Droughts and extreme weather events as a threat to local communities and EU agriculture in times of climate change (debate)
Climate change is intensifying the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, such as droughts, heat waves and floods. These events represent a growing threat to local communities and the agricultural sector across the Union, severely affecting food production, water resources and the livelihoods of millions of citizens. Agriculture is one of the sectors most vulnerable to droughts and extr
Mr President, Madam Vice-President, thank you for presenting this action plan at a time when developments around the Mythos model once again highlight the degree of dependence of the European Union on external access to critical AI systems. Since we see that it is not only Anthropic that decides to grant or deny access to advanced models because the Commission directly no longer asks the White Hou
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Circularity requirements for vehicle design and management of end-of-life vehicles (debate)
Mr President, Commissioner, biofuels play a very important role in sectors that are difficult to electrify, such as aviation or maritime transport, but they must not become the main route for the decarbonisation of road transport. The European priority must remain the electrification of the car. It is the most efficient, most competitive and also the most sustainable option. Electric vehicles cons
Madam President, Madam Vice-President Virkkunen, digital networks are the backbone of key sectors for our economy. They allow information to travel in real time and very important services to work, from hospitals and advanced production to artificial intelligence and advanced computing, but Europe is lagging behind. The Digital Networks Act is an opportunity to create a single market for telecommu
Mr President, Madam Vice-President, the Social Democratic Group is committed to a digital package that fosters digital innovation and reduces the competitiveness gap in Europe. The one-stop shop for cyber incidents and the integration of rules on non-personal data are important developments in this direction. But we want competitiveness that puts citizens at the centre and protects their data. Unf
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Promoting EU digital rules: protecting European sovereignty (debate)
Madam President, Commissioner Virkkunen, in the past plenary session, the President of the Commission placed European sovereignty at the centre of her speech on the EU debate. But sovereignty is not defended by speeches, but by decisions. While large digital platforms violate our rules, spread disinformation or condition our markets, the Commission looks the other way and delays its response for f
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Europe’s automotive future – reversing the ban on the sale of combustion cars in the EU (topical debate)
Mr President, Commissioner, gentlemen on the right, stop lying. Stop fooling European citizens into believing that they will not be able to use their combustion cars. What is legislated here is the end of CO emissions2 in order to have a better future. But of course, lying interests them. Why not fill their mouths talking about the lack of recharging points by 2035 but not talking about the €500 b
Madam President, Commissioner, we welcome this second simplification package as a necessary step forward in adapting the CAP to the challenges facing the sector and adapting it to every worker in the agri-food industry. This simplification should help us to improve the efficiency and proportionality of the sector without leaving environmental and social objectives behind. Measures such as the incr
Madam President, Commissioner, science and innovation are our present and our future and that is why Choose Europe for Science must be the roadmap to meet the challenges of the coming years. What would have become of our history without Marie Curie, the Spanish Margarita Salas, Charles Darwin or Grace Hopper? I assure you that history as we know it would not have happened. Let's continue to break
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Resilience and the need to improve the interconnection of energy grid infrastructure in the EU: the first lessons from the blackout in the Iberian Peninsula (debate)
Madam President, 28 April, 12.33: 15,000 megawatts disappear leaving a widespread blackout in Spain and Portugal. What followed during the following hours in my country was the management of the crisis in record time by a government and a president in the first person who continue to investigate, although many doubt it, the cause of this. And what also follows in Spain is a destructive and scaveng
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Winning the global tech race: boosting innovation and closing funding gaps (topical debate)
Mr President, Europe imports more than 80% of its digital infrastructure and key technologies. Our digital and technological dependence is an Achilles heel that powers like the United States already use to impose conditions contrary to our model of digitization. We can't continue to allow that. We need an ambitious European digital industrial policy that enables the development of EuroStack, ensur
Madam President, Commissioner, the European Action Plan for Steel and Metals is a step forward. We welcome the Plan's commitment to decarbonisation and incentives for demand for green steel. We also support the expansion of CBAM to downstream products, which will be key to protecting our industry from dumping. But there is still much to be done. The current trade safeguards have reached their limi
Mr President, Commissioner Jørgensen, with the publication of the Affordable Energy Action Plan, the Commission recognises that the key obstacles to European competitiveness remain energy prices and dependence on external fossil energy. This is a big step in the right direction. Yes, we need to reduce grid tariffs and we need to bring more supply and flexibility to the system by shortening authori
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Social and employment aspects of restructuring processes: the need to protect jobs and workers’ rights (debate)
Madam President, I take advantage of this debate and the presence of the Commissioners to tell you about my land, Navarre, and the BSH company, where 660 people see their future in jeopardy after the announcement of the closure of the company. We can't play with people's work and lives. Our industry – Navarre, Spain and Europe – is competitive and, in the case of BSH, a factory and a competitive c
Madam President, Commissioner, the European automotive sector is at a crucial moment and that is why we cannot afford any more uncertainty. Reopening current legislation puts the competitiveness of our industry at risk. Target 2035 must be immovable. Changing it would only lead to delays and instability and affect the thousands of workers who depend on this sector. What we need to do is provide so
Madam President, the European steel industry is facing a crisis. Global overproduction, unfair trading practices and high energy prices pose challenges to the competitiveness and employability of the sector that we must undoubtedly address. However, these challenges are structural and should not push us back on our path towards climate neutrality. The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is a
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The crisis facing the EU’s automotive industry, potential plant closures and the need to enhance competitiveness and maintain jobs in Europe (debate)
Mr President, the European Union's automotive sector is facing a series of transformations that require a rapid adaptation of its business model. Rising wage costs, energy prices and global competition with other powers outside the European Union are posing new problems for the competitiveness of European manufacturers, problems that need to be addressed. It is therefore essential that the Commiss