What Sérgio spoke about.

12

Mar

2025

PT Speech

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Social and employment aspects of restructuring processes: the need to protect jobs and workers’ rights (debate)

Dear President, Dear Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, without populism, without demagoguery, what matters is that the European Union acts. And that's why we're here. Protecting jobs and workers' rights in Europe must be, and is, at the top of our priorities. Globalisation, automation, the green and digital transitions have put pressure on our labour market, which in turn is pressing for workers…

11

Mar

2025

PT Speech

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Presentation of the proposal on Critical Medicines Act (CMA) (debate)

Dear President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, in a European Union with diversified health systems, the Critical Medicines Act allows for a more efficient response to health emergencies and so congratulations. We live in a time when access to essential medicines is more urgent than ever and we cannot, as my colleagues have already said, be dependent on countries such as China or India, which …

11

Feb

2025

PT Answer

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Boosting vocational education and training in times of labour market transitions (debate)

Dear colleague João Oliveira, answering in a synthetic way, we can only have better jobs if we produce wealth and then distribute that wealth. But we need jobs, and so that's what's been happening. And this government, in Portugal, has done this and has already demonstrated this in less than a year, this bet on training, both in university education and in vocational training. But above all, we ne…

11

Feb

2025

PT Speech

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Boosting vocational education and training in times of labour market transitions (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, growth requires innovation. We are facing an ever-changing labour market, with adequate investments, collaboration between the public and private sectors of competitive Member States, able to tackle the skills gap and shortages of skilled labour. We need to think, but above all plan and act in the short, medium and long term. The future of work …

11

Feb

2025

PT Speech

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The need to address urgent labour shortages and ensure quality jobs in the health care sector (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, today we are short of more than 1 million health professionals in the European Union. By 2030, we will be short of more than 4 million health workers. And yet, when there is a shortage of labor, they are there. When the geographical accesses are not easy, they are there. Even when working conditions are challenging, they remain there. When we need …

19

Dec

2024

PT Speech

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Need to update the European strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, one in four adults in the European Union has some form of disability. In an inclusive, free and democratic society such as ours, it is our duty to continue to create, maintain and develop conditions for the participation and strengthening of all citizens. The main challenges faced by persons with disabilities are discrimination, unemployment, po…

18

Dec

2024

PT Speech

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Urgent need for EU action to preserve nature and protect biodiversity to avoid the extinction of species (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, 80% of the European Union's biodiversity is in its outermost regions and Portugal is at the forefront of protecting biodiversity. I can only salute and congratulate the Government of the Azores for protecting 30% of its sea and thus protecting marine biodiversity. This measure increases the network of marine protected areas in Portugal to 17%. Befo…

18

Dec

2024

PT Speech

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Tackling abusive subcontracting and labour market intermediaries (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner Roxana Mînzatu, ladies and gentlemen, it is time we defended a better European Union for all our workers. It is time for us to commit to providing a decent life for our citizens and quality work. It is time to ensure a Europe where the rights and interests of workers in sectors such as food, agriculture, tourism and domestic work are prioritised, and where the European i…

17

Dec

2024

PT Speech

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Towards a shared vision for European tourism, its sustainable growth and brand Europe (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, tourism is changing more than ever. It is changing to adapt to local communities living under increasing pressure in major European cities such as Lisbon or Porto, Athens or Santorini. It is changing to align with the transport sector, which is crucial for the flow of tourism. It is changing to offer the consumer solutions aligned with sustainabili…

16

Dec

2024

PT Speech

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Regional Emergency Support: RESTORE (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, in 2023, Europe suffered more than EUR 13.4 billion in damage due to extreme weather events, which are increasingly common and are increasingly present. These natural disasters do not only cause material damage, but essentially human damage. They impact sectors such as agriculture, water supply, health, energy and food security, infrastructure, …

27

Nov

2024

PT Speech

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Rise of energy prices and fighting energy poverty (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, today in this plenary we are talking about increasing energy prices and combating energy poverty. Portugal and Spain are currently an energy island. The amount of energy flowing from the Iberian Peninsula to the rest of the Member States is less than 5%. Ladies and gentlemen, I appeal to the European institutions to make this a European issue an…

25

Nov

2024

PT Speech

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Outcome of the UN Biodiversity Conference 2024 in Cali, Colombia (COP16) (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, a special greeting to Luena, to Miguel, to all those who took part in COP16. Our entourage from ENVI, to Dora, to Heiki. It was a pleasure to be in Cali, Colombia, to participate in COP16. These were difficult, challenging negotiations, but it is worth highlighting an achievement that should have happened a long time ago: the creation of the Cali Fund for the…

24

Oct

2024

PT Answer

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Closing the EU skills gap: supporting people in the digital and green transitions to ensure inclusive growth and competitiveness in line with the Draghi report (debate)

Dear Colleague João Oliveira, for the last nine years, my country has been ruled by the left. A contraption between the Socialist Party, its party – the Communist Party – and the Left Bloc. For nine years, it has divested itself from the public education system, it has divested itself from health, it has divested itself from what public services were, and this government, in the last – only – six …

24

Oct

2024

PT Speech

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Closing the EU skills gap: supporting people in the digital and green transitions to ensure inclusive growth and competitiveness in line with the Draghi report (debate)

Dear President, Dear Commissioner, Dear colleagues, in Portugal we have a proverb that teaches us that we should not cry over spilled milk, which is why we should talk about solutions to the challenge we face. Let me share with you three priorities for action, because no one grows in stagnation. I repeat: No one grows in stagnation. First: We need to invest in lifelong learning. Learning is the ba…

22

Oct

2024

PT Speech

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Guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I will speak in English, the fourth most spoken language in the world as a mother tongue. What can we do to combat unemployment, to retain our talents, to be attractive to young people, to improve employment conditions and finally to provide the whole working population with the opportunities it deserves? We need to invest in reindustrialisation, cut red tape, h…