Speeches

Mr President, Commissioner, on 9 May the Galician and European fleet stopped at ports and asked to resign. And you know why? Because it has lost its trust and legitimacy. Because a Commissioner cannot demonise certain fishing gear without having scientific, environmental, but also social and economic foundations. I agree with protecting the marine ecosystems, the estuaries, the seas, but I also agree with protecting the sailors, the fishermen, the shellfishers, the nets, those who live off the sea. I come from a country that is Galicia, a fishing nation that lives from fishing and the first ones interested in having clean ecosystems are those that live from fishing and shellfishing. Without a healthy marine ecosystem, there is no sustainable fishing, neither economically nor socially. Therefore, it is necessary to integrate the empirical knowledge of sailors with the knowledge of scientists. Do not demonize fishermen, Commissioner, do not demonize fishermen. Integrate them into the Community decision-making of the Common Fisheries Policy.

Mr President, finning is a reprehensible, condemnable, detestable and anti-ecological practice, as the European Citizens' Initiative says. European regulations have prohibited finning since 2013, as you know, Commissioner. When the measure was approved, there was an express commitment by the European Commission to adopt a ban on finning, without the agreement being reached in opposition to China, Korea and Japan. Do you know, Commissioner, that the Galician fleet does not practice finning? I would like to clarify that projecting on the fleet and the Galician value chain the suspicion of finning It is false and unjust and devoid of arguments. There is no market for dry cleaners or any other fishing species. That dark market of sale that is spoken of, of fins of Asia from Vigo, does not exist. The Galician fleet fishes the whole piece for all the meat and never for the fin. In our fishery and our industry the fin is simply a by-product of the processing of this fish, not an end in itself. The Galician surface longline fleet and the related processing industry have been making sustainability efforts for years. Efforts such as the commitment called the implementation of the FIP BLUES (Fishing Improvement Project), an initiative that monitors and evaluates the FisheryProgress organization, of transparency of a fishery that acts together for the sake of fisheries sustainability throughout the value chain.

Madam President, our concerns from the Greens/EFA Group of the European Parliament about the proposed Willow project in Alaska: there are a big opposition of the project of the natives and in the public opinion, the Willow project is a disaster for the native communities and for the wildlife. This is a huge climate threat, inconsistent with the administration’s promise to take on the Biden administration. The Alaska natives living closer to the proposed Willow project, the native village of Nuiqsut, are deeply concerned about the health and climate impacts caused by burning fossil oils and gas operations. The Nuiqsut mayor, whose community of about 525 people is the closest to the proposed development, is a prominent opponent who has called the project a climate disaster waiting to happen. She said it is affecting the health of community members. The indigenous people have a right to free prior and informed consent under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. And this right is being disregarded by the Government of the United States. Is not too late to say ‘no’ to the Willow project for indigenous people and for their home culture and the well-being of the planet. They are not a colony.

Mr President, sailors see how Brussels decides with its back to the sea. Seamen, shipowners, workers and seamen, such as those who catch seafood or weave nets, who sell fish, all tired of seeing that Brussels decides without knowing it, with deep ignorance and without taking into account the interests of coastal communities, such as Galicia, where I come from. Commissioner Sinkevičius ignores the fishing fleet, decides without taking into account the socio-economic impact, as if drawing a straight line, without seeing the particularities of each fleet, as happened with bottom fishing and now also with marine wind. So tomorrow, from the ports of Vigo to Burela, from Guarda to Ribeira in Galicia and in the rest of European ports, there will be a fleet strike, because fisheries are also Europe. All that remains is for the Commissioner to resign, because he will never have the recognised legitimacy in the fisheries sector, because he has not been able to listen to it or put himself on his skin, in the tide, in the difficulty, in the powerlessness to see how, while Europe prohibits and limits, imported products are being measured. Galician and European fisheries are fed up, Commissioner.

Mr President, I would like to congratulate the rapporteur and give her a suggestion. You talk about the Mediterranean diet. I also want to add the Atlantic diet, which is very, very good and is also based on vegetables, fruits and milk. School milk – I come from a milk-producing country – how important it is for local producers to be involved in providing food to schools. But this is not the case. Sometimes we depend on the big multinationals that supply food to schools. We very much like your report and also this demand to remove red tape for the supply of fruit, vegetables and milk at school.

Mr President, Galician is the proper language of Galicia, where it is also official, but it is only in less than 1% of the offer of audiovisual operators and it is very difficult to access films of recognised quality in the original version in Galician. O Shabarin, wild boar in Portuguese, is a television character that the Galician people have converted into a symbol to normalise Galician in all areas of life, including audiovisual, and that we want to offer to all the peoples and languages of Europe – with independent production in languages such as Galician, but also dubbing, subtitling or self-descriptions. The popular legislative initiative, unanimously supported by the Galician Parliament, was real equality between languages and real freedom to employ them. We need to see and be seen, hear and be heard, feel and be felt in our languages. We also want audio-visual in Galician.

Mr President, the hard line of the President of the Council of Ministers Meloni is immoral. It is the face of Europe’s far-right, reactionary and xenophobic policies that are most opposed to solidarity. We cannot close our eyes to the large number of people dying on Europe's doorstep. We cannot turn a blind eye to the shameful agreements with Libya, Turkey or Morocco. The denial of humanitarian aid to refugees by many Member States, as Italy does, is a violation of human rights. No one deserves to be punished for reaching out to a life-threatening human being. When the European Union's humanitarian policies fail, when many close their eyes, the ultra-right takes its place, as in Italy. President Meloni bans multiple rescues, with high penalties and seizure of ships – what a shameful situation for Europe! We denounce this inhumane anger against migrants. There is an urgent need to put an end to these non-solidarity and racist messages that are hidden in Europe, and also in the European Parliament.

Mr President, I wanted to ask the lady who has just spoken whether she has ever seen a rescue of Maritime Rescue; if you have seen how your government has prevented European rescue ships from reaching a port for more than 100 hours. I simply ask him if he has seen it, because I have seen it, off the coast of Italy with the Open Arms, when the Libyan guard prevented and attacked. When his government said not to enter that ship and that ship had to go to the port of Barcelona. Tell me, please, if you've seen him.

Mr President, sisters and brothers of Peru who are fighting for democracy, our solidarity from the European Parliament. We are very concerned about the human rights situation in Peru in light of reports of violent repression, arbitrary killings and detentions, torture and disappearance of protesters, attacks on the rights of the historically excluded Aymara and Quechua indigenous population, as Mr Borrell has said, and harassment of journalists and human rights defenders. The Peruvian Ombudsman's Office reports that to date 68 people have died and thousands have been injured. According to the National Coordinator for Human Rights, direct force has been exerted by the police and the armed forces, leading to many murders. Peruvian civil society organizations, indigenous organizations and human rights defenders monitoring abuses during this crisis have faced harassment and attacks from extremist groups linked to the far right. The authoritarian attitude of the Government in recent months increasingly jeopardizes democracy. We express our concern about the regressive legislative offensive, such as the decisions of the Constitutional Court that favor Congress and affect the balance of powers, and, calling for new elections, we advocate an independent trial and independent investigations into everything that has happened and also with guarantees, of the ousted President Pedro Castillo, and we request the Delegation of the European Union in Peru to make field visits in the provinces most affected by the repression, to maintain a dialogue with civil society and to continue to publicly support dialogue and an end to violence.

Mr President, freedom of information, pluralism and independence of the media are fundamental components of the right to freedom of expression and play a fundamental role in a democratic and diverse society in Europe. That is what public means should be. All contrary to what happens in Galician public television and radio, which lack informative plurality, manipulate and discriminate professionals. In my country, they work like the propaganda of a party: the People's Party. For five years, women workers have been denouncing abuses and reprisals. That is why I am sending you, from the European Parliament, all solidarity support for your struggle and dignity. I also know that this video will never be shown on public television in Galicia.

Madam President, Commissioner, first of all, I would like to congratulate the organisers of this European Citizens' Initiative – a success, on behalf of the Committee on Petitions, for the support received by 1 200 000 Europeans, making it clear that this is a priority theme for European citizenship. Proper monitoring is essential in a participatory democracy. PETI has received a large number of petitions on these issues, both from individuals and organisations. European petitioners have called for a greater commitment to the welfare of bees and pollinators, which is vital for environmental health and food security. The latest evidence has also shown the need for a significant intensification of policies that better preserve habitats and agricultural areas to become a key vector for restoring biodiversity. Adequate support from farmers in the necessary rapid transition to full agroecology is crucial, particularly favouring diversified and sustainable small-scale agricultural enterprises, organic farming and research into pesticide-free and GM-free agriculture. This ECI, as well as the petitioners, have demonstrated the need not only to address specific issues, but also to fit into the broader context of the European Union’s mission to restore ecosystems. I fully support the objective of full protection of bees and other pollinators, which are experiencing a sharp decline both in the European Union and in the rest of the world. 9% of bee species are threatened, bee populations have decreased by 37%, and up to 40% of bee species may be threatened. The decline of pollinators is due to several factors. This successful European Citizens’ Initiative, with its main demands, offers the European Union the great opportunity to take firm action to reverse the decline of pollinators, Commissioner. I take this opportunity to greet the Galician beekeepers and say clearly: save the bees and the farmers!

Mr. President, there is no worse wall than the wall of dehumanization. This latest tragedy demonstrates the lack of European solidarity and, above all, shame and scandal. Once again we come to the European Parliament to talk about the tragedy and the deaths, the lack of humanitarian corridors, the lack of legal and safe routes, the lack of a much-needed migration and asylum pact. Moreover, how shameful it is to hear the right and the extreme right of this House - such as the Italian right and extreme right or the Spanish extreme right - demonising NGOs, which are the only ones saving lives in the European seas, with hate speech, racist and xenophobic, with speeches that should not even be accepted in a Parliament like this. Because, ladies and gentlemen, there is no wall that contains the desperation to save life, the desperation of an escape to have a better life. And people must be respected, not as numbers or as photographs of the dead, but for their human condition, wherever they come from.

Mr President, all my support and solidarity with the protests in Israel, in Palestine and around the world; all my support to the Israeli and Palestinian civil-society organisations, in particular human rights defenders to continue their vital work. Israel respects nothing, nor to the Members of the European Parliament like me, who was on an official mission, and Israel arbitrarily decide not to let me enter to go to Palestine. We are deeply concerned about the judiciary reform proposed by Israel. The EU cannot remain silent. The judicial reform is the result of the coalition agreement that will be used as a tool to expand settlements and annex the West Bank. The EU needs to recognise that annexation of the West Bank is taking place. The transfer of power from the stable administration to the Finance and Defence Minister is more annexation of the West Bank by Israel. Mr Borrell, if the EU is committed to the two-state solution, it should strongly push back against this annexation, against the occupation. (The President cut off the speaker)

Mr López-Istúriz, as you are the Chair of the Delegation for relations with Israel, I asked you recently, at the Delegation meeting, if you were aware of what happened to me when I entered Tel Aviv airport. You were left to make some representations to the Government of Israel; I simply wanted to ask if you have done so or if you have any information to withdraw the veto on the entry ban as a Member of this House. Thank you if you answer me.

Mr President, I live in a country rich in biodiversity, which is being looked at greedily by electricity companies. The wind lobby, supported by the governments, wants to make Galicia, my country, a wind colony. Renewable energy, such as wind, is needed, but we need to take into account its impact: protected nature reserves, consultation of affected populations, socio-economic impact, such as on the land and sea of Galicia. Last Saturday, in A Coruña, the Galician fishing industry denounced the wind projects offshore the seas they intend to set up on our shores. There are also many platforms of affected citizens and environmental groups fighting in defense of the land and denouncing: Don't make us an energy colony. Mr Timmermans, fishing is a priority activity for Galicia and this must be reflected in the Spanish and European maritime spatial plans. That is why we say yes to renewable energy, but taking into account peoples and their biodiversity. We don't want projects offshore destroy our maritime wealth. That is why we advocate a ban on the installation of parks or industrial complexes for the production of marine energy on the coast of Galicia and in northwestern Cantabrian.

Madam President, I would like to begin my speech by calling for the diplomatic immunity of MEPs to be respected and for there to be no interference by third States in the performance of their duties. On 20 February he was part of the official mission of the Delegation for relations with Palestine of the European Parliament and was authorised to enter by the Government of Israel. My surprise was that when I arrived at the Tel Aviv airport they asked me to enter, they had me for several hours without information and, finally, they expelled me, as the president knows. It is unacceptable, disproportionate and unjustified: a diplomatic and institutional affront. Not to me, as a Galician MEP, to the European Parliament. Israel has not humiliated me, it has humiliated the European Parliament, and this cannot be condoned. Enough with Israel's impunity, which even decides who should enter Palestine. Madam President, it is imperative that we Members of the European Parliament are free to carry out our work when we participate in official delegations. We cannot allow other States to interfere in our international relations. The European Parliament must defend the members who defend human rights and not the corrupt who walk freely around the world. Madam President, I would like to thank you for your efforts and your solidarity.

Madam President, President Lagarde, the increase in the interest rate of the European Central Bank last year and in the course of this year is a fraud, a real scandal. This increase, translated into street language, can reach 300 euros per month more in the mortgages of families that, like Galicians, have fewer and fewer resources. The ECB manufactures poverty by promoting policies that favour the interests of big capital and run counter to social majorities. The ECB manufactures poor people, families who can hardly afford to pay the mortgage or who are left without a home or work, or with precarious work. Rescue banks and leave abandoned people like mine. Have some social sensitivity to what people are suffering from. The ECB is responsible for impoverishing policies and austerity, for policies that increase public debt in the EU to save private banks, such as Spanish banks, which won the past year more than ever. Against this injustice, we advocate a bank-funded bailout to help those affected by the interest rate hike. Stop making poor people, Mrs. Lagarde! Stop making poor people!

Madam President, Galicia's natural connection with Portugal, and therefore with Europe, is hampered by a lack of support and investment. Many words and promises, but we remain periphery because of the political will of the State, Europe and inefficient governments, as recently seen at the meeting of the presidents of Galicia, Asturias and Castile and León or in the few investments of the Spanish State, by creating coordinators for the Atlantic Corridor with false promises. Time passes, one decade and another, and the Vigo-Porto rail connection continues without being on the core network of the Atlantic Corridor of Goods. For now, it is only a priority for the Portuguese government. For us, it remains a historical demand of Galicians and Galicians as a structuring development of the Atlantic axis, as a bridge with Portugal and Europe, as a source of territorial and economic development. After much pressure, here in Galicia and also in the European Parliament, the European Commission has proposed that the Vigo-Porto section be part of the extended core network. But that's not enough. We must be treated equally. (The President took the floor from the speaker.)

Madam President, in December, in the face of the current money-grabbing scandals, Parliament decided to set up a committee of inquiry into cases of corruption by third countries and MEPs, as well as a transparency committee, for Qatari interest representatives not to accede to Parliament and a call for an EU-wide ban on donations from third countries to MEPs and political parties. We debated again in mid-January, but no decisive action was taken. At the end of January, 30 MEPs wrote to President Metsola calling for speed and action by the European Parliament and conveying that this corruption scandal was not limited to Qatar alone. There are increasing indications that Morocco would have acted in the same way, interfering in the democratic process of the European Parliament, after payment to MEPs, which shows that Morocco is also involved with MEPs in a corruption network organized for years to influence European decisions. Several Members of Parliament are being attacked in the networks for denouncing this. Even last Thursday, the Moroccan House of Representatives dedicated a session to us with names and surnames, pointing the finger at several MEPs who denounce this interference and questioning the European Parliament. Integrity is a value that has been lacking here and it is time to recover it with firm and forceful measures that put an end to corrupt practices, those inside and outside.

Madam President, we mourn for the lives lost. Our solidarity with the families of the dead and the wounded. All help is little in the face of so much misery and broken and missing lives. Refuge, drinking water, food, blankets. Yes, Commissioner, the EU's response was swift. Now, the priority is to organise shelters in the affected areas and more humanitarian aid. Because what is unacceptable is that Erdogan is hampering humanitarian support tasks by maintaining the state of emergency against the Kurds and the crackdown that blocks roads, the press and social media. Let us support the Turkish, Kurdish and Syrian peoples. Humanity first!

Mr President, in Galicia, where I come from, more than 7600 girls and boys lack a pediatrician. In 194 municipalities there is no pediatrics service. There is a tendency towards centralization that leaves part of the territory without services. In addition, the situation continues to worsen as more than 25% of active paediatricians are over 63 years old. Paediatric care is an essential service to ensure the quality of medical care for children and adolescents in need of specialized care. The deterioration of public health in the Spanish State is a fact. Health expenditure in relation to Gross Domestic Product is below the European Union average and in Galicia the situation is worse. There are protests for the basic right of our girls and boys to be treated equally to other places in Europe and to have a pediatrician in every municipality.

Madam President, I welcome Mr Pimenta's work on his report. My country, Galicia, is a maritime people, where women and men work in small-scale fishing and shellfishing, shellfishing, and in the cultivation of mussels, which feeds many families, has low environmental impact, uses sustainable fishing gear and respects the biological cycles of different species. With these characteristics, small-scale fishing, despite its size and importance, is the least supported segment, receiving the lowest share of European funds. We cannot allow the EU to endanger this important and job-creating sector that guarantees fish supplies. The future of small-scale, coastal and artisanal fisheries depends not only on sustainable and long-term measures, but also on immediate, significant and public measures. The future of small-scale fishing requires recognising its nature in the future CFP and excluding it from the fishing rates and quotas that Brussels decides, and also having a stronger voice in Europe.

Madam President, Morocco is experiencing an unprecedented regression. I denounce the undermining of press freedom in Morocco and we call for the release of Mr Omar Radi, Moroccan journalists, Nasser Zefzafi, political prisoners from the Rif and political prisoners from Western Sahara. We denounce the constitution of the intimidating discourse, the torture and the lack of guarantees of the prisoners. There is no freedom of the press in Morocco. In recent months, Morocco’s secret services have arrested journalists, bloggers, rappers and social media users in response to the crackdown on dissent and free opinion in the press. I express my full solidarity and support to the Support Committee and human rights associations in Morocco, as well as to the Spanish journalist Ignacio Cembrero. The style of Morocco’s dictatorial regime is corruption, espionage, interference and intimidation of free voices, tactics that touch Europe at its heart. Freedom for petitioners. Freedom for journalists. End of impunity in Morocco.

Mr President, Brazil took to the streets to defend democracy in the face of very serious events never seen before in Brazil's history. The coup movement tried to illegally reverse the outcome of the last presidential election, which gave the victory to President Lula da Silva. Supporters of former President Bolsonaro invaded and deprecated the buildings of the three powers in Brasilia, in an unprecedented attack on Brazilian democracy. The exercise of democratic rights and freedoms must take place with respect to democratically elected institutions. As President Lula said, political differences cannot justify criminal acts or question the results of democratic elections. Since the European Parliament, I want to reiterate the confidence in Brazil's democracy, in the strength of its people, who will prevail against violence, fascism and the extreme right, which does so much damage to coexistence and peace in the world. Democracy has returned to Brazil. President Lula said yesterday: Brazil is tired of a lot of sadness, a lot of hatred and a lot of anger. Lula the president, and we with Lula.

Madam President, this weekend I was in the Saharawi refugee camps, at the XVI Congress of the Polisario Front, in that inhospitable place where the shame of Morocco's geopolitics, with the consent of other European powers, has left the Saharawi people in very harsh living conditions. The illegal occupation of Western Sahara by the occupying power, Morocco, a systematic breach of United Nations resolutions, causes Morocco to also act in the European institutions to avoid any debate on Western Sahara. We have seen this in the European Parliament's Committees on Fisheries, on Agriculture and Rural Development, and on International Trade. This explains their behavior: the creation of corruption networks protected by ambitious MEPs who want to have perks, holidays and influence of power. He comes to the European Parliament to try to influence by buying wills and here he has accomplices. This is denouncing and this House has to get to the bottom of this scandal with a special committee of inquiry. The Moroccogate is the scandal that starts this network of corruption, not the Qatargate. Of course, many of us will not be silenced, because Morocco cannot continue to have this impunity in the European Parliament or in the other European institutions. He is guilty of illegal occupation, murder, torture, repression and violation of freedom of expression.