are entitled to it: to European citizens.

Madam President, it has been 83 days since a great flood swept entire populations in my land, Valencia. You start to know more about what happened, although there are still many unknowns to clear. It is known that both PP and PSOE governments left in the drawer projects to adapt the ravines in the area, because they were not interested in spending money on prevention. It is known that floodgates were opened to protect obsolete infrastructure, without maintenance necessary for years. It is known that the populations that could be affected by these wastelands were not informed in a timely manner, nor of the volumes of water that were accumulating through the different ravines of the mountains near Valencia. It is known that the necessary resources were not activated in the first 72 hours. It is known that without the help of civil society, the early days would have been even more dramatic. We are not sure of the number of missing or deceased. There are so many unknowns in that information that not even the Church itself was able to contact those affected to celebrate a farewell Mass. And the messages I receive from the relatives of those affected give a lot to think about.

Madam President, Commissioner, fusion energy is an incredible promise, a clean and inexhaustible future, but achieving the Sun's temperatures here on Earth and storing that energy is literally one of humanity's greatest challenges, as ITER demonstrates. I'm sure we'll make it, but let's face it, that future is still far away. In the meantime, we need solutions that work now, that are sustainable and, above all, coherent. Today, nuclear power is the cleanest, most efficient and most stable option we have. The International Energy Agency already forecasts a nuclear production record this year, with China innovating at the helm. But, in Spain, we have decided to close our nuclear power plants, losing competitiveness, increasing our dependence on foreign gas and buying nuclear energy from France because it is cheaper for us. These decisions are not sustainable and do not respond to the real needs of citizens; They are part of an ideological agenda that is sacrificing people's well-being in the name of a political narrative. Meanwhile, large electricians continue to play with bills that are impossible to understand, leaving families with no control over what they spend. Let's continue working on the ideal energy mix for each country, invest in the interconnection of the electricity grid between countries and agree on fair energy market rules. It is time to think about people, to put ideology aside and to bet on a fair, balanced and sustainable energy future.