What Gilles spoke about.

23

Jun

2022

FR Speech

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National vetoes to undermine the global tax deal (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the unanimity rule in the Council protects the sovereignty of the EU Member States in sovereign areas, particularly in tax matters. I am not surprised that the French presidency seeks to call it into question since Emmanuel Macron has always wanted to replace national sovereignty with so-called European sovereignty. In today's fight between Hungary and the Frenc…

8

Jun

2022

FR Speech

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Parliament’s right of initiative (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, should the European Parliament be recognised as having a direct and general right of legislative initiative? It all depends on how we think about the European Union. If, like the rapporteur Paulo Rangel, we want to transform the Union into a state, then this must be done so that the European Parliament has powers comparable to those of a national parliament. But…

18

May

2022

FR Speech

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Commission’s 2021 Rule of Law Report (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, the European Parliament seems to take great pleasure in attacking states that dare to resist the EU’s doxa. The Reintke report thus uses the examination of the rule of law situation in the EU as a pretext for falling into an overbidding position vis-à-vis the Commission. It is attacking Poland and Hungary incomprehensibly, at a time when these two states are …

4

May

2022

FR Speech

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Use of the Pegasus Software by EU Member States against individuals including MEPs and the violation of fundamental rights (topical debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the creation by the European Parliament of a committee of inquiry into the Pegasus scandal is good news. Admittedly, this spyware case falls primarily within the competence of the Member States, since national politicians have been victims of it, such as the Spanish Prime Minister or, even if he disputes it, the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron.…

4

May

2022

FR Speech

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Discharge 2020 (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, 2020 was marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted the work of the Court of Justice of the EU. The Court nevertheless managed to decide 1,540 cases against 1,739 in 2019, which is meritorious. In particular, it has innovated by organising remote oral argument via videoconferencing with simultaneous interpretation. It also used 99% of its appropriations…

3

May

2022

FR Speech

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Artificial intelligence in a digital age (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, a technological revolution is taking place. The development of artificial intelligence will transform our lives in ways that most men and women still have trouble imagining. The European Union must encourage this new manifestation of human creativity, as it is a tremendous promise of economic progress. It is more than time, because in the face of competition fro…

6

Apr

2022

FR Answer

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Violations of right to seek asylum and non-refoulement in the EU Member States (debate)

Dear colleague, I spoke about a very specific situation in which states are instrumentalising hundreds of migrants. I cited two examples, Belarus and Turkey, to bring migrants to France. And it is obvious that in this case they are probably not asylum seekers. And therefore, I think our role is to negotiate with the countries that send these migrants to stop such actions. Because if we give in, we…

6

Apr

2022

FR Speech

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Violations of right to seek asylum and non-refoulement in the EU Member States (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, the refoulement of asylum seekers cannot be denounced without distinguishing between two very different situations facing the Member States of the European Union. When genuine refugees apply for asylum, they show a great sense of hospitality. This has been seen with Ukrainian refugees. On the other hand, when Turkey or Belarus instrumentalize migrants to orga…

6

Apr

2022

FR Speech

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Ongoing hearings under Article 7(1) TEU regarding Poland and Hungary (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, the European Parliament and the European Union more generally have the art of acting in a hurry. You are attacking Hungary for violating the rule of law, but the Hungarian people have just denied your fears by making Viktor Orbán triumph over the heterogeneous electoral coalition you supported. You are attacking Poland by accusing it of violating European val…

8

Mar

2022

FR Speech

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Foreign interference in all democratic processes in the EU (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the Kalniete report has the merit of denouncing foreign interference in the democratic processes of the European Union, in particular through disinformation. This is, in itself, a good thing, as foreign disinformation, notably Russian and Chinese, is a reality. The report also has the merit of providing an acceptable definition of disinformation, which it presen…

7

Mar

2022

FR Speech

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Role of culture, education, media and sport in the fight against racism (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, racism is a reality that must be combated, but it must be fought in the name of our values, in particular equality, and not by invoking a communitarian thought of American origin. But what do we see today? Under the pretext of combating racism, the Yenbou report endorses the most harmful prejudices and fashionable ideologies. According to this r…

17

Feb

2022

FR Speech

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Protection of workers from the risks relating to exposure to carcinogens, mutagens and reprotoxins at work (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, cancers, both occupational and non-occupational, are the second leading cause of death in the countries of the European Union, after cardiovascular diseases. They are responsible for about a quarter of the total number of deaths. They also put national health and social care systems, public budgets, productivity and economic growth to the test. For…

16

Feb

2022

FR Speech

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The Rule of Law and the consequences of the ECJ ruling (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, on 16 February the Court of Justice of the European Union dismissed the action brought by Poland and Hungary against the European regulation of 16 December 2020, which creates a ‘conditionality’ mechanism. Both countries have attacked because they know very well that they will be the first victims. This mechanism consists in depriving Member States of all or …

15

Feb

2022

FR Speech

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A statute for European cross-border associations and non-profit organisations (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the Lagodinsky report seeks to give non-governmental non-profit organisations a European legal status. To this end, it proposes, on the one hand, to grant them European association status by means of a regulation, and, on the other hand, to lay down common minimum standards for them by means of a directive. This solicitude is guided by an optimism that confines …

19

Jan

2022

FR Speech

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Violations of fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, China is violating Hong Kong's Basic Law. However, in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, it committed itself to the principle of ‘one country, two systems’, which is at the heart of this fundamental law. Now, what do we see? Hong Kong’s autonomy is being flouted. A 2020 law on national security organizes repression. Freedom of expression is suspended, doze…

15

Dec

2021

FR Speech

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The European Commission Guidelines on inclusive language (topical debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Mrs Dalli does not even dare to appear before us to explain herself, but no explanation can justify the seriousness of her attack on European values. In her guide on inclusive communication, she dared to recommend refraining from referring to Christmas. She also asked to stop quoting names that are too reminiscent of the Christian religion, such as Mary or Jo…

14

Dec

2021

FR Speech

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Outcome of Global Summit Nutrition for Growth (Japan, 7-8 December) and increased food insecurity in developing countries (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the Tokyo summit on nutrition, which took place at the beginning of December, makes an alarming observation of malnutrition in the world: 800 million people are hungry, more than 140 million children are stunted, 20 million babies are underweight at birth and malnutrition is the underlying cause of almost half of child deaths worldwide. These figures are all the…

10

Nov

2021

FR Speech

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Strengthening democracy, media freedom and pluralism in the EU (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, SLAPPs are unfortunately a reality in some Member States of the European Union. They are used by large companies or associations or by public authorities to intimidate and silence journalists, academics or whistleblowers. I believe that this instrumentalisation of justice must be combated. That is why I welcomed the idea of the European Parliament voting on a re…

10

Nov

2021

FR Speech

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The escalating humanitarian crisis on the EU-Belarusian border, in particular in Poland (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the migration crisis on the Polish border is terrible, but we must face it with clarity. Like Turkey, Belarus is waging a hybrid war against the European Union by voluntarily launching thousands of migrants towards our borders. If we give in, we will tell people all over the world that they can enter our homes and we will be overwhelmed. We must therefore take o…

19

Oct

2021

FR Speech

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Situation in Tunisia (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, the Tunisian people decided in 2011, through a revolution that the whole world admired, to establish a democratic regime. The European Union supported him in this choice. Ten years later, the promises of the revolution have unfortunately not been fulfilled. Tunisia’s economic and social situation has deteriorated sharply and huge protests have denounced endem…

5

Oct

2021

FR Speech

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Disinformation and the role of social platforms (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, should the law be reformed to make digital platforms such as Facebook and Twitter responsible for the content they broadcast? Yes, but only if you're reasonable. Yes, digital platforms must be made liable where the content they disseminate constitutes precise and clearly defined infringements. This is the case with incitement to terrorism. The regulation we a…

15

Sep

2021

FR Speech

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EU contribution to transforming global food systems to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the fight against hunger in the world is one of the main tasks of the United Nations. It is also an objective that must unite us all beyond our political opinions. Unfortunately, the available figures tell us that we are not on the right track to eradicate hunger in the world. In 2020, 800 million people suffered from hunger, about 100 million more than in 2019.…

15

Sep

2021

FR Speech

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The Pegasus spyware scandal (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, Israel’s Pegasus phone spying software was meant to be used to fight crime, but states have used it to spy on journalists, business leaders and even more than 600 politicians, including perhaps French President Emmanuel Macron. In the face of this scandal, several national courts have decided to open judicial investigations. I hope, without exce…

14

Sep

2021

FR Speech

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EU Blue Card Directive (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, according to official projections, the working population of the European Union is expected to lose 40 million workers by 2070. To solve this demographic crisis, the EU is making the mistake of wanting to resort to emigration, whereas encouraging natalist policies would be much better. The EU Blue Card is the spearhead of this labour immigration. Created in 2009…

6

Jul

2021

FR Speech

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Presentation of the programme of activities of the Slovenian Presidency (debate)

Madam President, Prime Minister, ladies and gentlemen, Slovenia has just taken over the six-month presidency of the Council of the European Union. In my view, the fact that it is a small country is not a problem, because every state must be respected. I particularly welcome his courageous stance against the European policy of relocation of migrants. I agree with its first priority, which is to mak…