Speeches

Madam President, I believe that we are faced with a very great shame once again. An embarrassment that seriously damages the credibility of our institutions by giving the image that there is a tax system for ordinary people and an elite that benefits from a parallel tax system. And in the face of this embarrassment, frankly, I find it regrettable that the Council did not have even the thorny embarrassment of postponing the discussion on the blacklist of tax havens this week. Frankly, this very week, with this leak, to have taken some jurisdictions off the list, not to have introduced, for example, the British Virgin Islands, which are home to two-thirds of the companies. offshore I find it regrettable that they have made themselves known. That list needs to be reformed. It cannot be guided by political criteria and much stricter criteria must be introduced when establishing what kind of countries must be on that list. Secondly, Commissioner, you said that we have advanced anti-money laundering legislation and that we have made progress. And I agree. What happens is that we have a serious implementation problem, in the sense that, for example, we also have politically exposed people on the list who have been able to circumvent the rules, or that some of our European jurisdictions are flagged by the FATF as high-risk jurisdictions. That means that we have a serious problem with the application of our anti-money laundering rules and that means that the Commission has to be much stricter in its application. And thirdly, someone has said that thanks to the OECD countries have more information. True, but the Common Reporting Standard must be reformed. We need more information. For example, real estate and its profits are not covered by the ECCI, or, for example, the United States does not use the ECCI, and that is a serious problem that we also need to change within the framework of the OECD.

Madam President, in this excessive increase in the price of energy, some lose, some households lose, and others gain, oligopolies that, in addition, have been capturing political decisions for years. And now it is not worth saying that the ecological transition is to blame, because, as is well known, only 20% of the increase in the bill has to do with the increase in carbon prices. 80% has to do with the increase in the price of gas. And therein lies the problem, in our endemic dependence on fossil fuels. Now you have to do some things in the long run. Two very clear: firstly, to deploy renewables faster and, secondly, to change the marginalist price allocation system. We cannot seek to electrify, as we need with the Green Deal, by making all energy sources pay the highest price. And secondly, in the short term we also need to make those benefits called "fallen from heaven" pay the taxes they touch. And I want to celebrate some of the measures that are being taken in this regard, for example, in Spain. And finally, Commissioner, we need clear ideas and clear proposals on what to do with the most vulnerable households in the short term. In the toolbox I hope that this aspect will be dealt with specifically and ambitiously.

Madam President, Ahmed Mansoor was convicted for his human rights advocacy. For the last 10 years, his rights under international and Emirati law have been violated. Ahmed has been subject to arbitrary arrest and detention, death threats, physical assault, government surveillance and inhuman treatment which amounts to torture. His arrest is a direct attack on the legitimate work of all human rights defenders in the Emirates. The new Counter—Terrorism Law, issued in 2014, is particularly worrying as it provides the authorities with broad powers to prosecute peaceful critics, political dissidents and human rights activists and to declare them terrorists. This law should be immediately changed in order to comply with international standards. Meanwhile, the situation of human rights and freedoms in the country has dramatically worsened since 2011, and women continue to be subject to a range of discriminatory laws and practices. The Personal Status Law remains, in this regard, a stumbling block for women’s equal rights. It is time to end our complacency towards a government engaged in the brutal repression of its human rights activists and regional destabilisation, while seeking to project the image of a moderate, reliable and stable partner. In that respect, the candidacy of General—Major Nasser Ahmed al-Raisi in the election for Interpol’s presidency could call into question the credibility of the institution. The allegations of human rights abuses against him should be seriously considered before the election is held next November. The EU and its Member States should do more to guarantee the respect of human rights in the country and make it a permanent item on the agenda of the annual summit between the EU and the Gulf Cooperation Council. Without clear guidelines and commitments, our human rights dialogue with the Emirates will not result in any improvement of the situation. During his upcoming visit to the Emirates, Vice-President / High Representative Borrell should call for the immediate and unconditional release of Ahmed Mansoor and that of other human rights defenders like Mohamed al-Roken, and Nasser bin Ghaith. In our resolution, we call on the EU to consider the adoption of EU targeted measures against those responsible for grave human rights violations, including the persecution of Ahmed Mansoor and other human rights defenders under the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions regime.

Mr President, Madam President of the Commission, I believe that your speech today lacked ambition, in at least three areas, which I believe will define the second part of your mandate. The first is the ambition of the fight against climate change. The recent United Nations report is telling us that we are in the worst-case scenario, we are not doing enough, and we are still here, in Brussels, presenting a CAP that goes against climate targets and postponing the kerosene tax until after 2030. We have to do more and faster. Secondly, Afghanistan shows us that we must also move faster towards a geopolitical union. I have to tell you that the star proposal today to eliminate VAT for the European defence industry is not the solution. We must think about speeding up our decision-making mechanisms, creating better synergies between Member States. The Commission must lead there. The third area, in which I think we play a lot, is a new economic governance framework. You haven't said much about it here today. I understand a certain prudence, but, of course, if we want a fair way out of the economic crisis, we cannot return to the framework of fiscal rules that we had in the previous crisis. Deep reform is needed in the coming months.

Madam President, Mr High Representative, the disaster in Afghanistan will, of course, force us to reflect on Europe's role in the world, with a United States that will no longer play the role it has played in the last century, as we well know. But now we're in the urgency. And urgency is fundamentally three things: The first is to help partners from European countries get out on the ground. To do this, we will probably have to have technical contacts with the Taliban, even though, of course, that should not mean their recognition. The second is to assume our responsibilities with the Afghan exodus. And that means humanitarian visas. That means resettlement channels. And, why not, also activate the Temporary Protection Directive, which could be carried out with a Commission proposal and approved in the Council, not even by unanimity, but by qualified majority. It is a directive that we have not used in twenty years, since it was adopted in 2001. If not now, with the Afghan exodus that is going to occur, when? Thirdly, the development of humanitarian assistance through international organizations on the ground. Because the great risk now is the collapse of the Afghan state, of its health, of its administration, and that they will suffer, in addition to the persecution by the Taliban, its citizens.

Madam President, it has been more than four years since the arrest and imprisonment of Dr Djalali, a dual Swedish national, in violation of numerous human rights conventions. After having spent over 100 days in solitary confinement, his health has dramatically worsened, as well as his psychological condition, after having been subject to different forms of torture. The case of Dr Djalali is not an isolated one. There are at least a dozen other EU nationals who are arbitrarily detained in Iran. In this resolution, we urge the Iranian authorities to end the practice of arbitrarily detaining individuals as leverage over foreign countries, to stop his execution and abolish the death penalty. His case reminds us of the need to further strengthen our human rights dialogue with Iran at all levels, while we increase the protection and support for human rights defenders, particularly women. We also need to use all our diplomatic channels to improve relations with Iran and particularly with its civil society. The ongoing Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) talks in Vienna on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal presents us with an opportunity to deepen this dialogue and build the foundations of a new multidimensional relationship based on the respect of international law and human rights. These talks should also serve to adopt a wider regional perspective that allow us to play a more strategic role in responding to security crises in the region. The JCPOA is a cornerstone for a durable mutual trust between the EU, Iran and the US, but also the best instrument to ensure stability and security in the Middle East. This Parliament should irrevocably support a return to the nuclear deal and particularly to have a strong voice in defence of human rights in the country. And that is why I want to join my voice also today to say: ‘free Djalali’.

Madam President, I agree with the previous speaker that perhaps we should reconsider the timetables at which we debate these very important things. But, in any case, I do want to say that if, about seven years ago, when I was elected to this House, I had been told that we would vote on a report calling for a legal review of the Stability Pact, the truth is that I would not have believed it. Tomorrow is a good day for the future of Europe, really. But I also have to say – and it must be acknowledged – that it has cost us a financial crisis, a second very serious economic crisis, such as COVID-19, it has cost us levels of inequality, a second self-inflicted recession after the previous financial crisis, for having dogmatic, irrational rules, based on unobservable variables. And I obviously don't think anyone can go back there. And, of course, tomorrow what Parliament will do is to invite the Commission to be ambitious in revising the rules, and that once and for all we can have rational economic policy instruments also for one very important thing: have the necessary resources to make the necessary investment to make the green transition. This is all very important. Tomorrow the European Parliament will make a clear statement.

Madam President, Madam President of the Commission, Mr President of the Council, I would like to begin my speech by paying tribute to Samuel Luis Muñiz, a 24-year-old boy beaten to death while being shouted 'maricon'; a crime that has shocked all of Spain, Europe, the LGTBI community, and a crime that must remind us that we are far from equality and that we must protect ourselves from hate speech. We have also recently seen in Tbilisi, Georgia, what has happened with the Pride march. and the persecutions of the LGTBI community. This cannot be tolerated in Europe or anywhere in the world, and the European institutions must send a clear message: that we are with them and that we are going to protect them. And that starts with taking strong action against the new Hungarian law. In addition, because with this debate on the new Hungarian law we are playing something fundamental, which are the foundations of the European House. Some autocrats in Europe would love our fundamental rights, the Treaties, to be something a la carte, which some days are fulfilled and some days are not. It is time to take decisive action, and the Commission must take and use all the powers it has in its hands to prevent this from continuing in this way.

Mr President, Mr Vice-President, Mr President Hoyer, I too would like to refer to the case of Vice-President Emma Navarro, who, as everyone knows, spent two years as Vice-President of the EIB and then jumped, after four months of leaving office, directly to a company, Iberdrola, which had received under her direct mandate projects and financing for up to EUR 1.4 billion. What's surprising is that the Bank's Ethics Committee authorized that, gave that waiver. It's incomprehensible, something doesn't work right: or the Ethics Committee does not do its job well or the Rules of Procedure are not clear enough about it. And I believe, therefore, that something needs to be reviewed, and I welcome the fact that the European Ombudsman, on the complaint of the Group of the Greens, has launched an investigation to see what has been done wrong. And I am afraid he will probably conclude in the same way that he concluded with the case of Mr. Ádám Farkas, saying that waiver It should never have happened. Finally, we ask for transparency: We want the resolution of the entire Ethics Committee. We have just received a reply from the EIB inviting us to go to Luxembourg to a reading room to read it. I believe that an institution as important as the EIB deserves to be much more transparent towards its citizens.