Debate contributions by João OLIVEIRA

Madam President, the report of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women concluded that the situation in Poland has dramatically deteriorated. Polish women do not have access to safe and legal IVG and are forced to take desperate measures, often looking for unsafe alternatives, or to travel abroad to access necessary care. The situation in Poland is a real demonstration that sexual and reproductive rights and women's rights are not a gift, nor are they guaranteed forever, and must be conquered and defended as a structuring aspect of any democratic society. In 2007, after much struggle, Portugal took a historic step by legalizing the voluntary termination of pregnancy. The inclusion of this right in the law was a great victory of the decades-long struggle for women's rights, but many of them still do not have access to IVG, because health services do not guarantee its realization. That is why we continue to fight so that, in Poland or Portugal, women's rights are a reality in law, but also in life.

Madam President, safe and legal pathways for migration, investment in social integration policies, respect for social and labour rights as universal rights, rejection of discrimination and combating the instrumentalisation of migration by major economic interests – none of this guides the policies of the European Union. From the Migration Pact to the 2025 Budget and the latest European Council conclusions, what the EU has to present is the preference for closing and retaining migrants and refugees at borders, detentions and the difficulties of asylum procedures, it is such a selective migration policy that it becomes insurmountable even for those seeking refuge from war, hunger or death. Hiding the indecency of its policies behind the sarcasm, the European Union now designates return promotion as a policy of expulsion of migrants and refugees. There is a need for another policy, an inclusive migration policy, respect for human rights and the dignity of all individuals, regardless of their origin. That's what people need.

Madam President, Ana Catarina Mendes, the members of the Socialist Party have approved the Pact for Migration – which contains a large part of the inhumane measures with which migrants are treated today – and the group of Socialists and Democrats, of which you are one, is preparing to approve the European Union budget for 2025, which even refers to the physical infrastructure to contain migration. And what I'm asking you is: How is it possible to make this discourse of defending the humanist values of a migration policy and, at the same time, to be in agreement with policies and measures of this nature?

Mr President, the post-electoral survey carried out by the European Parliament has shown that the main concern of peoples is the cost of living. This Parliament should be discussing the solutions to this problem, but no other political group has agreed to hold such a debate. No other political group wanted to discuss options to combat the rising cost of living, measures to control and fix the prices of essential goods, measures to combat speculative prices that guarantee the billionaire profits of energy and fuel distribution groups, telecommunications or banking. We should also be discussing the consequences of the new economic governance rules. In Portugal, the Government has just presented a proposal for a State Budget that shows well the impacts of these new rules, which shows budgetary constraints and restrictions, limitations on public services and social functions of the State, restrictions on investment; This is in contrast to the policies of privilege for economic groups and multinationals. This debate has also been held because, for a large part of this Parliament, the living conditions of the people really matter little.

Mr President, it is true that this new version of the Single European Sky Regulation does not go as far as the position that the European Parliament had adopted, with all that it represented of an unambiguous attack on national sovereignty, in an openly mercantilist approach and even greater liberalisation of the air sector, aiming at its concentration and centralisation. But these are still traits that persist in the final document, even if in a nuanced form, traits that we reject. In the name of what this proposal is not, there will certainly be no shortage of those who seek to go beyond it, particularly in Portugal, giving continuity and consequence to the threats that have fallen on the NAV, with a view to the dismemberment of its activity, to the detriment of national sovereignty and the economy. For our part, we reaffirm that we will continue to intervene, rejecting the path of liberalization of air control and in defense of NAV, a strategic public company for national development.

Madam President, seen from the board of a multinational, the deepening of the single market may seem like a vein; seen from the reality of workers and peoples, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, the development possibilities of a country like Portugal, the deepening of the single market is a heavy burden that drags us to the bottom. A few decades ago, PCP member and former Member of this Parliament, Sérgio Ribeiro, anticipated that the transfer of policy instruments to the supranational sphere, namely through the transfer of monetary and financial policy to the ECB, would lead to a one-size-fits-all policy. Through the single market and the policies associated with it, which Mr Letta now calls the engine of change for the European Union, national governments have been deprived of decision-making powers, more scope has been opened up for the concentration and centralisation of capital, and social and labour rights have been under attack. Deepening the single market serves multinationals, but it does not serve economic development or social justice.

Madam President, defending the single market by advocating competition policy, ignoring the concentration and centralisation to which that policy and that market have led, does not do us much good. Just look at the Portuguese banking sector and realize that, without the deepening of the single market, all banks were in the hands of foreign capital, with the exception of Caixa Geral de Depósitos, which, because it is public, remains national. Bringing here the defence of the single market from the idea that this is what makes it possible to reduce prices – when the energy sector shows exactly the opposite, with rising energy costs – or now from the financial sector, thinking that this is what solves the problems, can serve multinationals, but it does not serve a country like Portugal, Honourable Member.

Madam President, I would like to express my total disagreement with your unsubstantiated and discretionary decision to reject, without justification, the proposal for a debate on the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, following the statements by the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process. On Thursday, the UN declared that more than 1,800,000 Palestinians face extreme hunger. Yesterday, that UN special coordinator issued a statement talking about nightmares, horrifying scenes in the northern area, relentless Israeli attacks and an ever-worsening humanitarian crisis and, I quote, that "nowhere is safe in Gaza", condemning the continued attacks on civilians. The person in charge said: The war must stop now. Although all this took place under conditions that allowed the debate to take place here, you refused to accept the proposal at all. I challenge you to put this request for a debate to the vote. As long as bombs continue to rain on Gaza, children, women and civilians die, this debate will always be urgent and indispensable.

Mr President, mental health problems are serious health problems which have various origins, and some of them are well established, linked to the consequences of the inappropriate organisation of working time. The fact that there are health professionals in a situation of burnout is perhaps the most caricature example of the socio-labour background that has many of the mental health problems. Other than the origins, the truth is that we need a global response to mental health problems, and this requires investment in the responsiveness of health care and, in particular, the public response that needs to be given in this regard. It is not acceptable that economic conditions determine who has and who does not have a response to mental health problems and, for this, it is necessary to invest in public services, it is necessary to hire professionals, it is necessary to have real policies of prevention, treatment, diagnosis, monitoring and reintegration of people with mental illness. And it is absolutely essential that this is done within a framework other than budgetary constraints and economic constraints.

Madam President, the pandemic has shown that access to medical devices is a matter of vital interest to any country. The retention by some countries of ventilators that were lacking in neighbouring countries was a dramatic portrait of this. It is essential that there are rules for the production of medical devices that meet public interest criteria and guarantee quality standards that are indispensable for the protection of public health and safety. And it is essential that this standardization does not leave the production of these devices only within the reach of large multinational companies, otherwise health services and users will be held hostage to accessibility conditions that are out of step with their needs or unbearable prices, as is already the case today. It is also essential to support policies that develop national production capacities, that ensure the incorporation of scientific and technological developments for the benefit of users, that guarantee socially fair conditions of access to these devices. These are some of the priorities that should be considered.

Mr President, Commissioner, the difficulty of finding affordable housing is an ever-increasing problem, affecting people in poverty, but more and more middle-class people. Housing difficulties are a consequence of the liberalisation of the sector, the favouring of real estate funds and speculation, the precariousness of the rental regime, the abandonment of the role of the state, the high interest rates of the ECB. More than propaganda, policies and measures are needed to guarantee the right to housing. The protection of tenants on the lease and the reduction of ECB interest rates are urgent. There is an urgent need for additional and targeted EU funding for national policies to expand public housing supply. There is an urgent need to combat real estate speculation. This is what we defended on September 28 in the street with the Portuguese people. These are the solutions that we bring to this Parliament today.

It is not possible to defend the right to housing and, at the same time, to accept the budgetary constraints and liberal policies that deepen real estate speculation. And the debate on the State Budget in Portugal is once again confirming this incompatibility with the acceptance of economic governance rules that restrict the possibility of public investment and, at the same time, the response to housing. And the question is which side is on which side is each Member – is it on the side of the rules of budget restrictions, speculation, profits, banking or is it on the side of public investment in housing?

Mr President, in view of the Council's agenda, we want to leave a first challenge: instead of promoting an endless war in Ukraine, discuss peace solutions for Ukraine and collective security for the whole of Europe. Instead of watching with their arms crossed, discuss measures to put an end to Israel's genocidal policy, to halt Israel's escalation of war in the Middle East, to guarantee the rights of the Palestinian people. And we also challenge the Council to put the response to peoples' problems, particularly the cost of living, at the forefront of its priorities. Economic groups and multinationals fix prices as they wish, using the pandemic and war as false pretexts for accumulating speculative profits. The ECB's high interest rate policy makes house prices unbearable. National and European Union policies require wage and pension restraint. Controlling prices, increasing wages and pensions: these are some of the solutions that need to be implemented and which the Council should discuss.

Mrs Lídia Pereira, I understand that you want to talk about climate action, not to mention everything that, being behind the fires, has a direct impact on the political responsibilities that your group has and that the governments that you have supported have. The Honourable Member wants to talk about climate action, not to mention the CAP and the ruin of small farmers and family farming, which leads to the abandonment of the rural world and the desertification of the territory. The Honourable Member wants to talk about climate action because she does not want to talk about budgetary constraints, which prevent investment in public services, in creating conditions so that people can live in the rural world and not have to leave the territory. These are the hard responsibilities that you and your party have and they are not erased with the discourse of climate action.

Madam President, in the last two weeks we have been in São Pedro do Sul, in Mangualde, in Madeira, in contact with the people, the firefighters, the communities that have had to face the tragedy of the fires. And what we found was a rural country that has been abandoned for decades by successive governments, including those supported by Mrs Pereira. What we found were farmers ruined by the policies of the European Union, but also by the agricultural policies of national governments, including those supported by Mrs Pereira. We found forest producers who, if they do not plant eucalyptus or pine trees, have no way of withdrawing their livelihood from their agroforestry activity. We found communities lacking public services, we found firefighters devalued socially by successive governments, including those supported by Mrs Lídia Pereira. At this moment, it is urgent that there are funds to provide the emergency response that is required in the recovery of homes, in the recovery of economic activity, in the emergency support that must be guaranteed to those who have been affected by the fires. But it is necessary that, from now on, there are other policies that value the rural world and allow the settlement of populations so that the territory is not subject to this calamity that are fires.

Mr President, gender-based violence must be eradicated. This is a social scourge that dramatically affects women. This is evident in the data on domestic violence. In Portugal, 49.54% of victims in foster care are women and 48.8% are children. Alongside domestic violence, prostitution is also an unacceptable form of violence and exploitation, often linked to human trafficking and the abuse of people in poverty and vulnerability. Combating domestic violence, prostitution, sexual violence and other forms of violence against women requires policies to support and protect victims, but also to strengthen social and labour rights. Policies focused on quality public services and effective measures to address poverty and social exclusion.

Madam President, it is not acceptable for the European Parliament today to debate the events of 7 October 2023 by deliberately omitting Israel's genocidal policy against the Palestinian people, as denounced by the International Court of Justice, following decades of occupation of Palestinian territories. An escalation of war that has left more than 150,000 Palestinians dead and injured, many thousands of them children, and two million displaced – an escalation of war that Israel has already spread to Lebanon and is seeking to involve the entire Middle East. Condemning all acts of violence aimed at the population, it is imperative to affirm the distancing and denunciation of this whitewashing of Israel's criminal policy. Peace is urgent.

Madam President, we propose the inclusion on the agenda of a debate on the recent decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union on the European Union's trade agreements with the Kingdom of Morocco, and we also ask for the session to be extended for another hour. The Court of Justice of the European Union dismissed the appeals brought against the judgment of the General Court declaring the European Union’s trade agreements with Morocco invalid on the ground that they concerned agricultural and fishery products from Western Sahara. This is a decision of great importance which now requires a legal consequence. This Parliament must discuss the concrete measures to implement that decision, as well as the necessary measures by the European Union to contribute to the realisation of the right to self-determination of the Sahrawi people, in compliance with the United Nations resolutions recognising it.

Madam President, whoever proposed this resolution does not care about Mr Ferrer García, nor does it care why he is in prison or whether he has a history of violent crimes, including assaults on women. Whoever proposed this resolution also does not care about human rights. If I wanted to, we would be discussing the situation of children with oncological diseases or acute ophthalmic patients who cannot get the necessary treatments because the US blockade prevents Cuba from buying essential medicines and medical equipment. They don't want you to say a word about it. The purpose of this resolution is to prevent the normalisation of Cuba’s relations with the rest of the world, it is to maintain the blockade and the illegitimate inclusion of Cuba on the list of states sponsoring terrorism, it is to sabotage the EU-Cuba dialogue and cooperation agreement, as has been said here by several of the authors of this resolution. The real objective of this resolution is to maintain all this unworthy and inhumane policy against the Cuban people, against the sovereignty of Cuba, against the human rights of men, women and children who, despite more than 60 years of blockade, aggression and interference, continue to want to be free people, who freely decide their destiny. It is with these people and with the sovereignty of Cuba that our solidarity remains firm.

Mr President, I wish to express my solidarity with the victims of the floods in Central and Eastern Europe and also with the victims of the fires that are hitting my country, first on the island of Madeira and now in central and northern Portugal. This solidarity naturally extends to all civil protection agents involved in rescuing and protecting the population. At the moment, attention is focused on fighting the fires that are being done, but it is essential to discuss policies to prevent and mitigate the consequences of these natural events. Adequate spatial planning and planning is needed. The abandonment of the rural world must be countered and territorial cohesion ensured. The conditions for the profitability and sustainability of agriculture and forestry must be guaranteed. Adequate means of civil protection and relief must be provided to the population. This requires a strong role for the state in its responsibilities in this regard. It involves national decisions and funding from state budgets, but also input from European means.

Madam President, Hugo Chaves was elected President in 1998 and, for the second time, in 2000. In 2002 he was the target of a coup d'état and in 2004 his continued presidency was subject to a referendum on the sidelines of elections. In 2019, without an election, Juan Guaidó proclaimed himself President of Venezuela, having been recognised by the Trump administration, Bolsonaro and the European Union. Today's debate is not a debate on the Venezuelan electoral system, on the electoral process or on the disclosure of electoral records. This debate has behind it the history of those who do not conform to the political and social transformations that have occurred in Venezuela, the history of coup action, foreign interference, economic sabotage and commercial blockades that affect the living conditions of Venezuelans and emigrant communities, such as the Portuguese one. It has behind it the story of those who want to impose on the Venezuelan people a different path from the one that, sovereignly, the people have chosen. Democracy is done respecting the will of the people, especially when the people have decided to confront those who oppress them.

Madam President, 11 months, more than 40 000 dead, most of them women and children, almost 100 000 injured, more than 1 700 000 people forced from their homes in Gaza. A territory of flat earth. Israel has cut off water supplies, impeded access to food and basic health care. The European Union, which is always so lavish in imposing sanctions on third parties in the face of the ongoing genocide, ignores the barbarity that Israel imposes on the Palestinian people. In view of our question, it does not even consider the suspension of the Association Agreement with Israel, let alone measures aimed at the recognition of Palestine. Enough of complicity and hypocrisy. The EU-Israel Association Agreement is suspended. An immediate ceasefire is agreed. The recognition of the State of Palestine, as determined by the UN resolutions, in the pre-1967 borders, with capital in East Jerusalem and the right to the return of refugees.

Madam President, the Draghi report reveals the European Union's plans to speed up the transfer of wealth from labour to capital, to favour multinationals, to concentrate decision-making power in the EU and to accentuate the imbalances between the major European powers and the peripheral countries and to accentuate militarism. Instead of pointing to solutions for improving wages, pensions, housing or labour and social rights, instead of identifying measures to support small and medium-sized enterprises and productive sectors, the Draghi report puts competitiveness on a pedestal and, in its name, wants to privatise Social Security and turn pensions into the roulette of speculation by international pension funds. It proposes the suspension of competition rules in order to create large monopolistic groups, in telecommunications, energy and the production of military equipment. It promotes the disease business and the profits of pharmaceutical multinationals. And he proposes, at the end of all this, that the peoples should pay the bill of 800 billion euros per year for this policy...

Madam President, respect for international law, self-determination of peoples, inviolability of borders, territorial integrity, peaceful resolution of conflicts between States, renunciation of the use of violence. We should be discussing in this Parliament a collective peace and security solution for Ukraine and for the whole of Europe on the basis of these principles. Instead, we are once again discussing the 1001 ways to continue the escalation of war and to spend the money and lives of peoples feeding the billionaire arms and death business. When our children and grandchildren judge us by the world we have left them, they will not be able to say that we all supported the war or watched it with folded arms. Some of us will continue to stand firm and raise our voices against the barbarity of war. Because peace is the future of peoples.

Mr President, Portugal is currently experiencing a dramatic situation as a result of the fires that are hitting the centre and north of the country. First of all, I would like to express my solidarity with the victims of these fires and with all those involved in fighting fires, in protection operations and in rescuing the population. Secondly, I would like to stress the seriousness of these fires, which are already taking on a tragic dimension, due to the loss of human lives, the injured, the displaced, the destruction of homes, businesses, agricultural and forestry holdings and the natural heritage. Finally, I would like to highlight the need to mobilise resources to deal with this tragedy. Naturally, at the moment, attention is focused on the means that need to be mobilised to combat the fires and put an end to the tragedy that is befalling Portugal. But we're going to have to recover everything that the fire destroyed. Rehabilitate homes, recover economic activity and jobs, naturally mobilising national means and resources, but also European means and resources that will be needed in a simplified way and with streamlined procedures to ensure the recovery caused by this tragedy.