Speeches

Mr President, the Government of Israel, in which far-right, ultra-nationalist and ultra-religious parties participate, was advancing, by statements of some of its leaders – who are now ministers – an anti-liberal, pro-annexation, racist and homophobic government. Unfortunately, what is happening is proof of the former. Judicial reform is really an undemocratic coup d'état. We are here, debating, because it is not an internal question of Israel. The most affected by this reform will be the Palestinians and the most vulnerable minorities. The policy of annexation of occupied territories and discrimination against Palestinian rights has been going on for years. Violation of international law, too. Of course, this reform, if judicial guarantees are eliminated, will only deepen it. The rights of Israelis and Palestinians are being threatened. The same interior minister, who called for a harsh crackdown on Israeli demonstrators, is the one who protects the violent actions of the settlers. It's time, High Representative, for performances. No, I don't... (the Chair took the floor from the speaker).

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, last 11 February we celebrated the Day of Women and Girls in Science and, unfortunately, there was not much to celebrate, because according to UNESCO, only 35% of students in STEM careers are women. We also need to see that access to technology in developing countries barely reaches 30% of women users and, in least developed countries, only 20% of women have access to the Internet. On the other hand, we are also seeing how the new digital media are the new scenario in which violence against women develops. One in ten European women has experienced some form of cyber violence since the age of 15 and 20% of European women have been victims of cyberbullying. That is why we need to eradicate all existing barriers so that girls can be fully incorporated into science. Science needs women and women need science to design a new future, a future in equality.

Madam President, we have been waiting six years for the Council to ratify the Istanbul Convention so that the European Union can do so as part of it. Six years is undoubtedly too many years, but when fifty women are murdered every week in the European Union, it is a real shame. It's unacceptable. First, the Council told us that there were legal problems, that unanimity was needed, allowing during these six years the most reactionary countries on equality, such as Poland, which announced three years ago that it would withdraw its signature from the Convention, Bulgaria, Czechia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary or Slovakia, which have not yet ratified the Convention, to set the political agenda for all: Parliament's and the Commission's. Therefore, now, following the judgment of 6 October 2021, when we know, according to the Court of Justice, that there is no legal problem, that the Convention can be ratified by the Council with a qualified majority, it is time to do so. We owe it to all victims of violence in the European Union; to them, to their families, to orphans who are without a mother, victims of this brutal violence against women.

Madam President, we are horrified at the executions, murders, by the Iranian regime of young demonstrators, the pain of their families, the anguish of those 26 demonstrators awaiting their death sentence. But we know that the death penalty is not a new situation in Iran. Shortly before the protests, this country was the first country in the world to execute women. But that is why we cannot silently witness this terror, this horror, and we must strengthen our sanctions against the Iranian regime. That is why we call in this resolution for the designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization, as it is. We already sanctioned its members individually in 2019, but they must receive this qualification. And we must prioritize women, women who, with their cry of "woman, life and freedom," are at the forefront of the protests. They must also be at the forefront of the responses of the international community. And they need concrete action. They need emergency visas to protect their lives. They need much more forcefulness and firmness from Europe.

Mr. President, in Afghanistan, more than a year after the Taliban took power, there is no gender discrimination, there is a real gender: a system of systematic segregation designed to erase women and girls from public space. This is a demand from women human rights defenders in Afghanistan, which we echo today in this Parliament, which is going to be the first institution in the international community to adopt this term. Let's call things by their name. Girls and women in Afghanistan live in a real hell. 430 days now the girls have been in Afghanistan with their schools closed. But let us also think that from here we have responsibility. We can do more. We need to coordinate our efforts at the international level for the protection of women defenders, offering them education and employment options. We need to review our points of agreement to work with Afghanistan. Our relations can never go through the legitimization of terrorist authorities who have declared war on women. A real apartheid gender.

Mr President, Commissioner, following the disappointing COP27 summit, the focus is now on this COP15. Let's hope we do a little better. I think we can find ourselves in a historic moment if we turn this summit into the 'Paris' for nature. And the reason is clear. The biodiversity crisis is a planetary emergency. And none of the goals of the Paris Summit, on global warming, can be achieved if we are not able to restore our natural sinks. It has already been said, one million species are facing extinction. They are at risk of extinction. More than 40% of the population is already, now, being affected in their health, in their economic development, in their food, by the deterioration of the planet. And therefore we have to act with ambition. 2030: protection of 30% of our territory. But to do that, you said, we have to have clear follow-up, effective evaluation, demanding monitoring, and we have to mobilize resources. All sources of resources. But, please, we have to eliminate harmful incentives for biodiversity, reducing them by at least 500 billion per year. I look forward to seeing you at the summit and believe that the presentation of the nature restoration law is a good letter of introduction from the European Union at this summit.

Madam President, we are here again, on 25 November, to commemorate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. We have to point out that, one more year, the victims have increased. And those who deny the existence of gender-based violence also increase. It must now be said that gender-based violence exists because it is based on causes of structural discrimination against women. Victims are gendered. The victims have names. In my country, since the previous debate in this gallery, precisely on gender-based violence, there are four more victims. Let me name them: Irina, 38, murdered with her 6-year-old daughter Mariya; Leslie, 69, killed with more than 20 stabs; Imane, 30, murdered in front of one of her children; Adoration, 27 years old, beheaded. Let me tell the Council that in the face of this tragedy it is a shame that you have not ratified the Istanbul Convention. Let me tell you that we need to amend the Treaties to introduce gender-based violence as a Eurocrime. This Parliament must send a message to all women today. We're with them. You can get out of the violence.

Madam President, Iranian women deserve more. And I also think they expected more from us. They deserve more because they have had the courage to break the silence in the face of a regime that brutally uses the death penalty. Before these demonstrations, Iran was already the country with the highest number of executions of women in a sexist system where legal security for women does not exist. They deserve more because the cry of "Woman, Life and Freedom" has mobilized the majority of Iranian society in the face of repression by this regime. The six people sentenced to the death penalty deserve more. The 20,000 arrested in the demonstrations deserve more. They deserve that, since we know the names of the judges who are issuing these sentences, we sanction them. They deserve us to sanction at least 227 parliamentarians who are calling for more repression against protesters. They deserve that we adopt more sanctions against members of the Revolution Guard. They deserve us to rethink our bilateral relations and to push for an accountability mechanism at the United Nations at the international level.

Madam President, indeed, ten years has been blocked by this directive and during these ten years, in the boards of directors of listed companies, seven out of ten board members have been men and less than one in ten of the large companies in the European Union has had a president or executive director. Therefore, this Directive was absolutely necessary and urgent to seek a balance in these boards of directors of listed companies, where the majority of positions are held by men, not because they are the best, but because in the selection process gender has been a criterion and women have been discriminated against. That is why today we also send a message of hope to young women who are in universities, in colleges. From now on, this Directive ensures a fair and transparent selection process, with criteria based on neutrality, where gender is not going to be a discriminatory element. From now on, at least 40% will be women, but they can be more because there will be capacity criteria. Just tell them that ten years show the difficulties in advancing equality. And I think today is also a time to thank all the women in this House, from all the political groups, who have kept the flame and the strength for this great day to come.

Madam President, Commissioner, it is estimated that 50 women are murdered victims of gender-based violence every week in the European Union. One every six hours. In Spain, in my country, thirty-four women victims of gender-based violence have been murdered so far. This is the ultimate expression of violence against women, the tip of an iceberg that hides abuse, sexual assault, harassment, cyberviolence, trafficking, violation of sexual and reproductive rights and sexual violence. Violence that only increases year after year in our countries. We are seeing how in Ukraine they turn women's bodies into a battlefield. And yet, in the face of this drama, we are seeing anti-gender movements grow, those movements that deny gender violence, that trivialize sexual violence. Faced with this, we cannot be complacent or inactive. We have to fight them. And that is why, in this legislature, we have to achieve two major historical milestones, if I may. That the Council ratify the Istanbul Convention. The Court of Justice of the European Union has made it clear that there are no legal excuses for not doing so, only political excuses. The Council should ratify the Istanbul Convention. And we must adopt a directive on combating gender-based violence that equally protects all women in the European Union and does not leave a place of impunity for murderers and perpetrators of crimes against women.

–Mr President, we in the Renew Group welcome this important debate. Indeed, Commissioner, the pandemic put this mental health problem on the table, but it is also true that it has only made it worse. Between 2020 and 2021, when it comes to mental health in people aged 15-24, all problems have doubled and 9 million adolescents aged 10-19 have been affected by mental health problems, making suicide the second leading cause of death among young people in Europe. We cannot look the other way in the face of this reality. Therefore, it is imperative that we work on mental health from the earliest ages and from those spaces where young people and adolescents are: in schools. But, in addition, we still have to fight the stigma that still exists in our societies; we need to improve the reinforcement of mental health services that should be considered essential. From the Renew Group we ask you for a European mental health strategy. We have been doing so for a long time, to ensure adequate investment in the treatment and prevention of mental health problems in Europe.

Mr President, this Parliament was in Ethiopia two weeks ago and we were indeed able to see the terrible situation that the war in the north has caused in this country. Not only Tigré, but Afar, Amhara have a situation where more than 20 million people need humanitarian aid, aid that does not arrive because it has been used as a weapon of war. Also violence against women. Yes, but let me tell you that it is a special violence. There are lacerating objects that are introduced into the vagina of women to cause permanent damage and cause infertility of the enemy. Terrible. But Ethiopia has 110 million inhabitants. The European Union has shortened its development aid, its budget support, to effectively condition what is happening there on the violation of human rights. But we have to know that 40% of the education budget in Ethiopia is community funds and in the Ministry of Health it also represents 40%. In a country of 110 million people, there is an extremely serious situation, especially among girls who, if they do not go to school, will possibly have a 90% chance of being mutilated. Thank you very much. An effort must be made for peace.

Mr. President, Mahsa Jina Amini was beaten in detention, beaten during her transfer, beaten to death in police premises. Unfortunately, his murder is not something accidental or exceptional. It is part of a State policy directed against women's rights. Therefore, today Amini is in the courage and courage of thousands of women who have taken to the streets to rise up against a regime that for forty-three years has wanted to subject them to exploitation, oppression and exclusion. Iranian society has taken to the streets in support of women, but, Mr. High Representative, it is still there, on the street: clamoring for freedom, in the face of a repressive, dictatorial and theocratic regime. They're calling for real change. They are calling for a democratic regime. Violence in suppressing protests is not new. Impunity in Iran either. We have seen it in the protests of 2019, 2021 and in April of this year. The European Union sanctioned, already in 2019, Hossein Salami, then head of the Revolutionary Guard Corps, today, his boss, a member of the National Security Council, responsible for organizing the repression of protests with lethal fire. That is why, Mr High Representative, we need to renew sanctions, update sanctions, extend sanctions. This is the way to accompany the people of Iran and to vindicate the names of so many women killed for their freedom.

Madam President, this is indeed an important and necessary resolution. It has already been said: we must bear in mind that the business of illegal wildlife trafficking, behind drug trafficking, human trafficking and the trafficking and counterfeiting of products and coins, is the fourth largest illegal trade in the world and generates more than EUR 23 billion. It is also a devastating illegal trade for the delicate ecosystem balance. Protecting our biodiversity is therefore absolutely necessary and, in this area, we need to be able to defend the implementation of the CITES Convention ahead of the next COP. There are major threats and major flaws in this illegal trade, fundamentally, because there is not adequate compliance with the Convention, there is no political priority on the part of the parties involved and there are not enough resources. That is why we think that the European Union, ahead of the next COP19 in Panama, has to promote a sufficient financial envelope, has to call for the adoption of effective national legislation, has to call for greater coherence and harmonization between the different conventions, has to call for dissuasive sanctions to be applied when the Convention is breached. There is also a need for the European Union to adopt a new action plan – an ambitious plan – against wildlife trafficking. And in this plan we have to include, as has already been said, an improvement in coordination and police activities to fight against new criminal systems, such as the trafficking of wildlife through the Internet. We need to improve inspection activities and cooperation between the administrations involved, and we need to work hard to raise public awareness.

Mr President, Commissioner, at the last plenary session in Strasbourg we were here, after the first fire in my country, in the Sierra de la Culebra, in Castile and Leon, with more than 24 000 hectares burned and where the extinction operations were not fully operational, since, if they had been, they would have clearly mitigated the economic, social and environmental impacts. We were here discussing this and I asked him to convene a Council of Environment Ministers. After 830 000 hectares burned in Europe, we are here again, at the first plenary session in Strasbourg. We can't wait for next summer. That is why it must undoubtedly convene a summit of environment ministers to strengthen the European Union's competence in the fight against fire. We need to improve our firefighting skills. I ask you to value the creation of a permanent European Union civilian force throughout the year and to require Member States to maintain permanent and professional firefighting operations throughout the year. I also ask you to address a restoration plan for European burnt areas, to make Europe more resilient next summer. Please, let's work on the fires during this winter so we don't have to put them out in summer.

Mr President, in the first heat wave we experienced between 11 and 19 June, we suffered in my region, in Zamora, in the Sierra de la Culebra, one of the most devastating fires in Spain. More than 24,000 hectares burned. The entire economic structure of this destroyed area. In the 1990s we said that the great fires were those that ravaged more than 500 hectares; Today, more than 24,000. We can foresee these fires because of the heat waves, but we have to change the means of fighting them. We cannot address the challenges of these sixth-generation fires with the means of the past. That is why I ask you, Commissioner, to review, update and amend the Civil Protection Plan for forest fire emergencies and to be able to keep the firefighting services active throughout the year, because these major fires are no longer extinguished. We can only prevent them. Solidarity is needed for disasters, but our obligation is not to declare them, but to prevent them.

Madam President, we strongly condemn the brutal murder of Bruno Pereira and Dom Phillips and demand from the Brazilian authorities an independent, thorough and impartial investigation to clarify these crimes. We deeply regret that these killings are not isolated cases. Brazil is the fourth most dangerous country in the world for environmental defenders. In recent years, these attacks and this violence against them have only grown. Therefore, the aggressive rhetoric, verbal attacks and intimidating speech of President Bolsonaro, in this context, is not an anecdote, it is a serious threat. We regret the dismantling of FUNAI and IBAMA, the institutions responsible for monitoring indigenous peoples and environmental rights. Therefore, we call in this Resolution for the Government of Brazil to fulfill its commitments and to recognize and protect indigenous lands and, with them, indigenous communities, also protecting the unique biodiversity for the planet of the Amazon.

Mr President, this is the first report of this legislature on food safety. I would like to thank the rapporteur for her initiative. Food insecurity before the war in Ukraine affected in all its forms more than 800 million people in the world. Before the war in Ukraine there were 17 million people in Ethiopia, 16 million people in Yemen, 22 million people in Afghanistan... And war has struck as a cruel reality: the use of hunger as a weapon of war in Putin's hands. We must therefore work with our partner countries – developing countries – to improve their food autonomy, working on the resilience of their food systems and supporting farmers, but especially women farmers, and we must strengthen our humanitarian aid because, let us never forget: the right to food is first and foremost a right.

Madam President, a month ago we were here talking about a leak of a sentence. The worst expectation has been fulfilled, the worst we expected of it. And is that the worst expectations are hovering over the fundamental right to abortion. Not only in the United States, but also here, in Europe, in all parts of the world. That is why today is the time to leave behind convictions and take active steps. What does this resolution represent? One step forward. When abortion ceases to be a constitutional right in the United States, we have to make it a fundamental right in the European Union. The proposal is therefore very clear: amend the Charter, insert a new Article 7a in Title 2: Everyone in the European Union has the right to a safe and legal abortion. Women in Hungary, women in Poland, women in Malta are all European women, free, equal, with the same fundamental rights, just like men. There is no charter of fundamental rights in the 21st century that excludes half the population.

Madam President, thank you very much for how you are leading this very important debate. This resolution talks about threats, and we have heard a lot about the title, but it is indeed the threat that looms over sexual and reproductive rights in many places in the world, in places where dictatorships are advancing and, also, in advanced democracies such as the United States, where a Supreme Court decision could stop considering the right to abortion a constitutional right. But also the threats are here, they are in this rostrum; We've seen it, we're seeing it: They are in Europe, they are in Poland, they are in Hungary, they are in Slovakia, where it is legislated to violate a fundamental right, which is the right of women to decide on their own motherhood. That is why we have to include the right to abortion in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, as President Macron also asked us to do, because we have to constitutionalise it. Let's be honest, this debate is not about the right to life: When abortion is prohibited, abortion does not decrease, but women who have to abort clandestinely increase. Doesn't it matter the lives of millions of women who bleed to death in clandestine abortions? No, it's not about the right to life: women's right to freedom, and a democratic society trusts women, does not control them.

Mr President, Commissioner, contrary to what we have heard here, I believe that this Fit for 55 package is the result of political responsibility with our international commitments, it is the result of political courage because the international context has not caused us to delay it, and I also believe that it is effective because it seeks actions and objectives hand in hand with technology and science. A decarbonised Europe will be a more competitive Europe, better for workers, better for citizens. In relation to carbon removals by our soils, I believe that it places agriculture and forestry as a fundamental agent for reduction. I hope that this Parliament will not reduce the Commission's ambition, but also that we will approve the new flexibility mechanism, so that we take into account the disturbances of climate change also in many southern countries, but not only, and, of course, natural disturbances and disasters. I hope this comes out approved tomorrow.

Mr. President, who is ultimately responsible for this war, for so much suffering? For he who, controlling the political or military action of a State, plans, decides and orders a military invasion against another sovereign State: Article 8a of the Rome Statute. There is no doubt that Putin and the Kremlin's criminal leadership are responsible for this crime of aggression. We have an obligation not to go unpunished. That is why, in this resolution, we call on the Member States to introduce into their national legal systems the crime of aggression, which is a necessary condition for the establishment of a special court. ad hoc to bring Putin and his criminal government to justice. Ladies and gentlemen, either we condemn Putin, or Putin will condemn us to the threat of permanent war. We must also bring to justice the perpetrators and the crimes, the perpetrators of the violations. This resolution is a message to Putin: Mr Putin, impunity is not forever.

Mr. President, once again, war has turned the body of women into a battlefield. "We will rape you until you feel no desire for any other man", "until you feel no desire to give birth to new Ukrainians" are some of the phrases that the Ombudsman of Ukraine has pointed out as recurrent statements of the victims: mothers who have been raped in front of their daughters who have been raped in front of their mothers. We cannot attend this drama as mere spectators. That is why the European Union must make a clear case that we are not dealing with collateral damage from war but with war crimes. And these war crimes must be punished. They must answer to the International Criminal Court or to special courts of war. But we need to gather the evidence necessary to hold the perpetrators accountable for their crimes. I am also grateful for Eurojust's amendment to enable it to collect and store the necessary evidence. But we have to do more. All these women have the right to medical, sexual health services, they have the right to a safe abortion. These and the other Ukrainians, of whom more than five million are arriving at our borders: All of them have a right. We have an obligation to ensure this portfolio of basic health services. On the other hand, trafficking was already a problem in Ukraine. We must do everything possible to ensure that women and girls fleeing war do not end up in the hands of criminal mafias and, let us not forget, the users and claimants of the sexual services of trafficked persons. Thank you very much for your effort, too, Commissioner.

Madam President, unfortunately, since China announced in 2015 that it would end a legal practice of organ harvesting from political prisoners, we know and have evidence and indications that this heinous and intolerable violation of the right to life and human rights continues to exist. We also need to be aware that, in order to end impunity in China, we need to end this crime that involves demand from third countries. More than a billion a year generates the illicit trafficking of organs around the world, especially, it has also been said here, in the Gulf region, where the demand for these organs has caused China to create a market for halal organs of Uyghurs and Muslim minorities. We must, therefore, strengthen our human rights dialogue with China, which must not be an end in itself, but must have concrete and specific objectives, must be monitored and, if there is no progress, we must be able to establish firm sanctions to end this criminal and cruel trade in human organs.

Mr President, we have spoken in this Parliament about the persecution of religious minorities in many human rights reports. Today we do so in a specific report that addresses the persecution of all minorities on the grounds of belief or religion, but also the persecution suffered by those who have none. We wanted in this report not to make a hierarchy of suffering and also to denounce the instrumentalization of beliefs or religion to impose discriminatory policies and laws that violate human rights: the rights of women in Afghanistan are prohibited in the name of religion; LGTBI communities in Uganda are criminalised in the name of religion; religion is also used to prohibit the ratification of the Istanbul Convention, the only international instrument for defending and combating violence against women. That is why I think it is a comprehensive report and I thank the rapporteur for his work.