Teresa Ribera’s first words in her examination in the European Parliament were of “affection and solidarity” for the DANA victims in Valencia and gratitude for the help received in the rescue and recovery efforts in the area. Without entering into the tug-of-war of national politics, the candidate for Vice President of Competition and Fair and Clean Transition of the European Commission has defended in her initial intervention the need to “strengthen the alert and protection systems” in the face of meteorological catastrophes that , he assured, that they will be increasingly common and intense.
The PP had promised a tough exam for Pedro Sánchez’s candidate and, in fact, has maneuvered to try to convince its European colleagues to torpedo the socialist’s approval in the first phase by alleging Ribera’s management during the DANA. Finally, those of Alberto Núñez Feijóo have been content with the decision to postpone Ribera’s evaluation following an agreement reached by the EPP, the social democrats and the liberals so that the analysis of the six MEPs would be carried out at the same time to facilitate the exchange of stickers and avoid the ‘domino effect’ that could have resulted from the rejection of some of those chosen by Ursula Von der Leyen for her new community leadership.
The first thing Ribera heard was, precisely, a reproach from the conservative ranks. The German Markus Ferber has criticized him for having made the first reflections on DANA in Valencia in the European Parliament and not in the Spanish Congress. The vice president has not entered into the ‘melee’ and has answered the question that was asked about a case of acceleration of renewable energies. It was the socialist spokesperson, the Asturian Jonás Fernández, who responded immediately afterwards: “I agree with my colleague Ferber that Spanish politics should be discussed in the Spanish Parliament.”
Ribera has responded to the Vox spokesperson, Jorge Buxadé, who has used his intervention to accuse the vice president of having “hidden” in the last two weeks and has assured that, as Minister of Ecological Transition, “she is responsible for the tragedy.” . “He had the information about overflowing riverbeds in real time and he did nothing,” the far-right MEP told him, who has also questioned the fact that plans, such as the construction of dams in the area, have not been executed. Buxadé ended up saying that Ribera should not be sitting in the European Parliament but on a “bench” and has appealed to the EPP, which is part of the European coalition along with socialists and liberals. “There are two options: be on the side of Teresa Ribera or on the side of the life of the Spanish people,” he concluded amidst boos.
“There is nothing more dangerous than questioning or trying to undermine the credibility of the institutions that warn us. This sad example before us is an example of what is happening. So my commitment is to strengthen public services, the capacity for observation, anticipation and prevention of floods, and accompany Europeans and national governments so that this finds us all prepared,” replied Ribera, who was applauded by the benches. progressives.
In the second reply to Buxadé, he reminded him that the Government has recovered “those hydrographic projects” that the right now considers essential to have avoided the disaster and that “many are out for tender” given that he has assured that they were canceled during the crisis. “The lack of Budgets makes it particularly complicated to invest in public services, as well as the desire to cut taxes,” Ribera added, causing a rumor in the room: “Europe must remain committed because unfortunately the appearance of these phenomena is going to be recurring.” “We need to reinforce our preparation and alerts and generate alerts so that people can be protected,” Ribera has simply added, who has not entered into the distribution of blame for the management of DANA.
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