| Rank | Name | Country | Group | Speeches | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
Lukas Sieper | Germany DEU | Non-attached Members (NI) | 390 |
| 2 |
|
Juan Fernando López Aguilar | Spain ESP | Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) | 354 |
| 3 |
|
Sebastian Tynkkynen | Finland FIN | European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) | 331 |
| 4 |
|
João Oliveira | Portugal PRT | The Left in the European Parliament (GUE/NGL) | 232 |
| 5 |
|
Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis | Lithuania LTU | Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) | 227 |
All Contributions (91)
This is Europe - Debate with the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Luc Frieden (debate)
Madam President, Prime Minister, you referred to a Europe of concentric circles to meet the challenge of agility and speed that European decision-making today requires in the international context. Indeed, we must stop wanting to do everything at 27. Effectiveness is also about respecting nations and their democratic choices, and freeing oneself from a kind of Brussels Jacobinism that characterizes the functioning of the European institutions. Some want to go even further with the end of unanimity, the end of the veto, that is to say, to again thwart nations and their democratic choices. You also mentioned debureaucratization. This is the top priority. We must continue and amplify the unravelling of the Green Deal, which is a real disaster for our industrialists, for our agriculture, and in general, for all our economic players. Just a few moments ago, and on a recurring basis, we often hear the reproach made to Luxembourg, your country, of being a tax haven. But the real problem today is that a number of European countries, starting with France, are a fiscal hell and that Europe has become a regulatory and normative hell. That is what must be ended. Finally, you mentioned border controls, but today it is a necessity. Why? Because Europe's external borders are sieves. They are sieves when it comes to immigration and goods, which creates unfair competition.
Governance of the internet – renewal of the mandate of the Internet Governance Forum (debate)
Mr President, we are talking about internet governance, but the internet needs to be protected more than governed. This space, while of course it can sometimes be misused, is above all a formidable tool for the freedom of citizens, the freedom to be informed, but also, and perhaps first of all, the freedom to express oneself. Now, what do we see now in France and in Europe? Well, we see the same willingness displayed by authoritarian governments to use the pretext of cybercrime to control populations. I am thinking for example of the scandalous Avia law that Emmanuel Macron wanted to vote a few years ago, or the hunt for so-called fake news which are often simply politically incorrect opinions. Today, our citizens are legitimately concerned about the CSAM regulation, dubbed "Chat Control", because some states want to take advantage of it to establish mass surveillance. The indispensable fight against child pornography must not be used as a pretext for censorship. How can we talk about governance when our own leaders, in Paris or Berlin, want to undermine privacy and control opinion? Europe is the civilisation of freedoms, the cornerstone of our democracies; Let us protect them at home before we give lessons to the whole earth.
Democratic Republic of the Congo-Rwanda peace deal agreement (debate)
Mr President, on 27 June, Donald Trump succeeded where the European Union failed, chairing a peace agreement between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. We look forward to that, of course. The carnage taking place in the eastern provinces of the DRC is deeply destabilising an entire region. The crimes of the M23, supported by Kagame, and the Islamist abjections of the Group of the Alliance of Democratic Forces have not disappeared. Since the pro-Rwandan militia offensive, 7,000 people have died and 500,000 have been displaced. However, there is hope that Kinshasa’s sovereignty will cease to be abused in Kivu and that the Congolese will cease to be the atoning victims of European colonial repentance in the face of Kigali. I can only share with you my emotion when I think of all the victims of the Kasanga church, beheaded because they were Christians, last February, by the machete holders of Daesh in Central Africa. While the European Union had tolerated the plundering of the resources of many Congolese provinces by their neighbours, we should not be fooled by another reality. It is to compete with China, the beneficiary of a historic contract in Congo, that the US administration has just mobilized. It is therefore because the European Union has been ineffective that it will not benefit from any positive impact. Europe exchanges financial aid with Africa for migrants instead of seizing economic opportunities. The Democratic Republic of Congo, the second-largest French-speaking country in the world, must be a strong partner for European influence in Africa. Let us stop our blindness to Rwanda, and that will become possible again.
Democratic Republic of the Congo-Rwanda peace deal agreement (debate)
Mr President, on 27 June, Donald Trump succeeded where the European Union failed, chairing a peace agreement between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. We look forward to that, of course. The carnage taking place in the eastern provinces of the DRC is deeply destabilising an entire region. The crimes of the M23, supported by Kagame, and the Islamist abjections of the Group of the Alliance of Democratic Forces have not disappeared. Since the pro-Rwandan militia offensive, 7,000 people have died and 500,000 have been displaced. However, there is hope that Kinshasa’s sovereignty will cease to be abused in Kivu and that the Congolese will cease to be the atoning victims of European colonial repentance in the face of Kigali. I can only share with you my emotion when I think of all the victims of the Kasanga church, beheaded because they were Christians, last February, by the machete holders of Daesh in Central Africa. While the European Union had tolerated the plundering of the resources of many Congolese provinces by their neighbours, we should not be fooled by another reality. It is to compete with China, the beneficiary of a historic contract in Congo, that the US administration has just mobilized. It is therefore because the European Union has been ineffective that it will not benefit from any positive impact. Europe exchanges financial aid with Africa for migrants instead of seizing economic opportunities. The Democratic Republic of Congo, the second-largest French-speaking country in the world, must be a strong partner for European influence in Africa. Let us stop our blindness to Rwanda, and that will become possible again.
Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 26 June 2025 (debate)
Madam President, war is on our doorstep. The world is always more unstable and we are wasting time. The Council has touched on a few hot issues that are essential to our interests and our security. Ukraine, first of all, for which a just and lasting peace must be achieved swiftly, which can only be achieved through balance of power and negotiation. We also welcome the announcement yesterday that President Trump has sent several Patriot defence systems. The Middle East, then. We will repeat it tirelessly, Israel has the right to defend itself by any means against Islamic terrorism and its threatening neighbors. It is imperative for the stability of the region and for the security of Europe that Iran and its mullahs regime never obtain nuclear weapons. On immigration, thanks to our Italian and Swedish allies, the Council is starting to open its eyes. Too late, too slow. We need partnerships with all our neighbours in the Mediterranean, modelled on what Giorgia Meloni is doing by outsourcing the management of migration flows in third countries. Our group, ECR, will be intransigent in the negotiations on the return regulation and the revision of the list of safe countries. Mass expulsions of illegal immigrants are now essential to protect Europeans. Finally, Mrs von der Leyen – as you mentioned a few moments ago, but you will be judged on the acts – regulatory simplification must be accelerated to free up our competitiveness. We must simplify procedures, reduce taxes, unravel the Green Deal to support our entrepreneurs in a global competition that has become fierce. Within a year, the right has already won a few victories in this Chamber. We have to go faster, further. Our autonomy and security depend on it.
Freedom of assembly in Hungary and the need for the Commission to act (debate)
You know, I think when we talk about children's rights, he's actually opposed to some kind of children's right, which was artificially built by LGBT lobbyists. We are told that we would have a right to the child, a right to adopt a child, etc. In reality, the fundamental rights of children are to protect them from propaganda. And in any case, we can. Again, these are democratic choices of sovereign nations. We can have different positions on that. And obviously, my dear colleague, we have a different view of these issues. But, in any case, Hungary is a sovereign nation, with democratic choices, with free elections, and it is on this basis that the Hungarians made choices. They're not yours, but you...
Freedom of assembly in Hungary and the need for the Commission to act (debate)
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the European Treaties make a clear distinction between the competences of the European Union and the competences of the Member States. Hungary’s 2021 legislation states that it is not possible to ‘promote’, I quote, ‘to minors homosexuality and gender change’. So, of course, everyone is free to agree or disagree with this law, but public order and the protection of minors are clearly national competences and the European Union therefore does not have to interfere. In addition, there are many examples of a ban on demonstrations in Europe: in France last January, agricultural demonstrations were banned; in Belgium, in 2024, a conservative conference was also banned. And there, we obviously did not hear the left and the progressives. Freedom of assembly is a fundamental freedom, but, of course, it is exercised within the framework of national laws. Moreover, so-called LGBT citizens, whom you very often reduce to their sexual practices, have the same rights as any other citizen. They do not constitute a superior caste and there is no justification for yielding to their demands, which are often far removed from the general interest. As the European Union achieves results in the areas it has been devolved to and as it ceases its permanent interference in the democratic choices of the...
The Commission’s 2024 Rule of Law report (debate)
Madam President, Commissioner, are you aware that this annual rule of law report is actually a joke that totally discredits the European institutions? Your report says, and I quote: Free, independent and pluralistic media are an essential element of the rule of law. Yet the Commission remains silent when the Tusk government shuts down opposition media outlets and has journalists expelled from their workplaces. The report says: The judiciary must be protected from political interference. But where is the Commission when the French justice system tries to prevent the candidate who is in the lead in the polls from running for the next presidential election? Where is Ursula von der Leyen when the Polish government dismisses judges and authoritarianly overturns court decisions? Finally, what is more important in a rule of law than guaranteeing free elections in our countries? But where was Brussels when, in Romania, the Constitutional Court simply annulled the presidential election on the grounds that it disliked the winner? In all these blatant cases, the Commission says nothing. It looks away, it acquiesces, in a double standard, which at the same time consists in fighting against Poland yesterday, against Hungary today. For you, the rule of law is not a democratic requirement, much less a moral one. It is simply a tool you use against patriotic and conservative governments.
Resilience and the need to improve the interconnection of energy grid infrastructure in the EU: the first lessons from the blackout in the Iberian Peninsula (debate)
Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, a few days ago Spain fell into the dark and Europe almost fell into chaos. Why? Because Mr Sánchez's Spanish socialist government wanted to play the best pupil in the European eco-class. In 15 years, Spain has gone from less than 30% to more than 50% of renewable energy and, of course, infrastructure has not followed suit. What prevented contagion on a continental scale, which ultimately saved Europe's electricity grid, was of course French nuclear power, which still accounts for more than 70% of our electricity mix. Because nuclear energy is reliable, controllable, therefore scalable and decarbonized. However, the European Commission sanctions France every year for failing to meet its renewable energy targets. This Iberian blackout should sound like a solemn warning to the ideologues and to the Commission. There is an urgent need to focus on nuclear power and a number of other energies that have the characteristic of being constant, such as geothermal energy. The unreasonable and unattainable objectives of the Green Deal, which almost plunged the whole of Europe into medieval darkness, must be urgently removed.
110th anniversary of the Armenian genocide
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, one hundred and ten years since the Armenian people were subjected to a terrible genocide by Turkey, and the executioners have never recognised this genocide. Turkey and its vassal, Azerbaijan, still dream of rebuilding a great Ottoman empire and see Armenia and the Armenian people as an obstacle to this disastrous project. Their will has always been, without interruption, for one hundred and ten years, the outright annexation of Armenian territory and the outright eradication of the Armenian people. We have a duty of civilizational solidarity towards Armenia and Armenians. So, of course, the draft peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan is an undeniable hope. But let us not sin out of naivety: the latest requirements and conditions set by Azerbaijan show that there is probably a lot of hypocrisy and bad faith in Baku’s approach. We must now stand by the Armenians in practice, that is to say, make all political, economic and trade agreements – the customs union with Turkey, gas contracts with Azerbaijan – conditional on the two countries’ prior and indisputable recognition of Armenia’s territorial sovereignty and respect for the Armenian people.
Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 20 March 2025 (debate)
Madam President, everything happens! Finally, Brussels sees that the Green Deal is a disaster for our competitiveness, our economy and our businesses. But you don't know how to get rid of it without losing face... Awareness is slow and action is even slower. Suspending the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive is not enough: It simply needs to be repealed. It is not a short respite that our businesses need, but freedom. They collapse, they suffocate under the administrative, declarative and fiscal burdens. In its conclusions, the Council calls for "efforts by States and regions". But let the EU start by removing the extravagant objectives of the Green Deal! We must put an end to gold-plating, to administrative and bureaucratic obesity, to all the balls you put at the feet of our entrepreneurs, our industrialists and our farmers. Without this, the European economy has no chance against its global competitors. It is necessary to simplify, to prune, to delete. To be competitive, Europe does not need a compass. Above all, it needs a chainsaw.
Unlawful detention and sham trials of Armenian hostages, including high-ranking political representatives from Nagorno-Karabakh, by Azerbaijan (RC-B10-0177/2025, B10-0177/2025, B10-0178/2025, B10-0179/2025, B10-0180/2025, B10-0181/2025, B10-0182/2025, B10-0183/2025, B10-0184/2025) (vote)
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, in connection with this resolution on the detention by Azerbaijan of Armenian hostages, including political leaders from Nagorno-Karabakh, you know that Baku has acknowledged and assumed to have carried out destabilization operations and interference, particularly in French overseas collectivities, in the West Indies and in New Caledonia, where the Baku regime seems to have played a decisive and active role in the riots that struck New Caledonia last May. I propose the following amendment: Strongly condemns the illegal detention of Armenian hostages by Azerbaijan as part of a wider campaign of subversive activities by the Government of Azerbaijan, which includes interference and destabilisation operations by the Government of Azerbaijan in Europe and in the EU overseas countries and territories;
100 days of the new Commission – Delivering on defence, competitiveness, simplification and migration as our priorities (topical debate)
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, 'simplification', 'protection' and 'competitiveness': one would think that the von der Leyen Commission is still in the election campaign, while forgetting that it will obviously be judged on the acts, not on the words. You claim to simplify: then, repeal the Green Deal and its procession of delusional standards, which are plaguing our industry, our businesses and our agriculture! You claim to protect the people: But give up the migration pact, which organises or aggravates the invasion of our continent! Do you want Europe to be competitive? Well, give up own resources, which add a European tax to a national tax that is often already confiscatory! In 100 days, you have already done exactly the opposite of what you are announcing: you insist on shutting down the engine by 2035; you are squandering public money, European money, wrongly subsidising migrants, LGBT activists or even pre-accession funds; you sign a free trade agreement with the Mercosur countries, which kills our agricultural sectors, such as sugar, poultry and beef. Listen at last to the wrath of the people! Radically change course! There are major upheavals going on in the world, and the risk today for Europe is to leave history.
Presentation of the proposal on a new common approach on returns (debate)
Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner Brunner, for decades now Europe has been living in a time of urgency, and even chaos, of migration. Legal and illegal immigration combine, and today the loopholes in the current law and the Pact on Migration and Asylum, voted a few months ago, are such that 85% of expulsions that are pronounced by judges are not executed on the territory of the European Union. This new return regulation must include provisions of extreme firmness. First, abolish the distinction between safe and unsafe countries. Indeed, let us not forget one thing, however obvious: Those who are unsure are the migrants. Therefore, the question to which country they are returned should not be constantly asked. Secondly, direct financial aid, but also economic and trade agreements, must be conditional on the automatic readmission of illegal migrants, without waiting for a hypothetical consular pass. Detention and detention periods should be increased until effective expulsion. It takes bone and dental tests to put an end to the fake miners scandal. Clearly, we need political will, but we also need legal tools to protect our peoples. Those who enter or remain in Europe illegally must have only one certainty: They will sooner or later be expelled from our continent.
Escalation of gang violence in Sweden and strengthening the fight against organised crime (debate)
Madam President, criminal gangs are ravaging Sweden. After decades of irresponsibility and migratory laxity, the Swedish population is now paying the price of blood with two sad records: the first is that of being the first country in terms of firearm mortality in the whole of Europe, the second is that of having 20% of its population that is foreign, or two million immigrants out of ten million inhabitants. Sweden recently tried to change course under the leadership of the conservative right and the Swedish Democrats. We finally have a change of course and, now, we have the lowest number of asylum seekers in forty years in Sweden. But, of course, the situation is dramatic, and the situation in France is no better than in Sweden. Today, in the European Parliament, the Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, comes to talk about the return directive. The Return Directive will only be really useful and effective for Europeans, for our nations and for our peoples if it allows for the simplification, fluidity and speed of expulsions: to ensure that all those who have entered Europe by trickery, break-in or laxity have only one certainty, that of being sooner or later expelled from Europe, with the impossibility of returning to it.
Links between organised crime and smuggling of migrants in light of the recent UN reports (debate)
Madam President, a few moments ago in Germany, a 41-year-old man and a 2-year-old baby were brutally murdered by an Afghan migrant who should never have entered Europe or remained on European soil, and who should, of course, have been expelled for a long time. We see here the whole failure of the policies that have been carried out by many Member States – it is true – but also by the European institutions, which have organised and amplified this immigration. So we can complain about criminal gangs, but what makes criminal gangs prosper is obviously migratory laxity, and the two victims I have just mentioned add to the appalling list of victims of immigration to Europe – Thomas, Lola, Philippine, killed because they are French, because they are European, because they are white, because they are Christians. So we can clearly see that today crime is upstream of immigration, with smuggling networks and left-wing NGOs, who are their accomplices and should be criminally prosecuted. But insecurity, crime, it is above all downstream of immigration. If you want to protect Europeans, if you want to finally reconcile citizens with the European institutions, we must protect our borders and organise expulsions.
Geopolitical and economic implications for the transatlantic relations under the new Trump administration (debate)
Dear colleague, you announced yesterday that you are leaving social network X – we have the acts of resistance that we can – and I hear the deluge of whining in the face of the election of Donald Trump. Trump announced it: He's going to defend American interests, he's going to do America First. It's up to us to make Europe first! It’s up to us to stop shooting ourselves in the foot! It is up to us to stop with the Green Deal, which you supported – and to impose on us standards, taxes, constraints that kill our innovation, our industry and our agriculture! We need to be able to defend our interests. Americans are partners, friends, allies, but they are also our competitors, our competitors on the world stage. We have to stop with moral judgments. Reality as it is must be taken into account and stopped with ideology. The Americans are our competitors. They defend their interests; It's up to us to finally defend ours!
Preparation of the European Council of 19-20 December 2024 (debate)
Madam President, the European Council will be largely devoted to the situation in the Middle East, and I believe that any form of naivety must be avoided. Who can reasonably believe that the troops and leaders of Al Qaeda, who have committed the worst atrocities in Syria in recent years, have turned into kind democrats with whom we could work and cooperate. This is obviously completely illusory, and everyone knows that Islamist Turkey has contributed heavily to the installation of Islamists in power in that country. So let us stop treating Erdoğan with such respect. Let us stop treating Islamist Turkey as a reliable partner. Let us stop, Mrs von der Leyen, paying her billions and billions - and another 1 billion, which you announced just a few days ago. But, on the other hand – we take you at your word – since Syria would have returned to democracy, well then, this must be an opportunity for all Syrian migrants who came to Europe under the pretext of the Bashar al-Assad regime to return to their country now. Other subject of the European Council: the relationship with the United States. A new page in our relations with the United States will open on 20 January. This is a real opportunity. We know that Donald Trump will not hesitate to defend the US economy; it is up to us to be able to defend our economy! Less standards, more competitiveness, more protection too. I know it is a dirty word, but it is absolutely essential. When it comes to security and defence, this too is an opportunity. It is known that Trump will adopt an isolationist policy; Well, it is up to us to ensure our security, to increase our military capabilities, our capabilities as weapons industries, in order to be militarily autonomous! Finally, on immigration, the urgency today is obviously to defend our borders, instead of being in the permanent pattern of accepting immigration and then distributing it – which is, Mrs von der Leyen, your model. We need to implement privileged partnerships on a large scale to avoid flows from the South to the North. This is what Giorgia Meloni has successfully done with countries such as Egypt, Tunisia and Albania. Finally, Mrs von der Leyen, with regard to Mercosur – I tell you without personal animosity, but with seriousness – I have an account to settle with you as a Frenchman. What you did in Montevideo to announce this free trade agreement, which will ruin our agriculture - French, Polish, Italian and many others - is absolutely unacceptable. It is the Europe that people no longer support, it is the Europe that people no longer want. You are acting without democratic legitimacy and you know it very well. You sacrifice our agriculture to sell German cars. This is absolutely unacceptable! You should be at the service of the general interest of our 27 European nations. We saw a German politician who sacrifices our farmers to serve her industry.
The situation in Mayotte following the devastating cyclone Chido and the need for solidarity (debate)
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, tonight we are concerned about the fate of our compatriots in Mahora, about Mayotte, a small island 8,000 kilometres from us, but which today needs our support and solidarity. Mayotte has suffered from Cyclone Chido, which has devastated and bereaved it, as we already have dozens of deaths – and probably hundreds more in the coming days – thousands of wounded and infrastructure that is totally collapsed, and which, even before the cyclone, was completely saturated. The story of Mayotte is a beautiful story. The history of a territory that became French almost two centuries ago, and which in 1974, unlike the other islands of the Comoros archipelago, made the choice of France. A declaration of love for our country which today requires, of course, that in return we express our French solidarity and our European solidarity with our compatriots in Mahora. Mayotte has been subject to illegal immigration for decades, so that its infrastructure – ports and airports, roads, hospitals, etc. –, sized for 200 000 inhabitants, is totally saturated by 500 000 real inhabitants because of the hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants coming from the neighbouring islands – from Anjouan, in particular – which we have not managed to stem in recent years. This is undoubtedly a great responsibility of the French State, but today, at a time of urgency, at a time when the Mahorais are suffering, we must above all be there to give them our support and help. Thank you, Vice-President Fitto, for wanting to use tools and funds very quickly to help the Mahorais. We must of course mobilise all the necessary funds and not forget Mayotte on the sole pretext that it is a little too far from Europe and the metropolis. If we have to find money, let us stop paying it to Azali Assoumani, the President of the Comoros, who constantly claims Mayotte as Comorian territory and insults France.
Misinformation and disinformation on social media platforms, such as TikTok, and related risks to the integrity of elections in Europe (debate)
Mr President, on Friday, two days before the second round of the Romanian presidential election, the Constitutional Court simply annulled the election. In question, a massive and methodical action on social networks, in particular TikTok, for the benefit of Călin Georgescu, candidate who came first in the first round and visibly supported by Russia. The desire to influence the election seems obvious. Such manipulations also exist in many countries. They come from other states or organisations and deserve to be denounced. Nevertheless, how can we believe that they were able to increase candidate Georgescu from 1% in the polls at the end of October to 24% on the evening of the first round? The polls of the second round gave him a winner. This cancellation is obviously a scandalous denial of democracy. It would have been strongly condemned if it had taken place in any Western European country. My friend George Simion, president of the AUR party, who won 14% of the vote in the first round, is not close to Georgescu. But he obviously denounced this coup: Political judges should not be able to override the will of the people. The judgment of the Constitutional Court must be set aside. The electoral process must resume immediately. The sovereign will of the Romanian people must be respected.
Condemning the illegal unilateral declaration of independence of the secessionist entity in Cyprus and all efforts to legitimise it and reaffirming the need for European solidarity - 41 years after (debate)
Mr President, 50 years ago, during Operation Attila, Turkish forces invaded Cyprus, depriving this sovereign state of 37% of its territory, causing the death of more than 1,000 Europeans, the disappearance of 1,600 others and the displacement of nearly 200,000 civilians. These are 50 years of occupation, 50 years of suffering for the Cypriots; 50 years of impunity for the authoritarian regime of Sultan Erdoğan and 50 years of humiliation for the European Union, unable to defend the island of Aphrodite. However, we are talking about the occupation of a Member State. The Union, so quick to give lessons to the whole earth, suddenly finds itself unfit to protect its own. Worse still, as if the suffering of the Cypriots did not matter, the European Union even considered integrating its aggressor, Turkey, and making it a member state. Let us not forget the blackmail of migrants, the attacks on Greece, the unrest of the Turkish diaspora and Islamism on our soil. Turkey's accession process must be formally and definitively stopped: it is not European because of its culture, history or geography. We must never accept the fait accompli of the Turkish occupation. Let us all fight together for the liberation of Cyprus. Islamist Turkey must stay out of Europe.
A stronger Europe for safer products to better protect consumers and tackle unfair competition: boosting EU oversight in e-commerce and imports (debate)
Mr President, what is the point of having the highest and most demanding standards in the world if it is to let our market be flooded with imports that do not respect them? What is the point of suffocating our producers with paperwork, taxes, rules, if it is to let their competitors cheat? In the face of unfair competition, the EU must protect its consumers as much as it must defend its businesses and producers. Reciprocity and a level playing field are necessary if trade is to benefit all. It is imperative to increase controls on imports and, above all, not to enter into unbalanced trade agreements. The Mercosur Treaty, in particular, which the Commission is seeking to conclude in a hurry, will, as always, sacrifice our farmers. It is such a certainty, moreover, that a fund is already provided to compensate them. Our producers are the most respectful of consumers, their animals and the environment. Their products are the best in the world. They don't want to live off charity. They want to live from the oldest and noblest of professions: the work of the land, the work of our fathers. Let us free them and let them fight on equal terms by ceasing to organise unfair competition, which condemns them to disappearance.
The crisis facing the EU’s automotive industry, potential plant closures and the need to enhance competitiveness and maintain jobs in Europe (debate)
Madam President, the crisis in the French and European car industry was ultimately caused by you. It is your Green Deal, your bureaucratic monster, your unachievable goals, in short, your ideology. You are responsible for the decline of this strategic sector, the future plant closures and the resulting unemployment. You impose, for example, on manufacturers, with the CAFE regulation, that electric vehicles represent 20% of their sales. If they do not achieve this goal – because you cannot force consumers to buy electric vehicles – manufacturers will face colossal fines of up to several billion euros, which would sign their death warrant. There are two things we need to do to save our auto industry. First, fight against unfair competition from China. It is ongoing, maybe too late, you obviously should have listened to us before. And, secondly, it is imperative to postpone the deadlines. We must give more time to the builders, exempting them from these unfair fines and building with the industrialists a realistic path, common sense, adapted to the market, for a reasonable transition, not a rigid, imposed trajectory, a socialist planning that is obviously doomed to failure. Industry is the key to our prosperity: Let us save her while there is still time.
Preparation of the European Council of 17-18 October 2024 (debate)
Mr President, two weeks ago Philippine's body was found. This young French woman was raped and then killed by a repeat offender, an illegal immigrant who should never have been in France and should have been immediately deported. How many Filipinas will it take? She herself is unfortunately only the last of a long list made up of Timothy, Maria, Leoni, Eva: children from all our European countries who have been killed by the immigration you encourage. That the European Council therefore repeals the pact on asylum voted a few months ago, that it proposes instead a pact for the expulsion of illegal immigrants and the effective protection of our borders. Competitiveness will also be discussed at the next Council meeting. The Draghi report confirmed what our Conservative Group has always called for: less taxes, less standards, less paperwork and bureaucracy, which are crushing, stifling our industry, our farmers, our entrepreneurs, our researchers and our innovation. At the same time, we must fight against unfair competition, so that our economic actors are finally on an equal footing with our trading partners who are free of rules that we are the only ones, finally, to respect. In immigration as in economics, let us stop naivety and finally regain control of our destiny.
Need to prevent security threats like the Solingen attack through addressing illegal migration and effective return (debate)
Madam President, a few years ago Angela Merkel opened the German borders wide to bring in more than a million migrants. Today, in haste, his successor, Olaf Scholz, is calling for the suspension of Schengen and the restoration of national borders. At the end of August, the Solingen attack revealed once again the dramatic and bloody consequences of this crazy migration policy. And this attack extends the list of those we have suffered throughout Europe and especially in France, where nearly 300 of our compatriots died under the bullets or under the blades of the madmen of Allah. Our fathers and mothers, our wives, our sons and daughters in France have paid with their lives for laxity in the face of political Islam and the anarchic immigration that is, everyone knows, the main provider. When will we finally have real borders for our continent? It is urgent to finance the protections, the walls erected by Greece, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland and Lithuania at the borders of Europe. Because of your laxity, your compulsory distribution of migrants, terrorism and crime are spreading and threatening us all. The courageous Italian or Hungarian governments cannot stand alone in this demand for firmness to ensure the security of all Europeans, to save our nations and our civilization. Europe needs borders, firmness and courage. Only then will Schengen cease to be a danger to our peoples.