Speeches

Madam President,me Hassan has just demonstrated once again that she was not, in this Chamber, a French Member of the European Parliament, but the ambassador of Hamas to the European Union. I would therefore like to make a reminder of the Rules of Procedure, please, on the basis of Rule 10(7). On the occasion of the European Youth Meetings held in these walls last weekend, Parliament once again received, Madam President, the association Femyso. This practice has been illustrated on many occasions by communitarian positions, by campaigns to promote the Islamic veil, all with public funding and European taxpayers' money. A few weeks ago, a report by the French Ministry of the Interior identified this association as a proxy for the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe, describing this organisation as - I quote - a "structure for the training of high-potential executives of the movement". We keep alerting you, Madam President, to the growing influence of the Muslim Brotherhood within the European institutions. So my question is simple: How long are we going to tolerate, finance and legitimise the enemies of European civilisation?

Madam President, the new leader of the Syrian regime has worked for several years within Al-Qaida and Daesh, whose fanatics have shed the blood and tears of our compatriots. It is absolutely implausible that Emmanuel Macron will receive him today for his first visit to European soil, in a capital that has been bereaved several times by Islamist barbarism. It is a betrayal of our values and the memory of our victims. I therefore propose that the following oral amendment be included at the beginning of paragraph 36: condemns in this respect the legitimacy offered by the French president to the new Syrian regime by inviting former jihadist Ahmed Al-Charaa to Paris;

Mr President, the European Union, through the Green Deal, has imposed on car manufacturers a forced transition completely disconnected from Europe's industrial and strategic realities. For years, you have been following the constraints on our manufacturers without ever measuring the consequences of such constraints on growth. And now you discover with confounding naivety that you have brought our automotive industry to its knees by offering China the monopoly of electric vehicles in Europe. The three-year moratorium you are proposing will not fix anything. He acts only one thing: the failure of an above-ground industrial policy based on degrowth. Persisting in this approach by forgetting the will of consumers will lead to an industrial impasse and historical failure with irreversible consequences on our soil. So yes, we will vote for this report, but reconnecting with the path of power will require a break with this ideology of degrowth imposed on our states by Brussels. It will be a question of regaining control of our industrial choices, our jobs and our future and, finally, of reaffirming a simple and clear economic vision, which is ours: produce, produce and produce.

Mr President, Commissioner, nothing has been anticipated, and yet Europe seems to be discovering what has been announced for a long time: In line with his plan, Donald Trump uses tariffs as a weapon to bend his partners as well as his competitors. By striking almost every sector and state indiscriminately, the U.S. president is creating additional uncertainty and fragility for our entrepreneurs. The time is not, however, to deplore; The time has come to respond, respond and defend our economic interests. In the short term, it is our right to retaliate with graduated tariffs, which will be a means of pressure to negotiate and get back to normal. Europe is a market of 450 million consumers and it would be incomprehensible if it were to stand by. The real response is a clear break with at least three decades of wandering, a break with the choices of the European Commission. As we enter the era of clashes, Europe can no longer be the only power to respect international rules of decency that no one enforces anymore. Faced with the fierce competition of powers, and especially emerging powers, in the adversity of a harder and more uncertain world, I beg you, wake up! Wake up or our agriculture will disappear. Wake up, or our automotive industry will shut down, our metallurgy will suffer an even more terrible bleed – I am obviously thinking here of ArcelorMittal employees, condemned by guilty inaction and absurd rules. Wake up by building the strategic autonomy of nations and the continent, with the goal of depending as little as possible on the outside for our vital needs, starting with that of our defense. All binding Green Deal rules inspired by punitive ecology must be lifted to allow our businesses and farmers, in particular, to produce without hindrance. The rules of the European electricity market must be reformed and nuclear power must take its full place in our energy mix. A genuine national and European preference in public procurement must apply, particularly in the field of defence, but not only. Wake up! Wake up and come out of naivety, or Europe and all its nations will come out of history.

Madam President, President von der Leyen, you are caught up in the history and reality of a world you have always rejected – a world in which you thought it right and just to delegate our security to the United States, our industries to China and our energy policy to Russia. The lesson of the last ten days is that of all humanity: A nation that does not master its weapons, its economy or its destiny is a nation condemned to endure history rather than to write it down. So we are immersed in a world of interests and ambitions, a hard, dangerous and moving world, where appetites are sharpening. Faced with the stalemate in the conflict in Ukraine and the risk of prolonging a war with no clear prospect of victory, in the face of the horizon of US disengagement, we must have two top priorities: peace and independence. The first, the most urgent, will be built by diplomacy. The organisation of a Western Family Summit, an idea put forward by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, should allow us to clearly define our objectives for Ukraine’s sovereignty, the demands we must put on the table and the security guarantees to be offered to this allied country, so that it never again suffers the assaults of the Russian aggressor. The second compass, in the longer term, is to build the autonomy of the nations of Europe, to ensure that no one but us determines our interests and the conditions for our security. If it is able to rethink free and independent diplomacy, France can once again become the continent’s training force and the obvious and natural interlocutor of this new world, because France is endowed with a recognised professional army, an exceptional industrial base, a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, nuclear deterrence and, of course, because it is the heir to a twenty-year-old pact between the greatness of a nation and the freedom of the world. Mrs von der Leyen, let me tell you that all your political choices have, alas, smashed on the wall of reality. With the Green Deal, you opted for degrowth, when you had to produce without hindrance. You have disavowed nuclear power, opted for inflation of standards and taxes, and encouraged purchases of US equipment rather than applying European defence preference. Only at the cost of profound changes in direction will Europe remain an actor of history, deter threats and impose respect on empires.

Madam President, Commissioner, why do you hate those who create wealth so much? For the past five years, you have been working with the Commission to make Europe a living hell for our companies. Today, at the foot of the wall, Ursula von der Leyen believes it is good to offer us shock therapy. After decades of mind-boggling commercial naivety, suffocating our business leaders and farmers under a delusional bureaucratic burden, and setting conflicting goals for our industries, the result is: our growth is almost at a standstill, factories are leaving, the energy bill is soaring, purchasing power is falling and our talents are emigrating to where they are being offered the conditions they deserve. Craftsmen, traders, VSE managers, SMEs and now up to Bernard Arnault, the alarm cry of those who create value on our continent is now the same everywhere. CSRD, CS3D, regulation on AI, so many acronyms that today arouse the legitimate confusion of entrepreneurs left to their own fate. Despite our warnings, you have led Europe to be a bureaucratic hell in which it is now nightmarish to invest. The suspension of the Green Deal is now the necessary precondition for unlocking the constraints on growth. In the automotive, agriculture, aeronautics, construction, digital or energy sectors, no sector is spared by your degrowth project. To exist in the face of the great powers, we must renew with an ambition of power, freedom for business and economic patriotism. The ambition of the Patriots is the noblest: do not disappear and give back to our nations the place that has always been theirs in world competition.

I would like to make a point of order, please, on the basis of Rule 133 concerning the Commission's statements. Since taking office, President Trump has signed dozens of executive orders, showing his willingness to implement his program without delay and forcefully. The European Commission has been in place for two months.

Madam President, Madam President of the European Commission, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, from Ukraine to the Middle East, from Moldova to Georgia to Venezuela, the agenda for the last European Council was provided, and there were many concerns about the great unrest in our world. However, it was not considered appropriate to raise the burning issue of Algeria, despite the arbitrary arrest and political motive of the Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal. His wrong? Criticising the Algerian regime in its books and positions, its autocratic drift and its complacency towards Islamist ideology. At the gates of Europe, a regime deliberately defies France, keeps its people in misery and oppression, uses history to forget its own failures since independence. He waged a trade war against French agricultural products, in favour, in particular, of Russian wheat. He refuses to recover his undesirables (offenders, Islamists...), whom we hear and must expel in order to guarantee the security of our peoples and our fellow citizens. On a strictly national level, France must assume a diplomatic standoff: interrupt the granting of visas, call into question the 1968 Franco-Algerian Treaty, end development aid and freeze private remittances to that country and regime as long as its attitude remains openly hostile. Europe, for its part, cannot stand idly by in the face of the excesses of an Algerian government against a Member State. The 2005 agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Algeria – which, moreover, only the European Union complies with – must be suspended, and its renegotiation, scheduled for 2025, must be abandoned. Algeria has received at the very least EUR 172 million from such a generous Europe in recent years. Let's cut these payments, which nothing justifies anymore! Let us stop being the only ones maintaining the income of those who, in return, hate us! Finally, we must be respected by a government that has long exceeded the limits of indecency. How could we, Europe, pretend to compete with the greats of this world if we show so much weakness towards those who laugh at our apathy?

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Donald Trump's return to the summit and the first hours of his mandate sent a clear and uncompromising message to the rest of the world: America first. Its triumphant election is the alliance of the middle classes and the entrepreneurial elite. It is the healthy reaction of a people whose expectations have been forgotten, whose flag has been despised and whose values have been mocked. A people that has for too long been driven by savage globalisation and mass immigration. A people who, like the peoples of Europe, aspired every day to regain their pride, culture and identity. Let's not be naive: President Trump will defend America’s interests first and foremost, including to our detriment, and from the American perspective, he is right to do so. Faced with the prospect of trade tensions, faced with the new geopolitical situation, faced with the concerns of our companies, our industrialists, our farmers, Europeans cannot remain passive, at the risk, tomorrow, of disappearing. At a time of the strong return of nations to the world stage, of the healthy reappropriation of politics by the people, Trump’s America is actually launching a campaign against France and France. all the nations of Europe the challenge of power. Europe is now at a crossroads. We have repeatedly denounced him here in this Chamber in recent years: the policies implemented by Brussels have been nothing but a succession of failures, demonstrations of naivety, ideological decisions – a policy of industrial and agricultural decay leading us straight to ruin, as well as the devastation of our nuclear fleet and our energy policy, and a confusing commercial naivety towards the great powers of this world. The only sector in which the Brussels European Union has innovated is certainly the overproduction of standards, making our institution a machine for stifling businesses, stifling growth and discouraging innovation. You promised the people that, by ceding part of their sovereignty, they would have power in Europe. Today, however, it is the one of all failures. If we want to count and be one of the privileged interlocutors of this new world, we can only count on what has always been the foundation of the nations of Europe: freedom, identity and sovereignty. Let’s do it right, or we’ll get out of history!

Mr President, I would like to make a point of order, on the basis of Rules 212 and 213 of the Rules of Procedure, to denounce the creation today of four new committees in this Parliament, which already has 20. Four new committees – on defence, health, housing and a so-called democratic shield – are taking away sovereign prerogatives. Ladies and gentlemen, the European Parliament is once again stubborn today in the madness of a technocratic Union, which intends to meddle in all problems, and which, in the end, does not solve any of them. I would point out that, when the Bureau of this Parliament and the bureaux of the committees were set up, you all scandalously dismissed the Patriotes Group here. This week again, the press revealed an internal document on the low maneuvers of the Renew Group, which, I recall, has lost 30% of its Members, and which, although Parliament's fifth force, claims to discard the first. We therefore have a Parliament that teaches lessons of democracy to the whole world and tramples them every day. On 9 June, millions of citizens voted for a Europe that respects nations and is unbureaucratic. Their voice must be heard!

Madam President, Madam President von der Leyen, will you dare to look French farmers in the eye? A few days ago, on your own initiative, and obviously on behalf of all of us, you went to Uruguay to conclude a free trade agreement with Mercosur, which is about to sign the death of thousands of French farms. The next day, like the admission of an economic and political crime, you hurriedly gave up your planned visit to France on the occasion of the reopening of Notre-Dame. What courage! In recent hours, your political party, the EPP, refused to allow a debate to be scheduled today on the agricultural emergency and on this agreement, which the French Parliament, the Parliament of the continent’s second largest economy, that of a founding member of the European Union, democratically rejected. How can we not doubt this free trade agreement when it is about to put us in competition with countries using growth-enhancing antibiotics or phytosanitary substances, almost 80% of which – those used in Brazil, in particular – are banned in France? To allow Germany to export Mercedes, you decide to sacrifice French agriculture. Mrs von der Leyen, is a French farmer worth less than a German sedan? Our food sovereignty does not deserve to be sold off on the altar of your contradictions, your normative intoxication and unfair and unbalanced trade agreements. Our farmers are now at a crossroads and at the heart of an existential challenge: exist or disappear. Agriculture has forged French and European power. She shaped our landscapes and designed France. It is not only a strategic sector for the country or a guarantee of our autonomy, it is the beating heart of France and an invaluable part of our national identity. The fight against this treaty is not over, and I remain hopeful that a blocking minority will be formed in the Council. In the face of your bitterness about this agreement, which joins your obsessive rejection of nuclear power and your determination to impose ever more standards on European companies, I have a question in mind – basically, the only one that matters: for whom and for what interests do you actually work?

Madam President, I would like to make a point of order, please, on the basis of Rule 133. We learn from an article from Figaro of 1 December, that the roadmap of the Commissioner for Energy had been modified on the sly after his hearing. This amendment is not trivial since it requires it to increase the share of renewable energy in the energy mix by 2041, and such a target would mechanically reduce the share of nuclear energy. Madam President, I would like the Commissioner for Energy, who is a vocal opponent of nuclear power, to come and explain this change, which is a threefold betrayal: betrayal of the cooperation in good faith between the elected representatives of this Parliament and the Commission, betrayal of the Member States that wish to support and develop nuclear power and betrayal of our fellow citizens and businesses that are being stifled by current electricity prices. The European Commission must be held accountable for this new attack on nuclear energy.

Mr President, a bloodthirsty dictator has fallen; the heirs of Daesh and Al-Qaeda prevailed. If the fall of the Assad dynasty opens a new chapter in the country’s history, Al-Joulani’s Syria risks being so bleak. These jihadists would have become freedom fighters, according to the astonished comments of some Western chancelleries, but unfortunately the fate of the Syrian people seems to be part of chaos, terror, repression of religious minorities, starting with that of Christians, with, of course, an instability that persists, again and again, at the gates of Europe. Islamism, if it is to be remembered in this Chamber, is a monster that continues to thrive in Africa, the Middle East and Europe, where, from Seine-Saint-Denis to Molenbeek and Rotterdam, it is increasingly establishing its networks, activists and relays. Europe, guilty of blindness and naivety in the face of the Islamist assaults of recent decades, cannot sit idly by in the face of a conflict with direct consequences for its destiny. If an Islamist regime were to come to power in Syria on a lasting basis, a new migration crisis could arise and, with it, the risk of attacks on European soil would only increase tenfold. Faced with the danger of jihadism, Europe’s priority, that of our states, remains the protection of our compatriots. The suspension of the processing of asylum applications, the freedom granted to states regarding the return of Syrian nationals and the strengthening of Europe’s external borders are perfectly vital levers of action to achieve this. Our security, that of our compatriots and that of our nation-states is at stake.

Madam President, Madam President of the European Commission, after a mandate marked by many failures and scandals, after elections marked by an unprecedented challenge to the functioning of the European Union, you are today presenting us with the new team that will form the European Commission. These European commissioners are anonymous, unknown to the general public. They were not elected by anyone and yet they dictate the daily lives of 450 million citizens. And yet they are the ones who have the right to life and death over entire parts of the European economy. It is they, at the bend of a corridor in Brussels, who can decide to ban the sale of thermal vehicles by 2035, to plunge our industry into distress, to subject farmers to draconian standards, without ever thinking of the devastating consequences of these decisions for those who suffer them. Despite the popular protests, despite the mobilizations, like that of our peasants, you remain camped on your positions, on your ideology; you reaffirmed, a few moments ago, the disproportionate ambitions of the Green Deal, which is the other more bucolic name of your disastrous project of degrowth, which will put the sovereignty of the nations of Europe and our destiny in the hands of others. The Commission refuses to reform itself because it refuses to publicly acknowledge more than a decade of mistakes and wanderings that have led the nations of Europe to where they are today. Failing in the face of the United States, threatened by the rapid advance of China, challenged by the emergence of new giants like India, emptied of its talents that expatriate each day more, Europe has become the sick man of developed economies. This reality should startle you, but it undeniably leads you to continuity: the same inaction in the face of unfair competition, the same European rules of the electricity market, the same punitive ecology, the same migratory surge that changes the identity of our continent, the same weakness with regard to Islamism and its relays. Mrs von der Leyen, like many elected representatives here in this Parliament, you are a woman who called herself a right-winger, but who dreamed of being adored by the left and its fads. With the same causes having the same effects, this path will lead Europe straight to decommissioning. So do not count on us to accompany you there. The Patriots for Europe group will vote unanimously against this new European Commission.

Madam President, Mr Borrell, on 5 November, Donald Trump was elected the 47th President of the United States of America. By his patriotism, by his voluntarism, Donald Trump embodies the promise to defend America first. This is probably a shock here for the European Commission, but it is nevertheless the primary duty that the peoples entrust to their leaders in all the countries of the world. Because this is the first lesson we must learn from this American election. Europe's vocation is not to come to the aid of others, but to take care of the nations of which it is composed and to defend their interests as a matter of priority. The second lesson is that Europe runs the risk of falling further behind the United States. While France today has the GDP per capita of the poorest American state, Mississippi, our continent could experience an even deeper dropout in the coming years. Why? The United States plans to protect itself from unfair competition, trust businesses and entrepreneurs by lowering taxes, regulations and standards. Meanwhile, punitive ecology and diminishing ideology prevail in the Brussels Commission and in the corridors of this Parliament. They plunge our continent into darkness, spoil our strengths and hinder our talents. The situation could be summarized as follows: The United States is protecting itself, Europe is letting itself be protected. The United States liberates, Europe taxes. The United States innovates, Europe regulates. The United States has Elon Musk, Europe has Thierry Breton. We need a revolution in European mentalities and we need to do it quickly, based on national identities, support for nuclear power, innovation, business, respect for the past and belief in the future. We have no other choice. Let's wake up or we'll disappear.

Mr President, I would like to make a point of order, please, on the basis of Rule 73, for a personal questioning on the part of Mr Borrell, who has just left us. On the occasion of the debate on the commemorations of the massacres of 7 October, the head of European diplomacy, Mr Borrell, specifically called me into question by losing his means and calling me a defamer, because I pointed to the misappropriated funding of Hamas by public funds from Europe, and therefore by the money of our compatriots. I stand by my words. Between 2014 and 2021, the European Commission paid nearly 1.7 million euros to the Islamic University of Gaza, whose spiritual guide, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, is none other than one of the founders of Hamas. My comments were supported by journalistic investigations, including an article published by The Figaro 24 October 2023, which everyone can freely consult. The liar is therefore called Josep Borrell and the money of our fellow citizens has well fed, in a roundabout way, the Islamist ideology.

Madam President, Commissioner, this is the end of a myth, that of a Europe without borders, which is supposed to lead us to peace and prosperity. So here is the end of an ancient illusion that dwelt and still dwells in the spirits of this house and this continent for 30 years. During the European election campaign, we proposed for our country, France, the establishment of a double border, which would constitute a double protection for the French people. We were then told that it was impossible. In response to the threats posed by out-of-control migration flows, eight Schengen states, including Germany, have recently tightened controls at their national borders. Denmark, where I had the chance to visit a few days ago, is doing everything possible – it is a socialist government – to make its territory as unattractive as possible for candidates for migration. The world without borders is that of mafias, smugglers, Islamist attacks, trafficking, unfair competition and all violence. This world is undesirable. Listen to what the people are saying, election after election. Our fellow citizens no longer want to undergo an anarchic immigration of fait accompli, which very often upsets the great balances of our societies. Take note of this deep will and act without delay in the face of the migration crisis. First, by abandoning the crazy project of mandatory distribution of migrants in European cities and villages under the European Pact for Migration. Then, by suspending all public money subsidies paid to pro-migrant NGOs, accomplices of smugglers' mafias and human traffickers. Finally, by reserving the acquis communautaire of free movement to European citizens, to return to the original spirit of Schengen. Europe can no longer afford the luxury of angelism. It's time to act.

Madam President, Mr Borrell, on 7 October 2023, Hamas’s Islamist barbarism struck with indescribable horror. Within a few unsustainable minutes, Israel was experiencing both its 9/11 and its Bataclan. This date will remain engraved in our memories, because it changed the face of the world. It has changed the face of the world as much as it has accelerated hatred and liberated a word and violence that was thought to be over. October 7th reminded us of the rise, everywhere around us, in our societies, of Islamist ideology, its supporters and its relays, which are the fuels of an atmosphere of anti-Semitism that is unleashing. On 7 October we were reminded of this European naivety when we raised here in amazement that public funds from Europe were feeding the Hamas terrorist movement in a roundabout way. October 7th reminded us of the weakness of our leaders, blind and sleepwalking. On this day, in France, the Minister of Education gave up organizing a minute of silence in French schools. So begins submission. October 7 revealed the error of the left which, through electoral commerce, justifies the unjustifiable, sends Hamas spokesmen to this chamber, smears the beautiful word of resistance, submits and sinks into dishonor. On this anniversary of this tragedy, I want to have an emotional thought for the victims, for the hostages still held in Gaza, for their families, for their loved ones and, of course, for the 43 missing French people. Faced with anti-Semitism as well as its accomplices, let us stop closing our eyes.

Madam President, Mrs von der Leyen, the elections to the European Parliament last June delivered their lessons and no one can ignore them: by strengthening patriotic parties across the continent, by disavowing the centrists, the left and the greens, who are undergoing significant ebbs, the peoples of Europe have voiced their aspiration for protection, for the defence of their identity and, above all, for democracy. They have said that they reject a punitive ecology as a pretext for attacking their traditions, our farmers and their standard of living. They have said their refusal to endure an inflation of ever more restrictive norms, at the very moment when you legitimize the great move of the world and a commercial naivety that makes us a prey for the great powers of this world. They have expressed their rejection of mass immigration and their willingness to protect our borders. This cry of the heart cannot remain unanswered. Europeans want to remain themselves. Continuing as if nothing were on the way to the Green Deal or immigration imposed by the Migration Pact would be ignoring the new exit from the polls. At a time when war is returning to our doorsteps and Russian aggression, at a time when there is a risk of economic collapse, at a time when the climate, migration and new technologies and artificial intelligence are challenging us, our future will depend on sovereignty and the quest for essential strategic autonomy for Europe and our nations. For Europe, but also for France. I call on MEPs in this Parliament to ensure that Mrs von der Leyen’s mandate as head of the Commission remains unique. Consistently and responsibly, the Patriots for Europe will oppose your renewal.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, on 24 February 2022, we witnessed the return of the tragedy of history. By launching an illegal and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine, Russia has committed a gross fault. She reminded us that peace is a precarious asset that we must constantly watch over. I say it here in all clarity: we cannot let Russian imperialism absorb Ukraine. We must not allow the Russian aggressor to violate Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty with impunity and, with the same senseless gesture, to threaten international order and world peace. Nevertheless, the resolution you are proposing today poses a number of problems. We dispute that each Member State should, as a matter of principle, allocate 0.5% of its GDP per year to support Ukraine, which is equivalent for France to EUR 7 billion per year. We are not in favour of the delivery of weapons for direct strikes on Russian territory, nor of Ukraine’s entry into NATO. These two proposals would, I believe, fuel a risk of escalation with a nuclear power. The entry of Ukraine into the European Union, as proposed by this resolution, would threaten the sustainability of our economy and agriculture by seriously unbalancing the Common Agricultural Policy. Finally, this resolution, which explicitly condemns Viktor Orban’s diplomatic visits, undermines the unity of Europeans. Hungary, a reliable partner of the Atlantic Alliance, cannot be accused of wanting to keep the channels of discussion open. Just a few days ago, President Zelensky himself called for Russian leaders to be present at a peace summit in Kiev in November. Are you going to condemn him, too? Europe’s response to the return of war to the continent must be to provide Ukraine with what it needs to stand up: military defence equipment, ammunition and shells for self-defence. Military production in Europe and Europe has been hampered for too long by irrelevant environmental objectives here that have undermined our defence technological and industrial base. In the face of rising geopolitical antagonisms, Europe’s long-term global response is to regain strategic autonomy by strengthening its energy and agricultural independence and allowing European preference in the purchase of defence equipment. Within this strategic framework, France must play a full role in leading the construction of a new defence architecture in Eastern Europe. Driven by its status as a nuclear power present on all fronts of the globe, France’s voice will remain singular because it is one and because it is strong, bound by alliances made according to its history. Our nation will never have to dedicate itself. These are the priorities that should be ours in times of war.