Speeches

Madam President, eating with dignity is a basic right. In Europe, 42 million people eat poorly because the price of food has risen. A handful of large multinationals make huge profits – and are undertaxed – while many people cannot go to the supermarket to eat worthily and several times a day. Unfair prices compared to poorly paid profits, farmers and sailors. In Galicia, for example, food prices are in some cases 35% higher than before the pandemic. One example is the price of milk, which is lower than the average for the Spanish and European states. However, dairy farmers are pressured by the industry, with the threat of not collecting milk, farmers receiving 4% less and the large distribution making almost 200 % more profit. Monitor food prices against abusive pricing practices – it is neither logical nor ethical for large retailers and the food industry to receive so much and producers so little. It is not logical that our people should have to tighten their belts, buy less or worse quality food.

Mr President, water is life. Water quality, as the rapporteur says, is a future. Unlike the future, it is the politics of the past, which contaminates, which kills species of flora and fauna, spaces of biodiversity. I alert the Commissioner – as I have already informed Vice-President Ribera – to the Altri macrocellulose project, based on the cultivation of eucalyptus on my land in Galicia. A project supported by the PP government that would consume 46 million liters of water, of which 30 would go to the Ulla River, and affect the Arousa estuary, one of the most productive seafood in Europe. In her response, the Commissioner said she expects the Galician Government to carry out a robust environmental impact study, also referring to the Water Framework Directive. It is the opposite of water resilience. Please pay attention to this project that goes against the Water Framework Directive.

Madam President, Madam High Representative, how the right likes to go from the hook of the extreme right of this European Parliament. They bring back the issue of Cuba because they have morriña of the times of Aznar, when they cut the whole relationship between the people of Cuba and the European peoples. In Cuba a part of the history of my country, Galiza, was written, and we, in the BNG, will always be with the Cuban people: a courageous, honest, trained, supportive people, who are suffering the effects of the unjust blockade and suffering its attacks of destabilization and media war paid for by the friends of this binomial. The hypocrisy of this anti-Cuban alliance is scandalous and complicit with the drowning of a people with the unjust economic, commercial and financial blockade suffered by Cuba by the United States. But what does it matter to them that the peoples suffer? They have already demonstrated this yesterday, preventing a debate on Gaza. Why do they not ask for the annulment of the Agreement between Israel and the European Union instead of messing with a peaceful people in solidarity with humanity such as Cuba? They attack political dialogue and cooperation between the European Union and Cuba because they prefer hateful policies and because they are not interested in honest and open democratic cooperation. Cuba is respected.

Mr President, Mr Trump's pause in fear, blackmail and delusions cannot be the engine for our European trade policy. We cannot give in to the blackmail of this authoritarian leader. It is necessary to immediately assess the impact of the tariffs imposed by Trump: direct threat to the sovereignty of our peoples, threat to the economy and employment and threat to international law. In my country, Galicia, Mr Trump's interventionist policy threatens the metal and wine sector, the automotive sector and other sectors as well. We need investments in these strategic sectors, Commissioner. We also need strategic independence. And also, Commissioner, of productive capacity and of protecting our industry in order to avoid dumping in employment and the dumping social and economic.

Mr President, protecting the oceans, protecting the sea, protecting the rivers. Commissioner, when you come to my country, the main fishing power in Europe, meet the platform in defence of the Ria de Arousa. In this estuary work shellfish gatherers and sailors. Fishing and shellfishing are the main economic activity in this estuary. And you know, Commissioner? Their work and marine resources are threatened by a contaminating macrocellulose called Altri, which the Galician Government wants to install in central Galicia and which by the Ulla river will pour millions of litres of water directly into the sea, which can endanger the seafood activity of the Ria de Arousa, the most productive in the country, the sea and marine resources and the work of seafarers. There's a big social scream, Commissioner, listen to these people. And I ask you, Commissioner, not to give European funds to a project that contaminates the sea. Funds have to be for productive sectors and for “...”

Madam President of the European Parliament's Committee on Fisheries, I imagine you have seen this photograph: five hundred ships in the estuary of Arousa a few weeks ago, demonstrating precisely against a highly polluting project that can be installed in the heart of my country, of Galiza, and that can affect the most important seafood bank. Are you going to ask the Committee on Fisheries, and also the Commissioner, for an environmental impact statement on the impact of this possible project, this possible company, on shellfish farming? Because you've talked right now about environmental impact on fisheries, and that project would have it.

Madam President, Mr Vice-President, the European steel industry is fundamental to our economy. Also in my country, in Galiza, where the geopolitical situation may also affect. That's why I ask him: How will all of President Trump's imposition of tariffs affect aluminum? It is therefore necessary to protect such quality employment. I am very concerned about the loss of jobs and I will give you an example: the case of the aluminium company Alcoa, a company that has suffered serious employment regulation and does not comply with the viability plan at the San Cibrao factory in A Mariña de Lugo. Any negotiation in future plans must certainly take into account the trade union sector and I will tell you what is happening there: As I conveyed to previous Commissioners, I would like to denounce the fact that this industry is being dismantled and that the industrial future of this region is not taken into account. But social dialogue is out because the main trade union in my country, the Galician Inter-Union Confederation, has been left out of that social dialogue by the Spanish Government and the Galician Government. They have left it out after massive mobilizations and the demand for compliance with investments and viability of the plant. Any European plan must take into account the trade union dialogue, including that of the nations themselves...

Madam President, Mrs Kallas, the European Union is late. He's late for a genocide. Or don't you see that we are facing genocide? You went to Israel last week and shook hands with several ministers. Here in Parliament, a number of Israeli ministers have also been allowed in. We have denounced it, but you in the European Union continue to protect them, to receive them, to protect them, to let their impunity be free. The cease-fire and the Israeli army prepared to bomb the little that remains of Gaza, without humanitarian aid, in breach of all the conventions of international law that say, loud and clear, that humanitarian aid must always enter, with a cease-fire or without a cease-fire. Mrs Kallas, international law says that an occupied people must be protected. The Palestinian people are an occupied people and especially at this time, after this genocide and seeing how this lack of ceasefire has been done, I believe that we must go to the immediate suspension of the Agreement between Israel and the European Union, as we have transferred to it several and several MEPs.

Madam President, all our support goes to the mayor of Istanbul, Mr İmamoğlu, leader of the opposition. In Turkey, respect for the people, elected representatives, the HDP party of Mr Demirtas – still imprisoned –, women and students, is adrift. I show all my respect to the social movement in Turkey, to the people who demonstrate in the streets, to those who are attacked for their values and who stand for freedom. The dialogue between Turkey and the European Union must be suspended. We cannot negotiate with a country that is not democratic, that eliminates all opposition. It is not just about cancelling a visit, Commissioner, it is about suspending the ongoing negotiations and agreements with Turkey. This is not the first time this Parliament has taken a decision. Many people are in prison in Turkey and Kurdistan. Minorities and political parties are not respected. Freedom for Mr İmamoğlu and freedom for others!

Mr President, Commissioner, very little is said about the lack of European mechanisms for the control of spending and the proper implementation of funds. In Galicia, my country, 50% of European funds were not implemented in 2022 and this comes from years ago. We are accustomed to interested reprogramming by the Galician Government, always in the interests of partisan interests and not of my people. The Galician Board of Accounts has on numerous occasions asked the Galician Government to improve the degree of collaboration and transparency. In fact, this is not just a Galician problem, it is a European problem. Documentary checks were not set up to detect errors in expenditure. So you should do more audits on the ground to check compliance with the rules, Commissioner. The Commission should carry out sufficient audits on the implementation of the funds by the Member States. I am not saying this, it is the European Court of Auditors. On the contrary, those Member States are allowed to reuse those corrections in additional projects.

Mrs Tavares, you are Portuguese, I am Galician and we have two territories in common that we want to have a lot of European funds and a lot of cohesion policy. Now we have the initiative of BRIDGE for Europe, which will be approved soon, and we have worked hard for this connection between Portugal and Galicia: by train, in firefighting, in mobility. How do you see such cross-border policies?

Madam President, the political climate has changed. There are drums of war and instead of working for peace, Brussels joins the discourse of the warmongering escalation. Of course we need a kit survival: one kit with work, with public services, with houses, with food at economic prices, with social justice and with dignity. This kit 72-hour survival, which in other countries is mandatory, but not in this context, is a classic example of strategic communication, in the modern term, which replaces the old psychological operations of manipulation of public perception. The von der Leyen Commission has put forward this plan to rearm Europe, in which it intends to invest up to €800 billion in arms and other equipment. They condition peoples, preparing them for potentially frightening scenarios and creating a sense of urgency, to accept future defence and security decisions, creating fear, as many citizens have communicated to us. This is not working for peace.

Madam President, I wanted to raise a point of order in relation to the intervention of the Member who spoke two shifts ago, on the basis of Rule 10(4) of Parliament's Rules of Procedure, which says that in parliamentary debates Members will not resort to offensive language. I consider, at least from an ethical point of view and also following the Rules of Procedure, that uniting an immigrant with rape is offensive language.

Cheese. A protected cheese, unique, traditional, sustainable. It is produced in a territory threatened by a highly contaminating project, which the Galician Government wants to do, of the Portuguese company Altri, which even Portugal rejected. They want to trade cows for eucalyptus, cheese for cellulose, farms for smoke. With the highest risk at European level for a European initiative in a green context, European funds cannot come for this type of projects that contaminate, that destroy farms, that also destroy this protected production of cheeses. A cheese is the symbol of a country, of my country: Galicia.

Mr President, Commissioner, as a Galician MEP, I would like to warn you that, in order to have affordable energy, we must stop the scandalous benefits of lobby electric. In my country, we are producers of electricity and we are penalised for producing without favouring our people. The price of energy has soared in recent years by 300 %. The benefits of electric companies as well. O lobby Electric power is supported in my country by the Government of the People's Party, which allows energy to be stripped, with benefits that emigrate. Therefore, we advocate a public electricity tariff. I would also warn, Commissioner, that in the face of this plunder, there are many homes affected by energy poverty and the unfair price, without being able to heat the house any more and go cold. Energy poverty in Galicia is twice the European average – 20% of our inhabitants cannot afford the light bill. I also warn, Commissioner, that speeding up permitting in wind projects has a danger: PP in the Galician Government accelerates projects, violating environmental regulations. Affordable energy...

Madam President, in my country, Galicia, the automotive sector is strategic and my city, Vigo, where one of the Stellantis factories is located, is one of the industrial engines. Any plan or measure implemented must take into account its social impact, Commissioner. Galicia lost 22 companies in the automotive sector between 2008 and 2024 and a total of 24 000 jobs. Precisely the Stellantis plant, between 2007 and 2023, increased its productivity by 33 %, while the workforce was reduced by 35 %, from 10 000 employees to 6 300. In this sense, as a curious fact, in 2007, each worker produced 56 vehicles, while in 2024 he produced 84. As the CIG union denounces, this is one of the most productive factories in the company, thanks to an extensive policy of job insecurity in all areas. What it cannot be is that the working class is increasingly impoverished. Take this into account, Commissioner, take into account the areas highly dependent on the automotive sector and its social impact.

Madam President, Mrs von der Leyen, in the face of militaristic and warmongering escalation, I would like to convey to you, as MEP of a pacifist organisation, our strongest opposition to this European rearmament. The war lady does not care that military spending is paid by the peoples, she does not care that the bill of war is paid by the citizens, she prefers to support warmongering rather than social policy, she prefers to support more military spending and less public services such as housing, health or pensions. We must return to the defense of peace, to the peaceful resolution of conflicts, to diplomacy, to the defense of human rights. We must return to democracy, not be subordinated to NATO or the United States. Not the rearmament, nor the military and warmongering escalation of the European Union. (Speaker pronounces a sentence in Galician).

Madam President, the world is changing at such a rapid pace that multilateralism and peace are shaking. The President of the United States, Mr. Trump, threatens European industrial sectors, such as the metal sector in my country, Galiza. As an MEP galega, I would like to convey the concern of thousands of workers in the metals sector and shipbuilding companies about the recent threats to apply 25% tariffs to the metals industry. It is a very serious trade threat, because this tariff war does not have anyone to defend it in Europe either, Commissioner. What is the European Union doing to boost its own shipyards and local auxiliary industry? Nothing. From the BNG we have advocated for many years that European industry be enhanced and supported with public aid. In the case of industry galega, We have argued that it employs many thousands of workers and this industry has suffered cuts, conversions, production constraints and unfair competition. And, the last nail that was missing, the imposition of tariffs on an industry that is an exporter. What will the European Union do to defend the metal sector?

Mr President, the Commissioner says that agricultural products must comply with the rules that apply in the EU. How will that be guaranteed, Commissioner? Is the Mercosur Agreement good for everyone? For Galician livestock farmers and meat and milk producers it is not beneficial. For small and medium-sized agricultural enterprises? It's not beneficial. Have you spoken to the 40 000 Galician agricultural producers who have been forced to close their farms in the last 20 years? The PP says that it is necessary to talk to the livestock farmers. Talk to them. Geopolitics and the interest of multinationals cannot crush our producers. This week, in the Galician Parliament, the Popular Party voted against our proposal, the NBG proposal, to analyse the consequences of the agreement on the Galician agricultural sector. Crush, pay to crush and disappear. Not with our vote, Commissioner.

My question is: you have made some very strange affirmations. You change the products with animals. I don't understand. So why are you making these kinds of affirmations?

I'm Galician, I'm from Galicia. We have a lot of farmers. They are from a fascist party. You are not right – you spoke about the Greens/EFA Group – sorry!

Mr President, according to the WHO, one in seven young people has some mental health problem – depressed, anxious, low self-esteem, distress, social isolation and other problems. Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among young people. They suffer. Do you know that for every 10 000 inhabitants there is a difference of 50 percentage points in the comparative proportion of psychologists between Sweden and my country, Galicia? In other European countries, Portugal, without going further, there is at least one psychology professional in each school. And do you know how many psychologists and psychologists there are in Galician schools? Zero. Going to a psychology consultation at study centers in my country is impossible. Endless waiting lists, long-distance queries between the first and the second aggravate the problem. How can continuous, rapid and lasting treatment be done in the face of the lack of psychologists in schools who could work with boys and girls in a preventive manner and prevent these problems from worsening? It is urgent to fight so that our young people stop suffering.

Madam President, President Trump has further increased his threats against those who support and defend the work and jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. This is unacceptable. The ICC is the first and only permanent and independent international court with the authority to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The court must be respected. The EU, Commissioner, must unanimously support the court, respect what it decides and always uphold human rights and international law. On 31 January, together with MEPs from this Parliament and representatives from nine countries, I participated in the initiative of the Hague Group to defend the legality of the international system and the work of the ICC. There can be no double standards, because Netanyahu and all those responsible for the genocide must be held accountable for their crimes. Commissioner, this is the inaugural joint statement of The Hague Group and, if you agree, I want to give you the document, please.