Speeches

Madam President, despite the fact that around 60% of new university graduates are women, they are underrepresented in many sectors, but especially in the economic sectors and especially at the highest levels. 31.5% of board members are women and only 8% chair them. With this new legislation, which has been in the drawer for a decade, listed companies will have to seek and will have to make, by 2026, people of the under-represented sex occupy at least 40% of non-executive positions and 33% of executive positions. Achieving a balanced representation between all sexes, between women and men, is an exercise in equality, information, transparency, justice, democracy and peace. Greater balance always means better competitiveness. It will boost economic growth, I have no doubt: smart, innovative, sustainable and inclusive growth. But it will also improve the competitiveness of businesses and reduce poverty. Diversity is synonymous with talent. Boosting the presence of women is a key tool to have the best talent.

Madam President, 25 November is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. It is a priority for the Presidency, for all European institutions and for all women and men in Europe and the world. We are going to have a debate on this on Wednesday. Unanimous, we all agree; However, in Spain, a law has been published and passed that reduces sentences for rapists and those who violate women's sexual freedom. There have been more than five releases of paedophiles and rapists of women, releases, sentence reductions from six to eight years and, thus, one after another. It is urgent that we discuss this matter that day to stop this cascade of releases and the nonsense of this law. It is not ideology that I am asking for in this Parliament; I appeal to the consciences of the men and women of this Parliament. We have repeatedly said that violence against women is a heinous violation of human rights. We said not one more. Now we can prove it. Please, let's stop that law.

Indeed, the fight against gender-based violence is not just a women's issue, it is a human issue, a men's and women's issue. I have no doubt that the men who represent the European people, you, but also those who are not here, follow us from their offices, are involved in this struggle. It is true that it would be desirable for them to take the floor, but I have no doubt that, in all parties, as in my People's Party, there are men absolutely involved in that struggle. In mine, in the socialist, in Renew. All the parties here - I'm sure - are involved. The Commissioner has been accompanied by a group of men from the Commission. We are involved because, if not, it would not be a reasonable struggle. We are all involved in this struggle and so it must be.

Madam President, without equality Europe does not exist. Europe is the future of equality between all. Gender-based violence is one of the most serious violations of human rights. One third of women in the European Union – it has been said here – have experienced physical or sexual violence throughout their lives and data indicate that it has increased after the pandemic. There has been simultaneously a hidden pandemic. It is produced everywhere: at home, at school, at work, on the street, on the internet. We now have a war, the war in Ukraine, in which rape is used as a massive weapon by Russian soldiers. Women's fundamental rights continue to be violated around the world and this debate is therefore very important. Firstly, a request must be made to all Member States to ratify the Istanbul Convention, the most far-reaching international treaty in order to combat this scourge; also the proposal for a directive presented by the Commission in March, a directive to attack violence against women with all the instruments we have. We needed and need a global, united and coordinated response. Establish a coherent European legal framework, where it is clear that it is not a conjunctural issue, but is structural in nature and must be combated on the basis of common criteria. That is why, with this debate and with all of us together, we are committed to a strong message of commitment to combat this scourge. All humanity will benefit. It is not invincible and we must undoubtedly exercise decisive leadership in this struggle. (She agreed to respond to an intervention under the "blue card" procedure.)

Mr President, on the night of 12 October, a 19-year-old student from Bratislava attacked and shot dead two young men from Bratislava, Matúš and Juraj. It's a hate crime. It is not an attack on the LGTBI collective. It is an attack on all humanity. It is an attack on all of us because it targets everything that is at the heart of our values. It is aimed at what we stand for as Europe. And that is why we must reflect. Unfortunately, fear, violence and discrimination continue to be a reality faced by many LGBTI people in a large part of the world. It remains dangerous for many members of this collective to teach their feelings and simply be themselves. That is why we must defend that human rights are not an ideology. Human rights are our priority and that is why we must be at the forefront of their defence.

Mr. President, Mahsa Amini, 22, a young Iranian woman who showed too much hair under the veil. Sufficient reason for his arrest by the Moral Police, Police for the Prevention of Vice and Promotion of Virtue. The name is already a scandal. Hours later, Amini was in a coma and three days later died in the hospital. A wave of protests has been unleashed around the world, leading in Iran to loss of life and also to hundreds of detainees and injuries. Iran's security forces have responded in a very violent manner and there are restrictions on communications. The agents there have the power to stop any woman and examine her clothing, examine the strands of hair she has in sight, the length of the trousers or her coat, or the amount, even, of makeup. The penalty may be detention, lashes, a fine or imprisonment. That, not to mention the multitude of absolutely degrading civil laws. How is it possible that the morale of an entire country depends on whether or not a piece of cloth accidentally slips over a woman's head? The world is watching. When you rape a woman, you attack all of us. Woman, life and freedom.

Madam President, following the adoption by this Parliament and the Community institutions of rules establishing an ecosystem to promote accessibility and the integration of people with disabilities, the European Disability Strategy was adopted, giving a mandate for the creation of this EU Accessibility Centre. This is another step towards inclusion and equality. Community standards on accessibility are not harmonised and therefore there was a need for coherence and organisation in this area. When we talk about accessibility we talk about a culture of equality, we talk about full participation, but not only in the digital world and in the world of transport, but at all levels: in education, at work, in health, in all aspects of life. It is very important to live up to the values we preach and that is why the creation of this Centre is of a fundamental nature. Today is a historic day because it means that there will be dialogue, that there will be participation, that there will be equality, and, above all, that there will be human rights.

Mr President, two years ago, after the pandemic, in the State of the Union address, President Ursula von der Leyen announced that she would present a European care strategy, because we had been able to highlight the importance of care, carers and care recipients during the pandemic. The Commissioner told us that this strategy was presented on 7 September. Every man and woman can receive, and should receive, the best possible care and thus achieve the best balance of life. It has to be a European and also a national priority. It is a necessary and fundamental investment. We must therefore strengthen this care system by implementing what was said in the European Pillar of Social Rights. These cares have to be accessible, affordable and of quality. They affect us all. 80% of care is provided by women. We will therefore have to do so by combining the gender equality strategy and the disability strategy. A Europe that cares for its own is a Europe that pays greater attention, both to the beneficiaries of these cares and to their carers. I therefore fully support this strategy, because it means that we will live up to European values.

Mr President, my first words of thanks to Mr Omarjee for presenting this very timely report and thank you, too, to the Commission. 20 million inhabitants, 4.6% of the EU population, represent citizens living on islands. 2400 islands in 13 Member States. I come from Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Spain). There has long been a recognition that insularity is a permanent structural disadvantage and has to be compensated. We have many challenges that we live on islands: size, demographic pressure, exceptionality, sometimes double or triple insularity, dependence on air shipping, physical disconnection from the continent, costs of exports and imports, difficulties in the labour market, difficulties in accessing education on an equal footing, difficulties in accessing health, water and energy. In the case of tourism, the Balearic Islands are practically dependent on tourism. We need complementary fiscal support in order to have sustainable tourism. The same applies to agriculture; agriculture is also very important and we need a specific plan to be able to be competitive. We have made an appeal from the islands from the Balearic Islands for this or that, in favor of agriculture. I have just said that it is also very important to eliminate the minimum rule, because aid to alleviate insularity can never be State aid: are aids to be equal. We ask nothing to be more than anyone; We ask what we ask to be equal.

Mr President, we have said this in the Chamber: gender-based violence is one of the most serious human rights violations. It impacts on fundamental rights and destroys the dignity of women. Four years ago, with "Me Too", some very brave women raised their voices to break the silence throughout the planet and to be able to put us all to work to end this social scourge. The Ombudsman announced a few months ago that she has received 38 complaints between 2010 and 2018 regarding sexual harassment in the European institutions. The credibility of the European institutions therefore requires a firm stance against all forms of gender discrimination. I'm from the People's Group. I did the course. Criticism of the Group of the People's Party therefore makes no sense at this stage. Together and together we are stronger. It is necessary, in this firm position, to bet on prevention and it is necessary to bet on training. I did that course and I recommend it to everyone, because it creates a space of security and a space of zero tolerance against violence and harassment against women. We have to set an example. Every day we are here demanding that citizens make efforts, that citizens pay their taxes, that citizens, in some way, for example, with the pandemic, from one example after another of austerity and one example after another of security. It is time for us to set an example. That is why the victims must be protected. You have to do the training courses. We must work to make complaints simple, to protect victims, so that there is no stigmatization. It is time for this united Parliament and all the united institutions to adopt this resolution and live up to the 'Me Too' movement, which means that silence is broken all over the planet. And thanks especially to Evelyn for introducing her.

Madam President, gender equality is a core value of the European Union, a fundamental right and the key principle of the development of the European Pillar of Social Rights. We want to incorporate it into all our actions, all future policy and all the major challenges of the Union. We have been told by the European Institute for Gender Equality that, on a scale of zero to 100, Europe scores 68 points on equality; So there is a lot of work to be done. First of all, let us look at this debate and look at the Chamber: almost all women have been involved; the Commissioner herself is a woman; the Members who are here: For the most part, we have taken the word women ... And this is not a women's debate, it is a debate on human rights, equality, values, the very heart of the Union. If it were an economic debate, all our colleagues would be here, and it is as important or more important than economic issues. There are challenges in what the economy is. We need an equal economy, because women have been at the forefront of the pandemic and have been hard hit: are the ones who lead and are overrepresented in the lowest paid jobs, in the most precarious jobs, in part-time jobs; have had and continue to have great difficulty in later entering the world of work; lead the unemployment rate, a difference of many points with the male sex; lead part-time work, with 31% of women as opposed to 8% of men; They have the lowest pensions, with a very large difference in relation to their male counterparts ... I no longer say, in terms of care, the leave that is requested for care of people. So, we have to do something. We need co-education, we need equality and we need equality to permeate all our actions: Without equality there is no Europe, no values, no future.

Madam President, gender-based violence is one of the most serious violations of human rights. There is no doubt that with the digital age of the Internet and new technologies, spaces are being created that have changed the communication and the way of relating of individuals. Cyberviolence is not a different kind of violence: is a continuation of violence against women offline. It impacts on fundamental rights and dignity at all levels. We need a European framework to have a definition that exactly determines cyber violence against women. The European Union must be able to establish minimum standards to ensure that such violence is prosecuted, including cyberbullying, threats, remote control, inducing suicide, anorexia, mobile access, computer damage, etc. Preventive measures must be put in place: educating to make responsible use of the Internet, especially safe use, and promote cyber hygiene. Above all, it is a very harsh violence because in the end the victim is reached without having physical contact with her and the future of that person is destroyed. Protection and support measures for victims must be taken, access to information must be facilitated, information must be flexible and a European telephone must be available. But, in addition, it must be prosecuted and criminalized because there are no complaints. There is little awareness of this type of crime. There is insufficient support for victims. There is little research and therefore it is time to act. We also call on the Commission to regulate gender-based violence, violence against women, as a Eurocrime.

Madam President, I come from a European region, the Balearic Islands, which is eminently touristic and has been hit, like all tourist regions, by the pandemic very severely. Tourism is one of the most important economic sectors in the world, employs one in ten people on Earth, and has undoubtedly been the sector most affected and in turn causes a domino effect in other sectors. There is no doubt that the Digital Green Certificate has offered a solution at EU level because it has been a harmonised, user-friendly, secure and accessible digital tool – that was very important – and therefore a step towards reviving tourism. It has therefore been a turning point in the pandemic, reviving this tourism and avoiding the chaos of the previous year, because we were facing a situation of travelers with different regulations according to the Member States, and in many cases different according to the regions of the same Member State. The key for the sector are safety, trust, global vaccination, harmonized protocols and coordination and that health goes hand in hand with tourism because that generates trust. The EU tourism health label has also been important, as the Commissioner has rightly said, but now we must go a step further because the sector is basically made up of SMEs and therefore we need the financing of SMEs and unemployment aid from the sector; that is why a specific tourism plan from the European Union is very important so that these recovery funds prioritize the tourism sector. Europe will not be revived until tourism is revived.

Mr President, equality is one of the fundamental values and a basic objective of the European Union, clearly enshrined in all its Treaties. Gender-based violence is a full-fledged violation of human rights and is not treated equally in all Member States. In fact, there is different protection in one State than in another. Therefore, the first thing to do is to ask that it be part of the Eurocrimes so that it has similar protection and persecution is total. It has multiple forms – we know them – and causes consequences for the victims and for all their families. Children may experience witnessed violence, direct or indirect, which will undoubtedly affect their psychological and emotional development and their future. That is why, as the Commissioner said very well, the equation of a separation procedure must always be linked to the equation of a criminal process of ill-treatment. An abuser can never educate. It's the opposite of values, it's the opposite of education, and it's the opposite of a good parent. Therefore, these two processes have to be interconnected and, always ensuring the interest of the child, they have to supervise custody, the right of visits, protecting this interest, to avoid that there are no values in this European Union and to avoid an evil that is then irreversible. We also talk about information, we talk about awareness, but, above all, we talk about the future.

Madam President, violence against women is a violation of human rights. It causes untold suffering, cuts off lives, leaves countless women living in pain and fear in every country in the world. It causes harm for many generations, impoverishes societies and encourages other forms of violence. One third of the world's women have been victims of violence. It is present in all cultures, in all countries, and has a multitude of forms. All of humanity would benefit if we could put an end to it. And it's not inevitable. We need a common European policy against gender-based violence, and including gender-based violence in the list of criminal areas with a European dimension in Article 83 would help to have a common definition, to combat such violence with common criteria. It would improve cooperation and therefore we would take an important step, with the announcement made today by the Commission, in the fight against such violence. So far, all right. But to introduce that the denial of abortion in the Member States is gender-based violence would be as much as saying that Malta practices gender-based violence. That's unacceptable. You can't ideologize peace. Doing so introduces a partisan political message on a crucially important issue and jeopardizes the end result. There must be unanimity in the Council. Therefore, we have to say that peace and human rights are not and cannot be an ideological adventure. I have a disabled child. Never, by advocating an ideological issue, would I jeopardize my son's equal opportunity and disability.

Madam President, the ageing of the population is undoubtedly one of the most significant challenges facing the European Union and the entire continent. There is a much higher increase in life expectancy, there is a decrease in birth rates, there is a decrease in the working-age population, and, ultimately, this causes a reduction in the European share of the world population. In some regions of my country, Spain, there are also significant situations of depopulation. This has consequences from a personal point of view, but also from a social point of view. Therefore, it is important that we take up the challenge and analyze the impact of this aging, which has to be a dignified and healthy aging. The gender perspective must also be taken into account. There has to be lifelong learning. The topic of volunteering is very important. When an older person wants to continue learning, they go to a library and, therefore, intergenerational solidarity is very important as a fundamental value of the Union. We must bet on long-term care, which must also be quality and accessible care. And we must fight against poverty in old age and, above all, for adequate and sustainable pensions, especially those for widows. Only in this way will we live up to our European values.