What Pilar spoke about.

Commissioner, in April I signed a document - a question to the Commission - with other colleagues in this Parliament in which we already warned of the difficulties involved in implementing the regulation and called for measures to ensure compliance with it. I appreciate that you're valuing yourself. However, the postponement of one year is by no means sufficient. Why? Because today there is still

Madam President, Commissioner, developments in advanced artificial intelligence with truly extraordinary capabilities have recently emerged, as we all know by now. These are systems that can identify faults in software autonomously, but at the same time generate mechanisms to use them for other purposes. We are facing a qualitative leap in the development of artificial intelligence with an exponen

Mr President, Commissioner, the conflict in the Middle East is once again straining energy markets and Europe is once again showing its vulnerability: there will be no real strategic autonomy without a profound change of approach. First, it is imperative to accelerate the deployment of storage technologies. Secondly, we must preserve and strengthen stable generation sources, such as nuc

Mr President, Commissioner, first, the current energy system is made up of multiple deeply interconnected layers: electricity grids depend on digital infrastructure for real-time monitoring, the functioning of the energy market depends on the availability of data, and the energy system increasingly depends on satellite services. That is why energy and digitalisation cannot continue to be treated a

Madam President, Madam Vice-President, ladies and gentlemen, the world is not changing, the world has already changed. And historical moments – I think we all agree on this – call for different solutions. Now you have to choose between watching the game or playing it. Shy statements and defensiveness are no longer enough, we must go on the offensive; because there will be no competitiveness withou

Mr President, Commissioner, a competitive economy with a strong digital footprint – artificial intelligence, cloud, data centres and so on – requires high-capacity electricity grids that contribute to lower energy prices for households and businesses. However, while demand is already growing exponentially, our networks are still old, to the point that more than 40% exceed four decades. On the othe

Mr President, Madam Vice-President of the Commission, the digital bus must help accelerate innovation and competitiveness. The proposal focuses on data, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, as we know, and in the case of data, as the Commission says, it is about having more coherent and unified legislation, integrating different rules into the Data Regulation. The Data Regulation has opened

Mr President, Commissioner, we have a valuable roadmap to end Russian energy imports, a guide that includes an ambitious list of actions. Some concern nuclear energy, as mentioned, with measures to prevent new uranium supply contracts. On the other hand, Russian oil should be replaced by 2027 as the deadline. But most of these measures are related to gas, such as banning imports for contracts. spo

Madam President, I am going to help ensure that this debate does not take longer than necessary, because there are others who come later and I want to help ensure that they can be managed well and that we do not delay.

Madam President, Commissioner, the total collapse of the Spanish electricity system leaves us with a first lesson: there is an urgent need to eradicate the messianic vision of renewable energy and the demonisation of nuclear energy. This confrontation has been the hallmark of the energy policy of the President of the Government and his Minister Ribera. Energy security does not need confrontation,

Madam President, Mr Vice-President, energy-intensive industries are a fundamental part of the European economy and play an indispensable role in value chains such as defence and automotive. For years they have had a great competitive capacity and have been at the forefront in quality and innovation. But now their competitiveness is progressively weakened. In fact, declining production and offshori

(start of off-microphone intervention) ... to check this data that you are giving me and that I can also offer you other different data, because it seems to me that it is what we can do in this context of the question that you ask me. So we can gladly share that data at another time.

Mr President, thank you, Commissioner, for being with us. Indeed, in 2022 – as you yourself mentioned – the Versailles Declaration led us to commit to phasing out Russian gas, oil and coal imports as soon as possible. And, in response to that commitment also mentioned, the REPowerEU plan has now made it possible to reduce dependence on gas and other fossil fuels, so that, in 2023, imports of Russi

Mr President, Mr Executive Vice-President, the Draghi report marked a path, and now we have a compass to go through it. The destination is clear, a competitive Europe, but on this path speed matters: the European Commission has stepped on the accelerator with a series of key measures that we will be progressively getting to know, within a few days, the Clean Industrial Pact. But special circumstan

Mr President, Commissioner, every person must have his or her chance in the digital transition. Only with proper training will everyone be able to take advantage of the full potential offered by digitalization. This gap, as Mr Draghi points out, with countries that have more developed both technological innovation and technological training is, to a large extent, what explains the deficit we have

Madam President, the Draghi report puts Europe in the mirror and sets out a path of competitiveness with the central objective of increasing productivity. We need to be productive to be competitive, and to be innovative to be productive, and order, in this case, is important: Europe must innovate to produce, and produce more and better to compete. As stated in the report, the productivity gap betw

Madam President, Commissioner, the 2019-2024 parliamentary term is coming to an end and we recapitulate. The COVID-19 crisis and the war in Ukraine have generated a new awakening in the European Union and the need to provide it with new instruments that have a future horizon, as the ECSC Treaty had more than 20 years ago. It is urgent to set our common project in such a way that we are not left be

Mr President, Commissioner, the reform of the electricity market that we are voting on today meets the threefold objective of reducing the influence of wholesale price volatility on consumer bills, making the cost of energy more stable and predictable, and boosting investment in renewable energy. To this end, the agreement reached by Parliament and the Council includes important measures in this d

Mr President, Commissioner, the succession of violent actions and the destabilisation that Ecuador has been suffering in recent days deserve - I think no one doubts this - the strongest condemnation. Insecurity in Ecuador has escalated to historic levels. Intentional homicides have increased fivefold since 2021 and increased to 43 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023. These data are – no one can doubt

Mr President, Commissioner, digital technologies are, as we know, decisive for the development of innovation and the competitiveness of our industry. And no one could doubt that, in order to fully develop digital and other technologies, we need critical raw materials. Thanks to Parliament, the agreement with the Council provides for faster licensing procedures for extraction, better recycling and

Mr President, Commissioner, today we are discussing the 8th State of the Energy Union report. The report concludes that the European Union reduced its demand for Russian gas by 18% compared to the last five years. However, despite import bans on crude oil and derived products, the European Union remains one of Russia's largest fossil fuel customers. Moreover, some Member States that are in favour

Mr President, Commissioner, despite the bans on the import of crude oil and derived products, we know that the European Union remains one of Russia's largest fossil fuel customers. To begin with, some Member States that claim to be in favour of sanctions have increased their imports to the point that in the first half of 2023 Russian imports of LNG to the Union have been the highest in the last th

Madam President, Commissioner, the concept of strategic sovereignty on which we debate so much is determined by our ability to innovate and compete globally. The single market, on the other hand, is our great asset. It allows to develop the economies of scale necessary to compete in a preferential position in the world economy. On the other hand, we have an industry that has a remarkable global co

Madam President, Madam Vice-President, artificial intelligence is essential for innovation and growth, but for its development there is a fundamental element that has been talked about a lot here today: trust. If people are wary of its use, it will not be able to unfold its full potential. Today we are discussing the first European legislation on artificial intelligence: legislation that should en