Speeches

Mr President, dear Vice-President of the Commission, dear colleagues, I congratulate Mr Buşoi and the whole team on the agreement reached on an important and urgent dossier. These measures mean that the European Union will be better prepared to deal with new crises and increases in energy demand. I would highlight the introduction of the mandatory minimum of 80% for gas storage and I am pleased to say that my country, Portugal, is well placed to comply with it. But this is only one of the necessary steps to ensure energy security in the European Union. It is also necessary to diversify sources, suppliers, resources, build the infrastructure that is still lacking, increase energy efficiency, as well as the use of renewable energy and create the conditions for a true hydrogen economy and society.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the European Commission's proposals to attract skills and talent to the EU are promising, especially the so-called talent partnerships with the countries of North Africa. I only wonder why they are not extended to the entire African continent. These initiatives are described by the European Commission as mutually beneficial. I consider this, the other side, to be very relevant. While it is important to attract talent and skilled workers to the EU, it is also crucial to ensure that there are clear benefits for the countries of origin. International cooperation must aim at all times to create a more balanced world. Partnerships should not result in a brain drain from developing to developed countries. Rather, they should lead to mobility in both directions, as well as to scientific and technological cooperation. These talents, these skilled workers, are expected to contribute to European economies, but also to bring experience and knowledge when returning to their home countries.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we continue to receive reports of abuses of women's rights on the war stage in Ukraine. Sexual violence, in the form of rape, human trafficking or any other type of abuse, is absolutely unacceptable and unthinkable in a context of armed conflict taking place in the 21st century. It is essential that the Union, in collaboration with the international community and non-governmental organisations, responds to these warnings. Roadmaps and concrete measures should be defined and special attention should be given to gender issues in the programming of civilian and security missions. Moreover, the prosecution and punishment of all those responsible for these abuses should be mandatory requirements of any peace negotiation. There is no true peace without justice. The criminals of this war must suffer the consequences of their actions.

Thank you very much, Commissioner. I fully agree with you that renewables and energy efficiency are very important alternatives. But mapping is not enough. We need a very concrete roadmap of procedures and funding in order to push forward both renewables, energy efficiency and the interlinks, especially the ones through the Pyrenees. When do you think that you will have these concrete actions to show us?

Madam President, Commissioner, Europe needs to rapidly strengthen alternatives to importing natural gas from Russia. One possibility is to intensify liquefied natural gas at the entrance to Europe, for example, by taking advantage of existing terminals in the Iberian Peninsula. But in order to do that, we need to strengthen the connection to the Pyrenees interconnection. My question is: what are the Commission’s plans to speed up and help this project progress quickly?

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, cooperation is one of the most decisive factors in scientific research and innovation: cooperation between scientists, between institutions, between the public and private sectors, and between countries and regions. We have countless examples of scientific collaboration work on a global scale. To name just one that, for me, has special significance, I can mention the development last year of the first malaria vaccine, a process in which the European Union was involved through one of the partnerships of the Science and Innovation Framework Programme. However, scientific cooperation cannot be unconditional or unilateral. It is essential that our partners share principles and objectives with us. And it is essential that academic freedom is a fact in every country and region that collaborates with us. Only then will we be defending the scientific community. Not just ours, but everyone else's. I would like to appeal to the projects involved in Horizon Europe to consider hosting Ukrainian researchers who want to work with us in the European Union.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I should like to begin by congratulating the rapporteur, Angelika Niebler, on the excellent work she has done on this report. O is a very important part of the European strategy for data. Its main objective is to boost the use of data by increasing the mechanisms that ensure trust in this process, a reinforcement that will allow us to create shared data spaces at European level in strategic sectors such as energy, mobility and health, benefiting European people and businesses. For the European People's Party, trust and clarity have always been fundamental requirements for the success of the European strategy for data, and this report contributes to this. Highly relevant to the EPP is also the recommendation, for the use of data, of the practice of low costs for small and medium-sized enterprises. start ups.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the regulation that we are about to adopt is very important, both to ensure security of energy supply and to prepare an infrastructure adapted to the fight against climate change, a forward-looking infrastructure that provides us, for example, with the transport of hydrogen. However, as the current reality shows, we still need natural gas and cannot rely on Russia to supply it. We need more transport links for this gas, connections such as the Pyrenees pipeline, which will allow transport to central Europe from the existing terminals in Portugal and Spain. This is currently our best bet to ensure strategic independence from Russia. I therefore call on the European Commission to create solutions for the financing and rapid implementation of these links.

Madam President, Minister, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, security of energy supply and the reduction of our external vulnerability are more important than ever. The initiative Repower You it is positive, but short-term measures lack ambition and clarity. We need a roadmap with concrete steps, mapping existing capacities and addressing the need for new infrastructure, such as liquefied natural gas terminals and interconnections, including the interconnection of the Iberian Peninsula. We also need a financing plan for these activities and to protect our citizens. The impact of price spikes on households and industry is enormous and will only tend to worsen if nothing is done. Our governments must be more ambitious in reducing the tax burden. We must act decisively and we must act now!

Madam President, Commissioner, the textile industry is one of Europe's most important ecosystems. Tens of thousands of companies, mostly small and micro-enterprises, are engaged in this activity that provides jobs for millions of people. Throughout history, the European textile industry has been at the forefront of innovation and global competitiveness. It is a source of pride and an important European asset that the textile strategy should value and help to grow further. We all know that the sector will have to transform, that it must become greener, more circular and sustainable, take full advantage of digitalisation and boost reuse, recycling and waste reduction. At the same time, the textile strategy should create a positive framework for the sector, a framework that puts an emphasis on skills, technology, innovation, a framework that recognises the complexity of the challenges this sector faces and has faced, including in the context of the pandemic, that takes into account the complexity of the value chain, but also rewards the resilience of the textile industry and its entire contribution throughout our history and its heritage and legacy. Commissioner, it is time to act for the good of the sector and the competitiveness of European industry.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, gender equality is a fundamental principle of the European Union that must be defended and applied by all the European institutions, in particular the European Parliament. In terms of its internal reality, Parliament has made clear progress, especially in proportion to its elected members. However, it still needs to be more affirmative. I am referring to concrete issues, such as the representativeness of women in different roles in this institution, but also to a horizontal approach that should be reflected in all European Parliament policies. In this case, not only with regard to your own organisation as an institution, but also in all the topics on which you work and speak. We need greater representation of women for the gender perspective to be present, whether we are talking about digital energy, the environment, the internal market, agriculture or transport. It is essential that the proposals and reports drawn up by this Parliament promote greater participation and leadership by women in the various sectors of society, particularly in scientific research, business, public administration and politics.

Mr President, Commissioner, I should like to begin by congratulating the European Commission on the publication of RePower EU. The current energy price crisis, aggravated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, presents us with two major challenges. The first concerns the strategic autonomy of the European Union. We need to diversify the countries of origin and transit of the gas we import. Interconnections are very important and let me recall what Vice-President Timmermans said yesterday in this Parliament that priority will be given to this issue, namely the links between Portugal and Spain and the rest of Europe. The second aspect is the protection of consumers, those at immediate risk of energy poverty, but also the middle class and businesses, small and medium-sized enterprises, energy-intensive sectors such as ceramics and cement, just to give a few examples, but also agriculture and fisheries, which are already suffering the consequences of energy prices. In this regard, I would like to ask the Commission to have concrete and immediate measures and indications to Member States as part of the package announced today to protect citizens and businesses in Europe.

Mr President, Minister, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the main themes of the United Nations Conference will be climate change, the environment and the reduction of risks associated with natural disasters. These are issues of concern to which women are particularly exposed. Women have a decisive role to play as agents of change, capable of helping humanity as a whole to overcome these and other problems of our times. For this to happen, gender equality issues must be at the heart of policies. It is crucial to strengthen the presence of women in decision-making centres, both in the public and private sectors. Their affirmation as entrepreneurs should be stimulated and their participation in all fields linked, for example, to engineering, science and innovation should be promoted. We need everyone's capabilities to achieve our goals, both in the fight against climate change and in all the other challenges we face today, including building fairer societies.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the single market is one of the great successes of the European project, representing 56 million jobs and generating 25% of the Union's GDP. Despite these achievements, its potential is yet to be achieved. A wide range of non-tariff barriers prevents us from fully achieving our objectives. The European People's Party is committed to overcoming these obstacles which are of different kinds: complex administrative procedures, lack of accessible information, legal obstacles, unequal access to public procurement and several others. As shadow rapporteur in IMCO, in this report I have tried to make my contribution by suggesting measures to combat the growth of protectionism that we have seen in many Member States and to help cut red tape, especially for SMEs. I welcome the report and its rapporteur, this report that we are voting on tomorrow and which results in a broad compromise. We agreed on a set of concrete recommendations addressed to the European Commission and the Member States. There is an urgent need for the European Union to direct its resources towards issues affecting the single market, removing all barriers. Finally, let me mention digitalisation, artificial intelligence and new technologies in general, which should be given particular attention, because of their potential to reduce existing barriers and because they offer new opportunities, including through the completion of the digital single market, to the benefit of consumers and businesses, in particular SMEs.

Dear President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, offshore energy, from wind to waves, is very promising. We must address their undesirable impacts, including on fisheries, aquaculture, ecosystems and biodiversity. However, there is no doubt about its potential, in particular for the outermost regions. In the European Union we already have innovative projects involving these technologies and Portugal, my country, has been at the forefront, but we need specific actions towards a full and technologically neutral integration of all energy sources and carriers. We also need to invest in scientific research and innovation to achieve our climate neutrality goals, and this is all the more important in the light of rising energy prices. The revision of the Renewable Energy Directive is also an opportunity to accelerate the development of early-stage offshore technologies and give the clearest guidance to companies and investors. The investment incentive mechanism, with specific targets for more innovative technologies, would, for example, be an important step in this direction.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, it was mainly thanks to the efforts of the European Parliament that the movement of goods was facilitated and green lanes were adopted during the pandemic. However, mobility, supplies and the regular flow of goods continue to face obstacles. Member States must offer conditions to make the transport of goods, the free movement of workers in this sector a reality. There is no room for artificial barriers in the single market. These do not serve the interests of either the economy, businesses or consumers. The Single Market emergency instrument announced by the President of the Commission, Mrs Von der Leyen, is heading in the right direction, but concrete and swift action is now required to ensure the proper functioning of this market in the future.

Madam President, Commissioner, rare diseases affect more than 30 million people in the European Union and more than 600,000 in Portugal. There are about 6,000 rare diseases, each affecting a few people, but together they represent many patients and we are not giving them a dignified response. Diagnosis can take up to five years. Treatments are scarce, covering only 6% of diseases. In 2009, the European Union adopted the Rare Diseases Strategy, which has been maintained to this day. I myself, at the time as rapporteur for the Horizon 2020 specific programme, included rare diseases among the priorities, which enabled the Joint Programme that exists today. We have made progress, but we are falling short of expectations. We need to review the strategy by 2023 at the latest. In my opinion, there are two points that we need to safeguard: the strengthening of scientific research, the strengthening of cooperation in that research, not only in Europe but at global level. We need to create a strong innovation ecosystem for rare diseases and a new strategy for health data sharing. The exchange of information and knowledge is particularly important in combating these diseases.

Dear President, Dear Commissioner, Dear Minister, Colleagues, the COVID-19 pandemic is a global challenge. We will only leave it behind when all countries have won it. The European Union has been leading efforts to bring vaccines to developing countries. We must maintain and strengthen these efforts and we must urge our partners and allies to do so as well. Vaccines have clearly demonstrated their effectiveness in reducing hospitalizations and deaths. The support of the European Union in the logistics involved in vaccination processes, including from the African continent, is also crucial and the European Union is well placed to provide such support. It already has infrastructure in development aid, in particular in the scientific research partnership on AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. This partnership has made it possible to build capacities that could be very useful in this battle against the coronavirus. Without ensuring adequate conditions on the ground, the simple delivery of vaccines loses effectiveness.

Mr President, Commissioner, I congratulate Mrs Bentele on her excellent work on the report. Access to critical raw materials is key for the green and digital transitions. Renewables, fuel cells and batteries, as well as the entire area of robotics, only develop with access to these resources. Europe needs to have more control over its production chains. We cannot rely so much on imports, hence the importance of the CRM strategy. It is essential to ensure the lowest possible environmental impacts, but scientific and technological advances in mining give us reassurance that it is possible to do so – provided that the issue of sustainability is a precondition in the first place. Addressing the impacts on local communities is also indispensable. Let us not forget the importance of reusing materials.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I believe that, despite the rather technical nature of this dossier, we all understand the importance of metrology, along with other Horizon Europe partnerships, for the success of our policy objectives. Close cooperation between institutions is, in my view, an important way forward. Only in this way will we be able to identify and develop the technologies that will enable us to make an inclusive and financially sustainable transformation of our societies. I would like to take this final moment to thank you. Firstly, to my colleagues who have spoken today in this debate and to all those who have supported my work. A very special word for the shadow rapporteurs, their teams and the political group advisers, with whom I have had excellent cooperation. I thank Commissioner Mariya Gabriel. Commissioner, you can continue to count on my full support in defending science and innovation in Europe. I also thank the Portuguese and Slovenian Presidencies, who have been able to prepare the work on this file in a very efficient way. Last but not least, I thank Mr Bușoi, our ITRE Chair, for his continued support, as well as the entire ITRE Secretariat for the efforts made to ensure the effectiveness of our work, even in these very difficult months of virtual and hybrid work.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, metrology is a discipline at the service of all areas of knowledge. It makes science work, it makes technology work. It helps societies evolve. It allows us to know where we are, whether we are facing a pandemic or implementing disruptive changes such as the green and digital transitions. In the fight against COVID-19, it has contributed to the development of efficient ventilators and even more accurate rapid tests, used daily by millions of people. In industry, it is the technology at the basis of quality assurance of the manufacturing process. Serial production of sophisticated equipment would be unthinkable without metrology. It is also vital to study climate phenomena. We wouldn't be where we are, technologically, without metrology. We wouldn't even get where we want to go. This new public-public partnership, co-funded by Horizon Europe, builds on previous initiatives but raises the bar for new policy objectives. Parliament’s report, which I had the honour of leading, in close collaboration with the shadow rapporteurs, was based on a good proposal from the European Commission, introducing improvements at various levels. Among the main points we managed to adopt, I would like to recall: greater connection, both upstream with universities and research centres and downstream with small and medium-sized enterprises, industry and society at large. The importance of scientific excellence and academic freedom. promoting greater openness and transparency in management activities. Increased dialogue with society as well as greater public visibility of the results achieved. enhancing the possibility of establishing synergies, both between the partnerships and with the other financial instruments, both at the level of the European Commission and of each Member State. The negotiations with the Council, under the Slovenian Presidency, were frankly positive, with all our amendments from the European Parliament being accepted. Our parliamentary report is largely reflected in the final text agreed at the trilogue. Now, we need to focus all our efforts, all our energies, to make the partnership operational as soon as possible, because the time to deliver is critical for our researchers and entrepreneurs.

Mr President, Commissioner, Minister, ladies and gentlemen, COP26 is another milestone in this race against time, which is the fight against climate change. The European Union presents itself in Glasgow as a benchmark for what it has already done and for the strategy it has set out for its future. Horizon Europe, in particular the new generation of partnerships with industry, is an example of this. Several of the areas covered are of decisive importance for the achievement of the targets set: decarbonisation of industry, biodiversity and circular economy, hydrogen, aviation and rail. We know that it is not enough to change behaviors or impose goals. Only with innovative solutions will we succeed, solutions that reconcile the green transition with the creation of jobs and wealth. But we also need to renew our ambitions. For example, we need to make the full transition to clean and affordable energy by focusing on new solutions and leveraging existing ones, in particular renewable energy. All this increasingly requires strong investment in science, technological development and innovation.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, such a broad report, covering such different sectors, all of which are of great importance, would not be possible without a great deal of collaborative work. I would therefore like to thank all those who have allowed us to be here today to discuss it: the Presidencies, first the Portuguese, then the Slovenian, our Commissioner and her services, the shadow rapporteurs and also the ITRA secretariat, the political advisers, the parliamentary assistants, who participated so actively and enthusiastically in this work. I leave this debate with the conviction that, despite differences of opinion, we have converged on the certainty of the potential of these partnerships for our future. I would like to make it clear, even to the most skeptical, that none of these investments will be a blank cheque, that we will demand more than we offer, and I am not just talking about financial compensation. By making these commitments, we will ensure adequate funding for research activities, including a strong link to basic but solution-oriented science. We help the industry to overcome the difficulties caused by the pandemic, in particular as our colleague Christian Ehler said this morning, the sectors most affected by the pandemic, such as commercial aviation, sectors that we will have to support even more because they are fundamental to our economy and to job creation. But we don't just give, we invest. We don't just provide solutions, we demand them. With these partnerships, we celebrate de facto alliances with the main actors of the society that is industry. We provide them with the means to bring about the major changes that are expected of them, but we do so in the expectation that in this process they will be drivers of the European construction to which we aspire.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the nine partnerships covered by this single simplified act are a key element of Horizon Europe. This concerns total investments of more than €20 billion, of which at least half is supported by the private partners of these initiatives. These are initiatives covering some of the main themes for the present and future of Europe: digitalisation, decarbonisation of industry, health, biodiversity, circular economy, mobility, including aviation and rail. In this report, we have been guided by the principles of openness, transparency and inclusiveness, which we want to be transversal to all partnerships. We want to strengthen the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises and start ups, we want to boost co-creation processes, we want to increase the proportion of innovative solutions reaching the market. We have sought to remove bureaucratic barriers, simplify processes, create the conditions for synergies with other European, national and regional programmes and funds. And we did all this, not because we doubt the effectiveness of previous experiences, of public-private partnerships, but because we firmly believe that these are one of the keys to achieving our big goals. This new generation of partnerships has the potential to provide us with the achievement of two objectives that must be pursued simultaneously: the vision of a greener and more environmentally friendly Europe and, at the same time, the vision of a competitive, job-creating, wealth-creating Europe capable of offering an ever better quality of life to all its citizens, a Europe better prepared to face health crises, natural disasters, resource scarcity. For those who imagine that all this is rhetoric and good intentions, a simple example will suffice. A few days ago, the World Health Organization approved for the first time the use of a malaria vaccine in children from countries in sub-Saharan Africa and other countries heavily affected by this disease. The vaccine in question was developed thanks to the strong direct and indirect involvement of the EDCTP partnership, a partnership that will not only continue, but will be reinforced in this unique act with the name of Global Health. This is an example of the extraordinary potential of these initiatives and I am sure others will follow. Many examples, from a new generation of commercial aircraft with low levels of CO2 emissions, to innovative medicines, a more effective management of raw materials, our natural resources, without forgetting, of course, the decisive digitalisation and the whole area of production in the digital sector. These partnerships are doors that open to our common future in Europe.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, rising energy prices affect a large part of the population, including the middle class. It harms our businesses and industries. It threatens economic recovery. To address this problem, with well-identified causes, first and foremost the rampant rise in natural gas prices, the European Union needs to take swift and decisive action. However, these cannot translate into setbacks in the fight against climate change. O Green Deal It is not a cause of this problem, but the way to a solution. Substantive measures are required: to Member States, changes in taxation, in costs of general interest. To the European Union: an ambitious programme to improve the energy efficiency of the use of new technologies and new financing models for the sector. Portugal has one of the most expensive electricity in Europe in relation to purchasing power. The cost of energy in my country is a factor blocking the development and competitiveness of businesses and industries, it is a burden on households with very high levels of energy poverty. We have a long way to go, but it is urgent and imperative to do so now.