Speeches

Mr President, Commissioner, twenty-seven women were killed in Portugal last year in the context of domestic violence. Violence against women and children is a scourge that we have been dealing with for a long time. Our authorities, our courts, act late and often ineffectively. In my country, there is still a feeling of impunity among the aggressors. Verbal aggressions, and even physical aggressions, rarely reach the courts, are rarely convicted, and even when this happens the result is almost always a suspended sentence. Gender-based violence is intolerable, violates the basic principles of the European Union, violates human rights. I therefore welcome the rapporteurs and follow all their recommendations, including that the Commission and the Council consider gender-based violence to be a particularly serious crime with a cross-border dimension. But I still argue that we should go further: Member States should be urged to do what is necessary, including even aggravating the penal frameworks, to show aggressors that their actions have consequences that will not be clear.

Mr President, Fit for 55 is a much needed package. The current status quo is not enough for Europe to reach climate neutrality by 2050. If we want to achieve what we pledged, we need to go further. With this proposal the EU addresses climate change in several sectors. Previous interventions focused mainly on energy production and industry. This is a step in the right direction. On the other hand, there is room for improvement. We need a better connection between the climate agenda and research and development. Fit for 55 is comprehensive when it comes to regulation, standards, taxation and carbon pricing, but it falls short when it comes to the development of clean, affordable technologies. Horizon Europe partnerships are just an example of an initiative that could help us to develop the technological resources that we need to achieve our goals. We want a package linked to the real world, one that ensures a fair distribution of the burden we will put on different sectors of society, paying special attention to our citizens, counting on existing and emerging technologies, and contributing to the creation of wealth and jobs.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the European research area is of decisive importance to our Union. Providing the right conditions for scientific activity means contributing to economic growth, job creation and the well-being of society at large. There is a need for continued investment in science and innovation, with particular attention to fundamental research at both European Commission and Member State level. The recovery and resilience plans are an opportunity to strengthen investments at national level, bearing in mind the long-established target of 3% of gross domestic product dedicated to these areas. I hope that the Member States will be ambitious in this respect. Equally important is to provide the conditions for researchers to develop their activities. Europe must be able to attract and retain researchers. Particular attention should be paid to young scientists, who have been particularly affected in their activities by the COVID-19 pandemic. Creating such conditions means providing decent careers, tackling precariousness, but also giving access to infrastructure, information and data, empowering research centres and universities. Only then will we have the excellent research that Europe needs.