What Ana spoke about.

9

Jul

2026

EN Speech

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Feasibility of a 28th tax regime and its potential to support EU competitiveness (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner and colleagues, the EU's single market is bigger than the US's, with roughly 100 million more consumers. Yet our businesses struggle to grow because the market is really a patchwork of 27 fragmented legal systems that suffocate any small business that attempts to navigate it. We often boast about having more start-ups than the US. Yet 1 in 3 of them move abroad – main…

8

Jul

2026

PT Answer

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EU’s response and preparedness to protect people against recurring heatwaves and upcoming wildfires (debate)

Honourable Member, southern Europe, including Portugal, has been one of the largest beneficiaries of European funds to manage water resources. In fact, it is thanks to the mismanagement of these funds that we have not performed well in the management of these resources and in the availability of water to our citizens. So yes, we must better manage our resources, European resources and national res…

8

Jul

2026

PT Speech

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EU’s response and preparedness to protect people against recurring heatwaves and upcoming wildfires (debate)

President, Commissioner, Colleagues, I will address you in Portuguese. More than 1,300 Europeans lost their lives, more than usual, between 21 and 29 June due to the heat wave. It is estimated that around 44,000 lives are lost each year due to the high temperatures in Europe. Fire prevention and climate resilience are one of the most important agendas of this mandate and I want to focus on one par…

19

May

2026

EN Speech

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Opportunities and challenges presented by a comprehensive artificial intelligence strategy for EU trade (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues. As we all know by now, the EU was faster to regulate AI than it was to invest in it, develop it, and widely adopt it across our economy. It was refreshing to see this report on AI strategy for EU trade acknowledge that 'premature or excessive regulatory intervention risks undermining innovation, investment and competitiveness'. Now we are too dependent on a …

11

Mar

2026

PT Speech

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Package travel and linked travel arrangements: make the protection of travellers more effective and simplify and clarify certain aspects (debate)

10

Mar

2026

EN Speech

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Cutting red tape to enable a competitive and clean transition – the urgent need to shorten and simplify permitting (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, since around the year 2000, incomes in Europe have grown more slowly than in the United States. The rise in energy prices since the invasion of Ukraine has, of course, played a role in this, after decades of depending on Russian gas. Even as we've recovered that energy shock, the energy bill remains twice as high for Europeans than it does for Americans. Sou…

11

Feb

2026

EN Question

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Urgent actions to revive EU competitiveness, deepen the EU Single Market and reduce the cost of living - from the Draghi report to reality (debate)

Dear colleague, our single market has about 450 million consumers. The American market has around 350 million. So, our market is pretty sizeable. It's a big question 'how come we have dwindled in our economic growth?' We know – and I wonder if you can test that – that a big reason for that is that SMEs struggle with administrative burden. Up to 25% of their resources is spent on administrative bur…

21

Jan

2026

EN Speech

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Presentation of the Digital Networks Act (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, connectivity is a basic need for Europeans – 85 % of them have said so, and over 60 % of small and medium-sized businesses need 5G to grow. Reform is an urgent need for Europeans to safely thrive and meet global challenges in the unpredictable world we live in. The Digital Networks Act rightly identifies connectivity as essential for European competitiven…

17

Dec

2025

PT Speech

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Grave political situation in Guinea-Bissau after the coup of 26 November

Madam President, Commissioner, with this resolution, the European Union has gone further than other international organisations since the military coup of 26 November in Guinea-Bissau, which unlawfully suspended the electoral process started days earlier. It does so by explicitly calling for the immediate publication of the election results of 23 November. Neither the CPLP, nor the African Union, …

26

Nov

2025

EN Question

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EU position on the proposed plan and EU engagement towards a just and lasting peace for Ukraine (debate)

How can we truly keep our nation safe and protect ourselves from the desires of our enemy, Putin, if we give in to his demands? Is it not the lesson from 2014 that Europe's weak response to the annexation of Crimea led to the encouragement of Putin invading Ukraine? Is it not the lesson from the Second World War that when we stand up and show that we will not capitulate, in the end we are safer an…

8

Oct

2025

EN Speech

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The role of simple tax rules and tax fragmentation in European competitiveness (debate)

Mr President, Commissioners, colleagues, our single market has over 450 million people, 100 million more than the US market, which means that our market is a third larger than that of the US. Yet, the number one complaint I hear from ambitious people willing to take risks – especially in the tech sector – is that they can't operate in the single market. Why is that? Because on top of excessive EU …

8

Sep

2025

EN Speech

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Circularity requirements for vehicle design and management of end-of-life vehicles (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, over six million vehicles reach the end of their lives across Europe each year. Right now we are treating valuable materials like waste when we should be treating them like assets. Many of the metals, plastics and critical minerals that Europe needs are contained in these vehicles. Letting them disappear into landfills and incineration plants makes no eco…

9

Jul

2025

PT Speech

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EU Preparedness Union in light of the upcoming wildfire and droughts season (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the Portuguese people are well aware of the cost of unpreparedness. In 2022, more than 120 000 hectares burned, almost twice the average of the last decade. We have lost more than 30% of the treated water, well above countries like Denmark and the Netherlands, which lose 10% less and do not face regular droughts like us. Increasingly extreme wea…

17

Jun

2025

EN Speech

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European Ocean Pact (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, Europe controls the largest maritime area on Earth, yet we treat the ocean as a blind spot rather than our competitive advantage. The Ocean Pact is an important first step to deliver change, and we must ensure that change means targeted action anchored in strategic investments and measurable results. The Ocean Pact correctly identifies six essential prior…

6

May

2025

EN Speech

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The European Water Resilience Strategy (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, innovation in water infrastructure and its management should be the cornerstones of the water resilience framework. This is a strategic policy for Europe, crucial for our defence, for human and environmental well-being, as well as for our competitiveness, especially as agriculture, AI, energy systems – just some examples – depend heavily on water. Europe …

2

Apr

2025

PT Speech

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European oceans pact (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, an ocean at risk is also an economic risk and a struggling economy is also a threat to the environment. The ocean is a key climate regulator, capturing 90% of the excess heat from carbon emissions, hosting 80% of global biodiversity and generating half of our oxygen. Despite this vital role, the ocean has not been prioritised in the European Union’s climate policy, when…

13

Feb

2025

EN Speech

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EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement (debate)

Mr President, dear Commissioner, dear colleagues, let us be clear about what's really at stake with the Mercosur agreement. It's not just Europe's economic future. It's our international credibility after stalling this deal for more than 20 years. It's about where we stand in a world where the global balance of powers is shifting and Europe is struggling to defend its interests. Some warn of threa…

21

Jan

2025

PT Speech

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Situation in Venezuela following the usurpation of the presidency on 10 January 2025 (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, Venezuelans have bravely resisted and fought to defend their democratic rights and the electoral result which elected Edmundo González as its legitimate president, and which the European Union has rightly recognised as such. The appeals of Venezuelans, supported by the international community, were ignored with the illegitimate inauguration of Nico…

17

Dec

2024

EN Speech

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Misinformation and disinformation on social media platforms, such as TikTok, and related risks to the integrity of elections in Europe (debate)

Mr President, dear Commissioner, dear colleagues, in the early days of social media, there was hope that millions of people living under oppressive regimes would be empowered with different points of view and even inspired to fight for their freedoms. Now, social media is considered one of the main threats against democracies because they are wielded as a weapon by those who wish to destabilise an…

26

Nov

2024

PT Speech

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Political and humanitarian situation in Mozambique (debate)

23

Oct

2024

PT Answer

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Need to strengthen rail travel and the railway sector in Europe (debate)

Ladies and gentlemen, if you look at the latest report published by the European Commission, which mentions precisely that increased competitiveness and liberalisation, especially on high-speed connections, have contributed to lower fares, to improving the quality of service and, above all, to increasing the percentage of use by consumers. So, yeah, I think that's the way to go. I think we also ha…

23

Oct

2024

PT Speech

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Need to strengthen rail travel and the railway sector in Europe (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, environmental sustainability and economic competitiveness are priorities for Europe. The transport sector is the only sector where carbon emissions have increased in the last 35 years, being the second largest responsible for these emissions. We know that rail pollutes less and is more energy efficient, but it accounts for only 7% of passenger tran…

7

Oct

2024

PT Speech

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The extreme wildfires in Southern Europe, in particular Portugal and Greece and the need for further EU climate action on adaptation and mitigation (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, the most recent episode of uncontrolled fires in Europe took place in Portugal last month. Seven years have passed since the tragedy of Pedrógão Grande, which so marked our nation. The Socialist Party left the government this year. 78% of rural properties remain unregistered. In 2023, the budget for fire prevention was reduced by around EUR 60 million. It is …

17

Sep

2024

EN Speech

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Global measures towards social media platforms - Strengthening the role of DSA and protecting democracy and freedom in the online sphere (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, social media can liberate the voice of otherwise-silenced individuals, and spread old and new ideas. It also enables threats to the life and physical integrity of individuals, as well as deliberate attempts to undermine our democratic systems. Child abuse, encouraging violence on our streets, fake political endorsements, algorithms and bots – who are not peo…