Speeches

Madam President, almost every crisis we have known in history has exacerbated inequalities and led to poverty even for those who had already rid themselves of it. That was the case in the 2008 financial crisis, to which the European Union responded with austerity and we all remember the effects of the harmful effects that this had on the Member States and, above all, on the image of Europe. In the recent pandemic crisis, the Union responded with solidarity and this reinforced its relevance to all citizens. In this crisis, the response must be the same, concrete, swift, supportive and creative. This is the political direction we expect from the European Council and the other institutions, with an eye on the citizens. We need to control energy prices and buy them together, as we did with vaccines, to make the use of European funds more flexible, to increase public services, to provide cheap public transport, in short, to provide better social responses, as we are doing in Portugal. What we cannot allow is that this winter there are families who are faced with the choice between buying food or keeping the light on.

Mr President, the death of Mahsa Amini at the hands of the Iranian morality police, just for having the Islamic veil misplaced, is a case of intolerable and shocking violence and restriction of women's most basic rights. It's one of those cases that we thought no longer existed in our world, such as female genital mutilation. But here they remain among us. More than our solidarity, today is our cry that joins all Iranians and Iranians who, since then, have been demonstrating with great courage for their rights and for an end to repression in their country. Mr High Representative, the European Union must continue to demand, within the international institutions and in all its interactions with third countries, in development aid or in diplomatic missions, respect for women's rights. As this Parliament has been defending, our foreign policy must be a real weapon to promote and defend them around the world.

Madam President, for more than ten years we have heard arguments about the dangers that a common charger would pose to innovation. This is a frequent prejudice, but rarely more than that. The innovation that interests us is one that improves people's quality of life and respects the limits of our planet. Different chargers just brought us tons of e-waste, preventing us from using our old chargers or borrowing from a friend and filling our drawers with useless cables, as Alex showed here today. It has been more than demonstrated that the industry would never create a common charger alone and that innovation should be guided, as we have done here today, in the direction that benefits people and the environment. From 2024, we will have the innovation we need, updating the charger whenever there are faster or more energy efficient solutions. Parliament can thus be proud today of having rid us of the jungle of cables in which we lived.

Mr President, thank you very much to the rapporteur. When we adopt a regulation or directive here, our mission is only fulfilled much later, when an ex-post impact assessment proves to us that our objectives have been met. Unfortunately, we all know that this does not always happen and that sometimes the problem is the original text, either because it was written in an unclear and complex way, or because it is just the piece of a puzzle that is difficult to assemble, or because its fulfilment depends on too many administrative obligations. In order to prevent this from happening, as stated in this report, the design of the law must be more closely involved by the citizens. Tested ideas and proofs of pilot concepts, simpler language and technology should be used to facilitate law enforcement. Better regulation essentially serves to ensure that European legislation is effective, allowing us to be satisfied in the end with the outcome of our work, ours here in Parliament, the Commission and the Council.

Mr President, Commissioner, almost all of us are going to be cared for or cared for by someone throughout our lives. It is time for us to recognise that this task is crucial for the well-being of the society in which we live. In the European case, in view of demographic trends, this will be increasingly the case and it is women who provide the vast majority of care tasks. Let us hope that this will change. It is estimated that they spend, on average, 3.2 times more hours than men on unpaid care duties. That leaves 7.7 million women out of the labour market. Our challenge, our great challenge, is how to change this paradigm, which is also cultural, which starts in the family and ends in the job market. We need, therefore, to look at education, showing our boys that caring for others is not just a woman's thing. We must then value the tasks of care. Ensure public investment where necessary. Remunerate this work fairly and dignify these tasks, recognizing the rights of those who care. In Portugal, for example, the Informal Caregiver Statute was established, which guarantees a support allowance, rest periods and access to training. I am pleased to know that the Commission will be ambitious in its strategy. We need a European pact for care, in the certainty that each of us will one day benefit from that effort.

Madam President, Commissioner, one day, during the 2019 European Parliament election campaign, I met Margarida at a station in Lisbon. She was Cape Verdean and had emigrated to Portugal because her children's father disappeared without news. She left the children with her grandmother, on an island in Santiago, and came looking for resources, doing hourly cleaning in city houses and surroundings. When I found her it was seven in the morning, but for her the day had begun two hours earlier, in a very poor neighborhood on the south bank of the Tagus, where she lived, and she still lacked an hour of transport to get to her first job. Her day would end very late, with another two hours of return. We often speak, in technical jargon, of the sociological concept of intersectionality. For those who do not know what this means, this is exactly what I have just described to you: to be a woman and, at the same time, a single mother, an immigrant from Africa, uneducated, precarious and poor. No union to defend their rights, no life to have sympathetic friends, almost invisible. It is for this and many others that we are here today discussing female poverty and how to reduce it. For my part, when I vote in favour of this report, I feel that I will fulfil at least part of the promise I made to Margaret on that day in May 2019.

Mr President, Commissioners, as legislators, it is good to know that we are able to decide quickly when we commit ourselves to this. After two decades of almost no regulation we have reached a new stage in the life of online platforms and digital markets, with regulation that protects the interests of users, who can choose their messaging service, that of small businesses, who have suffered from unfair competition from the very platforms where they sell their products, and that of society in general, which suffers from the negative systemic effects of the excessive power of large platforms. For now, however, these diplomas are just paper tigers. To be something more than that and make a difference we need an adequate level of resources for the national authorities and the European Commission responsible for its implementation. Today we are taking a step forward, but it is only when we achieve the results that have led us to adopt these diplomas that we can say that our joint mission has been fulfilled.

Madam President, the death of the Sandinista revolutionary general Hugo Torres in February this year shows that even those who fought alongside Daniel Ortega are falling into his hands. General Torres was imprisoned for eight months in inhumane conditions, subject to constant interrogation and with indications of suffering torture until the day of his death. The families of hundreds of politicians, activists, members of the Nicaraguan Catholic Church tell other horror stories like this one, in which their loved ones are placed in inhumane conditions while awaiting ghost trials behind closed doors, which end in sentences of 3 to 15 years. We have repeated this speech too many times and unfortunately we continue to see the situation in the country worsening, but we must be persistent and even be attentive to other ways that make our solidarity more effective.

Madam President, 60,000 women die every year in the world as a result of complications associated with illegal abortions. It is also in their lives that we are thinking today. Therefore, the fight for the non-criminalization of abortion has been a solidarity struggle between many women in different parts of the world and many men as well. North American, South American, African and European women. All of us, when we had to fight this struggle in our countries, as I have twice, felt how important it is to have the support of women from other countries. Therefore, the possibility of the Roe v. Wade decision being reversed also has to do with us and reminds us of the importance of being attentive to the movements nearby in favour of the criminalisation of abortion. Even in countries where we thought this phase was over, women's rights are universal. We will stand in solidarity in this struggle, as we have been in many others, from the right to education of women in Afghanistan to the fight against female genital mutilation in Africa.

Madam President, Commissioner, there are increasing reports of Ukrainian women who have been victims of various forms of violence, including rape, at the hands of Russian soldiers. The use of violence against women as a weapon of war is not, unfortunately, a new problem or restricted to this conflict. I would even say that it has become a constant in war scenarios. An estimated 50,000 women were raped in the Yugoslav conflict, rising to 250,000 in the Rwandan genocide. We must also not forget protracted conflicts involving the abduction of girls, forced marriages and their exclusion from the education system, as is the case in parts of Nigeria, at the hands of terrorist groups. In the case of Ukraine, we must ensure, and the Commissioner has done so, thanks, that the victims, many of whom are refugees in countries such as Poland and Hungary, have access to psychological support, reproductive and sexual health services, such as emergency contraception or voluntary abortions. This also demonstrates the importance of developing a feminist foreign policy at European level, following the example of countries such as Sweden, as we have recently advocated in this Parliament, in the European Union Action Plan on Gender Equality in External Action. It is true that we cannot help but address specific situations close to us, such as Ukraine, but we cannot trivialise situations that are further away from us just because they do not make newspaper covers.

Madam President, in the world only about 22% of artificial intelligence professionals are women. Unfortunately, this gender inequality is also reflected here in the European Parliament. All those responsible for this report from the various political groups were men. It must be very important... There are, however, a number of women interested in this topic, as we can see even in this debate, who have tabled amendments and, fortunately, in its final version, the report recognises the importance of adopting a gender perspective when we talk about artificial intelligence. We must prevent the data on which algorithms are built from being biased and discriminatory. But artificial intelligence can also be used to combat this discrimination. For example, artificial intelligence makes recruitment processes more objective, basing decisions on pre-defined criteria and reducing the space for subjective analyses that often discriminate against young women for the risk of becoming pregnant. We need to invest in reskilling and upskilling, with a focus on underrepresented groups such as women. The way we use artificial intelligence has to be based on democratic values and ensure that men and women benefit equally from this technology.

Madam President, Commissioner, the importance of repair has become so evident that even some of the largest manufacturers have changed course in this direction. Microsoft, Apple, Samsung, are three brands that have recently launched programs in common to allow repair by third parties or their own users of several of their products. The opinion of European citizens is clear. According to Eurobarometer, 77% prefer to repair their products rather than replace them. However, this right will not become a reality by the work and grace of the Holy Spirit, but only if there is coordinated action in various fields, user literacy, the encouragement of independent repairers, standardisation and transparency in the production of the various products and a framework that promotes understanding among all. That is why Parliament's position is extremely important. More than an abstract desire for a new right, it is a true roadmap to materialize in concrete actions the right to reparation in the name of sustainability, stimulating local economies and the possibility of keeping with us objects to which we are accustomed and that we love so much.

Mr President, Erika Aifan was the last of 20 judges who had to leave Guatemala because of a very oily system of accusations. It begins on social networks against judges and bailiffs who deal with anti-corruption and drug trafficking cases, followed by unproven denunciations that end in arrest warrants, forcing judges to go into exile to avoid arrest. This system, led by the current prosecutor, which the Guatemalan government is preparing to reinstate next May, undermines any confidence that could still exist in the separation of powers in Guatemala, which risks becoming the country where it is easier to threaten and prosecute judges than to fight corruption. We therefore call on the Guatemalan authorities to put an end to these persecutory practices, restoring citizens' trust in an independent system of justice that is an essential condition of any democracy.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, on this International Women's Day it is good that we not only discuss the internal problems of the European Parliament, which also exist, but that we remember women from all over the world. Let us remember Afghan women, whose most basic rights, such as access to education, have disappeared with the Taliban regimes, let us remember women, or rather girls, who are forced to marry and do not choose the age at which they can or want to do so, let us remember more than 120 million school-age girls who are outside the education system, let us remember terrorist groups, such as Boko Haram, who are known for destroying schools, killing teachers and kidnapping girls, whose only crime is that they want to learn. It is estimated that this group alone, which is mostly active in Nigeria, which is not that far from Europe, has killed more than 2200 teachers, destroyed more than 1400 schools and caused 600,000 children to lose access to education. Our foreign policy can also be a weapon to defend women's rights, especially those in the most vulnerable situations around the world, and help tackle problems that should have already been eradicated from the world, such as female genital mutilation, which still affects 200 million women worldwide. The report we are discussing here today, and I thank the rapporteur for the excellent work she has done, stresses the importance of ensuring support for the victims of this and other forms of violence, advocates the need to take into account sex-disaggregated data in the distribution of humanitarian aid and calls for a significant proportion of this aid to be dedicated to projects that have as their main objective the reduction of gender inequalities. As in Sweden, the foreign policy of the European Union and all the Member States must be feminist and must not ignore half the population.

Ladies and gentlemen, in February 2020 before the pandemic began, women faced numerous political, social and economic inequalities, some of which have been accentuated in the last two years or, at least, have become more visible, such as precarious employment and therefore higher unemployment, or the lack of reconciliation between personal, professional and family life. In the European Parliament, in all the committees in which we work, from foreign policy to the economy, from the budget to the internal market, from agriculture to fisheries, we try to address these and other inequalities. It says who's been here longer than me that we've even done it better in this legislature than we did in previous legislatures. But we know it's not all right. Some figures have already been given which show that there is still an unbalanced representation between men and women. As my colleague Robert Biedroń said here, when we also look at the committees' choices, we are not very happy. For example, in the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence, only men participated in the final report, both the shadow rapporteurs and the rapporteur. As Caroline Criado Perez wrote in her book Invisible Women, the real reason we exclude women is because we see the rights of 50% of the population as the interests of a minority.

Mr President, Commissioner, there is not a single country in the world that has achieved gender equality. It is estimated that 70% of the world's most impoverished population are women, that two out of three people who cannot read or write are women, and that although more than 40% of agricultural workers are women, they own 20% less land. These are the reasons for this discussion that we are having here today. These inequalities make women more vulnerable to climate change and how they are most vulnerable, usually and unfortunately, in any crisis. We therefore need to have more data disaggregated by sex, to ensure that women are on decision-making tables and, above all, to ensure that all climate policies, at European and international level, take account of their impact on women.

Mr President, Commissioner, we all had our favourite toys, much simpler than those that exist today. Like many other objects, toys are increasingly connected, which means that the children's room is connected to the world. In order to avoid situations such as the Kayla doll, which allowed any stranger to enter its system and communicate with children, we need to ensure that the next version of this directive, which I wish could be a regulation, includes rules for the cybersecurity of toys. And because, in addition to being connected, toys are also dynamic, with artificial intelligence enabling them to interact in a personalised way, it is essential to ensure their safety, not only when they are placed on the market, but throughout their lifetime, which requires more data and enhanced cooperation between supervisors. The next legislation should therefore guarantee parents and children that playing is not a high-risk activity, but just a fun time.

Madam President, when Maykel Castillo received the Latin Grammys for Best Urban Music and Song of the Year on 18 November 2021, she did so from prison in Cuba, not from a stage in Las Vegas. The music , which awarded him, playing with that of Fidel Castro is precisely a message of liberation of the Cuban people. As with Maykel, the oppression of artistic and civic movements and the garrote of expression imposed by the Cuban Government have been a constant in recent months and are unacceptable. No artist should be imprisoned for his art. This dark face of the last months of Cuba, an attack on human rights, must be reversed and the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement with Cuba can also be used for this purpose. However slow progress may be, or slower than we would like, breaking the paths of dialogue would not help Cuba. In Cuba, as in other Latin American countries - and I had the opportunity to see it in Venezuela recently - it is through inclusive political dialogue that we will be able to progress, not through sanctions that worsen the daily lives of citizens. And I would say more, they often have the effect of uniting them against those who sanction them, rather than rebelling against those who limit their rights and undermine the credibility of their institutions.

Mr President, Mr High Representative, Cristiana Chamorro, Arturo Cruz, Félix Maradiaga, Juan Sebastián Chamorro, Miguel Mora, Medardo Mairena and Noel Vidaurre are the seven presidential candidates arrested before the last elections in Nicaragua under unacceptable conditions, together with hundreds of activists, journalists and businessmen. Some might think that after the theatrical Nicaraguan elections, this repressive drift by Daniel Ortega would calm down, but that was not the case. A few weeks ago, former Nicaraguan ambassador to the Organization of American States, Edgar Parrales, was arrested, demonstrating Ortega's unwillingness to change his autocratic behavior. We know that the only solution to this deep political crisis is an inclusive national political dialogue. However, first of all, what we are asking you, Mr High Representative, is to be uncompromising in defending human rights and demanding the release of political prisoners.

Madam President, after the GDPR, which has served as a reference throughout the world for the protection of personal data, we are now taking an equivalent step towards competition rules with DNA. A step to protect sellers who see their products copied and customers stolen by large platforms and to protect consumers forced to buy multiple services even when they only want to enjoy one. It's a result we have to celebrate! Won this one sprint The marathon to be implemented is now lacking to update the competition rules. Will we have the means to deal with major technologies, especially in the field of interoperability? Will we be fast enough to bring competition back to digital markets to the benefit of consumers and innovation? As the pudding proves itself by eating, the law will show its usefulness if it is well applied. You can count on this Parliament to check the results and fine-tune the regulation if it proves, as I have argued here today, that we really need to go further.

Madam President, there are persistent inequalities in the European Union, inequalities that resist the law, inequalities that resist intervention. In wages, for example: 14% less per hour than men. In the distribution of part-time work: 31% of women compared to 8% of men. And a lot of other numbers we've heard here today. And there are new inequalities, as we showed in the previous debate. In other words, gender equality is far from being achieved in the European Union, however much the opposite may be said here. It is a culture of centuries that we are changing and cultures, unfortunately, do not change by law: They require ambition, persistence, determination. We will be ambitious, persistent and determined in this struggle. Together with passing the laws, we must ensure the means for them to produce results and change reality. We're not always arguing about the same thing here. And we need to apply a gender perspective to all relevant public policies.

Madam President, Commissioner, 90% of victims who share pornographic images without consent are women. The online world is not safe for them, and above all it is not safe for girls, who are often victims of harassment at ages when they are not mature enough to defend themselves without being crushed. Commissioner, it is not enough to incorporate a gender perspective into the proposals that seek to legislate on the digital world. I add my voice to that of my colleagues who have argued here for the need for a directive specifically addressing this scourge. We cannot let the online world be an even more sophisticated mirror, and now so often under the cover of anonymity, of the violence we see in the offline world.

Madam President, Commissioner, last week I was part of a Parliament delegation in the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence and we had the opportunity to discuss in depth technological cooperation with Members, Presidency services, the Department of State and Trade, stakeholders and various think tanks. We converge on the goal of accelerating innovation. We even converge on the values we need to protect, in the name of a democratic model for digital. But there is still a great deal of distance in the regulatory instruments that we must use for this purpose, so that data is protected in an equivalent way, or in the risk approach of Artificial Intelligence. We need, therefore, on both sides of the Atlantic, to be open to building bridges and common solutions, which do not have to be exactly the same, but which, in the end, allow us, as the Vice-President said, a trusted digital space.

Madam President, 60,000 women die every year in the world as a result of complications associated with illegal abortions. That's what we're talking about. Texas' new abortion law, which a federal judge yesterday blocked at the request of the Justice Department and President Biden, has stripped women of access to medical, legal, safe, and worse: This law encourages shocking social policing, rewarding those who denounce the practice of an illegal abortion with monetary rewards of around $10,000. It's creepy. Anyone involved can be charged: the doctor who performs the abortion, the driver who transports the woman and the clinic, of course. What is happening in Texas is an affront to human rights. We are not anti-American, Mr President-in-Office, quite the contrary, we are in solidarity with all American women in Texas, as we are with Brazilian women, with Peruvian women and many other women in the world, always, until the voice gives us.

Madam President, Commissioner, in July we affirmed in this same plenary our commitment to respect the rights and freedoms of expression of all citizens in Cuba, defending the dignity and physical integrity of those who are fighting for a democratic Cuba. Today I reiterate this position by saying that the effort to increase cybersecurity, to which we are all committed, cannot be used as a pretext in Cuba to limit citizens' freedoms. However, it will not help Cuba or any other country in Latin America or other parts of the world to increase sanctions that have a negative impact on the quality of life of citizens. That is why we continue to see the maintenance of the diplomatic platform created with the European Union's Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement as essential. Madam President, Commissioner, we are still in this Parliament without having an in-depth discussion of the problems affecting many Latin American countries. In this regard, I can only express my disappointment that, for the second year in a row, President von der Leyen's State of the Union address does not contain a single reference to Latin America, probably one of the regions of the world with the most historical and cultural ties to the European Union. It would be good if, for once, we looked differently at this part of the American continent.