Speeches

Mr President, colleagues, first of all I would like to thank all those who have been working on this gas package for more than two years. I especially thank the rapporteur on the directive, Mr Geier, who with patience and passion managed to find a not-easy compromise. The gas package, in its complexity, is above all our response to the energy crisis caused by the vile attack of Russia on Ukraine and Europe. In this directive, there are positive elements that protect European citizens from the threat of dependence on Russian gas and add countless guarantees against energy poverty and the most vulnerable citizens. However, the core of the Gas Directive concerns the definition of rules for the future hydrogen market, and here the result, from my point of view, is disappointing. We have made many improvements on the general principles of the hydrogen market, on governance and on planning, but we have not been able to introduce rules to prevent conflicts of interest between gas companies and hydrogen companies. Therefore, the risk that hydrogen is just a greenwashing operation for fossil gas is still present. For these reasons we decided to abstain.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to respond to the example of Palermo, because I have lived there for many years. To think that the houses of Palermo do not need energy efficiency seems to me a resounding mistake, or in any case the statement of those who do not know that where there is more heat there is a need to improve the efficiency of buildings because, for example in summer, those buildings need to be cooled and, moreover, in winter I can assure you that in Palermo it is also cold, and at this time there is the same temperature as Brussels. Majority of the Left, Follies green... The reality is that the European Union needs to make investments in buildings because buildings are energy-intensive, both public and private, and with this directive we can make progress: There is no obligation, no tragedy, no need to misinform citizens about the useful actions that are being taken in this House, also thanks to the work of the rapporteur, Mr Cuffe, and the other shadow rapporteurs who have worked on this file. This directive, however, comes at the right time, in the midst of geopolitical wars that have shown the importance of energy efficiency and, precisely, savings for our buildings.

Mr President, Commissioner Breton, ladies and gentlemen, cybersecurity is a key priority for Europe in today's digital world. Every day, Europe's critical infrastructures, businesses and citizens are exposed to increasingly sophisticated cyber threats; It is a broad subject, with broad facets that deserve to be treated by the European Union as a priority, both for today and for tomorrow. The Cyber Resilience Act, which my colleague Nicola Danti as rapporteur negotiated excellently with the Council and the Commission, is in fact the first European law on the cybersecurity of products that can be connected online. In these months of work we have managed to fill some gaps, making sure that any digital product is not only safe throughout the supply chain, but especially during its life cycle. Transparency, support and guarantee are at the heart of this regulation, which, on the one hand, will protect the consumer and, on the other, will support small and medium-sized enterprises. Particular attention was given to the management of vulnerabilities, with more transparency and cooperation but always respecting the circulation of data, especially technical, and with a strengthening of ENISA in the control process. A regulation that applies to most of the products that we ourselves are currently using here in this House and that should therefore make us understand the importance of this vote.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, today I am addressing an issue that seems local but which is actually crucial for the proper functioning of the European Union: the full participation of Sicily in the ascending phase of the European legislative process, provided for by the Treaties of the European Union and Lisbon, but unfortunately so far missed by the ARS (Sicilian Regional Assembly), which is also the oldest Parliament in this Europe, given that it has existed for over 900 years. Greater participation of territories means being even more united in diversity. And Sicily, with its millenary history and its cultural peculiarities, has so much diversity, even if this is almost never recognized even by the Italian order, despite the autonomy, an autonomy never really realized. Now, I'm mentioning these things in Italian, I could have spoken about this in English, ou parler de ça en français, o explicar estas cosas de Sicilia en español... (The speaker ends the speech in Sicilian)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I would also like to say this to my colleague, Mrs Győri, for her speech just now: We are not here to determine whether Ilaria Salis, who is an Italian teacher currently detained in Hungary, is guilty or innocent of the crimes she is accused of. We are not a court, we are not judges, but we are here to talk, once again, about fundamental rights violated by a Member State of the European Union: Hungary. Ilaria Salis was taken to court in chains, like a slave of no one knows what era, after spending months deprived of the basic rights of every defendant in a rule of law, without being able to call, in inhuman conditions, tied to the neck and surrounded by mice and insects. There is also another similar case, ladies and gentlemen, which I would like to raise in this House and concerns another Member State: Romania. This is the case of Filippo Mosca, a Sicilian, Italian, European boy, also detained in inhumane conditions in the prison of Porta Alba in Constance on the basis of a process unacceptable by European standards. It is crucial to guarantee Ilaria, Filippo and all detainees fundamental rights and a fair trial. No one asks not to respect the law or the sovereignty of these Member States, but it is essential that the same procedural guarantees and the protection of human dignity be observed in a similar way throughout the European Union.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, recent EU audits have shown that horsemeat from Uruguay and Argentina is characterised by unreliable claims and an unknown and therefore potentially dangerous pharmacological history. In fact, this absurd situation has been known since 2012, when they were documented by the Animal Welfare Foundation the numerous cases of non-compliance with our requirements on the welfare of horses and the traceability of meat imported from these countries. The regulatory vacuum in this case allows irregularities that touch crucial aspects of the supply chain, such as the lack of official controls and criminal activities, such as the slaughter of stolen horses and smuggling. Unlike in non-European countries, horses are microchipped and have a passport that shows their medical history. It's not the first time we've heard about these facts, but I'd like it to be the last. I therefore hope that the European Commission will take a clear position on this issue, with timely and urgent actions, such as a clear suspension of imports of horsemeat from Argentina and Uruguay and the application of European standards on food-safe animal welfare in countries exporting to the European Union. Only through rapid and decisive action will we be able to guarantee food security and respect for the rights of animals producing horsemeat.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, while reiterating and endorsing what many Members have said about the working conditions of firefighters and their exposure to deadly diseases, I would like to stress that the infringement of Directive 1999/70/EC on fixed-term work continues to undermine the rights of discontinuous firefighters – who are 9 000 in Italy – who are constantly relegated to a state of precariousness and improperly classified as volunteers, despite receiving a regular paycheck and contributing to the social security system. This is a clear violation of their rights, an unacceptable situation that needs to be addressed urgently. We cannot ignore the fact that there have been no significant developments in this area since December 2020, which is in stark contrast to the European Commission’s commitment to ensuring timely compliance with EU law by Member States. To date, and in response to the numerous petitions received from this Parliament, the Commission has stated that it is working to assess the information submitted by the Italian authorities. I therefore call on all Members of the European Parliament and the Commissioner to take note of this worrying situation and to act with determination to put an end to this systematic violation of workers' rights.

I do not believe that this document is contradictory. The reduction of CO2 is one of the obvious elements, because obviously, going to improve the quality of buildings you go to consume less, and on the other hand you go to save on bills. So you do a double job: one that goes to help the citizens' coffers and, on the other hand, it goes to help, precisely the environment, in the framework of the green transition and, moreover, it also creates a positive economic leverage when you go to create jobs, precisely through restructuring.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the directive on the energy efficiency of buildings that we are about to vote on is a positive one because it allows us to reduce the cost of bills and improve the quality of buildings. With the instruments made available by this directive, often interpreted in an imaginative way by the supporters of energy and climate immobilism, the whole of Europe will make a huge investment that already in the medium term will have as a return a substantial reduction in energy consumption, which will make the coffers of many European citizens redo. More than patrimonial! The longer these interventions are postponed, the more costs will increase, both in terms of bills and in terms of energy vulnerability and therefore geopolitical. The applicant’s claim is: Who will pay for all this? This directive explains that, if several existing European funding instruments can be used, public leverage will be used to support the population groups that most need it. Changing fossil fuel suppliers to cope with the energy crisis generated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine is a non-solution that keeps us vulnerable. Isolating our homes, on the other hand, means making us increasingly independent of external factors and actors. This is something we must try to do quickly: It is not true that there is a hidden patrimony, but there is a great opportunity to help citizens in such a delicate moment. (The speaker agreed to respond to a "blue card" speech)

Madam President, good morning Mr Executive Vice—President. Yesterday, a historic scientific breakthrough was announced. In ten years, nuclear fusion might power a completely decarbonised energy system. But we are still talking about ten years at least. What do we do until then? Shall we keep growing our dependence on fossil fuels and foreign countries that produce them? Doesn’t seem very wise. Shall we keep pouring water on conventional nuclear plants and sweep their waste under the rug? The solution in the meanwhile is investing in solar panels, wind turbines, heat pumps. This is the cheapest and fastest way to decarbonise the energy system now. And we need to accelerate because the climate crisis does not wait for administrative procedures to be done. Citizens are on our side, on this as long as we let them be part of the process and aid their advantage on the process, on bills, for example, and don’t impose choices on them. Citizens are actually the power that our renewable energy system is built on.

Mr President, at the end, we reached a good compromise in the storage regulation in case of emergency as the scope to protect our citizens and households. However, we could do more with the ban on Russian gas, which should not be used to fill up our storage facilities. I welcome the fact that energy efficiency has become part of the security of gas supply policy and the filling target mechanism, even if we are still far away from a real policy that would prioritise energy efficiency, savings and renewables. We should clearly understand that the disagreement is temporary because of the war and a geopolitical moment. I would like to remind the Commission that the real goal is the phasing out of gas and not its promotion. That’s why I say that this regulation and the next gas package are not completely aligned with the targets of the Paris Agreement or the Green Deal because there is still no decommissioning of gas infrastructures, and targets on energy efficiency and renewables are insufficient.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, first of all I want to thank the rapporteur for this important and useful work, and I do so as an islander and as a representative of a constituency that includes islands where six and a half million European citizens live, citizens who live in disadvantaged conditions despite the fact that many funds have been allocated over the years. However, this disadvantage remains. Why? Because there is inability to spend, lack of human resources capable of managing processes, lack of design and failure to achieve objectives. So, in my opinion, the real crux of the matter is the need for European funds and state aid to follow an ad hoc regulation for islands, through a more direct relationship between the islands themselves and the European Commission and a real impact assessment of the projects. Islands should be the flagship of the ecological transition and risk being cut off instead. We know that this problem exists and I really hope that something will be done to make sure that the citizens of the island of Europe are no longer second-class citizens but move on to second-class citizens, starting now.

Mr President, everyone seems to finally understand how important it is to fund our European energy independence. That doesn’t mean stop using gas today, of course, but we can’t repeat the same mistakes made in the recent past. Relying on more gas through different suppliers only creates new dependencies, draws away funds from investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency, and locks us into fossil infrastructure for decades. The final text, for example, allows for the Melita and EastMed gas pipelines to become PCIs and so to pump EU public funds into future stranded assets. Last week, the European Commission presented an entire greenwashing proposal. Well, considering the position taken on gas infrastructure subsidies, it sounds quite hypocritical. The narrative that more gas imported from the US, Qatar or other third countries will reduce the bill of the European citizens is a fairy tale. We have the solutions and we just need to use them. Just for example, in Sicily, on 1 April, the electricity generated by wind and sun has covered all the energy needed in the island.

Mr President, I am, as many of you colleagues, deeply alarmed by the increasing use of the death penalty against protesters, human rights defenders and dissidents, but also ethnic and religious minorities in Iran. In order not to seem only an external concern, I want to highlight the proposal in the joint motion that recognises citizen—led initiatives in Iran, such as petitions calling for an end to the death penalty and its disproportionate use against minorities and women. Iran is also one of the few countries in the world that executes minors, in clear violation of international law. There appears to be a state policy of intimidating, prosecuting or silencing those who call for accountability, justice and truth, whether they are victims themselves, relatives, human rights defenders, lawyers or organisations. The voices of Iranian citizens are brutally silenced by the regime, and yet these initiatives show that Iranian citizens want the death penalty practices to end. Because of this, the regime cannot claim that the demand to end the death penalty is only coming from outside Iran. Its own citizens want it to end. This is why the EU and the international community need to take urgent actions to let the voice of the Iranian people be heard and stop decades of impunity of those who are involved in human rights abuses.

Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, as you know, Cameroon is beset with two violent conflicts and went from peaceful protest to war. The escalation of violence has led to a number of simultaneous political and security challenges and to the high level of instability which the people of Cameroon are now facing. This is very deplorable and frustrating. Armed groups and government forces committed widespread human rights abuses, including extrajudicial or summary execution and mass killings. This has resulted in 80% of schools in the two Anglophone region being closed or destroyed, and 700 000 students are denied education. We also see that ethnic tensions are rising, with political speech turned into hate speech, based on ethnicity and gender discrimination, which is taking place in an atmosphere of terror in the region, including targeted attacks on students, teachers, but also journalists and humanitarian workers. All this is very concerning, and the European Union needs to respond strongly. It is no longer possible to ignore this conflict, and the situation is increasingly deteriorating. We need to mediate for an immediate cease fire, calling on both sides of the conflict to cease purposefully targeting civilians, schools and children, which deprives them of the right to education. It is also time that we make use of all the financial instruments provided by development aid or other programmes as political leverage, using them to enhance the defence of human rights in a country that is suffering since too long.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, it is true that in Italy the virus of fascism still exists, but fortunately it is marginal in size and the country that experienced its catastrophe and defeated it on the ground has developed effective antibodies. The attack on the union in Rome, which is reminiscent of the darkest page in our history, is an obscene act that should be condemned by all, without exception. Unfortunately, however, various institutional parties in Europe wink at fascists and violent. This is the case in Italy of the Brothers of Italy and the League, who use ambiguous language and fail to renounce fascism and fascists. But there are things to explain about these facts. First, these small groups, composed mainly of ultras and fanatics, are numerically very limited and its components are well known to Italian law enforcement. We should ask ourselves why, during peaceful demonstrations, these were left free to generate chaos, with law enforcement infiltrated among the violent or committed to repressing the peaceful side of the demonstration. It's happened in Rome, it's happened so many times in the past and it's still happening. The demonstrations in Italy against the use of the Green Pass to be able to work are not fascist demonstrations, there are people who suffer from severe social hardship and who have the right to demonstrate it, since no country in the European Union applies the taxes provided for in Italy by the Draghi government on work. Violent and neo-fascists actually play the game of those who want to repress dissent and in Italy this thing is unfortunately not new.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, the devastating increase in the energy bill is caused by the increase in the price of gas, by our delayed ecological transition, by lack of investment in renewables and energy efficiency. While gas prices have skyrocketed, the cost of producing electricity from renewable sources has remained stable and low. Investing in new gas infrastructure and thinking of being dependent on actors outside the European Union, such as Russia, is nothing more than economic, environmental, social and geopolitical suicide. Increased investments in energy efficiency to reduce consumption and renewable energy, involving citizens in production, are the only way to lower prices and prevent future situations like this. On the part of the Commission, I expect the necessary short-term measures to contain the emergency, measures that must focus above all on consumers, households, craftsmen and small and medium-sized enterprises, vulnerable and increasingly exposed to the concept of energy poverty, to choose between heating or eating. If action is not taken quickly, the achievement of the objectives of the Green deal and social cohesion will be put at risk and the responsiveness of the European Union will be perceived by European citizens as evanescent.

Mr President, I am also very worried about the ongoing situation in Ethiopia. The fresh start we expected with the election has turned into a nightmare. A few days ago, I spoke with the representatives of various Tigrayan communities and I received extremely worrying information concerning human rights. The Ethiopian Government is extensively cracking down on civilians throughout the country. This is the reason why I would not focus only on Tigray, but I would rather highlight the situation regarding the whole of Ethiopia, where several human rights violations have been reported, including arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture, executions and forced displacements. Ethiopia needs to see an inclusive national dialogue with all communities, political parties and wider civil society. The commitment and the fundamental role of the European Union lies in humanitarian aid and in promoting inter—regional dialogue and the restoration of security. Let’s act right away!