Speeches

Mr President, today's situation is marked by an accelerated deterioration in living conditions, rising prices and a real loss of purchasing power. The housing problem is even more central in this context, owing to speculation in rent and purchase, aggravated by successive and significant increases in interest rates imposed by the ECB, with unaffordable increases in housing loan instalments. The decision to raise interest rates puts thousands of households in a situation where they may not be able to support the payment of bank loan instalments and are threatened with losing their home. Urgent measures are therefore needed that, by cutting off the profit of banks, give families security as to the possibility of maintaining their housing. First, with the regulation of the housing market, the establishment of spreads and the possibility of renegotiating credits, as well as the necessary public investment in housing, with a view to combating speculation and exploitation and expanding the public supply of housing, which is a constitutionally enshrined right in Portugal.

Madam President, in Portugal, food products increased by 18.9%, bottle gas by 19.5% and energy products by 27.6%. There is a sharp increase in house rents, 9.2% in Lisbon and 6% in Porto. The provision of the house will rise between 100 and 150 euros and five families are evicted daily. It is estimated that more than 2 million people will fatten the poverty figures. This is the reality of Portuguese workers. Meanwhile, the big capital of distribution, energy, banking, has record profits made at the expense of speculation on the prices of products and services, low wages, precariousness, increased exploitation of labor and the impoverishment of peoples. The general increase in wages and pensions is therefore an emergency. They can't be the same as always paying. It is an emergency, because it is the only way for people to cope with the constant and severe increase in the cost of living. It is an emergency, because it boosts the economy, curbs unemployment and avoids a bigger crisis, and it is an emergency, because it is a way of redistributing more fairly the wealth produced. There is no excuse for postponing the general increase in wages and pensions.

Mr President, the Child Guarantee is an important tool for immediate responses. Around 25% of children in the European Union live at risk of poverty and social exclusion. Its implementation in the Member States already leads to conclusions. Its resources are not even sufficient to compensate for the loss of family income due to the inflationary outbreak, the consequences of the war and the disastrous sanctioning policy of the European Union. For the Child Guarantee to have a real impact, a significant increase in its budget is essential. But the fight against child poverty is done with structural policies, not patches. The Guarantee that goes beyond appearance is the guarantee of universal, free and quality education, including early childhood education, the guarantee of universal, free and quality health services, the guarantee that parents and carers have a job with rights, decent pay and time for children, the guarantee of the right to play, sport, culture, civic participation, the guarantee of living in a world of peace. I end by quoting Nelson Mandela: History will judge us by the difference we make in the day-to-day lives of children.

Madam President, this strategic plan proposes to intervene on the energy system, reacting to developments in this sector since last year, aggravated by the consequences of the war and the sanctions that, in keeping with the agenda of the United States of America, sacrifice the peoples of Europe. The measures envisaged in their various dimensions are essentially in the interests of the major economic groups and the European powers. The path outlined is far from responding to the needs of peoples, ensuring socio-economic equity and respecting the sovereignty of states. As at other times, it will be family consumers who bear the bill for the so-called single energy market, while large economic groups, which exploit the sector and resources, rub their hands and accumulate profits. We defend as necessary the intervention of States in terms of exploration, supply, production, transport and marketing of the different forms of energy, which must be in the public sphere, under public and democratic control. It is in this context that the necessary responses must be given to families and small businesses facing serious difficulties. This is the socially and environmentally sustainable path.

Madam President, we believe that this report makes a correct diagnosis of the reality of the rural world in some Member States and that it has a strong focus on agriculture as a primary activity in rural areas. We follow many of the concerns expressed. We defend the valorization of the incomes of small and medium-sized farmers for the maintenance of activity and valorization of rural areas, aspects that the Common Agricultural Policy and its successive reforms have neglected with an unfair distribution of aid and the favoring of agribusiness. The report could have gone further in defending the social functions of the state and public health, education and care services for children, the elderly and people with disabilities, with infrastructure covering all territories, providing high-quality and community-based responses. If we repeat the usual policies, which deviate from the path of cohesion, and if we insist on bowing the peoples to the flavours of big capital, we may even have stronger, connected and prosperous rural areas, but it will not be for the benefit of the peoples, but for the pockets of some.

Madam President, this report gives voice to many of the demands of people with disabilities. A real commitment must be made to the rights of persons with disabilities, striving to ensure that everyone, regardless of their social background, level of income or area of residence, has access to quality public services capable of guaranteeing them the right to health, education, housing, social security, vocational training and employment with rights and, of course, communication. We need policies that value persons with disabilities and their contribution to society, that ensure them to be full citizens, in law and in life, with the guarantee of an independent and dignified life, with access to inclusive, public and quality education, specific healthcare, culture and sport. From here we welcome people with disabilities, their families and their organisations representing and defending them. Count on us in the struggle to overcome multiple adversities and combat inequalities and discriminations, demanding the fulfillment of all rights.

Madam President, when we talk about youth policies we cannot disconnect them from concrete and necessary responses to the problems facing young people today. It is essential to put an end to exploitation and the scourge of precariousness. Let there be an increase in wages. That quality public services be guaranteed to young people and that we do not ignore the concerns about the discrimination that persists, and there are still many, and about the dangers to peace in a world that belongs to all. Young people need to be guaranteed their rights of access to education, culture, sport, decent housing, leisure, health and sex education, equality and participation in the voluntary movement. We really need the European Union and its Member States to put aside propaganda and carry out policies that enable young people to realise their expectations, put their skills at the service of development and the well-being of all, and that can turn their dreams into life.

Madam President, digital technologies have the potential to improve citizens' access to information and culture, as well as to provide them with a wider, more diverse and easier choice in accessing public goods and services and to enhance their quality of life. But this script for the digital decade follows the neoliberal primer of the European institutions, oriented towards the digital single market, which has been an instrument that promotes inequalities between Member States, making life particularly difficult for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, which are unable to cope with competition and the brutal inequality of means and resources that are within the reach of the large multinational companies in the sector, and now also of the already institutionalised unicorns. According to the proposal, Member States should draw up national roadmaps linked to the Country-Specific Recommendations issued under the European Semester, which we oppose as an integral part of the European Union's instruments for imposing, conditioning and monitoring Member States' policies. Reality shows that the script should already be another.

Madam President, it is imperative to combat all forms of violence against women. There can be no more excuses. Every day, and around the world, millions of women and girls are subjected to some form of physical, psychological, moral or sexual assault and violence, at home, at work, in public. Trafficking in human beings and prostitution continue to reach alarming levels in this European Union. Other economic and social policies, quality public services and effective measures to address poverty and social exclusion are required. Combating violence against women requires the commitment to measures for the effective autonomy and emancipation of women and is therefore inseparable from improving working and living conditions. We reaffirm our commitment not to give up a millimeter in the fight for women's rights, in the fight for equality between women and men, in the world of work, in society, in the daily fight against all forms of violence and discrimination against women. There can be no more excuses.

Madam President, in this system in which we live, women find it more difficult to reach positions of power. Women and their rights remain very uncomfortable for retrograde and conservative political forces. We believe that, despite this directive, inequalities will continue to be a reality in the lives of most women. Such as the existence of pay gaps, violating the principle of equal pay for equal work, or obstacles to the right to maternity and pregnancy and, consequently, to breastfeeding leave, which continues to be systematically denied to working mothers. Or job insecurity and deregulation of schedules, which makes it impossible to balance work, family and personal life. Discrimination and stereotypes contribute to perpetuating inequalities, including in access to training and professional promotion in senior and top positions in economic and political life. Any measure that reverses this path will always be good news.

Madam President, in recent weeks we have seen a number of workers' struggles all over Europe in demanding better wages, defending and gaining more rights and in the urgency of price control measures in Belgium, Greece, Switzerland, Cyprus, the United Kingdom, France, Spain and others. And also in Portugal, following the major demonstrations on 15 October against the increase in the cost of living. On November 18, the huge adherence to the national strike of Public Administration workers had a great impact on most public services. They are workers who refuse to impoverish themselves and demand solutions to end the devaluation of their wages and careers. From here we support the just demands of the workers and express our solidarity with their class unions. We join your voice in demanding other policies that defend better working and living conditions. The fight continues.

Mr President, another conference and the prospects for a serious and effective fight against climate change are not encouraging. The conclusions of the successive COPs have served to perpetuate injustices. While some continue to suffer, others continue to see business opportunities and negotiate mechanisms to protect their interests, even at the expense of humanity's future. They want to make people believe what no one else believes: whereas the solutions are financial and market-based; The solutions can be left to the goodwill or charity of developed countries or, worse, financial corporations. How can they discuss a reduction in emissions, an energy transition or halting the destruction of ecosystems, not going to the bottom of the question? Let's be serious. The alternative is to defend another system that rationalizes the use of means and resources to be put at the service of society. With the struggle of the peoples, we believe that this day will come. Hopefully sooner rather than later. Capitalism is not green.

Mr President, the conclusions of the G20 agriculture ministers are a long way from responding to the current emergency and food shortage that some people feel. On the contrary, the measures referred to seek only to satisfy one more market, that of innovations and technological agriculture. Once again, we see world leaders bowing, rejoicing at the prospect of opening up to agribusiness, to intensive agriculture, now, on the pretext of access to new technologies. The old problem of food scarcity and lack of food security and sovereignty is the result of the neoliberal agenda, which prioritizes corporate profits over the needs of peoples and small farmers. It is therefore necessary to change the logic of production according to profit for production according to need, to change the production model, or to implement a policy that guarantees small and medium-sized producers fair and rewarding prices and guarantees the right to healthy and adequate food, ensuring food sovereignty and security for peoples. The G20 said nothing about it.

Mr President, it is essential for society to be awake and focused on combating violence against women of any kind, domestic violence, trafficking in women, dating violence, prostitution or even harassment at work and sexual harassment. Above all, it must be borne in mind that the roots of these forms of violence lie in growing social inequalities, a situation which particularly affects women. We live in times when old forms of exploitation return, with the worsening of poverty and social exclusion, the vulnerability of the poorest. Prostitution is an example of this and is a devastating form of violence against women in particular. It is also an expression of social inequalities and a form of slavery that attacks the body and dignity of women. Eradicating violence necessarily requires a change in political, economic, social and cultural models aimed at eliminating all forms of violence against women, but also aiming at eradicating poverty and eliminating inequalities, strengthening social and labour protection, ending precariousness and increasing wages. And the women are grateful.

Mr President, in Portugal this weekend, tens of thousands of workers, young people and pensioners took to the streets in Lisbon and Porto. They do not accept the degradation of wages, the degradation of pensions, the attack on public services, speculation in the prices of essential and energy goods. They shouted loudly that the cost of living is rising and the people can't stand it. At the same time, there is an accumulation of billions of euros in the profits of economic groups, food, energy, large commercial distribution, multinationals. Under no circumstances is it acceptable to increase social injustices, and even less so in this concrete situation. From here, we salute the workers and their trade unions for this initiative of strength, which is at the same time a sign of hope, of trust, of the possibility of another path. And we reaffirm our commitment to workers and their struggle to defend and improve their working and living conditions.

Madam President, today's International Day for the Elimination of Poverty brings to light worrying data on poverty in Portugal. According to Eurostat, at the end of 2021, 2.3 million were poor or at risk of poverty or social exclusion, equivalent to 22.4% of the Portuguese population. Between 2020 and 2021, poverty has worsened, not only in Portugal, but in the European Union at 27, and the 2022 figures will be even more worrying. As the rich get richer, the unfair distribution of wealth and inequality increases. It is essential to increase wages and pensions, combat precariousness and defend employment with rights, strengthen public services and their universal access, public housing policies, which are measures that, combined with the taxation of big capital and the progressivity of tax systems, could reverse the current trend of poverty. But they are slow to arrive, because they run counter to the neoliberal logic that has dominated the policies of the Member States of the European Union for decades.

Mr President, in recent times agricultural producers in Portugal have been exposed and vulnerable to many natural phenomena and disasters, but they have long been confronted with the imposition of a CAP that despises small and medium-sized agriculture, which promotes and finances agribusiness, intensive and super-intensive agriculture, which consumes more water, fertilisers and phytopharmaceuticals, which destroys more soil, without an economic and social valorisation that favours the territory and the people, rather than serving the interests and profits of the economic groups that operate there. Recently, the consequences of the war, of its instigation, of sanctions and speculative actions and exploitation by large economic groups, drag small and medium-sized agricultural productions onto the streets of bitterness and no one wants to take advantage of them. It is immoral that those who, during the pandemic, saw their profits grow at the expense of the suffering of thousands of people should now use the pretext of war to satisfy their insatiable gluttony. We are well aware that, since last year, fertilisers have increased by up to 300 %. Under the pretext of the war, the trend of speculative price increases has worsened, with the consequent increase in production costs. It is urgent to question the production model and to change the logic of production according to profit for production according to necessity, to guarantee the right to national production, particularly in terms of fertilizer production, to ensure the right to food sovereignty and the application of the principle of national preference, replacing imports with national production, to guarantee small and medium-sized farmers fair prices for production, to shorten trade channels, intervening and regulating the value chain.

Madam President, the situation of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in Portugal is characterised by great instability and fragility, with compulsory closures and reduced activity without proper support following the impacts of the pandemic. Many had not yet fully recovered economic activity and began to experience new difficulties stemming from rising production costs, the impact of the international situation and the inflationary spiral, mainly on energy and fuels. The cost of energy in certain sectors weighs the most heavily on the costs of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, and the rise in speculative fuel prices in gas and electricity could jeopardise the continued activity of some of these companies. While the speculative profits of energy transnationals remain untouched, the solutions for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises are empty. We defend the regulation of energy sector tariffs, in addition to a treasury support fund, as urgent measures. And we reaffirm that the increase in wages, about which nothing was said yesterday and today, is decisive for the dynamization of economic activity, with a positive impact on micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

Madam President, in countries such as Portugal we have witnessed for decades the destruction of the productive apparatus and the accentuation of the depopulation and desertification of vast areas of the country, sacrificing the essential foundations for a genuine process of economic and social development. The profoundly asymmetric impact of common EU policies on states confirms the need to regain national sovereignty in areas such as industry, agriculture, fisheries or trade, but also energy. The update of the industrial strategy that we are discussing today brings nothing new. It therefore lacks an assessment of the processes of deindustrialisation, the causes of which are, in certain countries such as Portugal, inseparable from these factors. It does not mention the harmful effects of relocation of industrial units to third countries, reduction of wages or attacks on workers' rights. It maintains the logic of competitiveness and the untouchable single market. It continues to advocate that innovation and research and development activities should be at the service of large economic groups, rather than being aligned with each country's development strategy. While funding is being cut in cohesion policy, direct and indirect funding for military industry and research is being increased for the European Union, affirming its militaristic nature, maintaining its project of training the European Army, serving the strategy of NATO and the United States of America. We defend a strategy that values national production and the use of the country's potential for the creation of jobs with rights and the valorization of workers, the fight against external dependence and the affirmation of a sovereign path of development.

Madam President, this resolution directed against Nicaragua, like the one adopted just three months ago, is yet another exercise in concealing facts to cover up an objective stance in support of those who promote destabilization and coup in Nicaragua and who do not hesitate to incite violence and hatred in that country. An unacceptable stance by the European Parliament that runs counter to the principles of the United Nations Charter and international law and that aligns with the strategy of interference and destabilisation of the United States of America against Nicaragua and other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Those who really care about Nicaragua and its people demand an end to the coercive and unilateral measures imposed by the United States of America, which are aimed at hindering Nicaragua's economic development and attaining the living conditions of the Nicaraguan people. Those who effectively care about Nicaragua and its people defend the right of the Nicaraguan people to decide their destiny, free from the manoeuvres of interference, destabilization and coup plotters fomented from abroad.

Madam President, the so-called energy market is characterised by the subordination of the interests of the peoples to those of the big energy transnationals, with dramatic consequences for their living conditions, including the worsening of inflation, leveraged by energy speculation. Regulated tariffs and maximum prices in energy products, electricity and natural gas, reduce VAT on electricity and gas and, at the same time, move towards taxing excessive or undue profits of all economic groups with energy production or trading operations, demand a structural change in the Iberian electricity market, putting an end to the marginalist rule in force, since the so-called Iberian exception has not altered this anomaly. These are some of the urgent and necessary measures that we advocate so that the energy situation does not worsen in the coming months. In the name of the market and profits, the EU prefers to keep the lid on households and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. They either go cold and compromise their activity or empty their wallet. This is the European Union's response to rising energy prices.

Mr President, this directive under discussion today is, in our opinion, a dangerous instrument for the general stagnation of wages and, consequently, of the national minimum wage. Limiting the adequacy of wages to indicators, and to these indicators, means, on the one hand, admitting and accepting that workers earning the minimum wage are condemned to poverty and, on the other hand, making future upward developments in the minimum wage conditional on changes in the remaining wage bill. It is true that the directive does not deprive governments of the ability to set the minimum wage they deem fair and appropriate for living in dignity. But it is also true that it gives apparently technical reasons for the European Commission, the employers and their governments to try to prevent fair and dignified increases in the minimum wage in countries such as Portugal, where the government and employers' associations have rushed to say that we have already met these indicators, 60% of the gross median wage and 50% of the gross average wage. But Portuguese workers know that the minimum wage is far from adequate and that what is required is a general increase in wages and the national minimum wage.

Mr President, we have no doubt about the potential for renewal and innovation of energy networks, building stock, transport and other utilities, with a view to greater energy efficiency. However, by setting binding targets that require some states to make more efforts than others, the European Union is throwing the responsibility and financial effort needed to achieve them on top of the Member States, which is neither fair nor feasible. We argued that the funds mobilised to promote energy efficiency should be excluded from the calculation of Member States' public debt and budget deficits so that the necessary investments could be made, but our proposal was not accepted. And we argue that energy efficiency policies should not contribute to greater social exclusion and worsening living conditions for citizens, with rising housing costs, mobility or energy prices. In this sense, we believe that public control of the energy sector is crucial for increasing energy efficiency and guaranteeing the economic, social and environmental rights of peoples.

Mr President, sustainable forest management must take into account aspects such as economic profitability, the promotion of multifunctionality of forests and the sustainability of forest ecosystems. It should encourage forest planning and avoid rural abandonment, which leaves large areas of land abandoned and favours the proliferation of forest monocultures at the service of the paper industry. European Union policies and guidelines have responsibilities in the current state of our forests. Under-financing, privatisation and dismantling of public services and the domination of monopolies over the timber sector have stifled thousands of small forest producers. Protecting forests requires other policies (agriculture, rural development and trade) as well as an end to the limitations imposed on public investment by states. Timber prices are a crucial issue to ensure the interest and commitment of small and medium-sized owners in active forest management that defends the forest, promotes its multifunctionality, ensures the sustainability of forest ecosystems and fosters native species.

Mr President, there are recurrent debates about drought, extreme weather events and their impacts on various vital sectors, such as agriculture and livestock farming and other productive and economic activities. In my country, Portugal, the situation of extreme and severe drought may also have an impact on firefighting. But it seems that we are always chasing the damage and the mitigation measures, it is seen, are not enough. Prevention measures are needed that include means to strengthen water storage capacity, adaptation in productive activities, associated with the definition of water use criteria that guarantee public supply for human consumption, public health, income preservation, safeguarding means of production and the security and maintenance of water reserves. Concrete measures to increase the use and storage of water are therefore essential, and it is therefore urgent to strengthen and mobilise financial resources for the construction or reconstruction of reserves, including irrigation, which are essential for small and medium-sized agriculture and family farming and for the preservation of the rural world.