What Paolo spoke about.

23 Apr

2024

IT Speech

Production and marketing of plant reproductive material - Production and marketing of forest reproductive material (joint debate - Plant and forest reproductive material)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, ten years after the rejection of the previous proposal, Parliament is about to vote on a clear position on the future of the production of reproductive material. This is thanks to the Commission's proposal, which, together with the new regulation on new genomic technologies, is the basis for making available to our farmers plants that can produce m…

12 Mar

2024

IT Speech

Need to impose sanctions on the import of Russian and Belarusian food and agricultural products to the EU and to ensure stability of EU agricultural production (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, Russia's geopolitical strategies take advantage of the strength of its agricultural sector, with cereal exports that have expanded like wildfire not only in Africa, but also in the Union, putting further pressure on the profitability of our farms. Low-cost imports have led to a collapse in European prices and sowing, with effects contrary to the ob…

29 Feb

2024

IT Speech

EU/Chile Advanced Framework Agreement - EU/Chile Advanced Framework Agreement (Resolution) - Interim Agreement on Trade between the European Union and the Republic of Chile (joint debate - EU-Chile agreements)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the agreements we are about to approve must be a first step towards improving all the trade agreements and policies currently in force, with the aim of making our supply chains more resilient and sharing with our partners a greater commitment to trade and sustainable development, labour rights and gender equality. For this reason, aware of the prot…

27 Feb

2024

IT Speech

Geographical Indications for wine, spirit drinks and agricultural products (debate)

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(IT) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank Commissioner McGuinness for her words and all my colleagues for their extraordinary support for this two-year work, in which we really listened to the demands of all the actors involved and developed an innovative tool that I really hope will give a further strong impetus to quality chains. Let me say: After the crises caused by the pa…

27 Feb

2024

IT Speech

Geographical Indications for wine, spirit drinks and agricultural products (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, despite the fact that the current legislature has at times given the impression of a European Union detached from the agricultural reality, the new regulation on geographical indications gives a concrete example of how Europe – driven by the necessary political will – is able to accompany our farmers and agri-food producers towards increasingly res…

7 Feb

2024

IT Speech

Empowering farmers and rural communities - a dialogue towards sustainable and fairly rewarded EU agriculture (debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Mr Vice-President Šefčovič, after thirty years of investment, in which Europe has led our agri-food chain to be unequalled in the world in terms of quality, food sustainability and respect for workers' rights, the current legislature has given the impression of wanting to move from pursuing ideal objectives to ideological objectives, without putting in place any…

17 Jan

2024

IT Speech

Improving the socio-economic situation of farmers and rural areas, ensuring fair incomes, food security as well as a just transition (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, for the first time in decades, this European legislature has succeeded in creating the perception of a Union that is the enemy of farmers and production groups. We have not been able to build a project that involves European agriculture, making it feel a protagonist in the green transition and not blamed, but without the convinced adherence of o…

21 Nov

2023

IT Speech

Sustainable use of plant protection products (debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, without the convinced participation of our farmers, any prospect of mitigating climate change becomes unfeasible. That is why the work of the Committee on Agriculture and our rapporteur, Clara Aguilera, whom I thank, has focused on finding the most ambitious balance between the essential sustainability objectives that we have set ourselves as the European Uni…

13 Sep

2023

IT Speech

Reviewing the protection status of wolves and other large carnivores in the EU (topical debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, a few hours ago, in this House, President von der Leyen stressed that nature and agriculture must go hand in hand. The situation of wolves and large carnivores is a central theme for this balance, which touches farmers closely, struggling with hundreds of attacks on their animals, especially those in remote and mountainous areas. The President i…

12 Sep

2023

IT Speech

Ukrainian grain exports after Russia’s exit from the Black Sea Grain Initiative (debate)

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Mr President, dear Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, with the exit from the Black Sea initiative, Russia wants to redesign the global political geography, taking advantage of the strength of its agricultural sector and the non-compliance with any market rules. The already high number of countries dependent on Russian grain exports is in fact likely to expand like wildfire, generating areas of in…

10 Jul

2023

IT Speech

Industrial Emissions Directive - Industrial Emissions Portal - Deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure - Sustainable maritime fuels (FuelEU Maritime Initiative) - Energy efficiency (recast) (joint debate - Fit for 55 and Industrial Emissions)

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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, today is the opening of a plenary session that is decisive for the ambitions that the Union has set itself with the green deal. We therefore need a broad political sharing of the strategy that we intend to follow, rather than splits within Parliament that will not allow us to move forward in a balanced way. In this sense, in order to effectively…

15 Jun

2023

IT Speech

The water crisis in Europe (debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, after a dry winter, the violent rainfall of recent weeks has caused victims and submerged population centres and tens of thousands of hectares of cultivated land, bringing businesses and farms to their knees in many European regions. In Emilia-Romagna, more than four billion cubic meters of water have fallen in just two weeks, three times the an…

13 Jun

2023

IT Speech

Ensuring food security and the long-term resilience of EU agriculture (debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, for too long Europe has seen peace, as well as food security, as something acquired. The Russian attack on the Ukrainian people has undermined this belief, with profound humanitarian, political, social and economic repercussions. That is why this report is important. A positive report that we will support and I thank the rapporteur, Camilla Laur…

1 Jun

2023

IT Speech

Geographical Indications for wine, spirit drinks and agricultural products (A9-0173/2023 - Paolo De Castro) (vote)

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Madam President, first of all, I call for a return to the Commission under Rule 59/4 in order to start the interinstitutional negotiations immediately, and I really take this opportunity to thank all my fellow Members. A text that had such a large majority, unanimously, approved in the Committee on Agriculture. Thank you very much to all my colleagues.…

31 May

2023

IT Speech

Geographical Indications for wine, spirit drinks and agricultural products (debate)

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Madam President, thank you, Commissioner, and thank you very much to all my fellow Members and to the words they have used to thank the negotiating team. A really important teamwork of which I am proud, and who knows that tomorrow we will not have a few minutes of satisfaction seeing the whole Chamber support this important relationship that saw the participation of all. It's not just about gastro…

31 May

2023

IT Speech

Geographical Indications for wine, spirit drinks and agricultural products (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, after more than a year of work, we are going to express Parliament's position on the proposal for a regulation on geographical indications. A proposal, dear Commissioner, which is one of the few, if not the only, piece of legislation discussed in this legislature to support a more competitive, integrated and value-added agricultural and agri-foo…

31 May

2023

IT Speech

Social and economic costs of climate change in light of the floods in Emilia Romagna, Marche and Toscana and the urgent need for European solidarity (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the floods of recent weeks, which have caused fifteen victims and submerged, in Emilia-Romagna alone, tens of thousands of hectares, bringing 50% of the farms in the region to their knees, are just the latest of the increasingly frequent climate disasters that afflict our rural areas and all our citizens. In this situation, the European Union ca…

10 May

2023

IT Speech

Ukrainian cereals on the European market (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner Wojciechowski, ladies and gentlemen, the Union's support and solidarity with the Ukrainian people cannot be called into question, especially in the face of a clear Russian strategy that aims to divide us by encouraging unilateral initiatives that do not comply with Union law, such as those taken by some Member States in recent weeks. However, the Commission cannot let…

10 May

2023

IT Speech

The role of farmers as enablers of the green transition and a resilient agricultural sector (continuation of debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner McGuinness, ladies and gentlemen, last week's rains have submerged thousands of hectares of orchards and cultivated fields in Emilia Romagna. It is just the latest of the increasingly frequent climate catastrophes affecting our rural areas and all our citizens. Tackling the challenge of climate change adaptation and mitigation therefore requires a convinced and coordinat…

16 Mar

2023

IT Speech

European Citizens’ Initiative "Save bees and farmers! Towards a bee-friendly agriculture for a healthy environment" (debate)

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Mr President, dear Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, today's debate is a success of our democratic functioning and a proof of how every citizen has the right to participate in the life of the Union. The health of pollinators is one of the most urgent alarm bells facing the Union at the forefront: bees are the first ally of farmers and European farmers recognise this key role. In recent decades, …

16 Feb

2023

IT Speech

Availability of fertilisers in the EU (debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, just yesterday this House adopted our position on the Chips Act, with the aim of establishing Europe as a key player in the global semiconductor arena, strategic in the digital and green transition. This is the Europe that we want, that we want for our citizens, capable of identifying their own shortcomings and resolving them, in order to achieve r…

17 Jan

2023

IT Speech

Question Time (Commission) - Food price inflation in Europe

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, you are well aware of how much the rise in food prices is putting thousands of European families in difficulty, and we are also well aware of the effort you are making to try to cope with this complicated situation. So I want to give you a cue for this battle that we all have to fight, because inflation means problems for consumers, but it also mea…

12 Dec

2022

IT Speech

A long-term vision for the EU's rural areas (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, our rural areas are guardians of traditions, guardians of culture and skills and are one of the founding cores of European society. That is why, as the rapporteur, Mrs Carvalhais, has pointed out, and I would like to thank her for her excellent work, we welcome the Commission's commitments to the long-term vision of rural areas. However, for the…

6 Oct

2022

IT Speech

The urgent need for an EU strategy on fertilisers to ensure food security in Europe (debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, the escalation in raw material prices and energy costs, which we have been witnessing for months now, is having irreversible consequences, of which our farmers are once again at risk of being the first victims. In the face of this emergency, the Union must put in place as soon as possible an ambitious and concrete response to stop the price race fo…

13 Sep

2022

IT Speech

Consequences of drought, fire, and other extreme weather phenomena: increasing EU's efforts to fight climate change (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, after the consequences of the measures to combat COVID, which are devastating for some sectors, and the soaring prices of raw materials following the Russian invasion, the weather conditions and the extraordinary drought of recent months have brought the entire agri-food sector to its knees, especially in the Mediterranean regions. It is time for s…