Speeches

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the Bauhaus was created to give a cultural, artistic and sustainable boost to our cities, our homes and our way of life. But there is something more: I think that today, in the energy crisis we are experiencing, which has never been so severe for decades, the new Bauhaus can also be a useful tool in our toolbox to deal with this crisis. We have talked about this at length in this House today. So I think we really need to change the paradigm of how we build houses and buildings, how we make them more energy efficient but also accessible and socially inclusive. I also say beautiful, even in the phase of the crisis and the construction of a new model, more sustainable and energy saving. All this by encouraging the use of materials and solutions of low energy consumption, also through cooperative production models, such as energy communities, even that in my opinion is a movement that includes efficiency and sociality. The fight against energy poverty is a precondition, we have always said, to achieve the just and fair energy transition but I say, let's make it beautiful, also the fight against energy poverty, let's give answers of quality and artistic value. So that the Bauhaus is the push that we needed to combine all these elements, beauty and sustainability, even in the crisis.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, today I think it is clear to everyone: the greatest threat to European citizens is the unstoppable rise in gas prices, with repercussions that are destroying entire industrial realities and killing the real economy and that of the lives of families, even medium-sized ones. We must therefore go to the root of the problem. Subsidies are not enough, state aid is not enough, we cannot continue indefinitely with these means. We ask the Commission to prepare, after last week's Council meeting, concrete and courageous proposals because it is already late, it is already late to introduce a cap on the price of gas. A cap on the price of gas means that in Europe no buyer buys above a certain price and in this way it will be the buyers who determine the market rules, not the seller, who can only burn his gas, as he has already done, but thus also burning his revenue. It needs to be done, it needs courage, it needs clarity. Finally, on the topic of the TTF platform: I really do not understand why the Commission is so cautious, so cautious to intervene: There is a problem of transparency, there is a problem of an unfair market, there is at least a problem of manipulation in that market. You need to get your hands on it. Don't you want to stop that activity? Change target market for gas price, let's leave that platform! That platform is made more by finance than by energy operators. you have to intervene!

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, today we are debating the Cañas report and I thank the rapporteur very much. We discussed the Lagodinsky report a few weeks ago, another one is probably coming from Parliament from the ECON Committee, this shows the extreme activity and attention of Parliament on the subject of the social economy, I say this also on behalf of the Social Economy Intergroup. But the great novelty alongside this commitment is the Commission's action plan; I have to acknowledge Commissioner Schmit, and I do so everywhere, and the Commission, but he in particular, has for the first time brought this sector to the attention of the Commission, with the instruments to be put in place, and has also indicated to the Member States what should be done. And here we await the Council's statement. I have to say that the French Presidency has worked hard on this, the current Presidency shines by its absence and this is not a good sign, Mr President, it should be pointed out, on such a subject. So I believe that this is the time, indeed, to put the contribution of the social economy at the centre of European and national policies. There is a great crisis, it has been said, more crisis, there is the experience of this sector, which is not only social services, it is digital today, it is today commitment in the sector greenIn short, it is a model of business alternative. You can do business with a business model It's different, it's not profit-oriented, and we really need it. I will end by recalling the instruments, Commissioner, you are very sensitive to this, all the Commissioners, from DG GROW to DG CONNECT, to all those who deal with the different sectors, as you are doing, as we urge you to do even more. We are your ally, because we really need to put in place financial instruments; Commissioners dealing with finance must also grasp this specificity and the novelty will also be financial instruments adapted to this sector. However, thank you to my colleagues in this House who are working in this direction and thank you to Commissioner Schmit.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the regulation we are adopting today is part of a broader strategy, a more comprehensive framework, the strategy that Europe has set itself, the first continent in the world, to radically change its energy supply model, from fossil energy to renewable energy. The war that Russia has brought to Ukraine, the unfortunate war has only aggravated this situation and accelerated our path. Now, I want to say that with this regulation we are preparing to ensure that European citizens, industry, European mobility, are safe to face the cold season ahead and can therefore be guaranteed that there will be continuity of supply and continuity of the possibility of resorting to energy needs. I am interested to say that in this measure, although sectoral, there are the signs, the elements, I would say the traces of what our design is, which is to build a common energy policy and to arrive at the Energy Union. I give three examples: the possibility of joint purchases for a stronger and naturally voluntary Europe, but for a stronger Europe. The possibility of exchange mechanisms between Member States, those that have possibilities for sites and capacity, supplies, storage and those that do not. It is therefore possible to share this responsibility and the associated burdens for a more supportive Europe. The principle of energy efficiency, which even at this moment in time has been invoked for a greener Europe. This is a measure that goes in the right direction. However, we need to know that it will put in place – inevitably, it is already doing so, because if Russia reduces supplies at this time when we need to fill storage – it is not by chance to put in place a price-raising mechanism. That is why, Mr Vice-President, we ask you, but above all the Council, for courage and responsibility. Prices must be calmed down, it can be the roof - and we hope that something new will come out these days - it can be a monitoring intervention and attention to the functioning of the Amsterdam TTF platform, which certainly is not free from situations that should be monitored more closely. In short, we ask that there be responsibility also on prices, as well as ability to strategy.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, radically changing our model of energy supplies while maintaining production capacity and growth in Europe is a gigantic task, but we can do it if we are united, that is, if no country, as unfortunately happens today, plays an ambiguous game or holds back. The points are clear and shared, Commissioner: acceleration of renewables and hydrogen, creation of local systems to make the most of the potential, including energy, of the circular economy, efficiency and savings. I think we must have the courage to speak clearly to the citizens of Europe, calling them to responsibility and saying that they must change the behaviour that generates waste. Then the theme of prices: We can't wait for the maximum emergency to deal with it. Price cap, joint purchases, interventions on the Amsterdam platform, the FTT, where there is no clarity to understand how prices are formed: Something needs to be done right away. Addiction always makes us fragile, but dependence on Russia, guilty of war, makes us much more exposed, even ethically. That is why we must do everything possible and as soon as possible.

(IT) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, we could sadly say that in Europe there is a kind of ghost that wanders about, which is invisible because we do not want to see it, because it is hidden in families, in their despair, in their loneliness, in a few care facilities. I am talking about mental illness, for which we all have the great guilt of having left the families alone, the people who suffer from it alone and of having forgotten them a bit. That's why I say it's a ghost, because we don't want to see it and we still don't see it. To this seriousness of the actual mental illness, of mental and psychiatric pathologies, many other problems of psychological distress have been added today: the post-COVID effect for young people, the reality of the most vulnerable groups and also of women subject to violence or victims of violence. In short, we have a duty to investigate all these aspects and to address them. So I say, Commissioner, but the Commission as a whole, that we really need to tackle this problem. These realities are poorly studied: there is little research, even under Horizon there is little research on mental illnesses, there are few treatment and rehabilitation facilities and very little prevention. So my request is for an action plan to be drawn up, as we have done for cancer and other diseases: A European action plan is needed.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen... (start of the off-microphone intervention) ... in the pandemic and we suffered a lot. But we've also learned a lot about our lives, the challenges we face, the weaknesses we have, but also the resources we can rely on to overcome those challenges. And above all, a very strong awareness was born in all of us, I believe, at all levels, of how much our life really depends on research, on science, on the efforts of researchers, of single people, women and men, sometimes even very young, who apply themselves with the ability to transform these results into applications and to all the impetus of innovation. It was a strong awareness: We spent days in which our freedom of movement and action depended on the words of the scientists, on what they told us, on what they had discovered, on the certainties they gave us. Here, we must not forget this role and this and this strength that science represents for people's lives. This is why the Horizon programme is very important: This is one of the central axes of our European action, and your action is very important, Commissioner. But we have to say it clearly: Science and research do not stand up to barriers, they do not stand up to borders, much less walls that are not valid in other fields, and we need circulation, openness, exchange and collaboration. That is why the programme is important and we will support it as a Parliament.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the agreement reached at the trilogue is a positive agreement, I am also thinking of the projects of mutual interest between the Member States and third countries, which were introduced during the trilogue, a very important aspect also with Africa and therefore we will support it. However, within a few weeks we have entered another era, due to Russia’s invasion war in Ukraine, and I think that today – with the increased ambition that has been called for – all the possibilities and spaces that the regulation provides to solve the infrastructure problems that have emerged and to overcome those shortcomings and gaps identified in our European energy security and supply must be explored. So the next list of projects of mutual interest will have to have a vision, reflect these new elements and situation and direct the projects along some priorities. I indicate by title three: total detachment from Russian dependencies and attention not to create new dependencies on raw materials, energy sources and countries of origin; Priority for infrastructure for new sources: I am thinking of hydrogen, renewable energy and renewable gases, which are still too small a share; and, finally, the enhancement of the capacity for mutual cooperation with countries and continents such as Africa, because this can increase the capacity for renewable energy for them and for us.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, today we are called by history, I would say, to make a great leap in the quality of our energy policy in order to build that Energy Union that had already been designed. And we must do so with extraordinary interventions and without taboos, as the Commissioner said. I start from the first of the interventions, that of the storages. Good for the idea of common storage, but I ask for more. We must also think about strategic storage to have a reserve that is the real guarantee of our security. On joint purchases, we see a willingness on the part of the Commission, but I call for this willingness to coordinate to become a much more meaningful, much stronger action. We did it with vaccines and we have to do it now, right now, with those who are there, with the countries that are available for this coordination. And then on prices, as my colleague Nica has already said, we must touch the price formation mechanism if we do not want our economy to jump, businesses to their knees and our families in Europe to be in extreme difficulty. And we have to do it by eliminating the too much financialization that's in there and touching, adjusting, without fear of touching the market. Because if we don't touch this sectorial market, our entire economy will jump. So courage and foresight from the Council and the Commission, Parliament is ready.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, in Myanmar as in Ukraine, certainly farther from our eyes but equally brutal, the most brutal violence continues. Arrests, bombings, killings of the most defenseless civilians, as always in these situations, women and children, sexual assaults, persecution of Christians and other minorities, brutal military repression, immense crowds of refugees who need food and medicine. In short, a humanitarian catastrophe, and once again the helpless are affected. Faced with this, I believe that we can no longer accept a completely inadequate general inaction of the international community. The UN must get out of its torpor, I say this as a passionate Onusian, it must get out of its torpor and take some strong initiatives, independent committees of inquiry, other initiatives, but above all we ask the European Commission, High Commissioner Borrell and the whole Commission to play a role: You have to do more and do it yourself, not leave Asia alone or to the other partners, the European Union has to do it. Recognition of the Government of National Opposition Unity, humanitarian corridors, arms embargo; In short, all the initiatives that can be done for a country that has become a symbol of democracy with Aung San Suu Kyi and with a people struggling to defend their democracy and their freedom.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the great change in sustainability is affecting all sectors of production, as well as the way we live, move and work. And for this reason the production sector must also be accompanied, the production related to textiles must be accompanied in this transformation, and I say deliberately accompanied, because here it is a question of making public strategies together and also of having an adequate private initiative, in short, to work together to correct wrong behaviors and choices and no longer sustainable and, at the same time, to draw all the opportunities that this sector can offer. That is why, Commissioner, we really regret the Commission's failure to present the strategy that was promised. I said, it is a sector that has a great value, not only as a production volume and as a weight in production, but also as an enhancement of our creative skills, we think of how many young people, how many young talents of creativity and art work in fashion, and also as a commercial value, because there are very significant volumes of consumption and distribution throughout the European market, as well as, of course, outside Europe. Then, we know the points of sustainability related to the materials that are used and to harmful substances, it was said, and mentioned by colleagues previously, that they are used in production processes, and then they concern the whole part related to disposal and recycling under the banner of the circular economy. We know these themes, but I want to touch on two aspects, which are often a bit in the background but which, in my opinion, are equally important. About the final phase of the life cycle, especially in the fast fashion, there is a large volume, let's say, of products that are poorly harvested and poorly disposed of, but there is also a need, a great opportunity to give an outlet to the whole range of NGOs and voluntary work that these garments recover and put into the market of donation and solidarity. For Europe, this is an important chapter, if we say that social solidarity is also a hallmark of our economy; then here we must have rules that facilitate, but today the rules prevent proper channeling of clothing in this market. Finally, the due diligence, which has been cited. I think that, as Europeans, we must be responsible for everything we consume, even if we do not produce it here, and for every product, every commodity, we should ask ourselves where it comes from, how it was extracted or produced, what chain there is of control of the whole process of diffusion, of arrival in Europe, and then also how they work there: in that product, I'm talking about textiles, they worked children, they worked workers, women slaves, for example as in Bangladesh, who live closed in certain sheds and can not even go home in the evening. In short, I think that these questions are part of our European responsibility; the textile sector must become an example, including of due diligence.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, in the past Europe has often made the mistake of not linking to its environmental policies a coherent industrial policy, as in the case of photovoltaic panels, a classic, and has thus created its dangerous dependence on other areas of the world, both for high-tech products and for low-content products. We are now faced with the challenge of high-storage batteries, which are essential for electric mobility, but also for the entire transition to renewables, as the rapporteur has explained to us. Many thought that it was too late, that the challenge was already lost for Europe, but we believe no, Europe believes no and for this reason it is working to become a continent competitive on this production, both technologically and industrially, and to achieve its sovereignty as it is often in our ambitions. That's why we created one. Battery Alliance, by bringing together the world of research, business and public authorities, and in some way we have also made progress, this same regulation makes progress: It doesn't just talk about disposal, it covers everything.upstream, defining the characteristics that batteries must have in order to be placed on the European market and thus giving principles, including on the due diligence, which will apply to all, and defining target and parts disposal and recycling quotas for critical raw materials. The Regulation on the one hand, the Alliance for Research and Technological Innovation, the PCIs for Common Projects of European Interest, the gigafactory to create production capacity: Only in this way, with all these tools, can we have the best performing batteries in Europe and the maximum recycling of their components. On this level, it was our contribution as an ITRE committee and our ambition to the project; The challenge will be overcome in Europe if environmental policies are linked to industrial strategies, technological effort and the full application of circular economy principles.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the spiral in gas prices is becoming, day after day, an unbearable emergency for the budget of middle-class families and for the production of certain industrial sectors, which risk suspending their activity, with serious damage to the continental economy and to the production capacity of our continent. For this reason, courageous initiatives must be taken; You are doing this, and you must do it even more, Commissioner, with an intervention on price formation mechanisms – a very uncomfortable subject that must be addressed – which are today anchored to the marginal price of gas by a spiral that, in the end, no longer has any reference to the underlying, that is to say, to the exchange value of the goods. We must have the courage to intervene at European level, that is, at the level of the whole Union, on common stocks and purchases, if we want to reduce dependence and reduce costs, and we must find resources, because these are not interventions at zero cost and, if the resources are not in the budget, we must find mechanisms such as that of SURE, which have had a good market response and have given some oxygen to the initiative of the Member States.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, it is a great satisfaction for those who, like me, have been fighting for social economy entities, social enterprises, cooperatives and many others for many years to see that things are changing, that there is a new season in Europe. You think that the last report on the social economy that I presented to the vote in this Parliament dates back to 2008 or 2009. But things are changing, thanks to the Commission, to Commissioner Schmit's work with the Commission. Social Economy Action Plan, to the words that Commissioner Schinas said tonight, to the commitments he has made, and to what Commissioner Breton is also doing with the social economy ecosystem. And things are also changing thanks to this Parliament, which has returned to this issue, to the report by Mr Lagodinsky and also to the report by another colleague from the EMPL Committee. I also hope to be able to say thank you to the Council tomorrow if it makes a statement on these issues, as we hope. So I have to thank my colleague Lagodinsky, because his report is very important. If we do not define a uniform legal profile at European level, all of these actors are not able to express their potential, they are not able to access the opportunity that we have opened up. We have done it with InvestEU, we have put social platforms and social economy entities in place, and we have done it with the reform of the internal market, but if we do not have this legal apparatus, there will be no such possibilities.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, in Europe we often proudly fly the flags of research and rights. Well, here, in the fight against cancer, we have the opportunity to translate these thunderous words into tangible results, as this excellent plan shows us and proposes to us, a plan that we must approve and implement. Commissioner, research means new and more effective early detection capacities, more treatment interventions, better medicines and innovative therapies, more personal means of rehabilitation. As Mr Alessandra Moretti said, there are survivors who need special care and attention, And then the rights. The first right is the right to health, which is the right to life, even to a wounded, crippled and painful life. And then equal rights for all citizens of Europe, whether they were born in Milan or Berlin or in a remote city in Europe, perhaps poorer, without services, hospitals, equipment. Citizens and European citizens all, with rights to have a homogeneous network of services, equal, tending to the best that there is, that science and technology offer. And then let me remind you of a priority of this Parliament for years, that of attention to childhood cancer, and today is precisely the International Day against Childhood Cancer. Madam Commissioner, I would like to ask you, if you may stop reading and listen: Childhood oncology is a priority!

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, while we are dealing with the complicated energy transition, the problems of gas and its supply and the dear bills with new and fully European proposals, we must, however, without hesitation, change course and take a decisive step in the new direction, which is represented, with our energy priorities, by renewables, of which we must greatly increase production. Among renewables, offshore certainly plays a big role, if we think that our continent is surrounded by seas and oceans. Then we know that we will meet and there will be, there are already, resistances for different reasons, including landscape ones, but we must overcome these resistances, with a lot of patience, with a lot of conviction, looking for the best and safest technical and environmental solutions, and there are. The offshore strategy has many strengths, alongside of course also critical points. I would like to mention a few of them, which the Commissioner has already mentioned. I am thinking of our research and technology capacity and our industrial capacity and the possibility of achieving greater cooperation between Member States through interconnections.

(IT) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Europe is the first power in the world to create a complete system of rules for the digital universe, an essential challenge for a democracy such as the European one, which wants to be a champion of digital innovation and at the same time preserve the human rights of its citizens. There are points that need to be improved and on which we need to be more ambitious. First: Traceability of business users. If we limit our obligations to only marketplace It misses the opportunity to make the DSA truly effective and meaningful, to give it all the tools to fight the wide range of illegal online activities of today and the future. The rules must apply to all providers of intermediation services if we want a transparent and responsible online environment for the business and for consumers, that is, for us citizens. Access to illegal content must be disabled immediately, all necessary measures must be taken to prevent the reappearance of content already identified as illegal and the timing of removal must be specified and quantified in the measure, fast and everything must be reliable. Then, targeted advertising. It has already been said, users cannot be unaware providers of data. Finally, this is a unique opportunity for the EU to affirm our model of society, our virtuous balance between innovation, the centrality of people and the economic interests we believe in. Our standards can thus be a point of reference and standard worldwide.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the world has certainly not improved in recent years and our humanitarian intervention needs to be reorganised and refocused in this global context, which has become more uncertain and worrying due to COVID, unresolved conflicts, new territorial disputes, climate change and natural disasters. The important thing is that our policy is always people-centred and that we always try to start from basic needs in our humanitarian intervention. The focus is still there: malnutrition, health problems, food and water that are lacking, and yet they are a primary right, to be guaranteed especially in the most critical humanitarian contexts, I think of Yemen, East Africa, Afghanistan, Haiti. I think that in this humanitarian disaster we must start from these basic needs, paying attention - as Mr Neuser said when introducing this issue - to the reality of women, children and in particular girls, because we know that gender-based violence becomes even more terrible and increases in times of conflict. Finally, the relationship with NGOs. We will not succeed in this gigantic task if we do not value NGOs.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I think this report tells us that we are heading in the right direction. It makes us see lights and shadows and we have to work on some critical elements. I cite two of the critical elements. The first is the issue of renewables. The production of renewables is growing, and fortunately, but, Commissioner, it will not grow at the pace necessary to reach the 2030 targets, we must know that. My country must have 40 gigawatts of new renewables. How is it possible in seven years, between now and 2030? There is a problem of slow construction of plants and expansion of existing ones. It is a problem that Europe must also face, to speed up, to open dialogues with local authorities, in short, to be able to go faster in the production of renewables. And then there is the issue of efficiency. There is a great, great potential that is not being used. Businesses say – I am thinking of the refrigeration of large infrastructure, etc. – that there is potential for existing technologies, but introducing them costs money. So we have to work to be in theupstream technological innovation if we want to increase energy efficiency. Finally, there is also the problem of the emergency in the transition of the Union. I think of the gas, which has already been recalled. We need to be more interventionist like Europe in managing the gas crisis and the cost of bills.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, a certain amount of rhetoric, I was going to say hypocrisy, is bearable in international relations and in statements on global cooperation, but this rhetoric becomes unbearable and unacceptable when it comes to health, when it comes to people's lives and deaths. I think that if we say "we must be safe when we are all safe", "we will vaccinate 70% of the population", as was said at the G20, we must be consistent in fact, in actions and not in intentions alone. So it's important to change the pace. Europe has been commendable in the purchase of vaccines and in the distribution and it is commendable even now, because it is at the forefront of COVAX and other international initiatives that the Commissioner has reminded us of, but today something more needs to be done. I say this to you, Commissioner, to the whole Commission, and I say this to the Council: You need to take it one step further, and the step is this, it's just close. At the WTO ministerial conference we must apply the possibilities of temporary suspension of patents and compulsory licences, and we must tell the world that this time, this time only, this pandemic, this global difficulty and tragedy. It is not a positive action, it is a call for the responsibility of everyone, including businesses, and I hope that the Commission and the Council will do this at the WTO.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to point out that the construction of Europe started precisely from energy, from a project for the joint management of coal and steel, and today, in the face of the terrible price crisis affecting families and businesses, we must have the same courage, the same vision, we must take a leap forward in European integration. New competences and roles for the Union are needed, including beyond the legal bases. If there is the political will of the Member States, it can be done, because the challenges we live together, the transition on the one hand and the emergency on the other, require it. The toolbox It's not enough. There are timid and partial proposals on the Council's table. In addition to the bills, the structural problems of the energy market, which is too fragmented and not sufficiently interconnected, i.e. too little European, must be addressed immediately. In my group's view, some important points are missing from the President's proposals: a common purchasing mechanism, so that Europe is more powerful in negotiations and also in the geopolitical game; a plan with Africa for the development of renewables; Stop the financial speculation that exists in the ETS mechanism. The lesson of Covid has taught us that together we are stronger and I hope that the Councillors will remember this.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, many analyses have been carried out on the rise in energy prices. I think now is the time for proposals. As far as I am concerned, I want to make four very concrete proposals to the Commission and the Council, to be launched immediately. First: European coordination in storage and subsequent distribution is needed. So let's create a European strategic reserve. Secondly, the same coordination must take place with regard to gas purchases; We know that it is not vaccines, but we also know that the principle is the same, that is to make Europe stronger, harder if we want, in the negotiation, in the purchase phase, compared to the supplier countries and also to their "geopolitical" games. Third: If we want to differentiate sources of supply and increase the amount of renewables, Commissioner, the relationship with Africa is crucial: cooperation on joint projects, greater interconnection with that continent and we support, from Europe, the energy transition of North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. Fourth proposal: It is not revolutionary, but it is a proposal for transparency and clarity. Let us free the field of energy from purely financial speculation. I am referring to the ETS, which we will reform: The prices of CO2 emission allowances should be determined by the market mechanisms between energy operators and industries using those allowances, and not by those using the ETS as an upside equity game for easy profits, preventing the signal of stable, and sometimes rising, prices to accompany companies towards the environmental energy transition. That is why I propose that access to the ETS be excluded for operators and purely financial entities.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, it is disheartening to see that the post-COVID world is not on track to reach the goal of ending hunger and ensuring food security by 2030. And it is even sadder to have to admit that the maternal, infant and young child nutrition targets will probably not be met by 2025 either, as set by the WHO assembly. We therefore strongly call on the Commission to start from this disheartening and worrying fact, now that we have to plan our support for a global transition to fair and sustainable food systems. Women - I say this to the Commissioner who knows this point but must communicate it to the whole Commission - and in particular women in urban areas are 43% of the agricultural workforce and are therefore the indispensable and indispensable actors in the fight against hunger and malnutrition, as well as the primary ones responsible for the growth and development of children and children. Especially in response to the COVID crisis, EU funding and programmes should now ensure that food security strategies always espouse a gender approach, on the one hand, and implement concrete child-friendly measures, on the other: They are two tracks from which to restart our action.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, today, thanks to Next Generation EU, all European countries are investing much more than in the past in research and innovation, but we want to take a step forward. We want a European Research and Innovation Area, a European area is not the sum of 27 national spaces, even if excellent or better than in the past, it is something else, more that we still have to build. It is a space with common objectives, with synergistic strategies, with similar means and precise and coordinated aims and interventions, with flexible and similar rules, with communication paths, for example for researchers, possible and fluid, with shared research infrastructures and not closed in a national or often even local perspective. Only in this way will Europe have that strength, that critical mass necessary to be strong and competitive at the global level. I just want to make two points out of the many things that have been said in the resolution. The first is that the Commission and Europe need a great coordination effort, a gigantic coordination effort, not proliferating poles, but a lot of networks and a lot of fluidity and access to results. What is the result for one researcher is the beginning of a path for the other.