Speeches

Mr President, Commissioner, the mid-term review of cohesion policy is the time to build on lessons learned, make funds more accessible and address threats. Challenges require making decisions that are up to par. However, we cannot leave aside the question of how Europe wants to remain on the ground. In order for the Union to preserve its presence on the ground without impairing its capacity to act, it is key that it continues to invest the funds in those regions for which they were earmarked, respecting the work of local and regional administrations in their design and implementation. Convergence can be achieved in many ways, with projects able to address several priorities at the same time, projects that strengthen competitiveness, security, connectivity, social well-being or water management, as has been said. The means must serve at last. The ultimate aim must continue to be to promote convergence, because that is the Europe that citizens value. We trust you.

Mr President, Commissioner for Energy, in your purpose you have the enemy at home: Mrs. Ribera. We face a crucial challenge in Europe: ensuring sustainable and secure affordable energy for families and businesses that provide jobs. The science is clear: the combination of renewable energy and nuclear energy is key to reducing emissions and protecting our planet. While the United States extends the useful life of nuclear power plants by up to eighty years, Sanchez closes them in Spain without caring about families in Extremadura or Catalonia. Therefore, the decommissioning of the Almaraz nuclear power plant, on my land, which supplies more than 4 million homes in Spain and prevents the emission of 7.2 million tons of CO2 Every year, it's a sacrifice we can't afford. That is why I ask all of you to support the no to the closure of the Almaraz nuclear power plant.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, I think the message is clear and almost unanimous: Europe has to be self-sufficient and, with this law being presented today, the Commission must ensure that citizens' access to essential medicines is guaranteed. Shortages of essential medicines have become a challenge in the European Union. Fragile and dependent supply chains are a vulnerability for our health systems and our patients. It is essential to strengthen innovation, production and distribution within the European Union, as is being done, for example, in my land, Extremadura, where companies such as Natac are innovating in the plant sector and are helping in the manufacture of orphan medicines such as those that treat Friedreich's ataxia. The Essential Medicines Act is much needed. We know what needs to be done; Tell us, Commissioner, when and how, because it is needed now, you have no doubt.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the deterioration of mental health is a silent crisis. Yes, silent. I wish our young people would raise their voices in the face of hopelessness. It is a threat that, according to the World Health Organization, suffers one in seven young people. And with these statistics, Europe cannot look the other way. We are not aware of the current environment in which our young people have to live: bullying, cyberbullying or the influence of social media, which can upset their lives with anxiety, depression or stress. In spite of all this, when one of them dares to ask for help, they are often ridiculed, ignored, belittled or the gravity of this situation is also devalued. In this hostile environment, it is necessary, with such devastating data – suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people aged 15 to 29 – not to look the other way. The establishment of a European action plan for mental health is a priority for the European People's Party, Commissioner. It is a plan that must be focused on young people. Young people are our priority and, if it is also yours, you will have our full support.

Mr President, Commissioner, we need health care and we need health care. The shortage of 1.2 million professionals is a drama, especially in rural areas, with a shortage that puts the fairness and right to health of European citizens at risk. In my region, Extremadura, after more than thirty years of socialist and leftist governments, there is a real medical desert: patients who need to travel for healthcare; doctors, nurses and other professionals who work in a strenuous manner. This situation, which is currently being reversed, must be remedied. There are very desired places, but there are places that are deserted and, therefore, it is urgent to create a stable framework of decent work for these professionals, better conditions, especially for the so-called places of difficult coverage, and that the right to stay can be exercised. The shortage ends up causing endless waiting lists, aggressions against unjustified professionals. And that is why I am glad that the Commission is finally tackling this problem, that it is on the agenda and that it is going to be on the agenda now. We must ensure that, wherever we live, we receive attention and, for this, we cannot take lightly the present needs of professionals, but, above all, neither those of the future.

Mr President, Commissioner, I am very happy to hear your proposals, because Europe's underlying problem is demographic and hence the rest. We can no longer look the other way in the face of falling birth rates and aging rates. How can we expect more innovation or greater competitiveness if we ignore that Europe has been dying from its base for decades and forgetting young people? In more than 64% of the municipalities in my region, Extremadura, one in four inhabitants is 65 or older and, in Spain, the vegetative balance has been negative since 2015. I ask from this rostrum to urgently assist all the regions devastated by this demographic disaster, including the demographic variable – as the Commissioner has said – and territorial in European agendas and programmes. But to reverse this, it is necessary to invest in dual digital and transport connectivity, access to essential public services, cross-border cooperation and, of course, support for families, fathers and mothers. Reality requires, Commissioner, imminent action.

Mr. President, despite his resounding and obvious defeat at the polls, Maduro has proclaimed himself president of Venezuela. The dictatorship oppresses its opponents, although they are an example of the struggle for freedom, like the heroine María Corina Machado, who does not need our congratulations, but our action. The international community has not stood idly by: The European Union has added 15 Venezuelan officials and senior officials to its list of restrictive measures for its blow to democracy. But this is not enough; We have to do more. The European Union must recognize Edmundo González Urrutia as the elected president of Venezuela and, if it has not been done before, it is because it has not stood up to countries like mine, which give oxygen to a dictator like Maduro. Therefore, from this rostrum I tell Mr. Sanchez to reconsider, to put himself on the right side of history. It's not opposition, it's telling the truth. Don't shut us up, because that's what Maduro does.

Madam President, Mr Vice-President, Spain, Portugal, France with its island of Mayotte: disasters in which Europe needs to articulate mechanisms for an imminent response. And it has to do so in the face of the irresponsibility of governments such as Spain, which is unable to execute works from its budget that would have avoided much pain and many deaths in our country. Because there are governments that only care about their pacts to stay in the armchair and not the victims, like those who have suffered in Valencia due to the inaction of their government. Perhaps the important thing is to create a specific fund and not to pull the tailor's box that is being cohesion policy in Europe. All our support for the victims of these disasters. And, in the face of Euroscepticism, what we say from the People's Party is that Europe is more necessary than ever.

Mr President, cancer is a scourge that we must eradicate. It is the second leading cause of death in the European Union and every year 2.6 million people are diagnosed with cancer and 1.2 million die from it. The People's Group is strongly committed to Europe's Beating Cancer Plan. And the goal of achieving less than 5% of the population using tobacco by 2040 is a priority for us. What is also imperative is to launch the creation of the European Cancer Fund to ensure early diagnosis and detection, to finance the development of and access to innovative therapies, and to avoid inequalities between countries in obtaining new treatments, as well as to promote scientific research. Last legislature put in place the pillars of the European Health Union and it is time to implement it. But scientific research is fundamental for us as co-legislators. When it comes to legislation, every law has to be based on a strong empirical basis that allows us to protect all our citizens.

Madam President, I would like to focus exclusively on the victims. The Poyo ravine overflowed and caused the largest flooding in Valencia. "Neighbors point to the Poyo ravine as the main responsible for the flood" (end of quote). I am proud to be Spanish and I am proud to be European, because it is Europe that has the answer to these catastrophes. Cohesion policy must respond to the reconstruction following these phenomena, which are happening today in our country and may happen tomorrow in any of the 27 other Member States. But let's not forget that it's about rebuilding not just infrastructure, but broken lives. The lives of hundreds and thousands of people who have lost everything. It's Europe's time. It is time for a Europe of solidarity.

Mr President, as Robert Schuman said: “I am a European; I wish, however, to remain French, and, in France, Lorraine is my little homeland. Cities and regions were always on the minds of the people who started the European project. I have been mayor of my city, Cáceres, and I can see the enormous impact that European funds have had on local development and the way in which multilevel governance and partnership between administrations have been key to respecting the particularities of each community from the most basic level. As an Extremaduran, as a Spaniard, as a European, I firmly believe in the role of cities and regions: is essential. The principle of subsidiarity was introduced to define the role that each institution should play in the service of the common good within a framework of common respect. Mere efficiency cannot justify any transfer of what local and regional communities can do on their own: To break with this principle is to break with the very principle of the Union, with the social and territorial cohesion pursued by the Treaties. Europe is the result of a cultural and historical community whose roots sink in every city, in every village, in every region. Without cities there are no citizens and, therefore, any European policy must always be carried out with respect for the local and regional perspective: the Commission must not forget this.

Mr President, Commissioner, listen to me: 1% of deaths in the European Union occur by suicide. We speak, according to the European Statistical Office, of 47 000 deaths per year. One hundred and thirty citizens of the European Union will have lost their lives today while I speak to them. In Spain, 41% of adolescents – I repeat, 41% – report having had mental health problems. What's worse: One in three hadn't spoken to anyone. It is urgent to break the stigma as Europeans and normalize the call for help. We are talking about an invisible pandemic and, therefore, it is necessary to advocate for mental health and make risk factors visible. From the People's Party, we are going to ask the future Commissioner for Health to prioritize a European action plan for mental health and less demagoguery from the left. The time is now. The time is now. Let's do it for our children and for all Europeans: for those who are not there, but for those we can save tomorrow.