Speeches

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, every day farmers and farmers ensure that quality food arrives on our tables, combats soil degradation and erosion, and contributes to maintaining biodiversity. Their work is vital for the social, economic and environmental sustainability of rural areas and forms the backbone of Europe's prosperity and competitiveness. Despite this centrality, the agricultural sector is one of the most precarious and difficult sectors of the economy, where working conditions are not yet optimal. In the European Union we have 10 million employees in the agricultural sector and the figure rises to 17 million if we consider the daily workers; 32 % of undeclared employment and many cases of unregistered working hours; 500 fatal accidents a year, including that of Satnam Singh, the young Indian worker abandoned on the street in Latina, Lazio, after losing his arm in an accident at work. The system is influenced by illegal labour intermediation – just think of the corporal system – and the introduction of social conditionality was therefore an important result of the last CAP reform, as the Commissioner pointed out. We must implement directives, such as the minimum wage and the due diligence, important steps in this direction, but many challenges still remain. Social conditionality should be implemented by all Member States by 2025, with the full involvement of social partners – which is often not the case – and all Member States should be allowed to have sectoral collective agreements. The strategic dialogue and the vision for agriculture and food are an important first step. Commissioner, improving the working and living conditions of agricultural workers is an important battle for all of us, and this must not only happen through quality jobs, but also through strengthening rights for a new alliance between workers and businesses.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we have come to the end of this debate and we all agree that tourism is a key part of the European economy, with more than 700 million foreign visitors spending more than EUR 800 billion every year. But Europe does not yet have a brand and does not yet have a real and strong strategic plan. As Mayor of Florence and President of Eurocities, I learned that there are some priorities: the first is that the Commission looks at tourism as a cross-cutting sector, better coordinating programmes; the second is to finance projects on transport and technological innovation that promote tourism; the third is that there should be coordination with cohesion policies to promote tourism in rural inland areas; the fourth is to combine public and private investment; The fifth is to involve local and regional communities in an annual conference. Commissioner Tzitzikostas, you have been an excellent president of the Committee of the Regions and you have this sensitivity, thanks also to the portfolio that combines transport and tourism.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, last week a terrible event took place in my city, Calenzano. A gas plant exploded, creating a fire and unfortunately leading to the death of six people, with 19 injured, two of them very serious. It is yet another work-related accident that has affected my country, as many other work-related accidents affect our cities, regions and countries in the European Union every day. There is still not enough to save lives and it is unacceptable that, even today, in a continent like ours, there are people who get up in the morning to go to work and then never return home. We must fight not only for workers' rights, but also for the safety of workers in our countries.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Minister, this Budapest declaration is an important first step on the road to European competitiveness, especially in comparison with the economic giants such as the United States and China. In this context, agriculture faces a threefold challenge. The first one: regaining economic competitiveness, which has been declining for more than two decades. The second: achieving an ecological transition that is favourable to both farmers and civil society. The third: addressing the social challenge with a balanced diet of high quality, safe, but also valuing the professions, the new generations and promoting rural areas. In this context, the Draghi report is a clear blueprint for a path forward on European competitiveness; The European Union will not be able to remain a strategic actor if it does not address this issue. The same goes for agriculture. So we need to invest, invest, invest. And for this reason, if an opening has been made to the eurobond For defense, I don't see why it can't and shouldn't be done for the economy and agriculture. We need to give concrete answers to our farmers and our economy.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the historian Jacques Le Goff wrote that European identity was born in the Middle Ages and it was in the Middle Ages that the first municipalities were born. It is in the Middle Ages that cities have their roots: our cities, where we find monuments, churches, universities, where the languages that make up Europe's cultural heritage of identity are born. This is why cities are today the real challenge of a modern, sustainable and strong Europe. And while it is true that Europe is built from the bottom up, Commissioner, we cannot accept the dismantling of cohesion policy. We cannot accept that cities and regions are not the protagonists of the decisions that are made for our citizens. We cannot accept a centralisation of the European budget and a suspension of the urban agenda because, as David Sassoli said, when the construction site of Europe closes and we have a united and strong Europe, there will be cities with their innovation, with their peace and their strength.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we have seen a real housing emergency in Europe: 19 million people live in inadequate housing; rents increased by 41.5% in ten years, as did house prices, which doubled in five countries. In Italy, 2.5 million households spend 40% of their income on housing. And the Italian government has canceled the fund for public construction and that for the rent contribution. The Eurocities association, of which I was a member, offers many solutions, starting with a financial plan. But I would ask the Commissioner, above all, to make a commitment to the question of the relationship between theovertourism, short tourist rentals and the indiscriminate increase in house prices and rents. There are many proposals, such as the homologation of rules in the Member States or how to give more powers to mayors to regulate or limit the phenomenon of short-term tourist rentals, and also a comparison with the platforms that manage most of the market. The European Union will be able to discuss this at the G7 Tourism Summit in Florence in November. The right to housing is neither a luxury nor a business, it is a pillar of a cohesive and secure European society. And we at S&D will strive for that.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the launch of the strategic dialogue after the farmers' protests was undoubtedly useful and positive, especially since a synthesis has been created between the two souls of the agricultural and agri-food sector, the environmental and the economic. It is a working method that involved the main stakeholders and indicated some important priorities for the future. However, this exercise is only a beginning, which will have to be followed by an even more open and transparent working method, involving above all the co-legislators. The recognition of the agricultural sector as central and strategic for the future of Europe is positive, as is the desire to create a specific fund outside the CAP budget that supports the ecological transition, whose investments cannot weigh on those who are small and have no instruments. It is essential to avoid the increase in costs linked to the environmental ambition of the European Union, while preserving agricultural competitiveness. However, a standardised sustainability benchmarking system, as proposed by the dialogue, must take into account that European agriculture is highly differentiated and this system may be difficult to apply homogeneously at European level. The focus on the importance of generational renewal, with the creation of new farms run by young people, is positive, as is the need to invest in quality and job security and enhance rural areas to make the agricultural sector more attractive, with greater synergy between CAP resources and cohesion policies. Let us not forget the importance of food security and the role of innovation, including genetic innovation, in reducing the use of chemicals, combating diseases and the negative effects of climate change. Our farmers demand attention, courage and commitment. The best defense is the attack and for this we need more resources and more competitiveness. As the Draghi report suggests, we will need an unprecedented plan of new public investment, including the use of a common European debt, as well as a real fiscal and financial union that will lead us out of the crisis. The time for a Europe that survives is over: It is time for a Europe that runs stronger and more united.