Speeches

Mr President, Europe imports more than 80% of its digital infrastructure and key technologies. Our digital and technological dependence is an Achilles heel that powers like the United States already use to impose conditions contrary to our model of digitization. We can't continue to allow that. We need an ambitious European digital industrial policy that enables the development of EuroStack, ensuring a digitally and technologically sovereign Europe, from semiconductors to cloud and artificial intelligence. We also need resources: We need the next MFF to include an item for a Digital Sovereignty Fund. Public funding is vital to reduce dependencies and ensure our autonomy. We must also use public procurement as a lever for change. We must bet on open source and prioritise European companies to protect them from dependence on US and Chinese suppliers. And let's not forget something essential: talent. Today, only half of Europeans have basic digital skills and by 2030 we will need 12 million more ICT professionals. If we do not invest in digital training, there will be no technological sovereignty possible. Let us act now to secure Europe's future.

Madam President, Commissioner, the European Action Plan for Steel and Metals is a step forward. We welcome the Plan's commitment to decarbonisation and incentives for demand for green steel. We also support the expansion of CBAM to downstream products, which will be key to protecting our industry from dumping. But there is still much to be done. The current trade safeguards have reached their limit. The Commission will present a new instrument in the third quarter to replace them. But not only do we need that new instrument to be truly effective, we also need it to be implemented now. Market distortions and new US measures call for faster and more decisive action than the Commission has proposed. Nor can we forget the high energy prices, which remain a major obstacle. Without urgent measures to reduce these costs, our decarbonisation investments will continue to be blocked. The Commission must act urgently on these points to ensure the resilience and competitiveness of our industry and the jobs it generates.

Mr President, Commissioner Jørgensen, with the publication of the Affordable Energy Action Plan, the Commission recognises that the key obstacles to European competitiveness remain energy prices and dependence on external fossil energy. This is a big step in the right direction. Yes, we need to reduce grid tariffs and we need to bring more supply and flexibility to the system by shortening authorisation times, increasing the speed at which we incorporate renewables and decoupling renewables prices from fossil fuel prices. The Commission also correctly points out in this Plan some of the major bottlenecks that continue to hamper our objectives, such as grid capacity and especially interconnections. In addition, this Plan must go further and focus on a really decisive aspect: public investment. We must be able to reduce tariff prices and invest to improve and expand our networks and interconnections. We must take an example of the work that the Government of Spain has been doing in recent years, opting for renewable energies and achieving a historical decrease in prices. Let us work for a clean, connected and competitive European Union that leaves no one behind.

Madam President, I take advantage of this debate and the presence of the Commissioners to tell you about my land, Navarre, and the BSH company, where 660 people see their future in jeopardy after the announcement of the closure of the company. We can't play with people's work and lives. Our industry – Navarre, Spain and Europe – is competitive and, in the case of BSH, a factory and a competitive company. We owe it to the public, and I am therefore writing to the Commission to get it moving: We cannot stand idly by, 660 families and their futures are at stake. Commissioners, 660 people are fighting day by day, tooth and nail, so that in June they do not close their factory, their work, their future. Please, let's not leave them alone and act with them now. June will be late.

Madam President, Commissioner, the European automotive sector is at a crucial moment and that is why we cannot afford any more uncertainty. Reopening current legislation puts the competitiveness of our industry at risk. Target 2035 must be immovable. Changing it would only lead to delays and instability and affect the thousands of workers who depend on this sector. What we need to do is provide solutions within the current Regulation and not more endless discussions. Europe must focus on electrification, because – let us not be fooled – technological neutrality would not benefit industry, because that means betting on technologies that are more expensive and less efficient than electric vehicles. We must invest in batteries and provide stability in the sector. The solution is not to postpone objectives, but to create policies that help both citizens and producers. Therefore, we need direct incentives for the purchase, a leasing European social or retraining actions for workers in the sector. The transition must be just, ambitious and without reversal.

Madam President, the European steel industry is facing a crisis. Global overproduction, unfair trading practices and high energy prices pose challenges to the competitiveness and employability of the sector that we must undoubtedly address. However, these challenges are structural and should not push us back on our path towards climate neutrality. The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is an important milestone in our fight against climate change that incentivises our trading partners to take climate action, ensures a level playing field for European companies and also prevents carbon leakage. Therefore, to achieve this without leaving anyone behind, we must help the sector through an action plan for steel that, first, supports the decarbonisation of the industry, ensuring the correct implementation of the CBAM, and, second, has a strong social pillar that invests in training and retraining for workers, so that they can maintain their employability. Only through these measures will we be able to preserve a resilient and sustainable steel industry that does not put jobs or the clean transition at risk.

Mr President, the European Union's automotive sector is facing a series of transformations that require a rapid adaptation of its business model. Rising wage costs, energy prices and global competition with other powers outside the European Union are posing new problems for the competitiveness of European manufacturers, problems that need to be addressed. It is therefore essential that the Commission develops an industrial policy that enables the sector to meet environmental requirements, but does so through a strong social pillar that is capable of creating sustainable local jobs. The European industrial fabric must adapt, and this means not only protecting existing jobs, but also investing in the training and retraining of workers to enable them to adapt to new technologies and maintain their employability in the sector. The solution to climate change lies not in postponing the objectives to achieve climate neutrality, but in developing policies that support citizens and businesses, facing the challenges of this transition...