What Paulo spoke about.

15

Dec

2021

PT Speech

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Preparation of the European Council meeting of 16-17 December 2021 - The EU's response to the global resurgence of Covid-19 and the new emerging Covid variants (debate)

Mr President, Vice-President Šefčovič, tomorrow's Council meeting begins by addressing issues that are fundamental to stability, security and peace in Europe. The issue of the hybrid attack in Belarus with the instrumentalisation of migrants is a key issue on which Europe, together with the United Kingdom and the United States, can under no circumstances compromise. The same goes for the Ukrainian…

14

Dec

2021

PT Speech

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Situation at the Ukrainian border and in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, let us begin with the principle: Russia, led by Putin, first challenged Georgia’s territorial integrity after Ukraine, including with the illegal and unrecognised annexation of Crimea, and then moved on to the war in Ukraine in eastern Ukraine. At the moment Putin has been concentrating tens of thousands of soldiers, tens of thousands of troops, on the border between…

14

Dec

2021

PT Speech

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The situation in Nicaragua (debate)

Mr President, Mr High Representative, since taking office in 2007, President Ortega has basically dismantled all the controls that existed in Nicaragua over presidential power. It gradually turned Nicaragua into a bloody dictatorship, as became clear essentially after the 2018 social protests in which there were incarcerations, ill-treatment, exile, enforced disappearances and, of course, deaths. …

19

Oct

2021

PT Speech

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The Rule of law crisis in Poland and the primacy of EU law (debate)

Mr President, Mr Prime Minister, Madam President of the Commission, I would like to begin by saying that the whole origin of this conflict lies in the disregard for judicial independence. It is clear that there cannot be, in the context of the European Union, in the context of democratic states and states governed by the rule of law, governments, political parties, institutions that do not respect…

6

Oct

2021

PT Speech

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European solutions to the rise of energy prices for businesses and consumers: the role of energy efficiency and renewable energy and the need to tackle energy poverty (debate)

Madam President, energy prices are constantly rising, in natural gas, in fuels in general, in electricity in particular. The colossal increase in electricity prices has effects on households and businesses, has effects on environmental objectives and has effects on inflation. If nothing is done urgently, at European level, but also at the level of each national government, this will not be the win…

5

Oct

2021

PT Speech

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The future of EU-US relations (debate)

Mr President, Mr High Representative, as a Portuguese and as a European I have to say: the United States is, and must remain, our priority partner. Liberal democratic values, respect for human rights, but also the market economy and prosperity, are Western values common to Europe and the United States. We must not fall into the temptation that Europe, which must defend its interests, and which mus…

15

Sep

2021

PT Speech

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State of the Union (debate)

President Metsola, President von der Leyen, the Commission President's speech shows the difference it makes to belonging to the European Union. It was positive, it was optimistic, it was encouraging and it certainly has the support of the EPP Group and the Portuguese EPP Members. He made a strong defense of the rule of law, in particular as regards the funds and the budget. But it is not enough to…

14

Sep

2021

EN Speech

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Situation in Lebanon (debate)

Madam President, Lebanon has been facing a severe social, financial, economic and political crisis and now faces some challenges that seem to form a humanitarian crisis. After one year of political impasse, a new government has been formed. It is now time to be positive, to focus on the reforms required to steer the country, to fight corruption with determination, to grant stability and a sustaina…

14

Sep

2021

PT Speech

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Situation in Afghanistan (debate)

Madam President, every day news, images and testimonies come to us from Afghanistan that indignate and revolt us. We have seen the most elementary human rights being trampled upon, particularly those of women, but, I would say, of all citizens. It is the opposite of what we would have liked to have seen, and to see, after 20 years of struggle and sacrifice in order to try to stabilise the region a…

7

Jul

2021

EN Speech

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Breaches of EU law and of the rights of LGBTIQ citizens in Hungary as a result of the adopted legal changes in the Hungarian Parliament - The outcome of 22 June hearings under Article 7(1) of the TEU regarding Poland and Hungary (debate)

Mr President, there will be a day when the Polish people and the Hungarian people will ask ‘Where were the European institutions when they attacked the independence of the judiciary, when they closed universities, when they got all the media in their hands, when they started to persecute LGBTQI people, when they heard hate speech against migrants, where were the European institutions?’ The Parliam…

6

Jul

2021

PT Speech

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Visa Information System (VIS): visa processing - Visa Information System (VIS): conditions for accessing other EU information systems for VIS (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, Schengen is, as we have just seen, the jewel in the crown of European integration. But this freedom we share will always require shared security. This balance between freedom and security is only possible if we have at our disposal a complex network of instruments, often invisible, for the daily lives of Europeans. The European Union's visa system - in English Visa I…

6

Jul

2021

PT Speech

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Annual Report on the functioning of the Schengen area (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, there is no doubt that free movement in Europe is being called into question more seriously than before. It is true that it was public health imperatives that led all European governments to impose restrictions in the Schengen area, but there was nothing to oblige these restrictions not to comply with a uniform and homogeneous criterion. It is one thing to accept tha…