Speeches

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we know that the dynamics of disruption in the global geopolitical context are increasingly rapid, and that they are a threat to the security of Europeans also in the case of access to medicines. We know that in our Member States around 50% of shortages of medicines are due to shortages of raw materials, that 70% of the medicines we use are generic and that India concentrates 20% of this global market, which is mostly dependent on active ingredients from China. This is not a new problem. It has been on Europe's agenda for over a decade. The review of the Pharmaceutical Package and the Critical Medicines Regulation are examples of responses that have been sought: more European investment in autonomous production capacity; more incentives for supply chain diversification and aggregated purchasing mechanisms; More support for partnerships. But there are new risks. And that's what we need to talk about today. Those resulting from tariff tensions with the United States and the Trump administration's latest presidential decrees, which take up the idea of "most favoured nation" prices. What impact will these measures have on the decision to relocate European companies? What impact will they have on Europeans' access to innovation? That is the real question. This is the plan we need from the Commission.

Madam President, Commissioner, it is absolutely extraordinary! If it were not for the progressives, the housing issue would not be on this Council. The subject of housing would not be in this plenary. And we have heard the European People's Party, the European People's Party, which in this House says that a big step has been taken because there are 86 words in the Council conclusions on housing, say that this is a joint victory. It is not a joint victory. It was the progressives who made housing a European political priority, because they listened to the streets, because they listened to the people. How will the progressives continue to make the European Council look at the issues of the climate agenda, not giving in to the right-wing agenda that this European Parliament, by the hand of the EPP, continues to want to impose on our President, with a much more ambitious vision of what needs to be done so that Europe does not continue to retreat, so that the Paris targets are met, so that we are not dragged by the United States to the bottom and destroy the planet and then ask: Where is the business when there is no planet? Where is the house when there is no business? This is a Europe that we do not accept. This is not the Europe that defends us. This is not the one we fight for.

Madam President, Commissioner, Minister, as a planet, we need the COP30 in Bethlehem to be a moment to accelerate our global response to climate change. Science tells us that we can't waste any more time and that we have to move faster. The numbers are well known. Therefore, the European Union must assume the responsibility of leading action against the climate emergency with a commitment to the target of reducing emissions by 90% by 2040, in line with the European Climate Law; with the adoption of a European law on adaptation to extreme events and a just transition directive; with the adoption of a new collective quantified target for climate finance that triples financing to developing countries; and the effective operation of the Loss and Damage Fund. And that is exactly why the European Union must also lead by example. This was not the case when, the day before yesterday, this plenary voted to delete the reference to the European Green Deal in the amendment to the decision on the forest expert group, or when it refused to adopt a common monitoring framework for European forests. Leadership is shown even by example: It is the first climate-neutral continent. When the right and the far right back on the necessary compromises and progress, our response must be even more determined and ambitious. Let us listen to the European citizens who, in all Eurobarometers, consistently tell us what they expect from us.

Honourable Member, thank you for your question, we already missed your blue cards. I do not have a cynical reading of politics, so I really want to believe that these two topics are on the agenda, because the President of the European Council, who had the good time to write, on behalf of Portugal, a letter to the President of the Commission calling for European intervention on the subject of housing, will also have the same initiative when he conducts the work of the Council. I believe that attention to the streets of Europe makes it clear that the issue of housing is as divisive as other external threats.

Madam President, Commissioner, Minister, on the agenda of the next European Council there are two issues that some political forces in this House consider incompatible priorities: defense and housing. It is good to see that the European Council does not give up any of them. We know that today we live in a hybrid situation, where none of our Member States are at war, but where the European Union is living in a new context and the threats we face are not only military, they are digital, health, energy and commercial. We cannot ignore the imperialist desires that surround us. That is why the European Union has made the decision to invest in its defence, and we support this path. But we don't want to be held hostage by the American military industrial complex. We don't accept that. But we also know that most of our Member States are experiencing problems in terms of access to housing. The right to housing is a fundamental right and we need a European plan for affordable housing, which brings concrete answers, with the reform of state aid, the regulation of short-term housing and, above all, investment in public housing. Ladies and gentlemen, to protect the European Union is to defend its borders, but without people being united, without a roof, borders are of no use to us.

Mr President, 'we are not interested in justice without change', Daphne Galizia's children wrote on social media in their first publication after her brutal murder eight years ago. We know that advances have been made, that two men have been sentenced to life imprisonment for supplying the ‑bomba car, that two others have been accused of placing and detonating the device, and are serving 40 years in prison. But, yes, the perpetrators of the crime remain unpunished. And the best contribution we can make to Daphne Galizia is to continue to demand justice and system reforms that ensure trust in institutions and the rule of law. Eight years after this murder, the work of journalists is increasingly under threat inside and outside the European Union. Disinformation, censorship, intimidation, but also conflict killings make this profession a risky job, when it is a pillar of our democratic life. Corruption is just one of his many enemies. It is up to civil society to denounce it. It is up to us ‑nos the changes that defend it, it gives to those who hurt.

Madam President, Commissioner, the recent ceasefire agreement in Gaza has brought relief and hope, but it is not a peace agreement. This is a fragile and precarious truce. This is not yet the time for celebration. This is the time when European diplomacy must step up its efforts and this Parliament must continue to fight for respect for its resolution of last September: the free entry of humanitarian aid and the independent work of UNRWA; the suspension of the trade component of the Association Agreement between the European Union and Israel; the demilitarisation of Hamas and its removal from any future to Gaza; absolute condemnation of the violence and expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank; support for a transitional government leading to a solution for the viability of the State of Palestine that is not just a protectorate. Regional peace will only be sustainable if it is based on respect for self-determination and the consolidation of democratic institutions. Global peace will only be lasting if crimes against international law are investigated and punished. This is the time of expectation. It's up to us to live up to it.

Madam President, Commissioner, according to the World Health Organisation, after the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change is the greatest global public health threat of the 21st century. You can deny it at will. Temperatures continue to rise in Europe, with longer and warmer summers, more frequent and severe heat waves, devastating rains, storms. These patterns are exacerbated by biodiversity loss and increased human mobility, and will increase the risk of vector-borne diseases and ticks, changing transmission dynamics but also geographical distribution. In my country, in Portugal, in addition to dengue on the island of Madeira, there are already reports of detection of mosquitoes that transmit the Zika virus. These diseases, many of them, have no vaccines and are fatal. Anyone who is willing to let a person die from such a disease is unconscious. For our part, we consider the statement we are discussing today to be of the utmost importance, and we therefore call for the response to these new threats always to bear in mind the following: the one-health approach; a multi-disciplinary and multi-level approach; the integration of epidemiological, biological and climatic data; quality entomological research; public awareness and, of course, combating and mitigating climate change.

Madam President, Commissioner, I would like to express my deep concern about the conditions of detention of Spanish citizens Javier Marañón Montero and David Rodríguez Ballesta in Equatorial Guinea. There are serious indications of violation of fundamental rights of defence and lack of transparency in the judicial process, which raises legitimate doubts about the respect for the rule of law in this country, with detainees without access to defence and in prison isolation since April. Mr Javier Marañón Montero is also at serious risk of death following a hunger strike. A desperate act that reflects the gravity of the situation. It is essential that the authorities of Equatorial Guinea guarantee the physical and psychological well-being of these and all detainees, as well as full respect for international standards of justice and human rights. I join here in this House's calls for both detainees to have immediate access to fair defence, regular contact with families, health care and the necessary consular support.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to raise my voice for the release of Victoire Ingabire, leader of the opposition in Rwanda, who continues to be persecuted and imprisoned for exercising a fundamental right: the right to political participation. In the European Union, we cannot turn a blind eye to this case and to many others that have been happening in that country. Our commitment to democracy, human rights and the rule of law requires us to press the Rwandan authorities to respect their international obligations, to secure the release of Victoire Ingabire and to make room for real democratic life. Mrs Ingabire's case symbolises the worrying reality of human rights in Rwanda, where repression of dissenting voices, restrictions on freedom of expression and freedom of the press remain too frequent. The end of the repression by the Rwandan government against all critical voices also represents the freedom of the Rwandan people to choose their future.

Madam President of the Commission, in your speech you said that we needed to be united, but we need to be united around the right priorities, those that respond to the anxieties of millions of European citizens, and they have been clear in every Eurobarometer, and also in the streets, about Gaza. So we are very clear about what we expect. First, our citizens have chosen peace as their main value and prioritise defence in European action – hence the need for our strategic autonomy. We need to be able to make choices, and for that we need to be free. And so I ask you: how is it possible that the trade agreement with the United States of America includes the commitments it includes on the procurement of military equipment and gas? Second, we recall that improving the quality of life by the outcome of their work has always been the expectation, the great promise that European democracies have made to their middle classes – hence the gains we need to achieve in competitiveness to strengthen the European Pillar of Social Rights and others. And so my question: Why should we continue to insist that the fight against migration is done by walls and not by regulating labour markets? It is consistency in values that is failing us.

President, Commissioner, today Moldova symbolises the choice and commitment of an entire people to a European future. Not only because that was the will that its voters expressed in the referendum a year ago on including the pro-European route in the Constitution, but also because, in the face of Russia’s constant malign interference and various hybrid threats – and I am only talking about Russia’s cut-off of energy supplies to the Transnistrian region at the beginning of winter – the country remains firmly committed to the reform process towards European integration. The upcoming parliamentary elections on 28 September will be a decisive moment to consolidate this path. It is therefore not surprising to fear new disinformation campaigns, cyberattacks, vote buying. It is therefore essential that the European Union strengthens its political, security and economic support by helping Moldova to resist. As President Sandu said today, Moldova is the laboratory, but we are the target – let’s not forget that. We count on your work, Commissioner.

Madam President, Commissioner, in Serbia, clashes between protesters, especially young students, and supporters of the Serbian Progressive Party and President Vučić have been taking place for almost a year, when the tragedy of Novi Sad took place. The initial demand for accountability has turned into a denunciation of authoritarianism, corruption, and the demand for early elections, pushing up the intensity of police repression, which the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights has already called disproportionate. It is therefore necessary that the European institutions clearly condemn this situation, call for the urgent reduction of tensions and engage in mediation of the conflict, so that respect for the rules of the rule of law is restored. The risk of fracture of civil society and radicalisation of pro- and anti-European Union political forces is real and dangerous. And it will not only be Serbia's European future that will take a step back if that happens, but also our political expectations of enlargement.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, rural fires have always been present in a country with Mediterranean forests, such as my own, Portugal, but climate change is happening more and more rapidly, with the repetition of extreme weather events and within a national framework of the highest number of fires among all the Member States. After 2021, we invested more in prevention than combat and saw a decrease in the burnt area by 2025. This year, Portugal has once again experienced the nightmare of rural fires. More than 274,000 hectares of burnt area, in the worst year since 540,000 hectares were burned in 2017 and 116 people lost their lives. Sabugal, Covilhã, Trancoso, Ponte da Barca, the North and the Center of Portugal were once again devastated by fire this year. The support of the European Union was crucial in the fight – and it was not only my country that needed the intervention of the means of the European mechanism. But no matter how efficient a country or the European Union is in responding to rural fires, other cross-border forest threats, the best key is prevention. For this, it is necessary to know the territories, the forests, their cartography, their characteristics. We are only a few days away from the vote in the ENVI and AGRI Committees on the proposal for a European regulation establishing a forest monitoring framework, and what was an environmentally progressive knowledge-based proposal from the Commission risks being emptied by the European Parliament after being emptied by the Council. Sharing forest data for national management is essential to protect forests, to protect people. Without them, our tears will be just crocodile tears about much suffering.

Madam President, Madam High Representative, ladies and gentlemen, Gaza is starving before our eyes and with it the credibility of the European institutions, both individually and collectively. We speak of values, but we accept the systematic violation of international law, with the children of Gaza condemned to starvation, the shooting of civilians in food aid queues and the repeated bombing of health services. We apply financial sanctions against Russia, but postpone the suspension of the trade agreement with Israel, the interruption of trade with the settlements and the freezing of arms purchases and sales. We recognize all the indications and signs that genocide is taking place in Gaza, but we do not want to use the word. How is it possible that Europe, which has sworn 'never again', is here again today? We have lost moral authority vis-à-vis third countries, vis-à-vis our fellow citizens. As you have done in Ukraine, Madam High Representative, I call for the European Union to be able to return to the right side of history in Gaza, to demand an immediate ceasefire, to bring in food aid and to implement the two-state solution.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we know that the lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic have made it possible to strengthen the European Union. Robusting our preparedness to respond to health threats or crises. But there is still a lot to do. In terms of citizens' literacy. Also in terms of accelerating the development of medicines, tests and vaccines against the main threats, without forgetting the guarantee of their availability. I therefore welcome the work of HERA and the Commission reflected in the Strategy for the Establishment of Reserves in the area of medical countermeasures. In particular, the establishment of a European diagnostic centre and a European therapeutic centre, which will contribute to the strategic autonomy of the Union and the establishment of specialised professionals. It was announced that the Commission is examining the need to revise the 2014 Vaccine Procurement Agreement and this is also necessary. Ladies and gentlemen, anyone who thinks that we can face threats or crises, health or otherwise, without coordination, without the support of science, without sharing information, has not really understood anything that has happened in recent years in our world.

Madam President, Commissioner, Minister, in the European Union this year, temperatures, burnt areas and the number of fires are already above average. And in my country, in Portugal, there is significant fire activity, although we are still in the early summer. This reality is and will be more and more frequent and it is one of the reasons for strengthening preparedness at European level, because extreme weather events know no borders. The recent EU Preparedness Strategy fits into this context. It is a good strategy, consistent with the efforts made this summer, which translate into the reinforcement of firefighters, ground teams and planes allocated in a coordinated manner. But this consistency is not reflected in other decisions. This is the case of the Regulation on a monitoring framework for the resilience of European forests, which is currently under discussion in this House and on which the Council has adopted a common position that empties the Commission proposal, a good one, and which some political forces in this House are willing to reject. Without reliable, up-to-date and comparable data on European forests, there will be no preparedness and protection policies. How can we be so incoherent?

Honourable Member, I can only answer for myself and my political family. We always associate two words: preparation for war and strengthening our security, but also peace. And she means all that she said: education, health, stronger welfare state.

Madam President, Madam President of the European Council, Commissioner, unsurprisingly, the conclusions of the last Council show how difficult it is for our Member States to form progressive consensuses. Commitments to support Ukraine, strengthening European defence and security and competitiveness are to be welcomed, but complacency in the face of the Israeli government, the timidity of the reference to peace diplomacy and effective multilateralism or adherence to the outsourcing of migration policies are to be regretted. Above all, the political silence in the face of the war in the Gaza Strip is distressing. We are faced with ‘double standards’, comparing the positions taken by the Heads of State and Government on the invasion of Ukraine – the 18th package of sanctions – and the invasion of Gaza – which do not even gather consensus to trigger the revision of the Association Agreement with Israel. But the silence on denouncing the consequences of the externalisation of our border control, particularly in the transit countries of North Africa, is also heartbreaking. I welcome the concern for the protection of international courts and recall that Europe is, in essence, a peace project and that is where its future lies.

Madam President, the situation in the Middle East continues to give us back the image of disrespect for the international order and multilateralism, but also the image of our collective failure. In Lebanon, the terms of the ceasefire are not being respected and Israel has conducted further airstrikes. In Iran, the Israeli and US bombings likely delayed the development of nuclear weapons, but led to the suspension of cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency and further isolation of the country. And in Gaza, where more than 20 Israeli hostages remain in Hamas hands, the epicenter of the greatest humanitarian tragedy remains. After 33 months of war, hungry people succumb every day. UNICEF reports 112 children hospitalised per day for malnutrition. In the lines of access to humanitarian aid, now at the hands of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, 500 people have already died and 4,000 have been injured in the food dispute. That is why today we are once again echoing the voices of European citizens who question our institutions. And we ask each of the foreign ministers of our Member States who will meet on 15 July: Ladies and gentlemen, what position will you take when you discuss the question of the suspension of the Association Agreement?

Mr President, the dissolution of political parties in Mali is a serious violation of the fundamental principles of any rule of law and constitutional order. Without pluralism, without freedom of expression, without the involvement of civil society and without the democratic participation of citizens, no lasting political stability can be built. From the 2020 coup d'état and the military junta's takeover came the commitment of a transitional government with the responsibility of preparing elections. However, what we saw was a prolongation of the presidential term, an increase in repression of the opposition, arbitrary arrests and an increase in human rights violations. In this way, instability grows and the international isolation of Mali worsens. We therefore call on the transitional authorities to restore democratic space as a matter of urgency, to annul the decision that dissolved the parties and to fix an electoral calendar, of course. Only then can there be a real future for Mali.