Speeches

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, Canada is a natural and essential partner of Europe, especially in the geopolitical context of recent years. Not only because we share values, culture and history, but also because we value their tolerant and negotiating spirit, their strong democratic tradition and their defense of the welfare state. In short, Canadians are the most European outside Europe. Ladies and gentlemen, if we do not conclude an agreement with them, with whom would we do it? The CETA Agreement has been provisionally applied since 21 September 2017. It was signed at a time when there was a lot of controversy around trade agreements. But CETA has far outgrown the initial fears and negative prophecies. It has turned out to be a positive agreement that goes far beyond mere trade and has even fuelled reflection on the modernisation of subsequent EU trade agreements. First, by incorporating other dimensions, such as cooperation on trade-related environmental issues, the adoption of recommendations on gender equality and the incorporation of other topical issues, such as artificial intelligence or cybersecurity. Secondly, it is an inclusive cooperation agreement with its 19 specialised committees, its regulatory cooperation forum and its civil society forum, bringing together hundreds of representatives from across the EU and Canada. In addition, CETA promotes a safer, more predictable and stable economic environment, with full respect for the principles of sustainable development, human rights and labour and environmental standards. The agreement has brought substantial economic benefits, with a considerable increase in trade in goods, services and investments, as well as in public procurement, making the EU Canada’s third largest trading partner after the US and China, including throughout the pandemic and also following the difficult situation created by Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Therefore, the agreement is very important in the context of current geopolitical uncertainty to also ensure the supply of critical raw materials and food security. Ladies and gentlemen, between 2017 and 2022 EU-Canada trade has increased by 66% and our exports have increased by 47%. 700,000 jobs depend on our trade with Canada, and since its entry into force, CETA has helped create 75,000 jobs. Ladies and gentlemen, it is clear that there are still some outstanding challenges and we make a number of recommendations in the report. First of all, the agreement must be given visibility, promoting actions that show the advantages and opportunities it offers, with information campaigns in both regions. But we also need to support businesses, especially SMEs, with the necessary tools so that they can take advantage of the benefits of CETA. In addition, we need to boost labour mobility with instruments such as the recently signed agreement for architects or the European Union Blue Card. It is also necessary to ensure the most effective application of the protection of geographical indications. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we need to work through parliamentary diplomacy so that the ten Member States that have not yet done so ratify the CETA agreement. This will make it possible to apply all the provisions, in particular as regards investment protection. The agreement will also offer us the possibility of working together on the reconstruction of Ukraine once the war is over. And finally, Mr President, a few seconds to thank all the actors involved in the preparation of the report, especially the shadow rapporteurs, who have undoubtedly improved my initial proposal, and also – of course – our Canadian friends for their collaboration and their welcome when I was on mission there. I hope that this House will support this report with a large majority tomorrow.

Mr President, Mr Secretary of State, Commissioner, since its inception, the Socialist Group has always supported the development of the work of the Frontex Agency, while ensuring that it fully respects fundamental rights. That is why in 2021 we supported the creation of the Monitoring Group to structure the dialogue and closely monitor the Agency’s performance and functioning. This has borne fruit with the implementation of the recommendations we made, in particular with the recruitment of 46 fundamental rights monitors and increased transparency in decision-making. We have to continue down that path. However, Frontex is a great agency, but the responsibility lies with the Member States, which must act with solidarity and dignity, giving a European response to a European challenge. I hope that with the adoption of the migration pact we will be on the right track, put aside solutions such as the path of the agreement with Tunisia and achieve a European maritime rescue mechanism.

Madam President, Mr President, first of all, as the son of emigrants, I would like to thank you for the words you have dedicated to the Spaniards who had to leave Spain under the Franco dictatorship; My parents were some of them. Having said that, I welcome you on behalf of the Spanish Socialist delegation. I congratulate him on his re-election as President of the Government of Spain and his excellent work at the helm of the Spanish Presidency. Because, Mr. Weber, whether you like it or not, Mr. Feijoo is not here. Here we have President Sanchez, who will also sit down tomorrow with Chancellor Olaf Scholz to pursue a diverse and united Europe, and a Union that is more social, more tolerant, more feminist and greener. Since the Spanish Presidency, a progressive and ambitious agenda has been successfully promoted to improve the lives of our citizens, as shown, for example, by the Directives on digital platforms or the fight against gender-based violence, but also to respond to future challenges with the Artificial Intelligence Act and the Nature Restoration Act. Ladies and gentlemen of the People's Party, stop selling your soul to the devil in installments, with your pacts with the extreme right, which only serve to propagate hatred and insults, which incite violence and endanger democracy. As you said, Mr Weber, go back to the pro-European fold and support the Spanish Presidency... (The Chair took the floor from the speaker).

Mr President, Mr Vice-President, Mr Secretary of State, if there is anyone in this House who could help Mrs Montserrat, because she is still misguided and confuses this House with the Congress of Deputies. Having said that, the debate on the external dimension of emigration in the European Council and political action are pressing because closing the migration pact is a necessary but not sufficient step, as I said at the last plenary session. As the Vice-President said, we need a holistic approach that encompasses broad cooperation with countries of origin and transit, the organisation of humanitarian and legal and circular migration channels, and the fight against human traffickers. And I would add, Mr Vice-President, the adoption of a European maritime rescue mechanism. Ladies and gentlemen, agreements such as the last one concluded with Tunisia do not lead us in the right direction. We must look back and reactivate initiatives such as regional cooperation and migration dialogue processes and rescue missions such as SOPHIA, as well as strengthen diplomatic presence and recruitment at source. Policies that paid off in Spain with Zapatero's socialist government. Once again, we have the solutions; We need the political will to deliver a comprehensive European response to the challenge of migration.

Mr President, Mr Vice-President, Mr Secretary of State, Mrs Montserrat is coming here to talk about amnesty. I see, Mrs Montserrat, that you pass through the European Parliament, but the European Parliament does not pass through you. Have some dignity, please: the subject of this debate is very important. Having said that, ladies and gentlemen, Lampedusa is Europe and Europe is Lampedusa. And, therefore, the management of migration flows needs a European response that is supportive and respectful of human rights. And let's not fool ourselves: neither walls nor migration agreements – such as Tunisia’s – are the solution. Zero immigration is a lie of the far right. It is neither feasible nor desirable. Ladies and gentlemen, to successfully tackle the migration challenge we must act with the same determination and political will with which we have managed the pandemic and Putin's war and its economic and social consequences. The imminent adoption of the Pact on Migration and Asylum is a necessary but not sufficient step. We must go further by opening humanitarian channels, strengthening the instruments of regular migration – which are the best antidote to mafias – and stepping up cooperation with countries of origin and transit. Finally, I would ask the Spanish Presidency, please, to promote a European maritime rescue mechanism. We need it now. Please act in that direction.

Madam President, Madam President of the Commission, Mrs Montserrat, Mr Vázquez, in this House we are in the debate on the state of the Union, not in the debate on the disastrous state of their respective parties and leaders. Please respect this House. Having said that, ladies and gentlemen, in this legislature we have overcome two major crises with unity and solidarity and the European Union has strengthened itself. Despite what the far right is shouting, European citizens have felt protected and are calling for more Europe and less nationalism. We have moved towards the Health Union and we have overcome the taboo of common debt to rebuild our societies. In the face of Putin's war, we have also moved towards energy union and open strategic autonomy. Now, hand in hand with the ambitious Spanish Presidency, we must close a migration pact that also includes the regular migration we need, we must strengthen the social pillar, achieve gender equality and, above all, protect the planet, especially with the Regulation on the restoration of nature. Dear President, I hope that you will get the European People's Party to release the hand of the far right and return to the traditional pro-European path. President Jacques Delors said that when Parliament and the Commission go hand in hand, European integration progresses. Now, moreover, we have the firm hand and the intervention of the Spanish Presidency. Go ahead!

Madam President, dear Commissioner, dear Secretary of State, welcome to this house. Ladies and gentlemen, year after year we repeat this debate in this House. Day after day, tragedies are repeated in the Mediterranean and in the Atlantic. More than 27,000 dead in the last ten years. More than 600 people disappeared in the last shipwreck off the Greek coast. How far do we have to go to act and save lives and definitively close sea cemeteries? Ladies and gentlemen, we know the solutions, and when we have the political will, we apply them. These years have saved many lives, especially thanks to operations such as Mare Nostrum or SOPHIA. That is why I call once again for humanitarian corridors to be opened and for Frontex’s mandate to be amended to put in place a mandatory European maritime rescue mechanism – mandatory – with adequate financial, material and human means in which the Member States and Frontex fully exercise their role. Ladies and gentlemen, human life and dignity are at stake, but also the dignity of our European institutions. Mr Navarro, we are counting on the Spanish Presidency to move forward.

Mr President, dear Vice-President, ladies and gentlemen, we remain united in this House, as in the Council and the Commission, to condemn once again Putin's war of aggression and to continue to support the people of Ukraine in their struggle for independence and freedom. At the same time, it is necessary to end this war in order to rebuild Ukraine as soon as possible. Ladies and gentlemen, this war has also kicked the global geopolitical board and forced us to rethink, particularly in the face of the threat of supply chains. That is why, in the area of open strategic autonomy, we have to develop relations with reliable partners such as the United States or Canada, but also with Latin America. The EU-CELAC Summit, to be held next week under the Spanish Presidency, is the starting point for a new stage in which we will strengthen relations, address together the common challenges we have and, above all, seize opportunities both at the level of trade and investment. Latin America is an essential partner for the European Union and, in this regard, I hope that the Spanish Presidency will go ahead and push forward the agreements with Mercosur, Mexico and Chile.

Mr President, Madam Minister, Commissioner, you said so. The key ideas of this debate are in the title itself: solidarity and rescue. We in the S&D Group have been calling for a mandatory European maritime rescue mechanism for years. I repeat: mandatory. 26,000 dead in the Mediterranean since 2013, according to IOM, many of them minors. This reflects the failure of European migration policy. That is why human dignity must be added to solidarity and rescue. From here I ask both the Italian Government and the rest of the governments not to forget that migrants are people, regardless of their creed or skin colour. Therefore, they must be cared for with humanity and respect. Ladies and gentlemen, from words to deeds. There is no need to invent anything, because we have already taken steps in the right direction in the past: Operation SOPHIA, the Malta Declaration or the 20 measures proposed by Commissioner Johansson. But we have to go further. We must conclude the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, and strengthen the instruments of regular migration and cooperation with the neighbours of the southern shore of the Mediterranean.

Mr President, Commissioner, Minister, ladies and gentlemen, thirty dead on Sunday, eighty-five in Calabria a few days ago, and I could go on like this to the 1,300 who disappeared last year. They're not figures, they're truncated lives. And, as President Metsola stressed in her opening statement on Monday, we cannot tolerate it. I wonder how many more migrants must die in order for Member States to fulfil their obligations and save people before they drown. How long do we have to wait for a mandatory rescue mechanism, in the spirit of EUNAVFOR MED operation SOPHIA, which saved more than 50,000 lives in three years while fighting migrant smugglers? To do this, we must overcome the narrative of the extreme right based on racism, hatred and fear, which are its breeding ground for elections. Ladies and gentlemen of the right, if you have any respect left for human dignity, bet with us on cooperation with countries of origin and transit, the fight against mafias, maritime rescue and the opening of humanitarian and legal immigration channels. They have it easy.

Madam President, dear Vice-President, Mr President of the European Council, Mrs Montserrat, I already know that it is very cold in the opposition, but I do not think that lies contribute much to today's debate. Having said that, ladies and gentlemen, although we are approaching the end of winter, many families and businesses, and especially SMEs, continue to suffer the consequences of the crisis caused by Putin's war. Although we have been able to avoid energy shortages this winter, poverty and energy precariousness remain a reality that we have to overcome. To do this, we already need a medium- and long-term European energy policy that is committed to geopolitical diversification of the supply of clean and affordable energy. One of the keys to this lies in the reform of the European electricity market. I therefore hope that the proposals of Spanish Vice-President Teresa Ribera will come to fruition under the Spanish Presidency, and I have the support of the European People's Party. On the other hand, the deployment of renewables and green hydrogen is necessary, key elements to achieve a just green transition that both humanity and the planet need. Ladies and gentlemen, good times are coming. Let us take the opportunity to consolidate a genuine common energy policy.

Madam President, Commissioner, Minister, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen of the right, what does not fit into any migration roadmap is the construction of new border walls, let alone with European funds. Mr Rangel, President Sanchez has not built any walls. You may have a mason's soul, but he doesn't. History has also shown us that walls are a failure. To reclaim a "fortress Europe" is to show that they have understood nothing. If they really want to put an end to the irregular flows handled by mafias, trafficking and trafficking in human beings, they must demand more channels of legal migration – which we need – and greater cooperation with countries of origin and transit, with the right political and financial means, especially remembering that we will only close the Pact on Migration and Asylum if we strike a balance between responsibility and solidarity. Finally, Madam Minister, I welcome the efforts of the European Contact Group on Search and Rescue and hope that it will materialise as soon as possible into a binding, clear and effective European mechanism. Because, unfortunately, migrants continue to die every day at sea.

Mr President, Madam Minister, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, if we really want to adopt sustainable solutions at this summit, we must change the paradigm. Dear Manfred, we must change the paradigm. We must understand that the solution to the migration challenge cannot focus only on trying to contain irregular migration. We must develop legal migration channels to attract the workforce Europe needs, and humanitarian channels to protect people fleeing war and poverty. Only in this way will we be able to take control of the mafias and tackle trafficking in human beings, so that a common migration policy is finally put in place, based on the principles of respect for human dignity and solidarity, in cooperation with third countries. And finally, Madam Minister, I understand that Sweden may be far from the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. However, we ask that the Presidency push for the creation of a common maritime rescue mechanism, because, with the arrival of spring, thousands of people will put their lives at risk when trying to reach our shores.

Madam President, dear Vice-President, dear Prime Minister, obviously your Presidency must continue to develop policies relating to the priorities of our societies, such as the fight against inflation or climate change. But I would like to focus today on a pending issue that, if not resolved, will have negative consequences in the medium and long term: migration policy and, in particular, ways to promote legal migration. All studies show that Europe needs additional labour. With political will, we have moved towards health union and energy union. Let us also do this with the common immigration policy. It is therefore necessary to adopt the Pact on Migration and Asylum already, but above all to develop the channels of legal migration and, in particular, the directives on the single permit and the status of long-term residents. We in Parliament are working fast to achieve this and we have the impetus of the Swedish Presidency to start political negotiations with the Council and the Commission as soon as possible. Dear President, dear Vice-President, dear Prime Minister, may you have a safe, healthy and sustainable year.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, these are turbulent times for the European Parliament, but they are, above all, difficult times for citizens. Inflation is bringing hunger and cold to many European households. Many SMEs are unable to pay the energy bill and have to close. At the same time, energy companies continue to speculate to enrich themselves in outrageous ways. More than ever, our governments must govern for the people and put the economy at the service of the citizens, and not the other way around, with direct policies to protect them. The European Union must learn from its past mistakes and, in the face of the austerity that failed in the financial crisis, the defence of solidarity and social cohesion must prevail. That is why energy prices must be lowered, citizens must be protected with an increase in the minimum wage and a minimum income must be guaranteed for the most disadvantaged. This week's European Council will need to take urgent action and adequate financial resources to help those most in need. The cold doesn't wait.

Mr President, I wanted to tell Mrs Monserrat, but she is gone, that using the tragedy of Nador to attack the Spanish Government from this House seems to me pathetic and regrettable - pathetic and regrettable - and I hope she will pass it on to you. Having said that, ladies and gentlemen, a few months ago we activated in record time a European directive that had been sleeping for 20 years to welcome and protect citizens fleeing Putin's war, something we did not do either in 2015 with the war in Syria, or in 2021 with the Afghan crisis. I mean by this that when there is political will and courage we are able to give effective European responses to the great challenges. If we have been able to welcome four and a half million people in a few months, why are we not able to manage with dignity the 200,000 migrants who try to arrive by sea and by land every year? That is why we need the political will, solidarity and trust between the Member States to finally implement the Pact on Migration and Asylum with mandatory relocation, humanitarian channels and a European maritime rescue mechanism that we have been demanding for years and that European right-wing forces reject. And at the same time we need, Commissioner, Commissioner, to develop all the legal immigration instruments.

Mr President, dear Vice-President, after the last meeting of the European Council we are moving in the right direction to overcome the energy crisis, along the lines that we have been marking and in accordance with what the Spanish Government is demanding. But now we need to speed up and put into practice measures around social protection. Our citizens cannot be forced to go hungry or cold and our companies cannot go into debt or have to close because of the increase in expenses. That is why the burdens of this crisis must be shared fairly. We cannot demand more sacrifice from workers when some large companies are making exorbitant profits. We have to tax them. We are already doing it in Spain and we ask that it be done also in Europe. On the other hand, we have to put a limit on the price of gas and undertake the reform of the energy market, decoupling gas prices from electricity prices and promoting joint purchasing, energy interconnections and green energy corridors, such as the one that will link the Iberian Peninsula with France.

Mr. President, Putin is losing the war in moral and political terms. To his warlike insanity his own brave young men say "no" and flee the country. To his pantomime of referendum the international community says "no". He has the economic asset, with energy as a weapon of war, and the nuclear threat as a psychological weapon. Faced with this blackmail, the European Union must continue with the same firmness, unity and solidarity shown so far. Ladies and gentlemen, this obviously comes at a cost to citizens, who must be protected from the energy crisis and food insecurity. Let's continue to diversify our sources of supply, joint gas purchases and strategic reserves. Let us bet on green energy and implement the agreement on food security reached at the WTO last June. By allusions, I would say to Mrs Montserrat that taxes serve to guarantee the public services that her party wants to privatize. I remind you that this summer the fires have not been put out by private companies.

Madam President, Madam President of the Commission, thank you for your brilliant presentation of the state of the Union. But I think we can talk more about the positive evolution of the Union, and that is due to a paradigm shift. If in the face of the financial crisis austerity, social destruction and division were chosen, in the face of these last crises we have opted for social protection, unity, solidarity and the interest of the majorities against that of the few. We have put citizens back at the centre of our political action. We have two urgent tasks: the first, to avoid cuts and blackouts this winter in European households and businesses, and the second, to curb runaway inflation, helping the most disadvantaged. That is why, Madam President, we Spanish Socialists welcome the measures you have proposed in this regard, which are the same measures that the Spanish Government has been proposing and implementing for more than a year. I am glad to see that, at last, they are taken up again at European level, but it is regrettable that the right wing of my country is rejecting them one by one, only to try to overthrow the government. But he won't make it.

Mr President, Mr Vice-President, the communication from the European Commission and the resolutions of this Parliament represent the right approach to managing migration flows by prioritising the creation of new channels of legal immigration. And whether the far right likes it or not, emigration is a natural, positive, necessary and necessary phenomenon. A dual need justified by the ageing of the European population and by the shortage of workers in many sectors. But, in addition, their inclusion in our societies is a cultural, social and political enrichment, as has been evidenced during the pandemic, and as you, Mr Vice-President, have recalled. With workers who can come from North Africa, but also from other countries, including Canada and the United States. Last year we took a first step with the adoption of the reform of the Blue Card; But we need to extend this opportunity to all skill levels and simplify the other legal migration tools we already have, such as the Single Permit Directive. And finally, and above all, we must work in cooperation with the countries of origin to avoid a brain drain that can impoverish these countries by betting, please, on circular emigration.

Madam President, Mr Vice-President, Mr High Representative, ladies and gentlemen, we are in times of war. The Bucha massacre shows that Putin's barbarism has no limits. More than ever, we need to support Ukraine humanitarianly and militarily. Let us be aware that this war has unbearable costs in human lives and desolation for Ukrainians, but also economic and social costs for Europeans and the rest of the world. Faced with Putin's aggression we must defend our democracies, taking into account that citizens have been tense for two years with the pandemic and now, in addition, they suffer the cost of the war with an exorbitant increase in prices. Our duty is to make them feel protected not only at the military level, but also economically and socially. That is why, ladies and gentlemen, the European Union cannot be a global political power without deterrence. It must assume its share of responsibility, as the High Representative has already recalled this morning. That is why a new strategic concept of the Alliance with a genuine European defence policy must emerge from the next NATO Summit in Madrid in June. On the other hand, runaway inflation threatens economic recovery and increases inequalities. It is urgent to lower the energy bill and in that sense, the last European Summit has been a turning point in the energy policy of the Union. Europe has reacted from unity, but taking into account diversity, as demonstrated by the recognition of "Iberian exceptionalism" so that Spain and Portugal can temporarily limit the price of megawatts. I welcome the fact that the Commission and the Member States are gradually taking up the proposals of the Spanish Government to achieve a reform of the energy market that moves towards a true Energy Union, clean and affordable for all. We'll only get it with unity. All European political forces, starting with those in my country, need to show a sense of statehood and support governments in order to successfully face all these challenges.

Mr President, Commissioner, Minister, ladies and gentlemen, this is Putin's war, it has no other name. Its brutal aggression against Ukraine is a barbarism that has awakened political Europe. In the face of dictatorship, European democracy will win. The Union is acting quickly, unitedly and in solidarity, breaking dogmas and taboos. Today our thoughts and hearts go out to the Ukrainian people and, on this International Women's Day, especially to the women and girls who suffer, flee and even die. That is why we must continue to support with humanitarian and military aid the citizens who have decided to fight heroically in Ukraine. But above all, ladies and gentlemen, the Union must be a host land without borders. The activation of the Temporary Protection Directive should ensure a solidarity-based distribution of refugees, alleviating frontline countries. And finally, Commissioner, you said so. I call for special protection measures so that women and girls do not fall into networks of human traffickers.

Mr President, Mr Vice-President of the Commission, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, ladies and gentlemen, the cold has arrived and many families and SMEs continue to suffer the consequences of the rise in the price of electricity and gas when they are barely recovering from the pandemic. It is important for the European Council to endorse the Commission’s proposals – joint purchasing, strategic energy storage and the promotion of renewable energy – but there is also an urgent need for wholesale electricity market reform. On the other hand, Member States must tackle the migration challenge without further delay with an approach based on solidarity and respect for human dignity; it is unacceptable that no agreement can be reached in the Council while migrants continue to die at borders or at sea: with or without a pact, Member States willing to move forward together must do so now, action must be taken now.

Mr President, dear Vice-President, Europe needs legal migration now and, even more so, in the future. We need immigrant workers, not only for demographic, but also economic and geopolitical reasons. In addition, they represent a cultural richness for our societies. To attract these workers, ladies and gentlemen, we must simplify and further harmonise the European legal framework governing the conditions of entry and residence, eliminating obstacles and bureaucracy. That is why, following the example of the Blue Card, I call on the Commission to come forward as soon as possible with new legislative proposals for medium-skilled and low-skilled workers, as well as for the self-employed and entrepreneurs. In addition, the Commission and the Member States must give visibility and publicity to the existing rules, because it is useless to adopt measures if no one knows about them. Finally, Member States must achieve the effective integration of immigrants into our societies with ambition and adequate budgetary means.

Madam President, I am going to appeal to your generosity in time to make a ten-second paragraph in this debate. Today marks ten years since the end of ETA terrorism in Spain. I believe that today, in this cause of European democracy, we must celebrate this great victory of Spanish democracy. Ladies and gentlemen, the energy crisis is driving many families and businesses into an unsustainable situation and may undermine social cohesion, hopes for economic recovery and citizens' support for the European Union's green and digital transition. That is why, in the face of this European problem, there can only be one European response, as President Sánchez has already said lately and as he will reiterate tomorrow at the European Council. Ladies and gentlemen, from this House we must support this proposal, as the Commission is doing. In the short term, we must respond to the needs of the most vulnerable – as the Spanish Government, Mrs Montserrat, is doing – with fiscal measures and by decoupling electricity and gas prices. We must jointly negotiate the purchase of gas, as we did with vaccines, and create European strategic reserves, while correcting the financial speculation that is occurring in the CO2 emission markets. And in the medium and long term we must continue to bet on cheaper and cleaner energy, as we have proposed in the European Green Deal.