Speeches

Madam President, this resolution on Venezuela insists on the manipulation and concealment of facts and on deepening the interventionist strategy of the United States of America. For more than two decades, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has been the target of aggression, interference and aggression by the United States of America, such as the orchestration of coups d'état, the creation of puppet institutions, the permanent campaign of disinformation or the imposition of a cruel economic blockade aimed at affecting the rights and living conditions of the Venezuelan people. That is the path that some political forces in this Parliament continue to insist on, already thinking about interference in the 2024 elections in Venezuela. We recall that the European Parliament and the European Union are not outside the obligation to comply with principles of international law, such as respect for the sovereignty and independence of states, including the right of the Venezuelan people to decide their future, free from external interference. We stand in solidarity with the determination of the Venezuelan people in defense of their right to decide on their path of development and social progress in defense of the Bolivarian Revolution.

Mr President, with each passing day, social inequalities and injustices continue to worsen, workers and the people to be impoverished and those who exploit and speculate to see profits increase. There are still those who say that this is the right way to control inflation, but that is not what workers feel every day when they go to the market, when they receive the electricity or communications bill or when they have to pay the rent of the house or the provision of housing credit. Loss of purchasing power can only be restored by means of a general increase in wages and pensions, accompanied by control and price-fixing, as we have always advocated, by combating profit. The increase in interest rates, imposed blindly by the ECB, forces families to tighten their belts even more, an increase that must be stopped and reversed, avoiding even more severe impacts on families, as we called for in a letter that we recently dynamised. At present, investment in strengthening the social functions of the state is essential. Health, education and housing are rights that we do not give up. Only in this way can we stop the deterioration of the social and economic situation of workers and their families. Only in this way can we contribute to the improvement of their living conditions.

Mr President, during our days in the country, we have been in contact with many small and medium-sized enterprises, especially small traders. Their activity is threatened by the lack of purchasing power of workers and people, rising costs in energy, bank charges, loans, but also communications, unnecessary bureaucracy and taxes that they consider disproportionate to large economic groups. And we must not forget that local trade plays a close role with the most vulnerable. It is necessary to attack the brutal increases in the costs that micro, small and medium-sized enterprises face, energy, bank costs, loans, and that the rise in ECB interest rates has aggravated, communications, tolls, creating conditions so that, by reducing these expenses, there is appreciation of the companies themselves, but also of the workers and their wages, an issue that is fundamental to boost the economy, to maintain activity. We also advocate support for national productive sectors and the creation of conditions for small and medium-sized enterprises to develop their activity.

Madam President, we have debated this resolution in the context of Israel's growing and brutal policy of aggression against the Palestinian people. Examples include the recent attack on the Jenin refugee camp: 12 dead, more than 100 injured, including children, the expulsion of hundreds of families from their homes. We condemn and demand an immediate end to Israel's violence against the Palestinian people. The Israeli government must comply with international law, including the numerous UN resolutions on the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people that for decades have mandated the creation of the State of Palestine with the 1967 borders and capital in East Jerusalem and the realization of the right to return of refugees. It is unacceptable that the words of formal recognition of the national rights of the Palestinian people do not correspond to firm political positions on the part of the institutions of the European Union, including the European Parliament, repudiation of Israel's policy of occupation and oppression and compliance with international law, an expression of a stance of connivance that we denounce. From here we express our solidarity with the Palestinian people and their struggle for their inalienable national rights.

Madam President, on 7 June, Dr Josef Skála, a militant historian of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia, a well-known figure in the Czech Republic, was sentenced to 8 months in prison, conditionally suspended for 18 months, apparently for expressing himself in a radio programme on the basis of various studies and historical reports about the Katyn massacre, calling into question the version propagated by Joseph Goebbels, Minister for Nazi Propaganda. Dr Josef Skála was charged and convicted without a legal basis for his conviction, after a trial in which the most basic rights of defence were not guaranteed and in clear violation of the Constitution of the Czech Republic, as denounced in his country. Their condemnation is a disregard for democratic rights, freedoms and guarantees, which exposes the attempt to revise and falsify history in order to impose a single thought. We express our solidarity with Dr Josef Skála and join all those in the Czech Republic and around the world who have denounced this political persecution and demand justice.

Madam President, we are talking here about the promotion of vocational training because of a growing demand on the part of companies for a so-called Industry 4.0, which translates into jobs with high digital demands. Is concerned that vocational training may be a way of concealing the real numbers of unemployment and not promoting employment with rights; This can be a way of occupying those who want to work, but in the end, instead of a job with rights, you will get, at best, a traineeship. We recognise the value of vocational training in strengthening and updating skills and we also advocate that it be at the service of professional and salary valorisation and career progression. A word of solidarity with the workers of the Matosinhos refinery, who have been unemployed for more than two years due to the closure of the refinery, waiting for vocational training that would open doors for them to a job, at least with the same conditions, but which did not happen in the name of a just transition that has very little and leaves workers behind.

Madam President, we are monitoring the potential for the renovation and innovation of energy networks, building stock, transport and other utilities, with a view to greater energy efficiency, but we are concerned that energy policies, particularly those relating to energy efficiency, may contribute to greater social exclusion and the worsening of the living conditions of citizens, with rising housing costs, mobility or energy prices. Moreover, at a time when the rising cost of living, particularly housing, is suffocating families. Setting binding targets, we said from the outset, will require some states to do more than others. We proposed that the funds mobilised to promote energy efficiency should be excluded from the calculation of Member States' public debt and budget deficits so that they could make the necessary investments, a proposal which was rejected. We argue that the recovery of public control of the energy sector is fundamental to guarantee the economic, social and environmental rights of peoples.

Madam President, in Portugal, if we consider the last ten years, it was only in 2014 that there was no drought at the end of September. At the end of last May, 35% of the territory was in a situation of severe or extreme drought. The scenarios developed for Portugal with regard to climate conditions confirm growing concerns of populations and farmers and point to an increase in the frequency and worsening of weather drought situations, particularly in the south of the country, and may even intensify in the future. This implies an increase in risk and vulnerability to these phenomena, with important impacts on water availability and, consequently, on the agricultural sector, on economic and social plans and plans. The prevalence in time and the higher frequency of occurrence of drought conditions translate into lower storage volumes of reservoirs and water scarcity for different uses. Smallholder farmers, who produce in a more sustainable and nature-friendly way, face rising input costs and also struggle with the lack of water resources for irrigation. And there's no innovation and precision farming that's worth us if water doesn't exist. It is therefore necessary to adopt structural measures to ensure greater and more effective retention of winter water and to find solutions to mitigate and respond to the increasingly frequent and severe drought conditions. It is necessary to recognise the difficulties that drought conditions represent in agricultural production and to take the necessary measures to protect production, ensure the continuity of holdings and promote the settlement of populations and, in the immediate future, to ensure that farmers and livestock producers do not lose all production, to safeguard animals and to ensure the income necessary to maintain activity. It is essential to change the way of production, respecting the limits of nature, promoting biodiversity and restoring what has been lost. Only in this way will we ensure a dignified future where drought is not a death sentence in our country.

Madam President, we are not insensitive to the legitimate desire to be a mother, but there are concerns that cannot be underestimated or ignored, such as the instrumentalisation of life and the human body, in this case the body of a woman and her reproductive organs. The economic exploitation of women's reproductive systems is very evident in the surrogacy business, conveniently called surrogacy. It is a sordid business that seeks to hide the glaring class exploitation that surrounds it, the speculation that is inherent in it, and the serious risks to the health and physical and psychological integrity of women who sell their eggs or rent their bodies as substitutes for another woman's pregnancy. We believe that rights are not built at the expense of exploiting one another. It is necessary to combat these conceptions based on the commodification of the woman's body, either through surrogacy or through prostitution. We must combat all forms of exploitation and violence against women and it is in this fight that we are committed.

Madam President, this report on food security and the long-term resilience of EU agriculture is long in rhetoric, but scarce in pointing out reasons and solutions. Even in what it should defend, "food sovereignty" is a concept that is not even mentioned. What poses a threat to food security and the resilience of our food system is the general orientation of the Common Agricultural Policy, the willingness of policymakers to strengthen agribusiness and the lack of will to help and invest in small and medium-sized agriculture and family farming. Once again, the idea is defended that the European Union must feed the world at the expense of economic and geopolitical counterparts and that innovation and genomic techniques can solve all the ills of the current system, keeping everything essentially the same. We must break with this CAP and support the small farmers who produce in an environmentally sustainable way and who are able to guarantee the food sovereignty of the peoples.

Mr President, this Parliament, like the European Union itself, continues the strategy of following the United States of America, of attempting to interfere and interfering in the political and institutional organisation of a sovereign country, of promoting direct support for the opposition and the application of sanctions, the consequences of which will have a direct impact on the lives of the people. If they were indeed concerned about human rights in Nicaragua, they would be calling for the immediate lifting of unilateral sanctions that are contrary to international law that the European Union has imposed on this sovereign state and its people. They would be demanding that the United States of America do the same right away. It is the peoples and their rights who suffer the harmful effects of this criminal sanctioning policy. We repudiate any external interference in Nicaragua, the continued destabilisation and the attempt by the United States of America and the European Union to regain imperial control of the country. We express our support for the promotion of dialogue for the political and peaceful resolution of the problems of the Nicaraguan people and their struggle in defence of their sovereignty and independence and the Sandinista Revolution.

Mr President, 1 June is World Children's Day, the date on which Portugal marks the defence of children's rights. It is never too much to renew the strength of the almost secular proclamation that all children have the right to affection, love and understanding, adequate food, medical care, free education, protection from all forms of exploitation and to grow up in a climate of peace and fraternity. States are responsible for formulating universal and structural policies that guarantee these principles and ensure the integral development of children, mobilising the resources and instruments necessary for their implementation. Strengthening children's rights means strengthening the rights of their parents, ending job insecurity, deregulation of working hours, low wages and high costs of essential goods and services. It means enforcing and extending maternity and paternity rights. Children have the right to grow up happily and their families have the right to keep up with their growth. Children need to play and be children. This is still a daily struggle.

Madam President, several products in Portugal are registered as protected names or geographical indications. In addition to wine from different regions and other spirit drinks, in the list we can find other agricultural products, such as potatoes, rice, olives, bananas or cherries, various types of sausages and cheeses, such as Serra or Ilha, traditional confectionery such as Loriga black cake, among many other products of superior quality, extraordinary flavor and that convey local traditions. Productions with a geographical indication and designation of origin must be unequivocally protected. While the promotion of these products is essential, it is also essential to simplify the process for registering and obtaining the status for new products by providing technical and financial support to producers who wish to do so. Similarly, we must not forget the income of small farmers and producers throughout the production chain who contribute to the final product, while also avoiding overburdening them with unnecessary and unjustified expenses.

Madam President, at the end of last year, the Commission recognised the impacts on households of rising interest rates, minimising them by the alleged predominance of flat rates. They omitted the expected differentiated impacts that would weigh more heavily on countries with a predominance of variable rates, as in Portugal. Last Friday, Christine Lagarde said she knew that families in countries such as Portugal, Spain and Finland were suffering from these decisions, but reiterated that interest rates would continue to rise. It is the consequences of the neoliberal precept of the false independence of institutions without democratic scrutiny that serve the interests of financial capital and harm workers and peoples. In Portugal, hundreds of thousands of households are struggling to pay their mortgage instalments. There is no shortage of dramatic testimonies of the choice between eating or paying the rent, or even of those who have to hand over the house to the bank. We must put an immediate end to this film. The right to housing must be defended. Banks' profits must be made to pay for these increases.

Mr President, two years after the Porto Social Summit, we can ask: Do people live better? Do Americans live better? No, they don't live. As regards the fight against poverty, while the objectives of the action plan that emerged from this summit were already unambitious in 2021, it is now more than proven that they are clearly insufficient. There are more and more people in poverty, more and more impoverished in work, precariousness continues and austerity lurks. And, as we have always said, the proclaimed directive on adequate minimum wages has only legitimized the perpetuation of the impoverishment of those who work. Another question: Do public services meet people's needs? What we have seen is the continued systemic disinvestment in the National Health Service and public school. Added to this is the increase in the cost of living that plagues people's daily lives, from going to the supermarket to energy bills, to household services. What is needed is control and pricing of essential goods, ensuring better wages and pensions, valuing those who work and investing in public services rather than protecting the profits of economic groups.

Mr President, the role of farmers is to produce food and to ensure food security and sovereignty. And if, in fact, they are concerned here with the ecosystem and agriculture, then let us move forward with policies that guarantee the means to support small farmers and agro-ecological farming practices. Family farming and the small and medium-sized farmers with whom we have been in contact, in the days we are doing in Portugal, face a dramatic economic situation, with the increase in production costs, the crushing of production prices and the significant reduction in incomes, to which is now added the situation of extreme drought. They question the CAP and its model of super-intensive farming and monoculture, which serves water that they do not have and which is responsible for the closure of 400 000 farms in the last 30 years and the loss of 700 000 jobs. They need another policy that ensures food sovereignty, that values and supports small and medium-sized production and that guarantees fair prices to the producer.

Madam President, in Portugal, in the first quarter alone, there were almost 7000 complaints and five homicides for domestic violence, a daily newspaper reported yesterday. Structural phenomena of violence against women persist and require specific, articulated and integrated prevention, protection and eradication measures. Among the necessary measures, we highlight: strengthening the material and human resources of the public services involved in this field, from health services to social security, security forces and services to the judicial authorities; and the adoption of specific awareness-raising and education policies on these matters among schools, police, society and their organisations. Accession to the Istanbul Convention is an important step in preventing and combating all forms of violence against women and a step in the adoption of a serious commitment by States to put an end to such violence against women, in law and in life, and that commitment cannot wait. Women's rights are not either.

Mr President, the links of scientific workers in Portugal are characterised by serious and protracted precariousness, regardless of academic degree. There are many who work through scholarships after scholarships, without access to any labour law, mortgaging their future, waiting for the contract that, if it comes, has an expiry date with no horizon in sight. This is the prevailing logic in science and research, promoted by the neoliberal guidelines of the European institutions and followed by governments that refuse to make the necessary investment in science and technology, their workers and their careers. The struggle of scientific workers will be decisive for the logic to change and for the bet on science and research to be a reality for the benefit of their workers and a sovereign strategy for the development of the country. From here, we greet the scientific workers and their representative organizations, who in recent weeks have promoted different initiatives of struggle in various parts of the country and who are preparing a great demonstration for the next day 16, in Lisbon. The precariousness of these workers must end.

Mr President, with support for the distribution of milk, fruit and vegetables, this European Union school scheme has a nutritional and educational character that can encourage children to consume diverse products. In addition, it can be the main meal of many children who have little at home to eat. It would also be important to ensure that the products supplied under this scheme are preferably local and reflect the culture and seasonality of each region, enhancing the value of small and medium-sized producers. However, the amount of European Union funding that states receive is insufficient to reach all target groups, so it is necessary, as we have been demanding, to increase the total allocation for this scheme. The rising cost of food, in particular fresh food, makes it even more difficult for many thousands of schoolchildren to access the right to healthy food. It is clear that propaganda measures, such as zero VAT in Portugal, do not resolve the situation and what is required is a general increase in wages, accompanied by control and price fixing.

Mr President, the situation in the Mediterranean Sea, with many thousands of dead, is a matter of great concern and continues to worsen. The European Union's policies have contributed to this, in particular the increasingly selective, restrictive and inhumane migration policies, by the externalisation and militarisation of borders, by a whole new market that is growing in defence and border security, while failing to respond to the right to survival of thousands of human beings seeking a better life in Europe. Yes, it is solidarity that we need to talk about. There is an urgent need for the development of a humanitarian policy to support refugees and to respect the rights of migrants and to combat the causes of mass immigration, i.e. an end to policies of war and interference, an end to neo-colonial policies of exploitation of the peoples and countries of Africa and the Middle East, respect for the sovereignty and independence of states, a determined fight against poverty and policies of effective solidarity and cooperation for the development of economically less developed countries.

Mr President, five months after the coup d'état in Peru, which led to the ousting of the President-elect, Pedro Castillo, the Peruvian workers and people continue firmly on the streets of the country, in defence of freedoms and democracy, to demand the resignation of Dina Boluarte, the convening of early elections and the convening of a Constituent Assembly. The police and military crackdown on protesters, which has already caused dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries, as well as the persecution of political, trade union and social leaders, continues. Faced with the grave violations to which the Peruvian workers and people are subjected, and as we did in February in Lima, we once again express our total solidarity with the Peruvian workers and people, the communists and other progressive and democratic forces fighting for respect for the popular will, for the full restoration of rights and democratic legality.

Mr President, the various recommendations that the Commission makes to the Member States on energy storage, as part of the announced reform of the energy market, bring nothing new. Throughout this package, the European Commission not only fails to address the specific problems resulting from the liberalisation of the sector, but may also exacerbate them. It is striking that the European Union, both in view of the content of the proposals submitted and in accordance with its repeated political practice, aims to safeguard the interests of large private economic groups in the energy sector and to continue a market that is clearly contaminated by its monopolistic characteristics, aggravated by oligopolistic practices. We believe that measures are needed for energy storage and that technological development will be key to its efficiency. But what the peoples need at the same time is to break with the European Union's energy policy. Depart from this policy based on the liberalisation of the sector. States to regain public ownership and strategic control over major energy companies, the restoration of quality public energy services and the national and democratic planning of energy system development based on scientific knowledge, technological progress and environmental sustainability, including the production, supply and transport of different forms of energy. As reality never tires of demonstrating, energy – as a public good – should not be dependent on market contingencies that threaten it.

Mr President, next week we are celebrating the 49th anniversary of the April Revolution. It was at dawn on April 25, 1974 that the long fascist night that oppressed Portugal and the Portuguese for 48 years came to an end. A dictatorship that subjected the people to poverty, misery, hunger and war to sustain the fortune and opulence of a minority that condemned the country to illiteracy and backwardness. A criminal dictatorship that repressed, censored, arrested, tortured and murdered many of those who dared to oppose it, particularly communists. The April Revolution restored freedom to the Portuguese people, independence, sovereignty and peace. It paved the way for the construction of a democratic, developed and progressive Portugal. It guaranteed rights, affirmed values, fulfilled dreams and brought hope and the strength to dream to children, young people and women. It is the people who command the most. Equality, freedom, democracy are not empty words, they are the present and the future to fulfil and to defend. April 25th always! Fascism never again!

Mr President, the mountain gave birth to a mouse. Another pompously announced and long-awaited directive which, after all, makes little or no progress in combating the gender pay gap. In some cases, by legitimizing them, it can even perpetuate them. This is the case for the 5% difference between the average pay levels of female and male workers. After all, some disparity is even acceptable. Let's see why. But it will certainly not be in the name of defending women's rights. In my country, the principle of equal pay for equal work is constitutionally enshrined. It is not always a reality, because there is no political will. Labour inspection means are lacking and mechanisms such as subcontracting or outsourcing are used to justify wage differences. We have tabled amendments to correct this, but most of them have not been taken into account. In practice, this proposal, by worsening Parliament's position and not contradicting the neo-liberal guidelines to which Brussels has already accustomed us, will do little or nothing to improve the lives of working women, nor will it reverse the low-wage policy that affects, above all, working women.

Mr President, workers, pensioners and their families experience a serious and unfair increase in the cost of living, with constant and unbearable price increases, with inflation above 8% in 2022 in Portugal, without the corresponding increase in wages and pensions. This situation, which leads to the impoverishment of those who live by their work, contrasts with the greatest profits of the century achieved by economic groups and multinationals, aggravating exploitation, inequalities and social injustices. There is a lot of hidden misery. The rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. These are increasingly frequent phrases in the journeys we are making in the districts of Portugal. There is a lack of policies that give answers to those who are going wrong, to those who are impoverished at work; policies that value wages and pensions, control prices and tax the scandalous profits of large economic groups. The workers' organised struggle, which is intensifying, will be instrumental in achieving the necessary solutions that the government and the EU refuse to provide.