What Pedro spoke about.

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PT Written Statement

Presentation of the programme of activities of the Belgian Presidency (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Prime Minister De Croo, welcome to the European Parliament at the beginning of your term of office as President of the Council. President of the Council at a crossroads in Europe and the world. The dramatic situation in Palestine; the suffering of the relatives of Israeli hostages at the hands of Hamas; the war in Ukraine, which has been going on for two year…

24

Apr

2024

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The sixth Anti-Money Laundering Directive - Anti-Money Laundering Regulation - Establishing the Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (joint debate - Anti-money laundering)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner McGuinness, financial crime knows no borders. That is why this is one of the cases where Europe can really make a difference. Today, we will pass tighter anti-money laundering rules for both banks and the non-financial sector. And most importantly, we have created a new European authority to ensure tight and demanding supervision across the Union, i…

10

Apr

2024

EN Speech

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Screening of third country nationals at the external borders - European Criminal Records Information System - Third Country Nationals - Common procedure for international protection in the Union - Establishing a return border procedure, and amending Regulation (EU) 2021/1148 - Asylum and migration management - Addressing situations of crisis and force majeure - Establishment of 'Eurodac' for the comparison of fingerprints for the effective application of Regulation (EU) No 604/2013, for identifying an illegally staying third-country national or stateless person and on requests for the comparison with Eurodac data by Member States' law enforcement authorities and Europol for law enforcement purposes (recast) - Union Resettlement Framework - Standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection - Standards for the reception of applicants for international protection (recast) (joint debate - Migration and Asylum package)

Madam President, Commissioners, colleagues, it may be easy to come here and criticise the Migration Pact. It is obviously not perfect, but it is a compromise – a moment in which Europe stops dragging its feet on migration – and therefore it is a positive moment. The Pact will establish effective procedures to manage our borders, but never giving up on huge solidarity with the refugees. That’s why …

10

Apr

2024

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Order of business

Madam President, just briefly wanted to say that despite the ICJ rulings, despite the UN Security Council resolution, all the legal obligations, all the binding measures to protect the civilians and the aid workers, again, seven World Central Kitchen staff members were killed last week in Gaza. They were devoting their life to helping the most vulnerable. This is not an isolated case. Over 200 hum…

13

Mar

2024

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European Semester for economic policy coordination 2024 – European Semester for economic policy coordination: employment and social priorities for 2024 (joint debate – European Semester)

Mr President, Commissioners, Minister, ladies and gentlemen, with the newly agreed new debt and deficit rules we have been able to improve the flexibility to manage public accounts in a sustainable way and to promote investment and employment. But today, with the risks of stagnation threatening our economy, we have heard voices – even today we hear it again – defending the mistakes of the past: sp…

12

Mar

2024

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Council and Commission statements - Preparation of the European Council meeting of 21 and 22 March 2024 (debate)

Mr President, Madam President of the Commission, Minister representing the Council, ladies and gentlemen, the next European Council will be important to reaffirm our unconditional support for Ukraine, but also to demand, I would say, above all to demand at this moment, an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza, without ambiguity, to stop the humanitarian catastrophe that is shocking the wor…

28

Feb

2024

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Formal sitting - Address by Yulia Navalnaya

Madam President, Madam Navalnaya, today we pay tribute to Alexei Navalny, the 2021 Sakharov Prize laureate, for his courage and his ultimate sacrifice for democracy and for freedom in your country against the tyranny and the corruption of Putin’s regime. He paid the highest price with his own life, but his legacy will live through you, through your family, and it will be honoured through the Russi…

28

Feb

2024

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Strengthening European Defence in a volatile geopolitical landscape - Implementation of the common foreign and security policy – annual report 2023 - Implementation of the common security and defence policy – annual report 2023 (joint debate - European security and defence)

Madam President, colleagues, an important debate, this one, at an existential moment for Europe and the world. One has to start by saying we did well on responding to yet another existential threat to the world – that was COVID. We were safe and the Europeans recognise it, but the rest of the world accused us of just taking care of the rich people in the West. We did also well when Putin invaded U…

6

Feb

2024

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The need for unwavering EU support for Ukraine, after two years of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine (debate)

Mr President, Madam President of the Commission, Madam President of the Council of the European Union, colleagues, two years of this war, more than 700 days of suffering in Ukraine. In each of these days, people were killed, children lost their lives or their parents, families were destroyed by the brutal attacks of Russia. In each of these more than 700 days, the brave Ukrainian people stood agai…

5

Feb

2024

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Order of business

Madam President, yes I do, in the name of the S&D Group. We want to make it clear that we are absolutely for a proper debate of the current situation in Gaza, but we have been able up until now as a Parliament to stay united, and the strength of the European position regarding this situation, which on the ground is so dire, is that we have been able to do this – particularly us here in Parliament.…

17

Jan

2024

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Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 14-15 December 2023 and preparation of the Special European Council meeting of 1 February 2024 - Situation in Hungary and frozen EU funds (joint debate - European Council meetings)

Madam President, Council, dear President von der Leyen, colleagues, I want to start by saying that whoever leads the Council on its special meeting on the 1st of February needs to show enough strength and leadership to overcome the blackmail of Orbán and deliver on the EU budget and the support to Ukraine. Europe is yet again at an existential moment. Europeans are looking at us. European leaders …

16

Jan

2024

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Humanitarian situation in Gaza, the need to reach a ceasefire and the risks of regional escalation (debate)

Mr President, Minister, Commissioner, colleagues, as we speak, bombs keep falling in Gaza. Civilians are getting killed by the thousands. Children are dying in this dreadful war. 24 000 deaths, 70% of them women and children, and the war keeps going. To have an idea of the proportion of this death toll, it is the equivalent to 5 million deaths if it were the EU population. Yes, 5 million. Half of …

16

Jan

2024

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Keeping commitments and delivering military assistance to Ukraine (debate)

Mr President, I would like to greet the Minister on her first appearance towards the Parliament, in which I gather it will be a lot. Dear Commissioner, Vice President, colleagues, from the beginning of the war, the EU and its Member States committed themselves to support Ukraine as long as it takes, and our support Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and integrity has been unwavering. Yet we are a…

15

Jan

2024

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The need for an EU and international response to the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and for continued support to the Yemeni peace process (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, let me be crystal clear. We totally condemn the ongoing attacks on maritime activities in the Red Sea from these Houthi-controlled territories in Yemen with the support of Iran. The Houthi attacks threaten the international navigation and the maritime security in grave disrespect from international law, and they endanger the lives of the civilian crews, s…

13

Dec

2023

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EU strategy to assist young people facing the housing and cost of living crisis (topical debate)

Madam President, Commissioner Schmit, remaining colleagues, today, many young people do not feel confident that they will enjoy a higher or even the same living standards as their parents did. Students are unable to join their preferred university just because they cannot even rent a room. Young workers find out that wages are low, even after five years or more of higher education, and many couple…

13

Dec

2023

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Preparation of the European Council meeting of 14-15 December 2023 (debate)

Madam President, Council, dear President von der Leyen, colleagues: President von der Leyen, Europe is once again facing an existential moment. European citizens were promised by you a geopolitical union. Ukrainian citizens were promised unconditional support for their efforts to stop Russia. Today, both promises risk not being a long-lasting reality. As the USA discusses openly the withdrawal of …

12

Dec

2023

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Need to release all hostages, to achieve a humanitarian ceasefire and prospect of the two-state solution (debate)

Mr President, Mr Borrell, ladies and gentlemen, with each passing day, the humanitarian disaster in Gaza is worsening, with 17 or 18 000 dead, 5 000 children. Words are missing to describe this tragedy. Israel's right of defence and objective of destroying Hamas, after the unjustifiable death of so many Jews, the miserable rapes, the kidnappings, the violence without barracks, is legitimate. But t…

22

Nov

2023

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Threat to rule of law as a consequence of the governmental agreement in Spain (debate)

Mr President, no – I was expecting a blue card by Mr Weber to explain himself. I don’t want Rangel to explain Mr Weber.

22

Nov

2023

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Threat to rule of law as a consequence of the governmental agreement in Spain (debate)

Mr President, I ask you for the same tolerance of the previous speaker, because I have to defend the honour of my country and I will do it in Portuguese. Senhor Weber, devo defender a honra do meu país pelo que aqui fez hoje. No meio do ataque às instituições espanholas, dirigiu-se ao governo do meu país e chamou corrupto ao governo do meu país. Desrespeitou assim Portugal. Peço à Mesa deste Parla…

22

Nov

2023

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Humanitarian situation in Gaza, the need for the release of hostages and for an immediate humanitarian truce leading to a ceasefire and the prospects for peace and security in the Middle East (debate)

Mr President, High Representative, Commissioner, colleagues, as the sun rose today, a beam of hope came to Israel and Gaza. After weeks of indiscriminate bombing, a humanitarian truce was achieved last night. This must be the beginning of the end of the nightmare that started with the terror of Hamas and the death of more than 1 000 Israelis. But punishing the civilian population in Gaza was also …

18

Oct

2023

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The despicable terrorist attacks by Hamas against Israel, Israel’s right to defend itself in line with humanitarian and international law and the humanitarian situation in Gaza (debate)

Mr President, Mr High Representative, Minister, Vice-President Šefčovič, Faces and Colleagues, every year an Israeli family organised a peace festival on the Gaza-Israel border. Paper parrots were thrown over the fence with messages of peace to unite the two peoples in this greater goal. This year, the festival didn't happen. Hours before it began, the Kutz family was murdered in their home by the…

17

Oct

2023

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International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (debate)

Madam President, dear Commissioner Schmit, dear colleagues, the rightful attention we dedicate to the world around us, particularly given the outbreak of another war, cannot be a pretext to forget what is happening in Europe. In this moment, one of the biggest concerns of our citizens, of our families is the cost of living crisis, followed by the risk of poverty and social exclusion that comes wit…

4

Oct

2023

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Decent Housing for All (topical debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, glad to have you here for this debate, Presidency. Dear colleagues, our political family called for this debate because there is no other way to put it: we are at risk of a serious housing crisis in Europe. People across Europe are struggling to pay their rents, their mortgages, even the energy to heat their houses. Those losing their jobs are at a serious risk of be…

4

Oct

2023

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Need for a speedy adoption of the asylum and migration package (debate)

Mr President, Vice-President Schinas, it is indeed a timely debate, this one. Just two days ago, President Saied said he doesn’t need our charity. You see, Mr Vice-President, exporting the migration challenges faces this nasty reality, particularly if you think of paying an authoritarian regime, a few billions will do the trick. I can even imagine, President Saied, furious thinking, ‘so I was doin…

2

Oct

2023

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Rising precariousness in Europe including the need for aid to the most deprived (debate)

Mr President, dear Commissioner Nicolas Schmit, colleagues. Dear Commissioner, in the State of the Union address, President von der Leyen failed to address the struggle of European families. No red heart, no social commitment at that moment from her. And we too are still so far from the Porto Social Summit objectives, namely on poverty, and that is why that silence was so concerning. I am glad tha…