Speeches

I've seen your posts on the internet and you seem someone that is often speaking about freedom. You are very worried about freedom. You are worried about the content that is being lectured in schools. When it comes to gender, you are worried about sexual and reproductive rights. You are worried about lecturing social rights in school. But you are not very worried when it comes to the internet or to the algorithm spreading lies to our children. So, my question is very simple: are you worried about science, or are you much more worried about the lies that are being spread by the algorithms that you protect on X and on Meta?

Mr President, dear Commissioner, dear colleagues, Temirlan Sultanbekov is a young political activist in Kyrgyzstan. And he is not only a young political activist, he is one of the most brilliant democrats in his country. Last month, he was unfairly detained and denied these rights in an attempt to prevent him from standing in the next elections. This is not the first time that this administration has sought to silence the opposition and, in the face of such actions, the European Union cannot stay quiet nor tolerate violations of democratic values. We must speak loud and clear. Intimidation campaigns have to stop, all arbitrary arrests must cease, and the respective politicians, journalists and activists must be released. That is what we owe to Temirlan and to all the young political activists. Not just our solidarity, but our commitment to end this situation and to ensure that the authorities in Kyrgyzstan correct their course by respecting freedom and democracy. That is what we stand for here in the European Parliament, and that is what the European Union is all about.

Honourable Member, you are not advocating freedom here, you are advocating the victim, in which the victim is your constituents, you are the Honourable Member and you are your political group. Now the freedom that speaks so much is the freedom for intolerance, is the freedom for hatred, is the freedom for false accounts. As I understand that the Honourable Member does not understand the language of freedom of Soares and so many others, I will speak in his language, in the language of security and in the language of families. I think the Honourable Member acknowledges that families, when they do not let children leave the house with strangers, do so for safety. So why should they do so on social media, when there are 25 000 accounts, as in the Romanian elections, which appear ten days earlier? Why should they do it for the tolerance of hatred? And why should they do it when all TikTok users don't tolerate more than their own?

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, before the financial crisis, the GDP of the euro area was comparable to that of the United States. Today, it's only about 60%. In the face of this economic anemia, the answer cannot and should not be more of the same. We need a European Competitiveness Fund that promotes our industry and skilled employment. But we must also mobilise private investment, creating better conditions for our ecosystem to thrive. startups innovative, by making Europe a desirable destination for venture capital. We want investment in productive sectors with innovative potential, yes. But this exercise of attracting foreign investment cannot be done in a hurry, without discretion. We must not fuel speculation, as so often happens in the case of housing. Nor can we deplete our strategic autonomy by selling public assets in strategic sectors to third countries. By respecting these principles, avoiding the mistakes of the past, we have all the conditions to build a more dynamic, fair and secure European capital market.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, thank you very much for your work. As Mario Draghi said, energy is at the heart of the economy, in traditional industries, but also in new sectors, such as artificial intelligence, where the cost of energy is decisive for companies. If we want to regain competitiveness, attract innovative industries and skilled jobs to Europe, so that it is not the best qualified generation ever, but the best paid generation, the cost of energy is decisive. If we want to, we must start now on the path to ensuring clean and cheap energy, for companies, yes, but also for people. It is not acceptable that for millions of citizens winter means having cold indoors. Fulfilling this goal means bringing the energy union from paper to reality, finally completing the interconnections between our countries to unlock more investment. Simplify rules without deregulating the market to make life easier for all. More European funds for clean and cheap energy production. We cannot step back when it comes to turning our words into action. This is what our citizens expect. It is time for us to ensure freedom of access to cheap energy for all European citizens.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, today it is estimated that 1% of the world's population owns more than 40% of the world's wealth. Against this backdrop of brutal inequalities, the G20 heads of state have finally recognised that we need joint solutions to tax the fortunes of the biggest billionaires. It is a historic moment and Europe must lead by example, show people that there is a fair way to have quality public services and well-paid professionals, without the effort continuing to fall on the middle classes, who can no longer pay more taxes or bear more increases. The time has come to build a large majority that will allow us to move forward. I ask our colleagues on the right whether they are ready to take responsibility and contribute to a European solution. And to the Commission, I would like to ask: when do you come up with a concrete proposal? Our group has been advocating the tax on great wealth for years, not because we need to finance the welfare state, but because it is a question of tax justice for all citizens. And contrary to what the far-right MP said, we don't just need more Elon Musks, we need more Elon Musks paying taxes.

Honourable Member, it is incredible to hear you talk about freedom when the problem is really with the truth. While in this Parliament you are debating hate, debating hate speech, debating the proliferation of hate in the digital world, in Portugal we know very well what is happening and with which your party and its representatives do not have the slightest empathy. Let me quote, the parliamentary leader of your party says: “if the police shoot more to kill, the country is in order”; Your party adviser says: "one less criminal, one less Bloc voter" on the death of a Portuguese citizen. What I would like to ask you with empathy, Honourable Member: Can you or can you not condemn this hatred? Can you or can you not condemn these statements?

Mr President, Mario Draghi warned us that Europe is lagging behind – a less competitive, less innovative and import-dependent economy. The answer from the right is always the same: indiscriminate tax cuts mainly to the benefit of large multinational companies. But that's not how we can change our course. Reducing the gap for the United States and China, but also for the internal asymmetries of our Union, by developing peripheral economies, requires a serious industry, which contributes to a reduction in emissions with more renewable energy, a clean, sustainable industry, which offers good jobs for all, whether they are more or less skilled. A digital revolution must also be social. There is no better solution than investing in people. Only in this way can we ensure that Europe today has the skilled workforce we need; More importantly, no one will be left behind in the future. Either this is a socially just transition or you run the risk of never seeing the light of day.

Madam President, I think this debate is deeply annoying, I think it should be annoying for everyone. First, because we return to the debate about the decision of the women's body. We do not understand that, here, it is not disputed whether abortion takes place or not. We do not understand that what is being discussed here is whether women and the right to life and health are also women's rights. After regretting that the same right that was so concerned about the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, the same right that, in Portugal, appoints a judge to the Constitutional Court who is anti-abortion, the same right that does not appear in this debate, then deigns to justify its position and its lack of appearance not only with the lack of appearance in this House, but with the lack of appearance in the debate on human rights. The construction of European democracy requires democratic and convinced European forces, Commissioner, an exercise by all and not just a few. To that end, I would like to ask you: what should we do together to ensure that fundamental rights are not undermined in the next term of office?

You may not have been informed, but this is not a debate about whether or not there is an abortion. This is a debate about the criminalisation of abortion and I regret to inform you that whatever your position may be... (The President interrupted the speaker) I regret to inform you, but this is not a debate about the existence or non-existence of abortion. Abortion has existed for many years and will continue to exist. The debate here today is about the criminalization of abortion. And what we know today is that whenever we go forward – whether in Poland, Portugal or Spain – with the criminalisation of abortion, it is women who suffer the most, psychologically, mentally, physically. And so my question to the honourable Member is very simple: Do you agree or disagree with the right of women to decide on their own health and to decide on their own bodies?

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, taxing the super-rich is a matter of justice for the rich and the poor. Just take back the words of the unsuspecting Bill Gates, who a few weeks ago said that if he himself designed the tax system, he would be billions of dollars poorer. And that is enough to welcome this initiative of the Brazilian government at the head of the G20 presidency. Ensuring that the richest, with billions of euros of personal wealth, pay at least the same taxes as the poorest is as basic as it is trivial. There cannot be a set of rules for workers, middle classes and small businesses and others for multinationals and billionaires who choose rules, who comply or do not comply, where they comply and how much they pay. Because while it is true that globalisation has lifted millions of people out of extreme poverty, it is also true that it has contributed to accelerating inequalities and to living today in the most unequal society we have ever experienced. Dear Members, our success as a society is not measured by the individual success of those who are better off, but by the paths we have managed to create for everyone to have a better life.

Thank you for the historical revisionism. You mentioned Arafat; Too bad you didn't mention Yitzhak Rabin. The Middle East is now under fire and iron. Thousands of people lose their lives and the United Nations has prevented not only the path to peace of which it speaks, a sustained path and an immediate ceasefire. On the contrary, and meanwhile, the leader of his party calls for the resignation of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and Israel declared it this week. persona non grata. Do you think that is the way to peace, Mr President? And I ask you very specifically: condemns or does not condemn the State of Israel for its action against the Secretary-General of the United Nations?

Mr President, Commission, ladies and gentlemen, EUR 13 billion has remained unpaid. This is the invoice of a single company, confirmed by the Court of Justice, as a result of illegal subsidies. While Europe loses competitiveness due to a lack of investment, as Mario Draghi warns us, some countries allow few companies to circumvent our law. I would like to ask: Are these €13 billion more valuable for a giant company with multimillion-dollar shareholders? Or are they more valuable to small businesses, to workers in our welfare state, from civil protection to healthcare? To put it in perspective, in my country, Portugal, EUR 13 billion would be enough for one year of the state budget in the area of health, to pay nurses, doctors, to treat people. Commissioner, who is not here, I would like to congratulate you on your courage. Political courage, which must be the spirit of this House of the European Union. However, we are aware that this is only the first of many steps we must take to combat tax evasion schemes. It's justice we're talking about.

Madam President, there are more than 40 000 dead, close to 100 000 injured. Day after day, unfortunately, the number of victims in Gaza continues to rise. Innocent civilians, whole families, little children. The Palestinians are being treated as mere collateral damage. And we're not just talking about Gaza. We are talking about the West Bank, where more than 9 000 people have been arrested in recent weeks. And people aren't just numbers. Today we have with us in the gallery the Saif of the West Bank, for years resisting oppression and illegal settlements. He always did it in an orderly manner. He has always done so in a peaceful manner. Unfortunately, peace, hope, we did not bring it and that is our debt of gratitude to these people. But it's much more than that. Our debt is about ending genocide. Our debt is above all about complying with international law. And it's not just us. It is the Secretary-General of the United Nations who is calling for an immediate ceasefire. It is the Secretary-General of the United Nations who says that we have gone too far. Now is the time to recognize the state of Palestine. This is the time to stand with the Palestinians, but this is certainly the time for action, let alone speeches.

Mr President, Portugal is on fire! And this was not the scenario that I envisaged for my first speech, much less in this plenary. Unfortunately, today we face a total emergency, a collective emergency that requires a great effort from all of us. I address this first word to the families of the victims of these fires, which are totally devastating. The pain and suffering you are going through is immeasurable and my solidarity is with each one of you. I also want to take advantage of this moment, this debate on energy, to express deep respect and gratitude to the firefighters, to civil protection and to all the people who are mobilising at the moment. We cannot ignore the reality that plagues us. The lives lost in Portugal due to the fires and the lives lost in central Europe due to the floods are a desperate cry that cannot be ignored. These tragedies are, unfortunately, proof that combating climate change is not a preference, it is a necessity. And in that sense, we need to start now also by fighting for more renewable energy, more renewable production, more resilience, less import dependency, more affordable prices for people and businesses, and a strategy to fight energy poverty. The State of the Energy Union is yet to be achieved, but we need to start now.