Nacho SÁNCHEZ AMOR

Policy topics Nacho SÁNCHEZ AMOR is active on

What Nacho SÁNCHEZ AMOR has said (23)

• 2026-07-15 “The core of the paper is to reflect on challenges, but also on the opportunities of the artificial intelligence. I tried to avoid this Luddite approach, thinking that any progress is inherently dangerous. In my view, artificial intelligence is not inherently evil, but has, on the contrary, could could help to advance human rights. If there is a careful design test and deployment of the system. The report is structured as follows. First, address general considerations. Then list the main risks and then some provisional proposals. Among the challenges to human rights posed by artificial intelligence is well known data privacy and discrimination, surveillance, women's rights and gender equality, children's rights, migration, labour and environmental risks, transnational repression, business and human rights. And we talk recently automated weapon system. The report also addresses artificial intelligence and democracy and the role of artificial intelligence in electoral processes. And finally is some provisional proposals include a holistic strategy for the EU external action to reinforce the EU toolbox, the need to develop a strong and resilient European Union ecosystem that reduces strategic dependencies and reinforces strategic autonomy. Maybe developing open source AI system, supporting the United Nations and the Council of Europe, and calling for the United Nations effort to create a legally binding agreement to globally regulate the use of lethal autonomous weapon. I would like to thank my shadow fellow rapporteurs, because the word I distribute to them what we call the long draft version, the working draft version. And we expect to start negotiations after the summer on both the paper. If this is the case to the end of the year, thank you for your amendments. Are your improvements to this provisionally draft paper? Thank you.”
  Artificial Intelligence
• 2026-07-15 “Balance and with moral implication to maximize the human control on any kind of system using war and to maximize effectivity from the military point of view. And at the extreme of this line is what our guests call tragic mistakes. And I'm recalling the case of the school girls in Iran. The problem is the narrative behind this illusion of accuracy, because apparently in the military system and the military defense ecosystem, they are selling to the public opinion. This is a way to be more accurate and then to avoid tragic mistakes. And we don't know as we are not experts till what extent this is real or is just a narrative to cover the maximize the implication of the use of autonomous weapons. I would like to know from any of you what is your assessment? As my colleague from the PPE said about the exclusion of the. A act of the military aspect, apparently is going to be in some way reversed in the future. Your opinion on the idea of the United Nations of creating a legally binding agreement on globally, regulate and ban lethal autonomous weapons, or at least to impose a moratorium? And regarding the proposals. Mr. Gossack, about the eligibility eligibility, a rationale on the European Defence Fund regulation. What are we going to pay with European money regarding autonomous weapons? These are the things I would like to know from you. Some more explanation or or information. Thank you.”
  Artificial Intelligence for military purposes
• 2026-07-15 “The Inteligencia artificial. I'm using English in this case. This initiative resolution is called shaping the EU External Action to address challenges to Human rights posed by Artificial Intelligence. This is indeed the first non-legislative report on artificial intelligence, and it's, In my opinion, a very timely report, because anything related to the artificial intelligence is increasing, increasingly present and relevant for the daily life of our citizens. Every week we can read the news concerning, for example, armed conflict. We have been dealing with the issue extensively prior to this point, but also the artificial intelligence being used as a tool for strategic influence, economic competition or foreign interference. It was due time for for our subcommittee to address this topic, especially because the issue has been raised recently with very prominent cases of the nudity case. That means every person in the world could be affected by a misuse of artificial intelligence. And because we have been a little bit lazy on artificial intelligence and human rights compared to the United Nations and the Council of Europe. The institutions. They started to work in human rights and artificial intelligence more than a decade ago. We at European Union level, we have for sure, and we have been talking about the AI act now the AI omnibus. But as we heard a minute ago from the Commission representative in the private debate, the approach to the artificial intelligence has been mainly related to internal market. And we have to extend the scope and introduce our rationale, our political thinking about artificial intelligence and the external dimension of the of the European Union. And in the current moment of the world with this geopolitical climate, it could be an opportunity to really develop with some friends and partners in the world, some a system that are compliant with human rights as a complementary way to tackle the growing presence of the authoritarian narratives.”
  EU foreign policy approach
• 2026-07-15 “Shadow rapporteurs. Fellows, for the improvement they are announcing in the amendments. I'm fully open to examine every of them, including what Isabelle said about him mentioning particular cases, even in the normal practice is in the horizontal report is not particularly pointed or mentioned cases, but I'm open to examine the things in the process of negotiation. Thank you to the Commission and the external service. Thank you for your very precise improvement, including the terminology, precision and. And the closeness of the approach between the Parliament and your institutions in the risk and the challenges, but also in the advantages of having AI on our side, in a world in which our principles and values approach sometimes could be of help, to try to create a global governance that has been started to be discussed under the umbrella of the United Nations. Thank you, everyone for the contributions.”
  Artificial Intelligence
• 2026-06-24 “Well thank you. Thank you David. On the substance, I think you discussed in the first round that I would like to say that even if the geopolitical earthquakes always has been in the origin of the enlargement, The accession process is a merit based process and. And that means many things if it is merit based. It's individual. Let's forget about the packages. Let's forget about the couple. Because if it is merit based, that means every country has to be measured for merit. And the other thing this is a double direction. If it is merit based and they comply and they deliver in the process, it can be at the end of the process, a kind of political veto or political. Let's wait a little bit, because this is creating this European fatigue that we noticed in the Balkans. I take your point, Mr. Executives. Parliament in the report. You are completely right. And I would like to to to know from you your opinion on the successive vetoes not included in the treaties and only included in this strange thing called negotiation framework that allows every country to veto the continuation of the process, only creating a problem with one cluster on one chapter. The Parliament is strongly rejecting this logic. And the other thing, fundamentals can be in any way an alibi to hide or shadow other interests. Because sometimes we put on doubt or we create problems inevitable. The the most of the candidate countries are less mature democracies or immature democracies. But let's be clear. We can use the fundamentals to hide other less reputable, let's say, reasoning, agriculture or whatever others. And my final call for the national parliaments. Do our European institutions. Let's not enter in the trap in which we have to take care of the European interest. And you are only taking care of the national interest to our European institutions. And as Mr. Coe said, you are involved in the in the big the big game of Europe. And then. Please try to avoid to appear only as the as the institution taking care of the domestic agenda. Thank you.”
  EU enlargement
• 2026-06-17 “Thank you. Chair. In light of the relevant recent developments, I would like to propose the following oral amendment to paragraph 40. After the sentence ending in International Federation of Airline Pilots, I would like to propose the following two sentences. Deplores the interference with military aircraft carrying European officials to a recent meeting of EU defence ministers in Cyprus, and expressed concern regarding the establishment of an office of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party in an historic building in occupied Nicosia, which can be considered as a further step towards an intended socio economic and cultural assimilation of the Turkish Cypriot community. Thank you.”
  EU-Turkey relations
• 2026-06-16 “(10:34:19 – 10:35:30): Saying things as they are is very important, and you have to call things by their name. And that's why, the we have to call what's taking place apartheid, what's taking place in Israel. It's very, very clear. So I think it would be good if this would be said publicly, for example, in this particular parliament, because in this distortion of reality is something which is extremely harmful, and it undermines our credibility. And I think we have to really make it clear that the high representatives can all the high representative can only express herself through certain channels, if you like, and through, of course, the agreements that have been adopted. That's why we need somebody who, can really say things as they are to expressing opinions is there's no problem about expressing herself with regard to Russia. But it seems that there is a mincing of words in the case of Israel.”
  Relations with Israel - Palestine
• 2025-10-22 “E-004150/2025 Answer given by High Representative/Vice-President Kallas on behalf of the European Commission Human rights, democratic principles and the rule of law remain key priorities in the EU cooperation with Kyrgyzstan. Their promotion is an integral part of the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement 1 (EPCA), signed in June 2024, and is thus at the core of EUKyrgyzstan bilateral relations. The EPCA with Kyrgyzstan has not yet entered into force. However, the EU will closely watch on Kyrgyzstan’s multilateral and bilateral commitments. The EU remains committed to continuing the dialogue and cooperation with Kyrgyzstan on these matters. The EU maintains a strong and principled position against the death penalty in all cases and all circumstances, as it violates the right to life and is incompatible with the absolute prohibition of torture. Reintroducing the death penalty would not address the causes of gender-based violence but would reverse the progress made to protect life and dignity and would also be in breach of Kyrgyzstan’s international obligations as a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, having ratified its Second Optional Protocol. It would cause considerable harm to the international reputation of Kyrgyzstan as a member of the Human Rights Council for the 2023-2025 term. 1 https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/kyrgyz-republic-signing-enhanced-partnership-and-cooperation-agreementepca-european-union_en.”
  EU competences on human rights · EU-Kyrgyzstan relations
• 2025-09-19 “E-003634/2025 Answer given by High Representative/Vice-President Kallas on behalf of the European Commission The EU and its Member States respect the international consensus on Jerusalem embodied in the relevant United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions, until the final status of Jerusalem is resolved 1 . The Delegation of the European Union to Israel is based in Tel Aviv (alongside 92 other diplomatic representations), while a number of countries have indeed chosen to establish their embassies to Israel in Jerusalem instead. Fiji is the latest to have joined the United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Papua New Guinea (opened in 2023) and Paraguay. EU, through its Delegation in Suva and in coordination with likeminded partners, will continue to engage with the Fijian authorities, explaining the EU’s position and encouraging alignment with the relevant UNSC resolutions. 1 UNSC/RES/252 (1968), UNSC/RES/ 476 (1980), UNSC/RES/ 478 (1980), UNSC RES/2334 (2016).”
  Relations with Israel - Palestine · Asia-Pacific
• 2024-09-27 “E-001862/2024 Answer given by Ms Šuica on behalf of the European Commission The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) provides essential services to millions of people in Gaza, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and across the region, including Lebanon, Syria and Jordan 1 . The EU has underlined the importance of countering the disinformation campaign targeting UNRWA 2 and is closely monitoring and documenting this multi-layered disinformation campaign within its mandate ‘to counter and expose disinformation in countries neighbouring the Union’ outlined in the 2018 Action Plan on Disinformation 3 . From 2021 to 2024, the EU contribution to UNRWA’s programme budget amounted to EUR 363 million. This funding aims to contribute to maintaining basic living conditions and access to essential services such as health, education and social services for Palestine refugees, salaries for teachers, doctors and social workers operating in refugee camps, but also reinforcing UNRWA’s systems to ensure neutrality or countering disinformation. Following the fulfilment by UNRWA of all the conditions agreed for the 2024 EU funding, the Commission disbursed in three tranches a total of EUR 82 million, and an additional top-up of EUR 10 million in December 2024 4 . This came in addition to the EUR 48.5 million of EU humanitarian funding in 2024. The EU is committed to continuing its support to the Agency, whilst also to closely monitoring the implementation of the recommendations of the Independent Review Group report 5 following the allegations against some UNRWA staff. The EU looks forward to further decisive action by the UN to ensure neutrality, accountability and strengthen control and oversight in order to prevent further cases. It is essential that UNRWA can continue carrying out its crucial work in line with its mandate based on the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 302(IV) adopted on 8 December 1949 and renewed since. 1 https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/qa3lblga/euco-conclusions-27062024-en.pdf 2 https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/middle-east-five-principles-eu-peace-making_en 3 https://commission.europa.eu/publications/action-plan-disinformation-commission-contribution-europeancouncil-13-14-december-2018_en 4 https://neighbourhood-enlargement.ec.europa.eu/news/commission-disburses-additional-eu10-millionpayment-unrwa-2024-12-20_en 5 https://www.un.org/unispal/document/report-independent-review-group-on-unrwa-22april2024/”
  Support for international humanitarian organisations
• “Thank you. President. Well, this framework is really a clear example of foreign policies. We look for partners with a sign right on our forehead saying we are desperate. We are looking for friends and our partners or interlocutors know this, that is really not a good point of departure for this type of negotiation. Another limitation, you know, we negotiate with a threat because our interlocutors can find other allies, other sponsors, and they can move to the dark side. That is another weakness that everyone exploits. So it's not surprising to see that these new types of agreements, our souls, our value, our principles disappear. And we don't want to put anything in these papers that could bother the other side. I mean, I'm not even talking about violence against religious minorities or imprisonment, but not even the ILO agreements. No mention to development. It's pure realpolitik and no proximity values. So, you know, the union which is introverted, which has a walled in, protected and free. The major Switzerland. Is that what we want?”
  Free trade agreements (FTAs)
• “Thank you very much, president. So before our eyes, we see a European policy which seems to be characterized by this Chamberlain syndrome. In other words, one of appeasement and nothing else. Moral verticality as concerns Russia with Trump, al-Sisi, Netanyahu and so on and so forth. It's the only European policy that we have without any proper principles in place. Here we are sitting like a sitting, like an ostrich, like a turkey, almost just looking at Putin. And we see a situation which is totally unacceptable and catastrophe as far as foreign policy. Israel is a good example. The system of protecting human rights supposedly is resulting in destruction. It is resulting in humanitarian catastrophe and nothing less than that. It is creating hunger, destruction of schools. And this is the American policy which is in place right now. Now, the question is not the, uh, the agreement that we have with Israel. The question is how can we sit by and watch young people, children, women, men dying? How are we going to deal with this situation like Chamberlain did or like Churchill did in the past?”
  Relations with Israel - Palestine
• “For the explanation of your of your global approach to the world. You insisted a lot in the alignment of the Be global as the geopolitical, EU and security priorities. That's perfectly right. And you extend you and you have, let's say, talk lengthily about that. But I would like to call your, um, ideas about how to align with principles and values. I know that at the moment is what it is, and everybody knows that realpolitik is the only driver. But this Parliament still is a voice regarding principles and values. And I would like to know how do you introduce this? Not a policy, but mandate from the treaties affecting every single institution of the European Union. This is not a policy. This is a legal, mandatory policy to be followed. And I would like to know how do you tackle with with this in which way we can combine. You know why? Because you have dealing with the economic world, with the companies, with the with the with the business world and legal certainty is a facet of the rule of law in countries not having a proper rule of law. The problems in the legal certainty that is much needed for the for the business community. And secondly, and differently, how finally did you tackle the issue of resuming operations with Turkey? Thank you.”
  EU Supervision of the Rule of Law
• “Thank you for being here, Radmila. On the summit. I've just got Some advice. Mr. Rutter needs to be very careful with his personal messages to Mr. Trump because he's representing everyone. And these personal messages don't represent all the NATO members. Now we have to be very aware of the different nature of the different actions. And as a member of NATO, I don't know if it's compatible with being a member of the BRICs as well. But just let me say what's happening in Turkey. The authorities are giving this message to the general public. Our military power allows us to be a member of the European Union, and it's opening the door. But the EU needs to tell Turkey that this isn't the, uh, the master key to open the way to the European Union. We need to remind In Turkey that we're talking about two different institutions here. Being a member of the EU is more related to democratic standards in the country rather than military capabilities. Thank you.”
  EU-Turkey relations
• “We have to call a spade a spade, as you said. We have to take measures at the first signs of authoritarianism. We have to start calling the US a defective democracy. There are forced disappearances in the US. There are parallel security forces there who wear masks and pull people off the streets, and no sort of oversight for that. If we have to act when we see the first signs of authoritarianism, then we have to do so in all countries and not just in a few. And in conclusion, we could turn into a big Switzerland. The EU's incapacity to act. Faced with authoritarian regimes with half the energy it uses when somebody gets closer to Russia, Laos is a problem because Laos is thinking of sending troops to Russia. And then we cut off funding to Laos. When have we ever done that for an issue of democratic quality? The question is when it's an issue of security, defense and Russia will put all our weight behind pressure on a country when it's about, uh, counteracting authoritarian regimes. We are patting them on the back as long as they are geopolitically important. The risk is that we could turn into a big Switzerland rich, uh, and isolated. Thank you. Thank you. Nacho. Are there any socialist members from the special committee who would like to speak from the special committee? Would you like to speak? Go ahead. You can wear both hats.”
  EU-Russia relations (from March 2022)
• “I'm using Spanish president. Well. It seems that war is only painful when it hits us in the pocket. For two months we've been talking about politicians responsibility for this illegal war. Lack of a plan. Lack of communication with allies, the victims. But the right wing only wants to talk about this war when it hits us in the pocket. So that shows who's responsible, I think a little bit. But, uh, we've talked about Russia. We've talked about what's going on in Ukraine, the damage, the cost of reconstruction. Does that go for Lebanon and Gaza as well? I mean, we're calling on Russia to pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine, but are we not going to call on Israel to pay for the reconstruction of Gaza and Lebanon? I mean, we're talking about a joint investigating team in Eurojust. We're talking about an international court. Uh, we're talking about terrible crimes. I mean, we're doing that for Ukraine. But are we going to Continue to talk about the war in Iran as a disaster for which no one is responsible. I mean, all of this is undermining the EU's credibility on the international stage. Thank you.”
  Relations with Israel - Palestine
• “I'm using a very Mediterranean language as in Spanish. Gracias. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Commissioner. Now, 30 years since the Barcelona process, there's been a lot of change. And it's, of course, couldn't tell you about all of them. But there are a few. First of all. I think there if you're talking about non-Western competitors in the map here, and this whole southern part has been very frustrated with the Arabs since the Arab Spring. There's been a lot of frustration. And these days we have the pieces, but we we haven't put together the mosaic. So this what we have now is much better than the memorandums of understanding that we had in the past. We have a clear legal framework. So it's much better to have a pact, to have a plan and not be improvising as needed as we've done in the past. So politically speaking, there are a number of ideas. There are programs, but there's not really a political narrative. The so you you're maybe saying that there's a geographically limited regional gateway. Geographical gateway. But what we need is more policymaking, more politics. We need more governance. There's not much there. That's also, I think, something when it comes to security as well, is that we need also to make sure that we have we need to safeguard against Against disaffection towards democracy because we need more democracy in the Mediterranean. That would be well compensated if we were to able to achieve that. So I'm happy to see this pact. I'm happy to see a plan of of action. And we know that you've put a lot of work into this. So thank you very much.”
  EU relations with the Southern Neighbourhood
• “Thank you. President. This morning, the Armenian president spoke of Georgian accession to the EU as an essential step. They have abandoned the European perspective, which has left a trail of negative consequences within and without the country and nascent democracy. And a long list of journalists, politicians and other members of civil society have been persecuted. We have named. But together with her, a great number of people representing Democratic groups have been thrown into prison for speaking out for democracy. We must act. It is a shame for the Union that we only discuss sanctions against Georgia because of help to Russia, and not because of the incarceration of Democrats in Turkey and Azerbaijan and Central Asia. In Turkey and Egypt. They are free to repress their people as much as they want. Um, Brussels only reacts when they support Russia. Um, I'd be reluctant to get on such a morally precarious boat.”
  EU-Georgia relations
• “Um. Every time the commission suggests big contain financial containers, we've got lots of money. The reason is flexibility. And this means a free hand for the commission and a lack of transparency for Parliament. And this is historical. It's always been like that. Now, when we talk about a fast adaptation to, uh, circumstances, the administrative point of view is considers only as expenditure. But this also implies cutting financing. We had to cut a delegated act to save money for Tanzania. But we were trying to, uh, looking at the uh, program in Tanzania for democracy. So the speed means either spending more or changing direction, but it also means cutting funds at times. Now there are two proposals from my group a facility for Gaza, for Gaza reconstruction, the opposite to the Riviera that Mr. Trump is suggesting and the historic and chronic refunding of the external services. We can't go global if we don't have good funding for our instrument, for our tools. Thank you.”
  Conditions to access EU budget
• “I'll be talking to Mr. Pelayo. Indispensable partners. Checks and balances, they say, but nothing is shifting. We're talking about inertia. Inertia. This is an appeasement policy. Trump is being treated as something temporary, but he won't be. But what is really concerning here? What about the sight of relief people gave in Davos in Switzerland? Because Trump has said, look, I won't invade Greenland. People gave a sigh of relief. But nobody is expecting anything from Costa, Carlos or Ursula von der Leyen. Macron. Are seen as references and the prime Minister of Canada is better representing European citizens than our very leaders in Brussels. That's the upshot of a policy of appeasement. If we don't do anything about this, we will not be lending an ear, as we should, to European citizens, and they will want to listen to us.”
  EU-US relations
• “Yes. Thank you. If we if we start our approach to the phenomena of the legal current definition of the phenomenon is not good because the nature of the phenomenon is changing. How can we describe Yakuza, Muslim Brotherhood, substituting the state in the poor, in the poor neighborhoods of. Of many Arab countries. Buchner group has been mentioned by by Google. Illegal mining. Illegal mining is a. Is illegal, but is not criminal except if you contaminate on purpose with mercurial River. The first negotiation with the Maras before the second buckle. The gray wolves in Turkey and in Europe. It is not the same phenomena. It's not the same organization. It's not the same genetics. But these groups are infiltrating politics. And I think we have to to plow on, on this, on this idea. But thank you for this approach that I, I hope it's the the starting point for a more developed approach from politics for the political and institutional bodies. Thank you.”
  EU policy on criminal justice
• “Compatibility between BRICs and NATO. You didn't mention it. Turkey applied to be a member of bridge. It is compatible to be a member of Bricks and member of NATO. Putting aside the S-400 Russian S-400.”
  EU stance on BRICS cooperation
• “Thank you. Thank you for the work. I think not not you, because you have been studying, I assume this phenomena in your academic or your research. But from the political point of view, we are opening a path. We are creating some awareness about. There is a new guy in the block. There is a new a new actor in geopolitics, and we have to be aware of that. And we have to try to tackle the challenges that this kind of blurring organisms represent for traditional politics. And for that reason, I think this is a seminal work on this thing. I would like to I am a little bit frustrated, you know, because I proposed this study and my original idea is only partially covered because it's about geopolitical influence or domestic political influence. And for that reason, I would like to explore with you, with yourself, your ideas, in which way these three groups, uh, the state opposed the state embedded and the state sponsored. They interact, or if there are groups starting to be state opposed, but they reach the level of, uh, make, uh, take position in the parliament. The parliaments are very easy to, to, to have a seat paid by some criminal organization. And in which way these three categories interact in which way the criminal, uh, entities they pass from one to, from one to another. But I think I have to, to read carefully the, the paper, but I think we have to start talking not only about the geopolitical influence, but the domestic political influence of the criminal organizations then could be transnational or not, but there is a state capture or the Parliament capture in one single state is a thing we have to take in their own hour, rather. But thank you for the. For the first step in which I can assume, and I hope it's going to be developed not only from the academia, but also from the institutions as a new way to address this kind of phenomena. Thank you.”
  Foreign interference in Europe