Speeches

Madam President, Commissioner, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, the recently implemented Digital Services Act, which I was involved in drafting, aims to ensure that the digital world is secure, free of illegal content and does not contribute to the spread of disinformation or hate speech. This is especially important in times of conflict like the current one. Therefore, we urge the major platforms to comply with the obligations set by this legislation and act quickly to quickly remove illegal content and prevent the dissemination of false and misleading information, with which the most powerful have the power to win and with which they can contribute to polarize the severity of conflicts. We remind the big platforms that they have a public responsibility for both the content and digital advertising they disseminate. We also call on the Commission – and we are sure it will – to ensure proper implementation. The Digital Services Act must help protect the rights of citizens, protect our democracies and prevent more fuel from being poured into war conflicts, as is now happening in Israel and Gaza.

Mr President, Commissioner, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, water scarcity is worsening in Europe, especially in the south. More than a third of the European population already suffers from a certain lack of water. And, while this resource is scarce, we continue to develop economic activities that are intensive in the use of water, but on which many jobs and entire regions depend. Therefore, it is very important to develop extraordinary investments and advance innovation for a more efficient use of water. But this is not enough. We need to consider water as a public good, put the general interest above the benefit of a few and work on a redistributive approach to water that ensures an ecological transition that is necessary, but that is fair at the same time, from and for all territories. The European Socialists, who are driving this debate, also want to stop making populism with water, as President Moreno Bonilla is doing in Andalusia with Doñana; We urge the European institutions to redouble their efforts and provide solutions to prevent the overexploitation of an aquifer as important as Doñana, which is at serious risk.

Madam President, Commissioner, the Rubiales case is not an isolated case, it is simply the normality of machismo. Rubiales himself and much of the football world, so opaque, where so much power and so much money is distributed, still do not understand what has happened. But women do understand it and, along with many men, we have said "it's over", feeling that non-consensual kiss from their boss to Jenny Hermoso as a collective humiliation. Because this is not unique to a country either, but to an androcentric culture, including that of the West, Mr Buxadé, which undervalues everything that has to do with women and dresses them as normal. But I think yes, it is no coincidence that it happened in Spain, where we have a high level of awareness, a very robust feminist movement and equality laws of the most advanced in the world. And a party like the socialist that has not stopped building an institutional architecture and that has not sold itself to the denialists of equality as others have done. The good news about this embarrassing issue is that feminism has taken root in society and institutions. Also in this Parliament, where we must ensure that we advance in real equality, also in areas that have seen little, such as the world of sport. It's over and we're not stopping.

Mr President, prostitution is not, in most cases, the result of free choice or the empowerment of women. Rather, it is the result of necessity, lack of opportunities and exploitation linked to the asymmetry of power. Prostituted women are not sex workers. Treating them as such would involve, for example, including within the European Skills Union this profession, establishing vocational training programmes so that girls could freely choose this profession. Let us not be hypocrites; that we do not fill our mouths to limit commodification, except in relation to the body of women. The statistics are clear: liberalization increases demand and prostitution also fuels trafficking in women and girls. That is why the report by my colleague, Mrs Noichl, to whom I thank, is essential, calling for Europe to bet on a model of equality that penalises the purchase of sex and decriminalises prostituted women and, at the same time, to seek exit programmes without forgetting better migration policies and avoid trivialising other forms of prostitution such as 'sugardadism'. Because prostitution is a school of inequality for all women. And since socialists are committed to equality, we support this report.

Mr President, strategic autonomy is central to the European project, to the well-being of our citizens, to the competitiveness of our companies and I would say even to our democracies. At the heart of this strategic autonomy are undoubtedly the critical raw materials we need to tackle the reindustrialisation of Europe and also the green and digital transitions. So this Critical Raw Materials Act, for which we will work during the Spanish Presidency, is very welcome, above all, to avoid mistakes of the past, such as dependence on fossil fuels, dependence that we do not now want to have on critical raw materials. But this objective must be achieved with guarantees – environmental guarantees and social guarantees – both in the European territory and in other territories. We must bet on recycling, also for training in skills, for research and innovation in new materials. And finally, we must never forget the specific impact on the territories in which mining takes place, both in third countries and also in European localities, in regions such as Andalusia. It is necessary to involve citizens in the benefits of this activity and also to make them participate in the future of their regions and countries.

Madam President, water is key and hence this proposal amending three directives with the aim of updating the lists of water pollutants and of monitoring surface water and groundwater more strictly. We define new standards for substances that harm nature and human health in line with scientific advances and streamline monitoring processes that prioritize groundwater and river basin pollutants. Europe sends a clear message about water. But in some territories this message is not being heard, as it happens in my own country with the Doñana National Park, where the Government of the Junta de Andalucía is going against the tide. This is so despite the successive warnings of the European institutions and now also of UNESCO as a World Heritage Site that is said Park. So let's not forget that water is key, that water is life and that we have to protect it.

Madam President, Commissioner, semiconductors play a vital geostrategic role in modern economies; are a central part of digital products, devices and infrastructures. Without semiconductors there is no digitization possible. The agreement on the Chips Act is a key step in ensuring our digital transition and our open strategic autonomy. This law will contribute to the development of this sector, which is in turn strategic for many others, and will do so by building on something that is our European strength – research, talent, knowledge – which must also serve to enhance our innovative capacity. The development of this industry also requires essential raw materials, so to guarantee its supply we must draw international alliances with like-minded countries, because we cannot move from an energy dependence to one of raw materials. Socialists have worked to bring this project to all regions of Europe to bridge the digital and industrial divide. We are sure that with this law we have much to gain, both in the European Union and in countries such as Spain, which has made key strategic investments.

Madam President, Commissioner, gender-based violence is a persistent and structural problem also among Europeans, whites and Christians. It has nothing to do with Islam or migrants, as has unfortunately been said in this House today. It is a violence that continues to kill women, also in life. Lives shattered, filled with fear, guilt or hopelessness. That's why most victims don't report. That's why we need laws, policies, institutions. In addition, the Eurobarometer of March last year, in 2022, said that three out of four European women considered that after COVID, physical and emotional violence against women had increased. That is why it is important that tomorrow we approve the ratification of the Istanbul Convention. And that this momentum will also soon allow us to approve the directives on violence and trafficking, predictably during the next Spanish Presidency, which will have the fight for equality and against violence against women as one of its priorities, as has always been the case with the Socialists in Spain.

Mr President, Commissioner, thank you to the rapporteurs, because today we are taking an important step in Europe to combat wage discrimination against all women. In Europe, the wage gap is now around 13%, bringing the annual income gap closer to 40%. This translates into a higher risk of poverty, a greater and earlier abandonment of the labor market, a lower bargaining power of times and jobs in the family and greater inefficiency in our labor markets. That is why we welcome this Pay Transparency Directive, which obliges - I stress - companies with more than 100 workers to share comparative wage information so that we know whether work of equal value is being paid equally to different people and prevent remuneration from being based on sexist criteria. If this proves to be the case, discriminated workers will be able to claim compensation. In addition, Member States are asked to provide for dissuasive penalties and fines for companies that fail to comply with these rules. Today we are closer to a fairer Europe.

Madam President, the right to defend and promote human rights is a risky activity in many parts of the world, as we heard here this very morning, from the hand of Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize winner. But it is also a risky activity in Europe, in Poland, and nothing has happened. Since 2020, there has been a serious escalation of judicial persecution of sexual and reproductive rights defenders such as Justyna Wydrzyńska, convicted by a Polish court for defending the right to abortion. And she's not the only one. It is they, defenders, like Justyna and those who preceded her, who preceded us, who make reality and get the rest, us, to enjoy rights recognized in international law, such as the right to access safe and legal abortion. And they are the ones who harass, intimidate, threaten and imprison the defenders of sexual and reproductive rights in Europ, and those who silence and tolerate it, those who basically seek to control women, discipline us, control our voice, our body, our reproductive capacity. Europe cannot tolerate it. They will not silence us, they will not discipline us, because their voice is our voice.

Madam President, Madam Minister, access to critical and strategic raw materials is essential for the green and digital transitions, which will allow us to achieve climate neutrality and also strategic autonomy in this new geostrategic context of profound transformation of the international order, as we know it. Currently, the production and processing of these materials are highly concentrated and the European Union is highly dependent, as we know, on imports, which generates dependencies and jeopardizes the attainment of strategic autonomy. That is why a European law guaranteeing its supply is very welcome. On the one hand, promoting production, recycling and also research and innovation within the European Union, so that this activity is based on environmental, social and economic sustainability. And here, in Parliament, we will work, together with local actors, to ensure that this is really the case and that quality jobs are also guaranteed. On the other hand, we know that we must draw, as is being done, strategic alliances with other countries, especially in research and innovation, without falling into neocolonial dynamics.

Mr President, Commissioner, Minister, in a world that is digitally transformed, digital is often hostile to women and girls. Let's think about cyberviolence or sexist labor cultures of technological sectors that, in addition, are those of the future. Only 19% of ICT specialists are women. Only 1% of the risk capital available for innovation, highly focused on this digital present and future, goes to women. And, obviously, this is reflected in the choices of women and girls, who do not opt for these studies. But beware, we can not only insist that girls choose these studies while we socialize them in other different values. That is why we must act together, comprehensively, and also praise the feminized professions and care, so that children also choose them and break stereotypes at once without, with it, underestimating everything that our societies associate with women. That is why, before the next session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, this Parliament demands a coordinated policy response for the empowerment of women and girls through technology. We must do this without demanding one thing from the girls and, at the same time, the opposite.

Madam President, Commissioner, digitalisation opens up many opportunities for Europeans, including for their territories, but it can also generate exclusions and increase inequalities that we undoubtedly have to combat from public policies and also with greater democratic participation. This roadmap for the 2030 digital decade aims to strengthen European digital sovereignty, which is undoubtedly an essential element to ensure our resilience and also our strategic autonomy. I am particularly pleased to see reflected in the final agreement the need to ensure basic digital skills and an increase in those targets for 80% of people, thus enabling citizens to have the basic skills necessary to fully participate in the digital society and finally achieve broad digital literacy. I am especially pleased, and it has been a very big effort by our group, the Socialists and Democrats, that there are specific support measures to overcome the serious gender imbalance, since only one in six specialists in information and communication technology, and only one in three graduates in STEM, that is, in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, are women. And finally, also the regional variable, since no region can be left behind this digital progress.

Madam President, Commissioner, despite what we have heard here today from some political groups that women still have to be trained, that we have to wait, I would like to point out that decades ago there have been more women than men graduated from European universities. Plus, with better grades. There are more women than men with secondary and tertiary education of working age. And yet we don't get to the top of companies because power is still masculine. That is why we must intervene. That is why we need public policies, such as this directive that balances or tries to balance the presence of women and men on boards of directors. Even though she's been stranded for ten years, we still need her. Today we make history, we advance in the race towards social justice, but also towards greater resilience, sustainability and efficiency of our companies because when a woman occupies the position of CEO in a company, the presence of women on boards increases by 10%. And that changes the culture and also generates models that must be followed. This directive is first and foremost a democratic imperative, but also an economic imperative. Now we have to watch for it to really be fulfilled.

Madam President, this report enjoys an important consensus among all political groups because we are all aware of the importance of bridging the innovation gap we have with other regions, especially now that we have to advance in resilience, in strategic autonomy and also undertake the green and digital transitions. We really need the implementation of the EIC to be ambitious and transformative, all at once. We really need to get it up and running. We have explicitly called for closing important innovation gaps, such as the gender gap, as well as regional gaps between different European regions and territories. Finally, we have also called for better access to the Accelerator for SMEs, which are really at the heart of innovation in Europe.

Madam President, Commissioner, poverty is certainly immoral and that a rich territory like Europe has 95 million people – 21.7% of its population – at risk of poverty and social exclusion should shame us. In addition, this poverty is perpetuated from generation to generation, especially for women. There are many poor workers, who have also been poor for a long time, especially in the neighborhoods of many cities where there are large pockets of marginalization, as in my homeland, for example, in Andalusia, with twenty-four of the thirty municipalities with the lowest income in Spain. So there is an urgent need to put in place an anti-poverty strategy for 2030 that must involve, on the one hand, developing economic and educational policies that do not generate inequality, strengthening our welfare states and also decent employment. On the other hand, we also need to put on the table a specific instrument, a new instrument to break the circles of poverty, especially in those neighborhoods and those areas where the future is a word that combines very badly with dignified life and the common good. The rise in energy prices, speculation with basic goods, does not point in the right direction and Europe has to hit with a brave and dignified response that goes beyond simple recommendations, because each and every person counts, both those living inside and outside Europe.

Madam President, Commissioner, we have been discussing for some time the difficulties that people, and also SMEs, have to face in this turbulent context in which they operate, especially with the rise in prices and the lack of basic supplies or labour in some sectors, as well as competition with the greatest market power and the greatest ability to relocate that large companies have. SMEs are not only the great creators of employment, but of employment and wealth that is fixed in the territory, and that is why they are essential for social cohesion, and that is why we have to support them, especially in this context; above all, because we are immersed in these twin transitions, digital and green transitions, which need innovation, and SMEs especially need our help so that this sustainability really reaches the entire business fabric. This is why the announcement by President von der Leyen on the SME relief package she presented during her State of the Union speech was very welcome for Socialists and Democrats. In this regard, I call on the Commission to inform us in more detail Parliament and tell us what the conditions of these measures are and, above all, to take us into account for their development, so that these aids and conditions can reach the SMEs that need it most as soon as possible.

Madam President, Commissioner, the proposal for adequate minimum wages is a good one for Europe and it is about social justice, especially for women, who are 60% of minimum wage earners in the European Union, when we only represent 46% of the workforce. We are talking, therefore, about closing the gender gap in wages, income, pensions, wealth, and fighting women's poverty and child poverty, as well as inequality, which is now particularly severe with inflation. Economic inequality is one of the greatest challenges we have and combating it is essential to successfully face the green, digital and, also, demographic transitions, which have to do with care. And it is especially in the long-term care sector where about 81% of the workforce are women who earn minimum wages and also with poor and poor working conditions. Therefore, this proposal for a Directive on minimum wages is an essential piece for the construction of Europe and socialists have been working to take it forward from all corners of Europe, from Andalusia to Thessaloniki, to be able to walk towards social convergence, guarantee the rise of wages and fight against economic and gender inequalities. Undoubtedly, it is a commitment to dignity and social justice.

Madam President, as the Commissioner and the Members who preceded me have said, gender discrimination and women's poverty speak for themselves, the data speak for itself. But, in addition, in these data the real poverty of women is statistically undervalued, since poverty is measured through the family unit, without taking into account intrafamily gender inequalities. This underestimates the real poverty data of women and masks the structural inequalities that women suffer, their lower access to all kinds of resources, their greater difficulty in escaping situations of sexist violence or the fact of being committed to prostitution or to being victims of sexual exploitation, especially sexualized women or immigrants with greater difficulties in accessing employment or social services. Statistics do not capture well the multidimensional nature of poverty or do not measure time poverty, which anchors women in this situation of poverty, especially in single-parent households, since women represent 85% of single-parent households, these constituting 42% of households that are at risk of poverty and social exclusion. This poverty of time leaves these women barely without tools to be able to reverse their situation, as well as that of their sons and daughters. We need to know that one in four children within the Union is at risk of poverty or social exclusion. We can't afford it. That is why we need better statistics, better laws, better policies, especially economic policies, to combat inequality, poverty and also gender inequality. Above all, we need a strong political commitment from the European Union and the Member States. We are here to act, to change everything necessary, so that people, including women, can live with dignity and fully exercise their citizenship rights. This is how we will build a European project for the future, a priority for socialists who believe in a feminist Europe with social justice. We will work for more Europe and less poverty.

Mr President, Commissioner, first of all, I would like to thank the shadow rapporteurs, the teams and the political groups for their work and their commitment to a problem, that of poverty, which affects the whole of Europe and is of increasing concern to European citizens, as the latest Eurobarometer shows. Poverty is immoral and, in a rich territory such as Europe, it is simply incomprehensible. It limits the effective citizenship rights that must underpin the European project and directly undermines the fundamental values of the European Charter. Poverty has soared in Europe with rising energy prices and an average increase in inflation of 10%. And I give you an example of my land, Andalusia, where the latest data tell us that more than 38% of the population is at risk of poverty and social exclusion. This is simply an embarrassment that urges us to act with courage and conviction. In the current context, with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, we are experiencing extreme uncertainty and also a very harsh reality. Prices of basic food, fuel and energy are rising steadily, and wages are not rising at the same rate. Growing poverty particularly affects the poorest of the poor, who are women. According to the latest Eurostat data, there are 64.6 million women, compared to 57.6 million men, in poverty in Europe and, in recent years, the gender poverty gap had already increased in 21 of the 27 Member States. We have no excuse. That is why this report seeks to put forward a series of proposals which must be put into effect as a matter of urgency. First, we must put in place an ambitious anti-poverty strategy for 2030, including the deployment of minimum incomes in all Member States; an income pact, betting on a new social contract that is feminist, with decent jobs and jobs. We must tackle all existing gender gaps: 11% in employment; an hourly wage of 13%; in pensions, 29%; or in revenue, 36%. Also the gap in access to all kinds of resources and services that ultimately lead to the risk of social exclusion and poverty. Secondly, we must resolutely combat energy poverty, whether in winter or summer, especially in this context of climate emergency, which particularly affects single older women and single-parent families. In the same way, we must combat the housing crisis, because every dignified life begins with having a roof. Third, we need to incorporate a gender perspective into the digital transition, including by creating a dedicated fund that increases women's participation in the digital economy, which is essential for inclusion. Fourthly, we need to create a European care strategy, a genuine European care pact, because care work should not be free, unrecognised, unpaid or naturalised for women. We need measures that guarantee the co-responsibility of all people in care, especially within ageing societies, and dignity for those who receive care and for those who care. Fifthly, we must review our economic policies, our economic governance and our taxation, to ensure equal access to basic public services, adequate financing, fair and progressive taxation, and economic policies that do not create inequalities, but on the contrary: a real rental agreement. And, sixthly and lastly, we must mainstream gender throughout the public policy cycle within the European Union and the Member States. Women's poverty has structural causes that we must combat if we want a dignified Europe with a future. I look forward to your support.

Madam President, it is precisely in the United States - champion of democracy and individual freedoms - that a basic human right such as the sexual and reproductive rights of women is about to be annulled, alluding to legal causes, but especially by the long hand of the anti-gender and anti-women movements that are coming to the Supreme Court of the United States and also, unfortunately, to Europe. This is the case in Poland, precisely with a far-right government controlled by intolerant ultra-Catholic movements, the same ones that in my country, Spain, are allies of Vox, such as HazteOir, who have just called a demonstration in Madrid against a recent amendment of the abortion law and where, curiously, part of the Catholic hierarchy has already confirmed its attendance, the same one that last weekend tried to interfere in the next Andalusian elections on June 19 expressly asking for the vote against the left parties. The enemies of women's rights never left: They have been weaving their anti-gender strategy for years and they are fighting a global battle, and we have them here, in this Parliament, where the extreme right is really reaching more and more parts, and in my own country, entering the governments thanks to the fact that the People's Party has opened the doors to them.

Madam President, Commissioner, the consequences of a war are terrible and disproportionately affect women, girls and boys, who, in addition, also on this occasion, account for the majority of those who have left Ukraine. We need to ensure their care and inclusion in our social, health and education systems and make the necessary funds available for it to be done with dignity. In particular, the European Union must protect these women and girls from the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and ensure that women have access to sexual and reproductive health services, including care for legal and safe abortion. Europe must also participate in the collection of evidence against the atrocities of war committed, including rapes, which should not be prescribed, and open its eyes to the barbarism of surrogacy and not consent to the commodification and dehumanization of going to Ukraine to collect purchased babies and leave pregnant women, who are not even named mothers, to their fate. In short, we must guarantee the rights of women and girls now, and in these coming months, because we cannot forget that we are facing an anti-gender agenda that, on a global scale, does not respect our rights, especially sexual and reproductive rights.

Madam President, Commissioner, I wanted to use this debate on the global approach to research and innovation to vindicate the importance of academic freedom in advancing knowledge. Because the university must be a space for debate and critical analysis. And we need to respect that academic freedom to ensure that function. And the first thing we have to do in Europe is really respect it, because that way we can also defend it all over the world. Because one of the elements of the European Union's leadership, precisely in research and talent, can really be greatly strengthened by international cooperation in research and development. Cooperation that obviously must be based on fundamental principles and values and also on gender equality. In the resolution we are debating today, we call for intensified collaboration with third countries to find solutions in the green and digital transitions. For those transitions to be successful and just, we need international cooperation.

Madam President, Commissioner, first of all, I would like to congratulate the negotiating team which, after complex discussions, has reached a balanced compromise that ensures the continuity of roaming for another ten years, preventing that achievement from being interrupted for consumers. Roaming policy, such as at home or roaming, is a European achievement that we must continue to defend so that consumers can continue to use their mobile phones when travelling in the European Union without surprises or additional charges. The agreement reached in a trilogue that I had the honour of chairing guarantees the right to the same quality and speed of mobile connection when travelling to other Member States, as at home, and progressively reduces wholesale roaming charges, free access to emergency services, including for people with special needs, and provides for the Commission to assess whether there is a need to further reduce surcharges for international calls within the Union. Therefore, I believe that we must vote in favour of the agreement that ensures the continuity of roaming policy as at home, and thus maintain the great visible success for European citizens within the digital single market.

Mr President, first of all, thank you very much to the rapporteurs for their work: there is no doubt that gender mainstreaming in all policies and throughout the policy cycle is the best strategy we can pursue to advance gender equality, and to this end its inclusion in the European Parliament is essential because we also have a responsibility to set an example for many other parliaments. The reality is that we have advanced in this approach, but only in part: for example, it is true that all Parliament’s committees have adopted gender action plans, but there is a lack of oversight as to whether the objectives set have actually been achieved. It is also true that there is more presence of women in the positions of responsibility of the commissions, but it is still a minority and above all there is a great segregation, with women rather concentrated in the most social commissions and more absent from others that, in theory, have more power, such as those in the economic field, and that, in the end, define the limits of the policies that we can do in the rest of the continents. We also know from this report that we need a better and more structured connection in terms of gender mainstreaming, gender mainstreaming, between all the institutions of the European Union; We also need to join forces to fight the anti-feminist, anti-gender and ultimately anti-democratic movements that we have long known are receiving extraordinary funding to launch anti-equality campaigns, although now, unfortunately, with the war in Ukraine they are flourishing even more. We also see that it is necessary to measure whether the contributions made by the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality are incorporated into other committees and into Parliament's final position, and for that we must have better data, more data, and that will be the way to measure real political will. We Socialists have that will and we believe that this report is a great step forward, especially the inclusion of zip lists in the next revision of the electoral law of the European Union, that in terms of anti-harassment and #MeToo we make training compulsory for Members of Parliament and that external audit is a real guarantee. We are, therefore, facing a solid and progressive proposal, and it is positive that we are debating it today, 8 March, International Women's Day, on which there are so many women and so many men seeing us everywhere.