What João spoke about.

Mr President, Commissioner, what a pleasure it is to be here today, in this plenary, to take a step that is undoubtedly historic and decisive. What many people, many organizations, have been calling for for several decades, may now be a reality. The approval of the European Disability Card and the Parking Card for persons with disabilities is just the recognition of a principle of equality, that t

Mr President, the future of Europe does not look very bright. Just like 100 years ago, fratricidal wars proliferate around us. Inequalities are on the rise and 95 million Europeans are living in poverty or at risk of social exclusion. And just like 100 years ago, populisms proliferate, feeding on fear and lack of security in the future. But there is time to reverse this course. There is time, beca

Madam President, Commissioner Sinkevičius, please accept my sincere appreciation for your words today. Also to Commissioner Sinkevičius, my apologies for not being able to delay this debate of today, but unfortunately, on Thursday we have a very important day in our democracy, which is the 25 April, the reason for which I will not be able to be here. I want to thank all the comments and all the re

Madam President, Commissioner, at the end of last year, in the middle of the Christmas season, the news coming to us from Galicia reminded many of the tragedy of the oil tanker. Unfortunately, this environmental disaster, in which 26 tons of plastic pellets have invaded the beautiful beaches of northern Spain, is far from an isolated phenomenon. Pellets are the third leading cause of unintentional

Mr President, five years, five years past and another five years lost. In fact, five more years, added to so many others, without solving one of the main problems affecting young people across Europe. Indeed, it is painful to have to return here, to this plenary, to demand the same things again and again, when this scourge should have been eliminated long ago. Working without being paid is unworth

Mr President, 26 tonnes of small plastic particles lost at sea and on the coasts of Galicia and Asturias. These are tragic images of millions and millions of pellets polluting our environment, and I want to send a word of support and thanks to our brothers in Galicia, who have spent days and days trying to clean up their precious beaches. The report, which I was able to prepare and present publicl

Madam President, Commissioner, it is always inspiring to hear progressive leadership from the Commission in this House. Investing in skills is a powerful weapon to tackle the digital and energy transition, and so three points are essential. First, investing in lifelong training for our workers is essential to ensure social fairness and better employment opportunities at a time of green and digital

Mr President, 'I am a man, a father, a grandfather. I'm a fascist. Days after the chilling fascist demonstration in Italy, it was in these terms that a member of the Portuguese far-right defined himself at the congress of his party. What I come here today is a question, eye to eye, with the far-right and the European citizens listening to us: Why so much hate? It is that this hatred that they prop

Mr President, Commissioner, 95 million people – I have already said this and I would remind you again – 95 million people in the European Union live at risk of poverty, many of them young people. This is a number that should embarrass us and it is imperative that we manage to eliminate it. That is why, in the face of such a blatant crisis disproportionately affecting young Europeans – such as the

Mr President, today, in this House, we have discussed and adopted a report on mental health, knowing that this mostly affects young Europeans. We cannot advocate a strategy for mental health while aggravating the causes of mental illness, and so it is crucial that we have a strategy for the right to disconnectivity that is consistent with these rights. We must ensure that the same rights that appl

Madam President, on the day we mark World Children's Rights Day, there seems to be little reason to celebrate. One in four children in the European Union lives at risk of poverty and social exclusion. Worldwide, an estimated 333 million children live in extreme poverty and, according to UNICEF, around 1 billion children face what is called multidimensional poverty, meaning they lack a wide range o

Mr President, Commissioner, let me start by saying that we have approved the first pillar, or are in the process of approving the first pillar with the CLP, REACH will now be lacking in order to complete the chemicals strategy as well. Classification, labelling and packaging of chemicals at 9:30 a.m. on a Tuesday evening. It is not one of those topics that makes us fall in love with the European U

Madam President, Commissioner, have you ever tried to buy experienced clothes? Or go to a supermarket and pay the bill with experience? Take a bus, the subway or even pay the rent of the house? Can any of these things be paid for with experience? No, and therefore the work cannot be paid for with experience either. Unfortunately, for almost half of European trainees, experience is the only pay the

Madam President, over the years, we have been consistently fighting for more and more powers in the European Parliament. The reason why we do this is because we firmly believe that this is the House of European democracy and that this is the House that truly represents the European citizens and we have to be their voice, but most importantly, this House needs to stand by the high standards it trie

Mr President, Commissioner, the adoption of the European Pillar of Social Rights was a historic milestone for the European Union and, after many decades of demand, it was the courage of the socialist governments of Portugal and Sweden that made it possible to enshrine a set of fundamental principles and that are a guarantee of the social protection of the European population. I would therefore lik

Madam President, Commissioner, I reiterate my thanks for the excellent proposal that the Commission has been able to put forward and that we have had the opportunity to work together to improve it. This year's Europe Day has an additional meaning that invites us to reflect together on our own future. Today marks the start of the European Year of Skills and the first note I want to make is that I h

Mr President, Commissioner, one of the objectives of this European Year of Youth was to create inclusive societies. In some European countries, three out of ten homeless people are young. Young people are also those who are most affected by access to housing and those who have the most difficulty in obtaining housing, either through the rental market or in access to purchase and housing credit. Wi

Madam President, Mr Rangel has come here to talk about the contradictions of socialist leaders and the question I would like to ask him is whether he is in a position to assume, before this House, that the PSD completely rejects the taboo breaking of its parliamentary leader so that the European Union can finance the construction of walls and barbed wire in the European Union with European funds?

Madam President, the symbolic and effective attacks on Brazil's three powers were an event that can only deserve our repudiation, as they deserve from most of the Brazilian population. But these events are not only a problem of Brazil, they are a problem of clarity and a problem of choices. A problem of clarity, because we need to demystify who is behind these attacks and how the international far

Madam President, Commissioner, just over a month ago the Portuguese Socialists invited 200 young people to come to the European Parliament to express their concerns about the present and the future. Out of thirty proposals, young people have chosen nine priorities which they have been able to present to the President of this Parliament: a European strategy on mental health, free European public tr

Mr President, as António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, said, the world is on a highway towards climate hell and its foot is deep in the accelerator. Despite numerous ongoing efforts, biodiversity is still in global decline, with several targets set in the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2010-2020 not being met, and it is more than certain that the scenario will worsen this sit