Portugal personifies what it means to be European  

Senhor Presidente,
Ladies and Gentlemen, 
Ilustres Deputados desta Assembleia da República,

É uma honra poder estar aqui hoje, a representar o Parlamento Europeu. 

This honour stands as a testimony to Portugal’s commitment to the European Union. To Portugal’s commitment to European Parliamentary democracy and to Europe’s fundamental razão de ser. Here in the most European of Parliaments.

It is wonderful to be back in Portugal - a country that personifies what it means to be European. A place where I always feel at home, with a people who symbolise the spirit of resilience, of solidarity and of togetherness that Europe must embrace. That is the Portuguese effect.

The challenges are many. We are facing war on our continent with the illegal invasion of sovereign Ukraine by Russia. We have lived through price hikes and energy shortages. Too many still struggle to make ends meet. Raw materials are becoming scarcer. Inflation remains an impediment for growth. A climate transition that cannot be ignored. Migration tests that need a holistic pan-European approach and a post-pandemic economic recovery that remains too fragile. 

Friends, it is not the challenges that will define our era, but our response. And I am proud of how Europe has stood up and continues to stand up. 

In February 2022, a few days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I met a group of women and children in Strasbourg who had just made it out from Kyiv. I asked them where they were going and they told me “Porto” - a place on the other side of the continent. It was an emotional moment, but it showed that even in the worst of times, you did not shirk from responsibility. Your mayors did not say they were too far away to care. You stood up and gave people hope. Your towns and cities - including Lisbon - responded to our Generators of Hope campaign to provide electricity to Ukraine. And for that, for all you have done to support our common efforts in ensuring the survival of Ukraine, and for all that you do still, I thank you. 

It is true that Portugal knows how to overcome the challenges of geography better than most. Yours is the nation where Europe begins. From Latin America, Africa to Asia, your unique ties have meant Europe that is able to speak to the world and listen in a manner that enables common understanding and protects multilateralism.

Corvo - an island of 17km2 in the Azores is as far from the United States as it is from Brussels. It is our gateway to the globe. That is Europe. 

I was told a story about how on Europe Day in 2017, a mural was painted depicting Jacques Delors and Corvo’s oldest resident José Mendonça Machado on the Public library there. The message was clear: Mr Mendonça Machado is as European as President Delors. We heard that, everywhere.

There can be no place in Europe too far away to matter. That is our common challenge. That is why we are enacting European legislation to enable islands like the Azores, like Madeira to get more resources to prosper.

That is how we level up our continent. We can regenerate and we can do so while reinforcing the foundations of our European project in a manner that is sustainable and socially just. That is future driven. 

I have just come, together with my colleages, from the European Parliament where we have voted on the world’s most advanced Artificial Intelligence legislation.  We have come up with a law that allows us to be world leaders in digital innovation, based on EU values.

Going forward we are going to need constant, clear boundaries for Artificial Intelligence. We will fuel innovation but there is one thing that we will not compromise on: anytime technology advances, it must go hand in hand with fundamental rights and democratic values.

We must reconsider how we legislate and how we think. A new age has begun and with it a threat of malign actors using technology to undermine our democracies. It is a new form of hybrid threat that we must face together. 

Europe has the ability to set the tone worldwide. To lead. And we can do it our way: Responsibly. 

That is also the ethos that we want to see with our response to migration challenges. A historic moment, with Member States finally agreeing a way forward on migration, has been overshadowed by yet another shipwreck in the Mediterranean. More lives lost in our seas. More mothers waiting for news that will never come. The urgency to agree on migration and asylum files is real. I am convinced that we can find a way that respects borders - and that is fair and humane with those in need of protection, that is firm with those who are not eligible and that is strong against those traffickers who are exploiting the most vulnerable people on our planet.

That is the European way. 

And that is the Portuguese way.

We do not need to reinvent the wheel but we can bring decision-making closer to people, reinforce links with national parliaments and make people more aware of the potential that Europe has to make people’s lives a little bit easier, a little bit safer and a little more equal. 

One year from the European Parliament elections, this is the message that I want to bring to people: Europe matters. Your voice, your choice, matters. Your vote matters. 

Europe is not Institutions. Europe is its people. I am not here to say that the European Union is perfect. Indeed I am one to share many of the frustrations with some of our processes - but I am here to say that Europe can be better if we act together.

I am here to appeal to people - young people in particular - to not give in to the comfort of easy cynicism, to not accept a quiet retreat to the extremes and the political fringes. 

To do that we must keep listening to people. We must keep convincing. We must keep delivering. We have to show people the tangible benefits of Europe. We have to have the courage to move beyond the rhetoric and we must be honest. Honest about where we have failed but honest too about were we have succeeded. And we have a great deal to be proud of. 

It is up to us to show leadership and to do a better job at ensuring the value of Europe is felt. And we must not fear change.  We are on the path of enlargement, what worked for 27 will not work for 30 or 33. We must be ready to reinforce and reform. 
 
It will not be easy, but there is no question that it is necessary. The last year has meant a complete re-thinking of our security and defence policy. It has pushed the debate on our strategic autonomy to the top of the agenda. It has framed our response to the digital and green transition and it will continue to do so. 

In Portugal you know this well. At the beginning of 2022, renewables supplied only 52% of your total electricity consumption. By January 2023 that was up to 88%. That is the future. 

But our twin transition can only be achieved if we are able to have the right framework for sustainable, green, economic growth. That is how we pay back our debts, how we address the intergenerational problems of poverty that affect all our societies, how we can give young people hope - and how we can do this while reaching our climate ambitions. 

Because these changes are not only about going green. It is about growth, about security, about ensuring people are better able to stretch their salaries, and afford their homes, it is about future proofing our economies. And ultimately, how we return our project stronger than we found it. 

We must be better able to cushion the economic and social impact of these decisions. We have to better explain why and how we are doing this, because none of our policies will succeed if the people who elect us, if the people who are looking at us to deliver of what they want from us, are not on board.

That is what I mean by a Europe of renewal. I want people to recapture that sense of purpose, of enthusiasm for Europe.   

Europe does not seek to make everyone the same. We understand that we are different, we have different cultures, national realities. Our differences and our ability to come together is what makes us strong.

The European Parliament belongs to the Portuguese, as much as to anyone else. No decisions in Europe are taken without you. Many are taken because of you. And many are led by you. 

Europe is worth it. It is worth your time, your energy, your belief. It is worth the frustrations it sometimes causes. It is worth the funds that we put to it.

Europe is you. Europe is because of you. And Europe simply cannot be without you.

So thank you Portugal. 

Thank you for 38 years of European solidarity and leadership. 

Thank you for helping to build our Europe. 

Now let’s make it stronger. 

Obrigada.

You can read the President's speech in Portuguese here.