Speeches

Madam President, Commissioner, what is crazy about this Europe is that when it comes to finding money for war, you find it right away, everywhere. When it comes to spinning money, money, multinationals and banks, no problem: We never miss it. But when it's for people, for workers, then it's "tranquillou bilou". Unpayable invoice: ‘tranquillou bilou’. Unfair tax is the same: ‘tranquillou bilou’. But people don't get their heads out of the water anymore, you have to realize that. But you don't realize it. Commissioner, how much do you earn per month? 25 000 euros per month? The President of the European Commission is €30,000 per month. 30,000 euros! You messed up. Off the floor, totally. I think it's really time we put you back on the ground a little bit, cut your wages so that you understand nothing about what workers in Europe are going through today and fundamentally change priorities, because we can't do it anymore. (The speaker agreed to answer a “blue card” question)

Mr President, we have all heard the Ombudsman talk about bad governance. And we discovered something else: Not only during the negotiations between Big Pharma, Pfizer and the European Commission, the President of the European Commission sent small text messages to the CEO of Pfizer, but in addition, the more text messages she sent, the higher the price. Indeed, the third dose is now paid more than the first dose. That's still shady. You send SMS during negotiations and the price increases. The aim should still be the opposite. It was therefore questioned whether, potentially, the European Commission was not ripping us off, whether it was organising a social security heist by passing its money on to friends of Big Pharma, Pfizer, etc. Citizens then remembered – indeed, as has been said – this regulation which allows for public access to documents to be requested (i.e. any of the citizens you are supposed to represent can request access to documents, whatever the medium, whether on paper or stored in electronic form), and that is what citizens have done. And you answered. And what did you say? No, sorry, we may have deleted, because this public access does not apply to messages that are ephemeral or short-lived. I concede, it is well-founded. It is cynically brilliant: by deleting information, it becomes ephemeral, and since it is ephemeral, you have the right to delete it. Look, it's well-founded. It is, somewhere, a bad faith master class that you gave. We will probably never know what is in it. We need to review the rules, of course, but the best rules are useless if you do not intend to apply them, to respect their soul and purpose. In fact, what you are saying to people – and I think it is serious – is that you may not be trusted and that the European institutions will eventually find the entourage to avoid any transparency. And that's gonna pay for cash.

Mr President, gas prices are now 20 times higher than they were a year ago. Some families risk paying up to 8,000 euros a year for electricity and gas. Of course, the war makes it all worse. So we have to block prices now, but not at the level of now, of course, but at the level of September, before those massive price increases. And that is possible, because as always, war itself is not a problem for everyone, but for some even a lucrative thing. We're not just talking about the gun industry. According to the official figures of the International Energy Agency, the energy multinationals are going to make 200 billion extra profits, excess profits. We pay, they cash! Let us tax them now and let us bring down the invoice for the working person. It's war now, it's crisis now. European Commission, trade, there is no more time to wait!

(beginning of the speech next to the microphone) ... de-escalation needed in Ukraine and as always in diplomacy means that we have to negotiate with particularly unpleasant people, such as Vladimir Putin. But Charles Michel just called here to mobilize hundreds of millions to integrate Ukraine into the Western or European sphere of influence. He received support from the nationalist right up to and including the Greens. The Greens have clearly forgotten that they once came out of the peace movement. But imagine what would happen if China or Russia soon mobilised hundreds of millions, billions, to get Mexico into its sphere of influence. How would the United States react? Think about that for a moment. At the time, Europe was aware of this. Until recently, we realized that the neutrality of Austria or Finland was important. Today you forgot those lessons. You want to integrate Ukraine into NATO and that leads to conflict. Negotiate. Stop the expansion of NATO. Negotiate and create a common architecture for peace in Europe.

Madam President, Mr Borrell, you, who are a bit of a European foreign minister, have still taken a few slaps in Africa, let us say. The European Union went to propose an alliance to the African Union, but Africans considered it a bit excessive. They did not want it. Why? But because they have seen that, rather than seeking mutually beneficial cooperation, you want to somehow perpetuate the hold of European multinationals on Africa. So when researchers in South Africa try to develop an African vaccine, you deny them access to technology. Worse you even make a buddy-boyfriend partnership with the kENUP Foundation, which sabotaged their efforts. All this to protect the profits of European monopolies, to the detriment of the health of Africans. You say it yourself on Twitter – I brought the tweet – you want a European approach to health that serves geopolitical priorities and European strategic interests. Multinationals first, not Africans. Money, not Africa. So, Mr Borrell, imperialism is enough. Share the technology and lift these patents.

Mr President, Commissioner, Winter is coming, winter is on our doorstep and now is the time to take stock, to take stock. The European Commission promised us that liberalising energy would guarantee low prices, that the market would solve all our problems. Fifteen years ago, you won this battle. The traditional parties, both right and left, have accepted; our state-owned companies have been destroyed and our energy has been transferred to the hands of the big multinationals – Total, Engie, Electrabel, etc. – Vijftien jaar later kunnen we de balans opmaken, niet enkel van uw beleid, maar van uw hele liberale ideology. De markt zou voor competitorie zorgen. Neen, enkele spelers dicteren de wet en domineren de markt. De markt zou voor lagere prijzen zorgen. We hebben nog nooit zoveel betaald voor ons gas en eleven elektriciteit. Your policy, Commissioner, is a total failure. People feel it, see it on their bill. So give up your dogmas, please. Let us take back public control over prices and energy production.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I am a little lost here. After two years of COVID, we are still talking about how to offer a vaccine to the world? You can only laugh at these rumours, right? Because it has been a year since India, South Africa, the World Health Organisation, a hundred countries told you how to do it, namely by lifting patents and sharing technology, to allow countries all over the world to produce a vaccine, so that researchers around the world can improve the vaccine, work on it, fight variants... And you've been stubborn for a year, refusing. Think you're smarter than the rest of the world? Well, no, I'm sorry. There's a solution. The President of the European Commission must be told to stop sending small text messages in secret to the CEO of Pfizer and start lifting the patents, because people have a right to do so. So now you take your clicks and slams, you go to Geneva, South Africa, India are waiting for you, and you will tell them that you accept their proposal. That is solidarity. The world is watching you, we're waiting.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, when you read this parliamentary report, you still feel that there is something rotten in the pharmaceutical sector. In particular, many of the innovations presented to us offer little or no improvement for the patient. We also read that multinational pharmaceutical companies artificially extend the duration of their patents, their monopoly, to make us pay more for medicines. Frankly, you have to dare. And the problem is that in the face of what can be called Big Pharma banditry, the strategy you propose is to collaborate more with Big Pharma and let them influence our policies structurally. And, icing on the cake, you even want to put pressure on states that want to force Big Pharma to share drugs... I believe that we need to change course and that a European pharmaceutical strategy should have as its first objective to reduce our dependence on large multinational pharmaceutical companies. And, as you are asked to do by this Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Commissioner, it is time to create a public biomedical infrastructure in the European Union.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, we too were in Rome in solidarity with the CGIL. And since we're talking about Italy, let's talk about it. Italy today is the only country in the European Union where people live worse than thirty years ago, workers earn less than thirty years ago, and this is the concrete result, clearly, of policies, policies brought by the government, of course, of the center-left, but also of the right and extreme right. And people are angry, tired, and they're right. He's right to demonstrate. And in that context, what does the far right do? It wants to channel, divert the anger of the people not against the 50 billionaires, Benetton, Berlusconi, Ferrero, etc., no, not against them, but against the migrants first, now the unions, the CGIL and the basic unions, whatever they may be; In the clash between workers and multinationals, the extreme right beats or divides the working class. So, how do you stand up to it? Let us be clear, we need to point the finger first of all at the real perpetrators of this social crisis, and these are, of course, the traditional policies, the European Commission and national governments, but also those large companies, those large companies that now exploit workers in Italy and elsewhere in Europe. Let's change policy. Just make the workers pay. Rather than unblock the layoffs we raise salaries, something the right will never propose. And if the European recovery plan is of no use, it is of no use, it will be of no use.

Madam President, you have a package of money, public money – like 10 billion – and you promised citizens that it will be used to develop new environmental technologies, new innovative medicines, all that... And what are you doing? You put that money in public-private partnerships. It's called a joint venture now, it's a bit of a new language, but it's the same instrument that failed several times in the previous legislature. So who appointed these joint ventures this time? Who will co-manage and who will co-decide priorities? But it is once again the same multinationals as before. Don’t you believe it? But they are not the least. For example, in the bio-industry partnership, who is involved? Total and the Italian giant ENI, also a fossil giant. In the meds? "Big Pharma"! The Big Pharma lobby that will co-decide which medicine to develop, because we know they can be trusted, right? They have already proven it. No, frankly, at that level, it’s a joke. If you just wanted to give money to these big companies unconditionally, you had to say it honestly and openly. Because in the end, the product developed will not even belong to us. It will belong to the big companies, who will sell it to us. And what is this? It is really just subsidies for large companies. So frankly, we misunderstood each other. It is true that I often talk about the Europe of multinationals, but it is to denounce. It is not a manual, it is not advice. So, please, can we change our logic and make public investments that are controlled by the public?

Mr President, Commissioner, dear Members of the European Parliament here from the Vivaldicoalitie from Belgium, have you heard? The European Commission is pushing you to reduce VAT on energy. The European Commission says that this is not only okay with the European rules, but also a good idea. It is not every day – dear CD&V, dear MR, dear VLD, the greens, the socialists – that the European Commission adopts a proposal from the PVDA. So I suggest that you listen to that and that you reduce the invoice for the people in Belgium. But do you know, Commissioner, that VAT on energy in Belgium is 21%? Same as champagne or caviar. That's absurd. The VAT has to go down now. We have to help people. Parce que vous permettez aux riches de planquer leurs milliards dans des paradis fiscaux, Panama et autres, mais les gens, eux, doivent douiller. Il n’en est plus question, ça doit se terminer ici et aujourd’hui. On va lutter pour ça, on ne vous laissera pas faire.

Mr President, the vaccine contracts are being kept secret. However, we have been able to light up a tip of the veil and have understood that Pfizer and Moderna are increasing their prices by 20 and 13 percent respectively. We are therefore paying the third dose more than the first, while the production costs of these companies are decreasing. The production capacity of the companies is often created thanks to public money, but we still pay. How the hell was this negotiated? The companies in question already make hundreds of millions of profits, but we pay more as their costs fall. This makes no sense at all. You have used public money to finance, buy out and purchase the vaccines, among other things. You have transferred the investment risk to us, but you have not asked for anything in return from the major pharmaceutical companies. In fact, you said: ‘Determine the price and production quantity, but we will pay’. This is a financial mismanagement and an attack on our social security. In addition, many countries cannot afford this and are therefore without vaccines. As a result, new variants are emerging and the pandemic continues to drag on. The British Medical Journal spoke of a crime against humanity. You're an accomplice to that. Stop this, share the vaccine technology and lift the patents.

Mr President, Commissioner, we are talking about real people, about disasters and Mrs von der Leyen, President of the Commission, has come to us. She went to Rochefort, Pepinster and in front of the people there, she said she had a bleeding heart. She said: ‘I have a tight heart’. I think she should have apologized, rather, because because of European austerity, which the Belgian government has been very enthusiastic about, we have closed four of the six civil protection barracks in Belgium and our firefighters are terribly lacking in equipment. But no, you're going to continue this murderous austerity, we can say. And if, in front of the people, you have whined, here, far from the eyes, I find that you are stabbing them by proposing this new carbon tax on transport. This tax will hit exactly the same workers who have now suffered the floods, while, as we know, it is the rich who pollute the most. I'd like to ask you to keep your crocodile tears. Today we need to protect workers, to give up austerity once and for all and to make billionaires pay to save our planet.

Mr President, oh dumpling! Ladies and gentlemen, the dumpling! Frankly, it cannot be invented. I read and just learned that two years before the COVID pandemic, the European Commission said: “There is a risk of an epidemic, we have to prepare.” There was already, it is true, a coronavirus in 2003, and then a second coronavirus in 2012. It actually makes sense to want to be ready. And what is the European Commission doing? She will see the pharmaceutical industry, logically! She says: “Look, we have a lot of public money. Billions of euros. And we would like you to do research against epidemics.” That was well seen by the European Commission, I concede. But what does Big Pharma say? No. Let's see you! We're not interested in that. It doesn’t pay enough.” And wait, it’s not over! Because what is the real scandal? This is the reaction of the European Commission afterwards. Because what does she say when Big Pharma says to her: Listen, no, you're not interested in epidemic research? She replied: Okay. Well, you’re the one who sees.” But wait, are you kidding? Are they the ones who make the law? And after us, the citizens, we have a year of lockdown and millions of deaths worldwide. You think that's normal? It is unbelievable and shameful! So it is time, ladies and gentlemen, to regain control over health and research. Let's focus on finding the drugs we need rather than the drugs that make the most profit.

Madam President, for years Europe has been pushing people to work longer – 60, 65, 67 – and the lower the pension age, the more long-term sick people there are. Basically, your policies make people sick. You can imagine my revolt when I read in your new analysis, your Green Paper, that ideally the pension age should rise to 70 in Europe, or even 72 in Luxembourg and Lithuania. But you imagine yourself? In Lithuania, the average life expectancy for men is not even 72 years. You really want people to die at work? It is unbelievable that you dare to say that. So I agree enough with what Joëlle told me. Joëlle is a housekeeper and told me: I would like politicians to work a week or a few days like us. They would realise that working until the age of 67 is painful. We can’t do that anymore.” Guarantee the right to rest! Pension – a dignified and decent pension – is a human right. And if the European Commission does not agree, while working for a week as a domestic helper! We will send all these commissioners to make this effort, to work a little hard as a housekeeper or as a worker... And they will understand why we say that working longer is not feasible.