What Juan Fernando spoke about.

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Written Statements ES

Ongoing hearings under Article 7(1) TEU regarding Poland and Hungary (debate)

The Socialist delegation voted in favour of this resolution as it shows a genuine commitment to make significant progress in the ongoing Article 7(1) TEU procedures, in line with its obligations under the Treaties. At Parliament’s request, hearings are not organised in a regular, structured and open manner. We urge future Presidencies to organise hearings regularly and at least once per Presidency. We call on the Council to ensure that hearings under Article 7(1) TEU also address new developments, including those related to violations of fundamental rights. We call on the Commission and the Council to refrain from approving the national plans of Poland and Hungary under the Recovery and Resilience Facility until they have fully complied with all country-specific recommendations under the European Semester and implemented all relevant judgments of the Court of Justice of the EU and the European Court of Human Rights. The Commission's conclusions should constitute sufficient grounds for the Council to adopt recommendations in the Article 7(1) TEU procedure.

18

Jun

2026

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Joint Declaration on ‘Culture for Europe - Europe for Culture’ (debate)

17

Jun

2026

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Common system for the return of third-country nationals staying illegally in the Union (Return Regulation) (A10-0048/2026 - Malik Azmani)

Madam President, Commissioner, the final adoption of the Return Regulation has been held at this session of the European Parliament with standing applause from all the far-right groups in this Parliament who have formed a majority with the People's Party. I think that says it all, besides his screams.send them back’, andi.e. "return them" because they do not belong to the European Union even if they are in a vulnerable situation. The Return Regulation is not part of the Pact on Migration and Asylum, is it? No, on the contrary, it's outside its perimeter. But it also contradicts the object of the Pact on Migration and Asylum, which was to create legal obligations for all Member States with binding European legislation. Because what the Return Regulation does is allow each Member State to contract bilaterally with the ruler of a third country, without any meaningful connection to people - that is, human beings - as long as they are kept out of our sight in exchange for money. It is not only a denial of the Pact on Migration and Asylum, but it is a denial of European values, of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and even of the soul of Europe.

17

Jun

2026

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Deteriorating situation of political prisoners in Belarus, in particular the case of Aliaksandra Pulinovich

Madam President, Commissioner, this Parliament has adopted 21 packages of sanctions against Russia after the war of aggression against Ukraine and yet it has rarely looked at Belarus, a vassal state of Russia with a ruler. proxy by Putin, Alexander Lukashenko, from the former Soviet nomenclature; 35 years in a ruthless dictatorship in Belarus, with a record of arbitrary detentions, political violence, vexatious treatment and torture of the 900 political prisoners it accumulates. That is why this Parliament has done well today to applaud nothing less than Andrzej Poczobut, a Sakharov Prize laureate, a Belarusian released from prison, and to look at Aliaksandra Pulinovich, imprisoned for anti-war graffiti in Belarus. We will do well to adopt tomorrow a strong resolution calling for respect for human rights in the only country that was never admitted to the European continent – the Council of Europe, where there are so many ex-Soviet republics. Belarus will never be admitted until Lukashenko leaves.

17

Jun

2026

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The resilience of the European transport sector and the need to ensure the supply of essential goods amid ongoing geopolitical instability (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, in the last parliamentary term we adopted in this European Parliament an ambitious agenda for the decarbonisation and incorporation of renewable energy into the transport sector. Many MEPs born in outermost regions, such as the Canary Islands, strive on the agenda and timetable for situations such as remote and fragmented islands. Because not only can they not incorporate the same step as other continental regions, but also because they have a specific legal basis that is that of Article 349 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. This is in line with the multiannual financial framework of the transport and passenger mobility support plan, which must also incorporate a special consideration for the outermost regions and, in particular, to support with European funding the recharging and storage points that make it possible to increase the electric car, taking into account that the islands are not accessed by sea, road or train, but by air and maritime transport that require such support to the car...

17

Jun

2026

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Preparation of the European Council (joint debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, when all the agencies specialising in indicators point to the sharp decline in the arrival of irregular and rescued persons at sea in the European Union and when, finally, after two years of its final adoption, the set of European laws binding on the Member States that make up the Pact on Migration and Asylum enters into force, this Parliament is preparing to adopt a return regulation that moves in the opposite direction, because it not only restores to the States the possibility of contracting with the ruler of a third country the indefinite retention of vulnerable persons, families with dependent children, in return centres – contrary, therefore, to the binding nature of European regulations – but also does so in a completely disregard of the binding nature of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, the beauty of which is that it protects all people, not only Europeans, but also foreigners and asylum seekers under European law. It is therefore contrary to values and contrary to the meaning of European law.

16

Jun

2026

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An EU future for the Western Balkans (joint debate)

16

Jun

2026

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Question Time (Commission) - State of play on the European Commission’s pledge to reduce the reporting burden, in particular for SMEs

Thank you, Commissioner Dombrovskis, for your reply, but please make sure that not only are you taking note but that you convey the message to the whole of the European Commission. For the outermost regions, it is absolutely essential to keep the level of support that they have enjoyed so far, because they have this unique legal basis in Article 349 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. It takes regional policy, it takes agricultural policy, it takes social policy to help out small and medium enterprises precisely in order to diversify their economies that are so heavily dependent on maybe agriculture, maybe tourism. Finally, thank you for the sensitive answer when it comes to artisanal fisheries. They really needed to simplify their administrative burden.

16

Jun

2026

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Question Time (Commission) - State of play on the European Commission’s pledge to reduce the reporting burden, in particular for SMEs

16

Jun

2026

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Russia’s unacceptable provocative actions and drone incursions into Romania, the Baltic states and Finland (debate)

16

Jun

2026

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Achieving digital sovereignty and resilience for Europe, in light of recent developments affecting access to advanced AI technologies (debate)

15

Jun

2026

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Madam President, on 12 June, the Pact on Migration and Asylum finally entered into force: eight linked European laws that form a system on a thorny and divisive issue and yet exactly why so necessary, based on the principles of shared responsibility and compulsory solidarity, so important in border regions such as the Greek islands, such as Lampedusa and the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic - the most dangerous and deadly route, which has been visited by the Pope this week with a humanitarian message charged with respect for the equal dignity of all migrants. And that is why this entry into force of the Pact contrasts so much with the adoption in this plenary of a regulation on return that goes in the wrong direction, not only because it ignores the commitment to fundamental rights that we have tried to preserve in the Pact, but also because it accentuates the national response, because it is not even capable of harmonising the European return order with European rules and, therefore, it is moving in the exactly wrong direction. An infamous Return Regulation that contradicts the founding values of the pact...

15

Jun

2026

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Simplification of the implementation of harmonised rules on artificial intelligence (Digital Omnibus on AI) (debate)

Madam President, when we adopted the Artificial Intelligence Act just two years ago, we placed the European Union at the regulatory forefront of a revolution as dizzying as it is unstoppable and we wanted it to be consistent with the European standard of fundamental rights, which is the highest in the world, and also with human oversight and transparency. That is why, when in this legislature, before the European artificial intelligence law finally came into force, the Commission proposed a bus, many of us feared that it would try not only to deregulate, but to lower the standard. We have worked very hard to ensure that this is not the case, to maintain the European standard for subjecting generative AI to fundamental rights, to maintain digital literacy obligations and, above all, to ban nudity and sexually explicit content, holding big tech companies accountable. Therefore, the challenge is no longer regulation/deregulation, but maintaining the subjection of technology companies to European law and placing the European Union at the forefront of its own digital sovereignty, which is the goal.

21

May

2026

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The Union’s preparedness for and response to health emergencies: the case of the MV Hondius and the hantavirus warning (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, have we learned any lessons from what was the terrible experience of COVID-19? Some of them do. And it is that in the face of the outbreak of the next pandemic, which in globalization will never know of borders or passports, the answer can in no case be based on superstition, nor on panic, nor on fear, but on scientific evidence. And the best health response begins with responsible solidarity, as exemplified by the Government of Spain, which you have acknowledged. 10 and 11 May: I disembark with all the guarantees and repatriation, condolences to the deceased and wishes for recovery to those who have been or are in quarantine, but, of course, recognition of that exercise of solidarity that was also widely shared by the Canarian citizens, beyond the fact that some unfocused voice has tried, through hoaxes, to try to exploit fear. No, the answer has to be reinforced civil protection, European solidarity, the articulation of a European health policy, but also biomedical research, walking in the opposite direction to the divestment being practiced by the United States Government, because that has to be the European response, in all its quality.

20

May

2026

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Situation of women and girls in Afghanistan following the Taliban's adoption of the Criminal Procedure Code for Courts

Mr President, Commissioner, to all the testimonies that you have censored as execrable the tyranny of the Taliban, with its massive and ominous violation of the rights of women and, particularly, of girls, to whom you subject all kinds of intolerable repression as incompatible, completely, with the equal dignity that the European Union professes, I add my voice to those who, in addition, have censored the hypocrisy of the European Commission, which invites a representation of the Taliban - nothing less than Brussels - to negotiate the return of people allegedly not eligible for refugee status, when the truth is that one and a half million people from Afghanistan fled in terror when the Taliban returned to power in 2021, many of whom are in Europe and there are none who can return safely. And, of course, not women, who are exposed to a massive and absolutely intolerable violation of their rights and dignity. Therefore, Commissioner, that conduct on the part of the Commission is also intolerable.

20

May

2026

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Repression and execution of protesters, dissidents, political prisoners and religious minorities in Iran

Mr President, Commissioner, since 2025, and particularly after the offensive launched against Iran by the Trump and Netanyahu governments, the repression has intensified and, therefore, the thousands killed by the repression: heroic women, minors, students. Now, we add the executions in the course of the war of aggression against Iran, which many of us have denounced as illegal. However, the European Union cannot stand idly by in the face of this massive violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, involving the execution of minors, which is being ravaged not only by the traditional Baha'i minority, but also by anyone protesting against the perpetuation of the regime of mullahs and ayatollahs. Therefore, the European Union - which has had in this European Parliament the support for restrictive measures, including declaring the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps terrorist - must use the full diplomatic power of its delegation in Iran and of the embassies of its Member States to put an end to this endless violence of the Ayatollah regime.

20

May

2026

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Financing EU priorities in a sustainable, predictable and resilient way through a new EU own resource from the online gambling and betting services sector (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, how many times have you heard from this part of the Chamber that no more can be done with less? Own resources: What are we talking about? We are talking about sources of income for the European Union that go beyond VAT, border levies, transfers from Member States' budgets and new taxes (e.g. plastic, tobacco, e-waste). Now yes: Taxing a business model such as online gambling, which exploits the vulnerabilities of population segments in the European Union, can not only generate resources for financing the new ambitions in Europe, but can deter such a business model. But that's not the end of the story: In order for the European Union to fulfil its vision of defence and security and not to take forward cohesion policy, solidarity policy, regional policy or the common agricultural policy, it must also be able to launch common debt programmes, such as the one tested with NextGenerationEU. The common European debt and own resources are the only way we can do more with more.

20

May

2026

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Recruitment of children by organised crime (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner McGrath, there is a shockingly significant – and growing – recruitment of minors for serious crime, drug trafficking and violent crime. It affects all Member States, but it is particularly hostile to Northern Europe, to some Scandinavian countries - Denmark, Sweden - and we are therefore obliged to act. And this is the meaning of this debate: what to do? Firstly, recruitment is online from the age of thirteen, and digital platforms should therefore be required to be strictly bound by European law, the Digital Services Act, which obliges them to remove illegal content – and, of course, those that invite crime are. Secondly, it is necessary to use all the data made available to us by the European Crime Prevention Network to take cognizance of the dynamics involved in this targeting of minors, who are incited to commit serious crimes. But thirdly, and of course, there must be prevention, the fight against exclusion, against marginalisation and against inequality, as well as social inclusion programmes aimed at the protection of children, as exactly proposed by the European Strategy for Internal Security: protection of minors against crime.

20

May

2026

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Rights, support and protection of victims of crime (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner McGrath, we at last welcome in this European Parliament the conclusion of the negotiation with the Council, which brings to an end a legislative procedure to update the Directive establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime, adopted in 2011 and which we managed to complete in the last parliamentary term, in which I was heavily involved in the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. But it was not until this legislature that this legislative procedure was finally completed, avoiding the double victimization of those who have been victims of crime, strengthening their legal and procedural assistance, their social and even psychological assistance, and, in particular, focusing on the most vulnerable people. These are, of course, minors and child victims of crime, but also women, who are doubly victimized, particularly when they have been victims of sexual violence and require very special attention in their sexual and reproductive rights, where the S&D Group has put the accent. So are migrants. That is why the most vulnerable persons are given the right to complain even when they are in detention centres or deprived of their liberty. I can therefore only conclude that victims' rights are more human rights than ever before in European law as a result of this legislative procedure.

20

May

2026

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Advancing towards a care society: addressing the gender care gap (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, this debate does the right thing by focusing on the care economy from the perspective of gender gap, or gender imbalance, which affects their social and wage aspects and which requires European harmonisation from a tax point of view, from a labour point of view and also from a social point of view. But everything is accentuated and worsened when the care economy is entrusted to the migrant population, to migrant women. Because there are two options: on the one hand, marginalisation and exclusion leading to superlative labour exploitation and, on the other hand, regularisation and recognition of the rights of the migrant population in the care economy, as has been done, for example, by the Spanish Government. Because that is what contributes to the dignification of work, to the repair, not only of gender gap, that is to say, the gender imbalance, which undoubtedly requires a European pact on the care economy from that perspective, but also a different view of the migrant population, which does not pass through denial or rejection, but through integration and inclusion.

19

May

2026

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Opportunities and challenges presented by a comprehensive artificial intelligence strategy for EU trade (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, artificial intelligence is such a dizzying and unstoppable technological revolution that, when this European Parliament legislated, it was aware that such legislation would be obsolete the next day. And yet, despite this, it has been pioneering legislation through the so-called 'Brussels effect', and deserves to be preserved in all areas of European Union action, including that of trade strategy. But, yes, respecting the principles that inspire it. Firstly, consistency with the European standard of fundamental rights, and particularly data protection, which is the highest in the world. Secondly, the principle of prevention: restricted uses and uses prohibited as incompatible with the fundamental rights protected by the Charter. But thirdly, human oversight, which involves an effort – for which the Commission has to be responsible – to ensure that this AI standard is transparent, accountable and subject to democratic scrutiny.

19

May

2026

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Recommendation on the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (debate)

Mr President, Mrs Kallas, the adoption of the European Parliament's recommendation to the next United Nations General Assembly in September is an occasion to reaffirm our own vision of the European contribution to the governance of globalisation, which has to be consistent with our commitment to legality, multilateralism and equality – to begin with, gender equality, with the commitment to a woman for the Secretariat-General. But it is also an occasion to denounce the shortcomings of this report on the recommendation of the European Parliament, because it cannot be that we are not clear that it is absolutely inadmissible and contrary to international law, founded on that international legality of the United Nations parallel to the European Union itself as its response to the disaster of the Second World War, that it completely ignores the condemnation of Israel's intervention in Gaza, that it fails to support UNRWA, that it does not clearly condemn the aggression of Israel and the United States to Lebanon and Iran or the intervention of the United States in Venezuela. Legality therefore does not allow double standards, which is the source of criticism that makes the European Union's internal and external credibility more vulnerable.

19

May

2026

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Europe's response to reduced US military deployments in Europe, particularly at its Eastern flank in the light of the latest US decisions (debate)

Madam President, Mrs Kallas, in order for the European Union to respond to the withdrawal of military personnel by the United States in Eastern Europe, the necessary condition is that the European Union has a voice of its own, worthy of being heard and respected. And that is very difficult when faced with the criticism of double standards: Faced with Russia for its aggression against Ukraine, but unable to say an audible word about the genocide perpetrated by Israel in Gaza, or its aggression against Lebanon, or the US’s illegal military action in Iran – an execrable regime, but one that cannot be bombed illegally without further ado. And, of course, double standards are exasperated when the European Commission invites the Taliban to negotiate returns of refugees from Afghanistan to European territory. Therefore, the main thing is that the European Union matures quickly, has the will to be and has the necessary resources to be globally relevant, also in defense and security.

19

May

2026

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EU governance under pressure – institutional responses to global challenges (debate)

President, Commissioner Šefčovič, "The governance of the Union under pressure" is the title of this debate in a global disorder, amid geopolitical turbulence that challenges as never before the raison d'être of Europe, founded, governed and limited by its own order, i.e. by law. And, in parallel, a Europe with international legality, learning from the lessons of the devastation of World War II. Europe crumbles before our eyes under the pressure of those who claim unilateralism and the law of the strongest. It is imperative that the European Union thus has a voice worthy of being heard – hopefully respected, but above all a Europe with something to say. And this is not possible under the current unanimity rules. If it is not possible with the current 27 Member States, even less so with the prospect of enlargement, with ten States on the waiting list. That is why it is imperative that we reform the Treaties, which is what the European Parliament called for in 2023. It is about institutional reform that goes beyond the dysfunctional rule of unanimity and imposes – at last – qualified majorities, not only to provide the European Union with its own resources and own resources, but to use the indebtedness that finances the new ambitions without crumbling what has been Europe’s raison d’être – its solidarity, regional policy and cohesion policy. But above all, an institutional reform that also strengthens the European Parliament – finally – with a legislative initiative of its own in its powers of investigation, control of the Commission, question time, parliamentary control. It is therefore a matter of regulating a full-fledged relaunch of the European Parliament. The conclusion is within anyone's reach: never before has the European Union been so alone and at the same time so dependent on itself in globalisation; of itself and of the Member States, which cannot be just a coalition or a Union within the Union, as has recently been proposed, but must be the political will to be the Europe of the Member States and of those who aspire to be. On that depends, now more than ever, the future of the EU.

19

May

2026

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EU cybersecurity and preparedness in view of advanced AI systems (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner Virkkunen, when this Parliament adopted the Artificial Intelligence Act and even when it approved the bus to simplify it, we have been aware that we are facing an unstoppable and dizzying technological revolution that now abysses us to the so-called 'artificial border intelligence': Mythos, Anthropic, OpenAI... The precautionary principle practised by the institutions and the European Parliament cannot lead us to fear, but collaboration with these cutting-edge start-ups cannot lead us to accentuate dependency either. On the contrary, affirming our strategic sovereignty means also reaffirming our values: democratic institutional control, transparency, respect for fundamental rights... i.e.: human supervision, in short. It is a question of finding a balance that is consistent with the principles that inspired European artificial intelligence legislation and, at the same time, of increasing the European Union's readiness to defend itself also against the propensity for armaments and war, as well as against the ability of artificial intelligence to exploit the vulnerabilities of open societies.