Speeches

The next sitting will be held tomorrow, Tuesday 21 October 2025 at 9 a.m. The agenda has been published and is available on the European Parliament's website.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, today women in Europe still earn 12.7% less than men and represent only 34% of STEM graduates. Numbers that remind us that real equality, also from this point of view, is still far away. I believe that true equality means freedom of choice, being able to work, grow up, be mothers or entrepreneurs, without having to give up one's aspirations, including parenting. I often bring my children into this context to try to reconcile all this, even if it is not easy at all. For years with the Gender Equality Week, Taking place in the first week of November, we promote equality and inclusion. This year will be dedicated to talent, which we will explore in all its dimensions. The new Gender Action Plan, approved this week by the Bureau of the European Parliament, is heading in the right direction. It demonstrates the will to make Europe a concrete example for all European, regional and national institutions. But we need more momentum. We must build a true ecosystem of support for families, able to face the demographic decline, offer quality services and make equality a reality lived. My question to the Commission, therefore, is: Are we ready to work together with Parliament in this direction?

The next item is the report by Dennis Radtke, on behalf of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2009/38/EC as regards the establishment and functioning of European Works Councils and the effective enforcement of transnational information and consultation rights (COM(2024)0014 - C9-0012/2024 - 2024/0006(COD)) (A10-0029/2024).

The S&D Group informed the President of a decision to amend the appointments of delegations. This decision will be included in the minutes of today's sitting and will enter into force with effect from this announcement.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, what really makes our understanding of sport European? Not just competition or a result, but accessibility, inclusion, participation. Sport is public health, it is civic education, it is territorial cohesion. That is why European policies must continue to invest in local sports infrastructure, volunteering and the participation of young people and women. Today I bring you a concrete example of how these values can become reality. On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the European Week of Sport, in Viterbo the European Parliament and the Commission in Italy promoted the "Half Marathon Città dei Papi", a competitive and free half marathon. Not just an anniversary with a sporting event, but a community that chooses sport as its common language. Demonstration that opened by unrolling a European flag of 600 square meters. Because Europe is also this: 167 sports clubs involved, over 1 000 athletes for the competitive part of ten nationalities, 40 provinces, 15 regions and 194 different cities in Italy. An event that has become a symbol of community and Europe. If we really want to defend the European model of sport, we must start from there, from the streets, from the provincial fields, from our cities, from small sports clubs, because every person who wears a jersey not only dreams of winning, but of feeling part of something bigger.

Madam President, Mr Vice-President Fitto, ladies and gentlemen, the housing crisis today is one of the biggest social emergencies in Europe. The numbers speak for themselves: According to Eurostat, more than 7% of Europeans spend more than 40% of their income on housing and in some countries the percentage is much higher. Without an accessible and dignified home, young people do not build families, workers do not take root and territories are emptied. That is why cohesion policy has a decisive role to play in this, and thanks to your work, Commissioner Fitto, the Structural Funds are becoming more flexible, less bureaucratic and able to respond to people's concrete needs. Today we have a great opportunity, which is to harmonise all the instruments available, from the revision of the NRRP to the mid-term review of cohesion policy, up to the wider European programming for housing. In Italy, the government led by Giorgia Meloni has launched a national house plan, which wants to transform living into a lever of growth and cohesion. I believe that this intuition must and can also become a challenge that we can all face in Europe: a European home plan, supported by cohesion policy, capable of countering the depopulation of inland areas and strengthening demographic resilience, because Europe's true strength will not be measured by buildings and institutions, but by the homes in which families can take root.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the European Citizens' Initiative, which we are debating today, raises an issue that thousands of people have brought to our attention with force and conviction: European instruments must be structured to serve territories more and better, with particular reference also to inland areas. Cohesion policy, for example, already has important instruments, such as the partnership principle, the non-discrimination clause and support for cultural heritage, all of which help preserve distinctive cultural, linguistic and historical identities. This policy, in preserving the richness of our regional cultures, is not only an economic instrument, but a social and cultural commitment, which aims to bridge territorial gaps by ensuring equal opportunities for development and quality of life. Strengthening existing instruments, simplifying procedures and valuing diversity as a resource means building true, concrete, decentralised cohesion based on shared responsibility. The work that awaits us is to ensure that there is a more homogeneous and effective application, so that no territory is excluded or neglected, because only through a balance between sustainable economic growth and respect for cultural specificities will we be able to build a fairer, more inclusive and stronger Europe. And the next post-2027 budget will necessarily have to take these needs into account, making cohesion even closer to citizens and their identities.

I have received six motions for resolutions to wind up the debate, in accordance with Rule 136(2) of the Rules of Procedure. The debate is closed. The vote will take place on Thursday 10 July 2025.

The next item is the joint debate. - the Council and Commission statements on the preparation of the EU-China Summit in 2025 (2025/2757(RSP)), and. - the Commission statement "Tackling China's restrictions on exports of critical raw materials" (2025/2800(RSP)).

The next item is the debate on the Commission statement on the escalation of violence and aggravation of the humanitarian crisis in South Sudan (2025/2751(RSP)).

The ECR Group informed the President of a decision to amend the appointments to a committee. This decision will be included in the minutes of today's sitting and will enter into force with effect from this announcement.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, according to Eurostat, almost one in three Europeans lives in areas with low population density: more than 137 million citizens living in rural, mountainous or peripheral areas. This is not an exception, but an extraordinary resource common to the whole of the European Union. In Lazio, for example, from where I come, there are small municipalities that every day demonstrate an extraordinary vitality. But to unleash their full potential, an essential prerequisite is needed: the concrete possibility of moving. The new European regulation on Public Service Obligations, in force since December 2023, strengthens the possibility for public authorities to define transport services that meet not only economic criteria, but also general interest objectives, such as territorial cohesion, accessibility and inclusion. However, in order to make public transport services at all levels truly competitive and efficient, it is necessary, in my view, to focus on three levels: regulatory, establishing minimum standards also for long-distance routes considered to be low-profitable but with high social potential; financial, providing for a structural share of European funds for the mobility of underserved areas; and institutional, promoting multilevel governance between the European Union, States and Regions, capable of planning in an integrated and fair manner. Above all, it is necessary to involve small municipalities, especially those in inland areas, often passive recipients of reforms that have never been shared, in addition to cities, as you rightly mentioned. A just mobility is built with the territories and not only for the territories. Commissioner, connecting small towns to the rest of Europe means investing in cohesion, growth and freedom.

The next item is the report by Victor Negrescu and Siegfried Mureşan, on behalf of the Committee on Budgets and the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, on the report on the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (2024/2085(INI) (A10-0098/2025).

I have received a request for a personal statement from Mr Maréchal, pursuant to Rule 180 of the Rules of Procedure, referring to a comment made yesterday at the opening of the part-session.