Debate contributions by Benedetta SCUDERI

Mr Buxadé, you say that the DSA is undermining the freedom of our people, it is practicing censorship, when what it asks is that, instead, if there are censorships that need to be made, they need to be transparent. They are not censures, but they are fact checking, i.e. verification of the veracity of the facts. Instead, these things happen anyway, because it is already the platforms that decide with the algorithms what we see and that decide what can be seen, what must be deleted and what must be eliminated. So, is it good for you that this power is in the hands of the platforms – and therefore of a few billionaires – and not in the hands of this Parliament, where you sit? So what do you think is patriotic?

I remind my colleague that I am a Green and not a Social Democrat. Yes, we could create a green job and lose ten standards, if we do what you say, that is not invest in the transition and still think that the industry, the industry of the past can be the future, when all the rest of the world is going in another direction. We want to create jobs, we want to combine the transition with a real social transition. That is why we are calling for more investment. That's why we ask for a clear vision, one that understands where we need to go. And where we have to go, science tells us, but so does economics. We have a vision, unfortunately you just want to stay anchored to a status quo of self-interest.

1896: Arrhenius wrote about the impact of CO2 with respect to the climate. 1970s: Exxon scientists told us about the devastating impacts of burning fossils, and then hid everything. In 1992 the Rio conference, in 1997 Kyoto. In 2015, in Paris, we pledged to stay within 1.5 oC. The future is today. In 2024, we exceeded the fateful threshold of 1.5 oC. The consequences for our territories are very clear: Droughts, floods and fires are devastating our countries and our lives at worrying rates. If we want to talk about economic and social sustainability we should remember the billions of euros of damage we suffer from climate inaction and the thousands of victims. We must say that public funding subsidizes the fossil and the war and not enough the transition. The future is today. And yet, we continue to put off solutions. The right, from Trump to Meloni, and also in this House, as we have seen, deny climate change, want to anchor us to a status quo where 50% of the population pollutes as much as the richest 1%, and want to keep us in the grip of the fossil just when we need to act the most. The future is now and there is hope for us. We want an ambitious, just and responsible Europe, in both the domestic and international contexts.

Mr Berlato, I would like to ask you two questions. One is if in your scientific studies you have ever found a climate change that has occurred in such a short time, of so many degrees, since you have reported scientific data on the changes that have always occurred, because, unfortunately, it seems to me that there is not. The second question is more political: Do you confirm to me that this is your position, the position of your party, therefore that you say on behalf of your party – and therefore Prime Minister Meloni’s ruling party – that climate change is not dependent on emissions? Because, unfortunately, there is a lot of contrast and confusion about what are the causes of climate change, and this is in the hands of the person and the party that is governing a state like Italy.

You said that we need to address global emissions, but then your party would oppose anything that is tackling that, like the due diligence law or the deforestation law, that is actually tackling what we do outside of Europe. Your party is not addressing anything that is tackling overconsumption, and we know that overconsumption is produced in third countries. Your party is a very, very strong partner and very close to Trump, who is going to be the president, who is going to increase the American emissions, and I would like to remind you that the US is the second most responsible for emissions on the planet. So how do you think we can solve the planetary emissions if your party wants to stop anything that Europe could do to play its part on the international level?

Mr President, Madam Vice-President, ladies and gentlemen, one in ten workers in Europe is at risk of poverty, with a totally inadequate level of wages. An entire generation is in precariousness and austerity and its cuts loom over our lives. In the face of all this, the right, instead of thinking about improving working conditions, says that the problem is with those who strike for their rights, because it creates discomfort. What about the inconvenience of working in poverty? The inconvenience of having to pay for strike days, which are unpaid? The strike is an instrument of struggle and dignity. Yet there are still those who question it: Minister Salvini in Italy, for example, who, between precepts, constantly threatens to revise the legislation on strike. And with him there is a piece, unfortunately broad, of the right in Europe that wants only silence: When we ask for a minimum wage, this right responds that there is collective bargaining, but then it does not want to reopen it to improve the conditions of workers and prevents the strike. Europe must give a completely different answer, because the rights of an abused working class are not negotiable and must be represented in a real social dialogue, which must translate into the ability to influence and determine European strategic choices.

(IT) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, let us 'deport them all': This is how the far-right youth group of the AFD praises hatred on TikTok. ‘COVID does not exist’: Millions of shares for videos denying the pandemic, while thousands died. These are just a few examples but every day we are bombarded with images and videos presented as absolute truths, whose popularity and adequacy are decided by some billionaire like Elon Musk or by a third state. The lack of transparency of algorithms and the ability to create fake accounts are clearly undermining our democratic processes. We are tired of talking about the freedom of speech of those who repress any dissent and prevent us from talking about genocide; We are tired of talking about freedom of speech when the only thing we do is praise hate. Freedom of speech is not freedom to spread scientifically false news. Our democracy works for the social rules we have set ourselves and these must also, and above all, concern the media. How do we choose freely if we do not know that the news they wanted us to see and is verifiedly false? Ensuring the democratic nature of social networks and the transparency of algorithms is essential to protect our...

(IT) Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, 35 years after the historic adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, I am thinking of the road that still needs to be taken to effectively guarantee a safe and happy childhood. I think of the girls and boys who die at our borders fleeing war, persecution and the devastating impacts of climate change. I am thinking of the girls in Afghanistan, whose right to education and to existence itself is brutally trampled on; to young Iranians and their cry for freedom suffocated in the streets by an authoritarian regime; Gaza's children and their right to life, not mere survival but a full life, free from bombs, hunger and poverty. I am thinking of the millions of girls and boys living in absolute poverty within our Europe: One in ten children in Italy cannot eat one protein meal a day. This is the Europe that needs to do more. We must ensure that the initiative such as that of the Child Guarantee continue to be pursued and that the necessary resources are put in place. There can be no austerity in front of the present and the future of the younger generations. Europe will only find itself again when it comes back to the words that made it a project of hope: peace, rights and freedoms.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Mrs Giovanna is 81 years old and is forced to live in a damp, cold and draughty house, without being able to pay for her own heating. In 2023, 47 million Europeans are in this condition, unable to warm up properly, cook, move or turn on the light. Europe must put the protection of its population before the profit of the few, those few who profit on energy prices by recording record gains: Europe's six largest oil companies earned $75 billion in extra profits in the first quarter of 2022 alone, the same few that receive $400 billion a year in public fossil fuel subsidies. These economic resources belong to the people and should go back to the people. Starting from these resources, we could finally invest in renewable energy, which is the best way to lower energy prices, or in energy communities, for energy for and of people. We could support a plan to help people make their homes more efficient through financing and loans, as we asked Commissioner Jørgensen, to enable them to live better and drastically reduce the cost of their bills. Let us remember our promise to leave no one behind: Too many people are behind now. We need to act.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the ecological and digital transitions offer us an incredible opportunity, not only to create millions of jobs but also to revolutionise our productive and socio-economic paradigm towards a more just and inclusive world of work. The shortage of skilled labour is evident and it is therefore essential to close the skills gap through vocational training and retraining. This commitment, however, must not only be taken by the industry but also by us institutions, by the public. Only in this way, in fact, can we include in the world of work all the people who are systematically excluded from it. I am thinking of women, racialized people, trans people, those with disabilities and all those who suffer discrimination. I am thinking of young people and of all the difficulties in entering the world of work through unpaid internships and very low wages. It is therefore good to put European industry back at the centre of the political agenda: But to do so, we cannot make the same mistakes as in the past. Let us talk to the social partners seriously again, strengthen collective bargaining, guarantee high standards of safety in the workplace, fight anti-union practices, fraud, social exploitation and, above all, decent wages. A labour market resulting from an unequal society and an impoverished social fabric cannot be competitive.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, the United Nations Special Committee has made it clear that the law against abortion in Poland inflicts physical and psychological suffering on women, putting their health and lives at risk. This is a serious violation of fundamental rights. However, access to unrestricted abortion is not guaranteed even when the law does not prohibit it. In Italy, for example, free abortion is not safe, it is not a right and, too often, it is denied: endless waiting lists, dozens of hospitals with 100% conscientious objectors, anti-abortionists also paid by European funds in public health places, which force those who want access to abortion to psychological torture. Too many women are forced to do the impossible to access a basic health service. It is again the extreme right that tries to threaten our freedoms. That is why we are asking the Commission to monitor the adoption of a new law in Poland, but also to do everything in its power to ensure that this right is guaranteed in all the Member States and to ensure that European funds are not used to hinder it. Therefore, it is necessary to include the right to abortion in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights: Stop doing politics on our bodies! Those who oppose safe abortion are not for life but against our lives.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, the territory I represent has always played a central role in the automotive industry and Stellantis is the best example of what we are experiencing. Thousands of people have been on layoffs for years and 25,000 jobs have been announced at risk throughout the supply chain. But let's make one thing clear: What we call the "car crisis" is not the result of the switch to electric, but goes far back, from decades of wrong political and economic choices. In fact, instead of investing in innovation and sustainability, we decided to focus on maximizing profits for shareholders, subsidizing the fossil fuel, relocating, often at the expense of workers. Today we are at a crossroads: we can look ahead and seize the opportunities of electric, or we can remain anchored in a more inefficient technology that cannot evolve further, just to please the fossil lobby. So instead of bowing to China, we will give China our market. I ask you: When the global car market is electric, how will we sell our endothermic cars? What is needed is an industrial plan decided for the future, without hesitation, guaranteeing investment certainty and thinking about how to accompany workers in this transition.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, in the last decade sexual violence has increased by 105 % and 90 % of the victims were women. 10% of the LGBTQI+ community suffers gender-based violence. Our sisters continue to be killed. Behind this data is a young woman like me who is afraid to walk alone. There is a trans woman who is discriminated against and beaten just because she is trans. There is hatred and a strong patriarchal culture. Those who deny that this is a structural problem, those who discredit feminism and its demands, those who blame the victims, those who incite hatred and promote discriminatory policies are perpetuating this violence. In this scenario, it is unacceptable for us that gender equality has become marginal in the Commission's design. That is why this hemicycle must guarantee rights and respect. We must start from education to reduce the root causes of this violence, requiring that sex-affective education be integrated into school curricula. But we must also harmonise the definition of rape, understood as sexual intercourse without consent, and femicide. Let's take back our bodies, our voices, our freedom.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, 41 000 Palestinians lost their lives, 16 000 children killed, 17 000 orphans. Do you feel this silence? This is the deafening silence of a Europe that does not act. The silence of our complicity. The atrocities of 7 October, which we have rightly condemned, cannot in any way justify war crimes and genocidal acts. There is no justification for what is happening in Gaza and the West Bank, for the abuses that the Palestinian people have long endured. How much longer do we have to wait to condemn and sanction the Israeli government, as we already do for other conflicts? How long do we have to wait to stop the sending of arms and suspend economic interests and relations between Europe and Israel? How many lives are "too many" lives? How long do we have to wait to recognize the State of Palestine? Europe must be an example of peace and a defender of human rights and justice. So, let's stop the massacre, let's stop the genocide.