Speeches

Commissioner, depopulation is a vitally important issue. It generates poverty and suffering and puts at risk a multitude of traditions and ways of life in rural areas across the European Union. Cohesion policy, in addition to balancing regions, offers an opportunity to combat this phenomenon with tools such as the Depopulation Strategy. This is a very complex problem that we need to address from different areas. Having good communications and telecommunications between rural and urban areas is essential to fix populations to the territory and to generate employment. Infrastructure is necessary for this. Mobility is also a key issue. I welcome the work the European Commission has done on the new Sustainable Urban Mobility Framework, but I would like us to extend the focus not only to urban areas, but also to rural areas. In that regard, I would like to ask a number of questions; Are we rethinking the new cohesion policy? What actions does the Commission intend to take to implement the Depopulation Strategy in the new cohesion policy financial programmes? Finally, what measures does the Commission intend to take to ensure that work on sustainable urban mobility can also contribute to the fight against depopulation in the European Union?

Madam President, cohesion policy has sewn up the European Union throughout its history. It has served to correct, to mitigate the differences of this Union of at least two speeds with a war on our doorstep, a major energy crisis and the climate crisis that is hitting us more and more; Now, more than ever, is the time to strengthen these policies. Strengthen the economic, social and territorial cohesion of the different regions, following the political priorities of the European Union. The recent catastrophe of the volcano in La Palma teaches us that we must strengthen and modernize the Solidarity Fund. We must work together to keep all European regions moving at the same pace. It is necessary that they continue to be co-financed, as has been done so far, taking into account each of the three categories described. Nor should we forget the large pockets and very underdeveloped areas that exist in regions classified as more developed and that receive very little funding and very little attention. Eliminating differences between countries and regions and working for homogeneous growth are the founding principles of the European Union. And this is the spirit that should guide us towards an increasingly less unequal and therefore more democratic Europe.

Mr President, the seed of the New Bauhaus has sprouted all over Europe, the change proposed by this movement has proved as necessary as it is urgent: most of our houses were built in the 1950s and 1960s, when lifestyles were very different; Now we have fewer children, families have changed, teleworking has arrived, the pandemic has clearly shown us the importance of home. The New European Bauhaus adapts homes to these changes by combining energy efficiency, beauty – understood as comfort, as the adaptation of spaces to their uses – and, above all, social inclusion: focusing investment on the people who need it most, using public funds to improve the lives of those who need it most. For this seed to become a strong tree we need the commitment of the European Commission, a programme with a stable budget, with its own identity, that makes the New Bauhaus a reality throughout Europe. The original Bauhaus movement came to democratize our homes, our objects, to make them more comfortable, easier to produce, more affordable. A hundred years have passed and ways of life have changed much more than built spaces, but the time has come, the democratising spirit of the Bauhaus has reignited in the European Union and it is time to transform our buildings, neighbourhoods and cities to improve the lives of the citizens who need it most: Let's grow the seed.

Madam President, Commissioner, the New European Bauhaus has generated a great wave of illusion: Two years after President von der Leyen sowed the seed here, the project has sprouted across Europe, a cultural and social movement called to transform our countries. As happened with the original Bauhaus, the New Bauhaus comes to improve people's lives, to put culture, architecture, design and urbanism at the service of citizens. An initiative with three axes: sustainability, beauty and social commitment. Buildings are responsible for 40% of our energy consumption. That is why the European Union's effort in recent years has focused on renewing them to make them less polluting, but I ask you a question: Can we also use these same funds, perhaps a little more, improving the quality of life of citizens, adapting our homes, our neighborhoods, our cities, to the needs? And I go even further: from a democratic point of view, is it ethical to invest large amounts of public money only to improve the energy efficiency of our buildings and cities without also improving the conditions of the people living in them? We need a paradigm shift, and the New European Bauhaus is this paradigm shift: an initiative that invites us to think about how we inhabit our built spaces and that comes at a key moment for the European Union, the European Green Deal legislature, the recovery funds and the wave of building renovation. How can we grow that New European Bauhaus seed? The path is to promote projects that are beautiful, sustainable and inclusive: we must involve the entire European territory, not forgetting the cultural sectors that are so essential for this project and for imagining new ways of life; We must bet on initiatives of high quality and beauty that adapt to the needs of citizens, new spaces for new lifestyles. The New European Bauhaus should guide the rehabilitation of our building stock, including the promotion of sustainable materials, renewable energy and nature-based solutions. Let us seize the golden opportunity we have with the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive and with the wave of building renovation, and all this without forgetting the most important dimension of the New Bauhaus, social inclusion: we need to fight energy poverty, protect vulnerable households and get buildings that consume less and are accessible and affordable. I would like to thank all the rapporteurs, my co-rapporteur, the Members and officials who have worked on this comprehensive and demanding report, because Parliament demands from the European Commission clear criteria for the selection, financing and choice of projects: only then can a New European Bauhaus label be established to help projects gain visibility and funding. For a strong tree to be born from the seed of the New Bauhaus, we need our own program with stable funding: we need to move from an exciting project, which is an exciting one, to a stable programme of our own; We need a dedicated Horizon Europe mission with €500 million, our own New Bauhaus programme in the next financial framework, with a stable budget and sufficient funds, and we need to involve Member States in funding projects and initiatives. With these objectives and a program with a stable budget, the seed that has been sown throughout Europe will grow, and we will make the lives of thousands of citizens, thousands of families, better by renovating their homes and, in addition, we will inhabit a Europe with less energy consumption and less pollution: Let's grow this seed.

Mr President, Commissioner, we must establish a European strategy to boost the use of bicycles that drives the change from the cities of the last century, designed for private vehicles, to what the cities of the present must be: cities designed for public transport, bicycles and pedestrians. We need to incentivise the implementation of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans in all cities in the European Union with a significant presence of mobility measures: generation of bike lanes, public bicycle services, intermodality to easily combine public transport with cycling, more chargers for electric bicycles... And we must achieve spaces of sustainable mobility in which using the bicycle does not pose a risk of abuse, such as that suffered last week by the world champion, Alejandro Valverde, while training on the roads of my land, the Region of Murcia.

Mr President, we have to go further and think that heat waves are no longer something punctual or passing. We have to focus on those places in southern Europe where, every year, we experience longer summers, with prolonged temperatures of 35 degrees during every day of the summer. This translates into a silent social emergency that generates, perhaps, less alarm than the large fires we see on television, but which has equally serious consequences: energy poverty as severe as winter poverty in cold countries. I ask you to put yourself in the shoes of a child or children in southern Europe who live in these temperatures and go to a school that is not refrigerated, that is not adapted to the extreme heat. How can you study like this? We spend most of our lives in buildings that are not adapted to this climate change and these extreme temperatures. Commissioner, we need to adapt our cohesion policy and solidarity funds to make our buildings and urban environments more efficient and heat-adapted. We have to reduce the suffering of these families who, day by day, endure extreme temperatures for months.

Madam President, Commissioner, education opens the way for our young people to travel their entire lives. For those who have a lot: It's a path of roses that will take you far. For those who have little: a winding, bumpy road. The Erasmus+ programme is an excellent tool to reduce the differences between them, to educate on values, to break down borders and create European citizenship. But we must ensure that all young people have access to the programme, and mobility grants are the way to achieve this. Families with fewer resources cannot afford an Erasmus with the amount of the scholarships. We must ensure an economic complement to scholarships that facilitates the inclusion of students with fewer resources in the Erasmus programme. It is a shame that, in communities like mine, the Region of Murcia, your Government offers a measly thirty euros a month of complement. How long are thirty euros in Milan or Berlin? We need to achieve an affordable Erasmus that opens the best paths of personal and professional development for all; also for those who have the most difficulties.

Madam President, the shadow of bullying has always haunted our children, but now, for the children who suffer from this hell, not even their home is a refuge because every time they take their mobile phone out of their pocket they face such cruel violence. With the generalization of social networks, these attacks have acquired an unimaginable complexity a few years ago. The European Union must go further in the fight against cyberbullying. We need studies at European level that provide accurate data, we need to know the causes and origins of this violence and we need tools for prevention and assistance to those who suffer it. We must put in place a major European strategy to combat bullying, with an eye to the role of technology in this matter. And the European Education Area can be a way to implement it. Cyberbullying persecutes our children to the last corner of their lives and conditions them forever. We must stop it as soon as possible.

Mr President, Commissioner, we have a date marked in red on the calendar: 2025. By 2025, the European Education Area should be the driving force behind quality, inclusive, accessible and affordable education for all. In this way we have three complementary instruments: micro-credentials, a tool that should be public to recognise short learning periods; individual learning accounts, a way to contribute to lifelong learning; and education for sustainability, to create citizens aware of the defense of the planet. They are three good instruments, but they should not distract us from our main objective: the date in red on the calendar. Despite the fact that a year ago we adopted the report in the European Parliament, we see no action by the Commission to create this space. We can't lose the future. By 2025, we must have an educational space without borders, with automatic recognition of degrees at all levels. The European Education Area must be the engine for building a better European Union. And it must be a reality without delay.

Mr. President, I address you with deep concern. The Mar Menor, one of the largest salt lagoons in Europe, is dying in the face of the scandalous inaction of the most direct political leader: the Government of the Region of Murcia. Illegal agriculture, which breaks the rules, continues to pollute the land and groundwater with nutrients that then end up in the Mar Menor. A new episode of anoxia with thousands of dead fish is expected this summer and the Government of the Region of Murcia does nothing but repeal the rules that protected it. He didn't do anything after the 2016 green soup. It did nothing after the deaths of thousands of fish in 2019. And it did nothing when in 2021 the fish that died were counted by tons. All it does is blame others when the competitions are its own. Even in the European Parliament, MEPs were able to check their status on a mission, even though they tried to hide the reality. I ask you to focus on the Mar Menor, because the death of this jewel is a loss for all of us, for all of Europe.

Mr President, the situation we have been seeing for more than a month in Ukraine reminds us of the importance of education in transmitting the values of democracy, solidarity and diversity. European values. Citizenship education is the main tool at our disposal to weave the project of the European future. Moreover, at a time when the fight against climate change is facing a life-threatening challenge, education for environmental sustainability must play a key role. Our young people must be involved in this struggle with us. The implementation of the European Education Area is an indispensable tool to achieve these objectives, enabling the European Union to have more competences in education. We must do so without delay by the planned date of 2025. If we want to preserve our values and ensure a more sustainable, tolerant and inclusive European society for the future, we must ensure adequate education for citizens.

Mr. President, how would you feel if your children suddenly ran out of class for a whole month? What consequences would this blockage have for their formation? This is what is happening to millions of children fleeing the horror of the war in Ukraine. Our obligation is to go beyond words. We need concrete action to help those who have lost everything. And one of the fundamental issues for child development is education. Every day that a child goes without going to school, without relating to his peers, with his teachers, without learning, is a day lost in his future. It is a lost day for the future of Europe. The European Union must ensure that refugee children can enjoy their right to education here. More teachers, materials in Ukrainian language, more infrastructure, ensure that schools can take care of them with dignity. And for that, we need infrastructure, investment, personnel, European funds. And, in addition, we must put the focus on the recognition of titles. When people, many young Ukrainian students, who are already in the universities of the European Union, flee the bombs, they do not think about taking their degree or their qualifications. They come to colleges and our colleges have trouble recognizing their degrees. They need a support plan to facilitate recognition procedures. What plan does the European Commission have to support our universities within the territory of the European Union? May the war not snatch from us and not snatch from Ukrainians the right to a dignified education, to their opportunities for the future.

Mr President, Mr Vice-President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, the pandemic has hit our entire society hard over the past two years. But if there is one group that has suffered especially from the consequences of the pandemic, it is youth. Being young can't mean having fewer opportunities. Being young should not mean not having a living wage. Being young cannot be synonymous with unpaid internships. Being young is more than just looking for job opportunities. To be young is to think about the future, and we must bet on the future of young people. Their future also depends on the education and training they receive in the present. Without quality, inclusive and barrier-free education, our young people will have a harder time achieving their goals. In 2022, we celebrated the European Year of Youth and the Conference on the Future of Europe. There is no better future than the one our young people represent. Let us truly involve young people in shaping the Europe of the future. Each person is only young once in a lifetime. As a society we cannot afford to be wasted. Let's not let young people miss this stage.

Mr President, thank you, Commissioner, for being here with us today. Every generation has only one chance in life to be young. Today's young people are the generation of Europe's future, and the pandemic has hit them especially hard. We cannot afford to run out of a future. It is time to dedicate a European year to European youth. But we need to make sure that this initiative puts in place policies and mechanisms that have an impact on young people beyond 2022. We in our group are satisfied with the text we agreed on today, but we will be very vigilant that this project serves to improve the participation of young people, especially in the Conference on the Future of Europe, to promote and incentivise youth work and paid traineeships, to pay attention to the most vulnerable young people and to serve as the basis for an integrated, effective and long-lasting youth strategy. We cannot forget the most important thing: education. This European Year should also reach schools. We need to take advantage of the European Education Area to improve the quality of education and education infrastructure and truly reach young Europeans. We spend our lives saying that young people are the future, but now is the real time to show it and bet on them.

Mr President, thank you, Commissioner, for coming to this important debate. Education is a fundamental right to which all people must have access throughout their lives. Education is the main driver of equal opportunities between people and the European Union must strive to achieve this full equality of opportunities. The European Education Area should certainly aim to be the guarantee of educational quality and equal opportunities in the Union. That is why we must work without delay to get this project in place by 2025, as planned, without further delay. We must ensure as soon as possible that the European Union has a comprehensive approach that ensures quality, inclusive, accessible and affordable education for all. The European Education Area must be the tool to ensure that we leave no one behind. The European Union needs educated citizens with skills and abilities to develop a full working and social life. And education must ensure that they have all the tools to do so. We also need to value the work of teachers and improve their working conditions. The European Education Area is a great opportunity to spread the European values of tolerance, respect and freedom. The report we are debating and voting on today states that we must work to reduce the gender gap in education, combat all forms of bullying and all forms of discrimination. Education has always been and will always be the basis for building more sustainable, more tolerant and more inclusive societies. Moreover, at this time of economic, green and digital transition, the European Union must rethink its role in training and education. And the Conference on the Future of Europe is a good exercise to reflect on our competences. I do not want to end my speech without thanking Michaela and the other speakers for their work and collaboration, which has allowed us to have a clear and forceful text that expresses our position very well.

Madam President, every day that passes and we do not act against climate change is a lost day for the next generations and for our planet; time passes: We cannot lose a second in achieving compliance with the Paris Agreement and the 55% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Methane, after CO2, is the second largest contributor to climate change and accounts for more than 10% of total greenhouse gas emissions in Europe; It also contributes to the formation of ozone in the lower atmosphere, a powerful air pollutant that causes serious health problems. I would like to thank the rapporteur, Mrs Spyraki, and the rest of the honourable Members for the work they have done to arrive at this report, with which we are calling on the Commission to ensure that the European Union's strategy to reduce methane emissions includes the creation of a comprehensive legislative framework on methane emissions, with binding measures in all sectors - energy, recycling, agriculture and livestock, in particular; the imposition of emission control measures on imports, throughout the value chain – the European Union leads control policies, but must impose them on its partners abroad – and the prohibition of practices such as venting and combustion, as well as the commitment to converting agricultural and livestock waste into biogas and the involvement of Member States by introducing effective and sustainable measures in their national strategic plans, which must be strictly monitored by the Commission. The Commission should incorporate these and other measures envisaged in this report in its legislative proposal, which it will present in December, on methane emission reductions in the energy sector. We cannot fail to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, delivering on the European Green Deal and contributing to the well-being and health of today's citizens and future generations.