Speeches

This debate revolved around the current deadlock in the Council on the agreement for the Platform Workers Directive. The main objective of this directive – which has been defended by socialists for years – is to protect all workers in an increasingly changing and digitalised market. Also, combat unfair competition within the single market. The proposal aims to determine the real employment status of workers, as well as the use that companies make of algorithms and artificial intelligence, in order to monitor and evaluate their employees. If launched, this directive would prevent digital platforms from treating their workers as bogus self-employed, in the event that there really is an employment relationship as an employee. It would also ensure the improvement of occupational health and safety conditions in the sector. The S&D Group will continue to defend the need to respect the European social model, and the fight against job insecurity and abuses. We hope that in March, an agreement can be reached at EPSCO, to resume the approval of a regulatory proposal, necessary for a just and truly sustainable digital transition.

Mr President, Commissioner, in this neo-imperial scenario accelerating the energy transition and strengthening competitiveness is the way forward. Mrs. von der Leyen wants to dispense with all the rules, we heard it yesterday... What an occurrence! Because simplifying can never mean weakening environmental protection. Environmental assessments are a guarantee for communities, for nature and also, by the way, for the legal certainty of investments. Therefore, the real challenge is not to choose between competitiveness or the environment. That can't be the challenge. The real challenge is to do both right at the same time. Accelerate strategic projects? Of course you do, Commissioner, of course you do, but maintaining sound, predictable and respected environmental standards. And I always tell you, and I've told you in this debate before: They are looking at us – also internationally – because rapid transition will not be possible if it is not both fair, credible and sustainable.

Mr President, at the end of last year, a global operation – coordinated by Interpol and the World Customs Organisation – made it possible to seize almost 20 000 protected live animals and detain 365 people in 138 countries. At the same time, Traffic, the international reference organisation fighting crime against nature, warned that the EU remains one of the world’s leading centres of illegal wildlife trafficking – Commissioner, pay attention to this – with more than 5 000 seizures in 2023 and more than 1 million seized specimens, many of them alive. This illicit trade is the fourth largest criminal industry in the world, behind only the trafficking of weapons, drugs and people. That is why Parliament’s position for CITES COP20, which we will vote on tomorrow, is clear and firm – thank you, Manuela Ripa, for your work on this resolution. First, ivory trafficking: on EU digital platforms, only 10% of advertisements for ivory objects provide evidence of legality. That is why, Commissioner, we ask you to transform the current guidelines into binding legislation; Guides are fine, but binding legislation. Second, the European Union is not only one of the main consumers of illegally harvested wildlife, it is also among the main re-exporters of non-CITES wild-caught reptile and amphibian species to the United States. The Commission's recent feasibility study states that there are possible legislative solutions. And thirdly, we ask - again - the Commission for a positive list of species allowed as pets in the European Union. Let us remember, ladies and gentlemen, that we have suffered a pandemic caused by zoonoses and that CITES also protects global health. This is very important: the EU should lead this integration of the One Health approach, which unites human, animal and environmental health in all its policies. I have a few seconds left, so moltes gràcies, sir president. I know you're ever asked why I speak to you in Catalan: It is because you are Catalan and, in this House, you should be able to speak at some point in Catalan, but also in Galician and Basque. That's the reason, so they know.

Madam President, in the privacy of these evening debates, Commissioner, I am going to say a Spanish saying to you: To God praying and with the deck giving. And is that we are losing credibility and leadership to jets. In yesterday's work programme I read that they want to reopen the ban on combustion engines by 2035. This is not compatible with having a strong image at COP30, especially because of the technological neutrality they defend. They will open the door again to fossil fuels: error, error, error. Yesterday we voted on the forest surveillance law and your group left with the far right and knocked it down: Your proposal, from the Commission! Again, we lose credibility. In the deforestation law, in whose internal discussions you have been, in the College of Commissioners, the ball has touched the stringer. Let's see how they behave here and in the Council. The Green Deal must therefore be defended here. And if not, we will not be credible at international summits.

Mr President, dear Commissioner, since we are here almost in privacy, you are correcting and reducing – as if it were a sausage, sliced into slices – the whole European Green Deal. They say one thing, but then they do the opposite. They are sent by a gentleman who sat here until recently, Mr. Weber; He tells you, he gives you orders, and you change. Look, my intervention, really, is a request: No, do not change the Rules of Procedure. Keep the 100% reduction in 2035. I suppose you have read the report of the European Environment Agency, right? Have you read it? Well, I don't have to tell him anything else. But, in addition, if they change the Regulation, China will eat us and will mark the step in the future. Look, don't buy the idea that synthetic fuels are neutral, either; It's fake. So look, every exception, every shortcut, every delay of the European Green Deal is a slap in the face of the image of the European Union and also our economic and competitive possibilities - not just sustainable ones - in the future. Therefore, be strong, stand up to your party and keep the Rules as they stand.

Mr President, the Commissioner has said that this summer's fires are a direct consequence of the warming of the Mediterranean. Thank you for saying it. And I make a reflection: It is not time to reduce the European Green Deal, it is time to strengthen it. We're listening to him. Therefore, more Pact and less negationism. On funds, Commissioner, we need more environmental policy funds, but the financial framework is not going that way. With regard to the Restoration Act - we have spoken so much in this House about the Nature Restoration Act - its implementation in the Member States needs to be accelerated. And, by the way, they are pulverizing forest monitoring legislation. As far as forestry policy is concerned, I have heard from Mr De la Hoz that it has to be Community. I hope so, because then they tend to be against it. I want to point out some responsibilities of the right and the far right with these fires, here, for their destructive denialism. But also in the Member States, because they cut and despise forest policies: they have done it in Galicia, they have done it in Extremadura... Mr De la Hoz, they have done so in Castilla y León, where they have reduced 90% since 2009 in prevention policies and forestry policies. Therefore, more pacts and less denialism.

Madam President, Commissioner, Mr Vice-President, some critical remarks: They say they simplify, but they actually deregulate. I give two examples: in the classification and labelling of chemicals or when providing for derogations for carcinogenic substances in cosmetic products. That's the first observation. The second: the chemical sector is very profitable, very profitable. Therefore, there is no need to harm public health, there is no need to harm consumers in the name of competitiveness. It wasn't necessary. And I say more, for this sector to remain competitive, it must follow two principles: circularity and decarbonisation. Our goal must be sustainable innovation, public health, preservation of the environment, but never back down from the manoeuvres of conservative groups and pressure from governments. lobbies, which is what you guys are doing. Competitiveness? Yes, of course, always, but at the cost of health and the environment? No, Mr. Vice President, never.

Madam President, Commissioner, I would like to express two ideas: firstly, the funds should continue and this Facility should continue. It is one of the best things we did when we were here last term and it must continue. And now, in these 50 seconds that I have left, I'm going to make an approximation to a very specific topic: the issue of the environment and the implementation of the funds in the environment and biodiversity part, because they are 37%, more or less, and have been implemented well, what happens is that, when accounting for it, monitoring is carried out that is only related to climate measures, but environmental and biodiversity issues are left out. What's the matter, sheriff? That we are in a crisis of planetary scope: not only warming, but also ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss. I therefore believe that they must address these shortcomings in design, implementation, to ensure efficiency, good governance, control of future financial instruments, and I repeat, not only for climate issues, but also for environmental issues and for biodiversity issues. This is my concrete request for funds that I hope can continue, as comrade Sandra Gómez said.

Madam President, Commissioner, the European Pact for the Ocean is a positive step, but, look, I would like to remind you that the Agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction has not been signed, and neither have other Member States. I ask that the Ocean Law have binding targets and a clear timetable, because we have to stop trawling and over-exploitation; If not, they will be nice words, but not deeds. The World Plastics Treaty: We're waiting for you. The moratorium on deep seabed mining must be maintained and strengthened, because only 37 countries officially support it. And finally, I ask you to increase resources for scientific knowledge. Look at: Only 2.7% of the world's oceans are protected, far from the 30% we have for land areas. So, yeah, okay, it's a positive step, we've made progress, but we have a lot left to achieve the optimal goals.

Madam President, congratulations to Mr Bajada, because I think he has done a good job and we already have a consensus, Commissioner, that he will come to you well for his work in the coming weeks. I say this, first, because this report prioritises nature-based solutions – well; secondly, because it advocates objectives to – read in the report – limit water abstraction in both agriculture and industry – well, courage; and third, as all speakers have said here, because it advocates the phasing out of PFAS, the famous eternal chemicals that are pure and hard pollution for our water resources and, indeed, also for public health, because they directly pollute rivers and aquifers. I do want to draw attention to an issue, an emerging problem, and it is the water consumption of data centers and artificial intelligence. A large data centre can consume up to 2 million litres of water in one day – attentive, Commissioner. So in the next legislation I ask you to take this situation into account. Congratulations on the consensus that this report has managed to garner.

Mr. President, then COP16 ended well. We have a funding strategy, a monitoring framework. Is that enough, Commissioner? No, we know it's not. Now we have to finish the task: first, by supporting developing countries, because they are experiencing the biodiversity crisis more severely; second, respecting and protecting the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities; thirdly, Commissioner, reflecting this agreement in our multiannual financial framework – we need a European nature restoration fund; and, fourth, defending the validity of the Green Deal, promoting its development instead of cutting it, as your group wants to do, slice by slice, as if it were a sausage. And, by the way, supporting civil society, NGOs, the LIFE programme, and not with that statement that you made yesterday, which is rather an insult. I don't think that's the way. You want to calm the beast of the far right, but you won't get it. I've heard her talk twice about the plastics agreement in Geneva. Okay, okay. But agreement on microplastics here too. Do not submit to the sound of the simplification they want to impose on you. Be autonomous. Let's negotiate that regulation next week.

Mr President, Commissioner, this is a very bad proposal from the European Commission: bad because it will result in cuts and legal uncertainty. They almost completely dismantle due diligence. This means that they leave the most vulnerable links in the chain abandoned, that they cut mandatory civil liability and that they severely limit access to justice for victims. That's what you guys do. In terms of sustainability, they abandon everything to voluntariness: whoever does and whoever doesn't, no. And that's bad for the environment, but it's very unfair for those who do meet the standards. Nefarious and unfair at the same time. And the icing on this cake – a poisoned cake – is that they weaken the taxonomy. Commissioner: flexibility, simplification... yes, always yes. Now, deregulation, backtracking... Never! Of course we must help businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, but with this proposal you subject the general interest to the private interests of a powerful few, and that is not the way, Commissioner.

I was looking, Mr. President, in case I was someone from the far right, because I would never have accepted anything, neither blue nor green card. Look, everything related to European funds, despite your Group and your policy in Spain, we are doing well. And I do not want to recall here what you have tried to do with First Vice-President Teresa Ribera. That is, despite the fact that you here are against everything and are always putting obstacles and problems, we are applying NextGenerationEU funds very well in Spain and we will continue to do so. I only ask one thing: It is good that you ask me that question, but then, in Spain, help, you are always against everything.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, it is a debate in a rather difficult context, because we have the new tenant of the White House and his denialism, and a retarded EPP Group, I am sorry. Mr Tusk's speech yesterday takes us down these dangerous paths. I present two ideas that are like two pieces of evidence. Soil is a non-renewable resource, it is important not to forget it. Do you know how much droughts have increased in the last 25 years? 30%. And in this context, Commissioner, what can the Union do? I tell him that defending green policies - as we go along - is going to be almost countercultural. Well, first of all, look at a risk assessment of desertification and land degradation, as suggested by the European Court of Auditors in 2018. We don't know anything about that report. The Soil Monitoring Act, please, I ask your colleagues in the EPP Group, because they are lowering and lowering it, like all environmental regulations. We can declare ourselves a region at risk of desertification under the United Nations Convention. For that we do not have to wait for any international summit, that we can do now. And, above all, present a specific desertification strategy, as this Parliament has told you. Notice: up to four major measures we can do on our own – the European Union – and set an example in the world. But of course, there is too much retardism on the right. Don't fall for that, Commissioner, there are many groups that are going to support you.

Mr President, Madam Vice-President Ribera, it is a pleasure to see you here. By the way, the Spanish economy is doing very well and it's partly thanks to you. So I'm really glad to see you around here. Look, Mr Procaccini - which I do not see now - European competitiveness is never in conflict with sustainability. On the contrary, it depends on her. And the United States, which has its inflation-reduction law, and China, which is making massive investments in clean technologies, have been mentioned here. Here in Europe we are caught up in sterile debates over that fight between the far right and the right, and it doesn't make any sense because we can't waste time. We have seen this with the Regulation on Deforestation. And, in reality, this is a buried debate on the Car and Van Emissions Regulation with which they want to dilute our climate commitments. I ask: Who benefits from this setback? Citizens and businesses – in particular companies that have already invested in adapting to existing regulations – certainly not. I believe that we must defend the ambitious climate standards we have, because that is defending legal certainty, a level playing field for our businesses and, above all, gentlemen of the right and the far right, the future of the next generations.

Madam President, I believe that the importance of these multilateral spaces is being stressed here – in the previous debate on the G20 they also did so – and I think it is very important that we continue to do so and, also, that we recognise the efforts of the Colombian government – as the Commissioner has done – because their organisation was a success. I would like to highlight the work of the Commission, its head, Director-General Florika Fink-Hooijer, but, Commissioner Schinas, I missed some Commissioner, some Commissioner or Vice-President Šefčovič in Cali, because at a time, in a context where our credibility is on the downside – and it is on the downside because the main group in the House is always questioning the European Green Deal – I think it would have been important if we had been involved at the highest level. I was glad, by the way, to hear you that the Nature Restoration Act has to be a European Union business card. Tell Mr. Weber these days that you're going to see him, and see if it gets into his head at once. Well, problems we've had: national biodiversity plans; almost no plans have been submitted before this COP. That is also a credibility problem. And the funding - as the Commissioner said - 200 billion that we said in Canada, but we haven't done enough. We Socialists do not care how, whether in a new fund or in the Global Environment Facility, but we must mobilize the necessary resources. And the Cali Fund has been highlighted here for the equitable sharing of the benefits of genetic resources and also the participation, the prominence, of indigenous communities. That has been fundamental. Those have been Cali's greatest successes. In any case, it is an optimistic assessment, but we have to consolidate – as the European Union – our position of credibility, coherence and dialogue with other actors. It has been difficult for us to understand each other with African countries, for example, Commissioner. And above all coherence and participation in funding. That is the great challenge, the great debate, that we are going to have two years from now in the next COP and we have to get to it with the duties already done and prepared.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, this is the kind of debate we never want to have here, because we are talking about numerous victims, material damage... In short, a catastrophe, but reality cannot be denied, and, although a section of this House denies it, reality will always be in front of us and will prevail, and that reality is called climate change. I point out two ideas: In this new cycle, new mandate, which is now beginning, many of you want to park, downgrade, delay... the European Green Deal, and today's debate confirms that mistake. The Green Deal, with its twofold social and economic focus, must remain the priority of the European Union: this debate confirms this. Here, a few months ago, we debated a law that they demonized, and I look at this sector of the House, the Nature Restoration Act, and, note, this Act guarantees the treatment, for example, of rivers or floodplains. It is now time to develop national plans, restoration plans: I think it's time. Ladies and gentlemen, we can deny reality, but reality will continue to exist.