Speeches

Madam President, listen today in Gaza, every day there are mass graves and mass graves, which are the symbol of all genocide. Hundreds of bodies, sometimes in medical uniform, sometimes apparently handcuffed, executed summarily. Images of children shredded around a foosball table can be seen. What is the European Union doing about this? There are colleagues here who have the courage to support Israel. Frankly, be ashamed, go home and don't go out. But above all, what is the European Union doing? She promised Israel millions more. It did not impose an arms embargo. Yet it can do so, because in recent years embargoes and military sanctions have been imposed on Belarus, the Central African Republic, China, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, North Korea, Russia, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, Turkey, Yemen, Zimbabwe. But to Israel, no. They're immune. Why are they immune? Because their colonial project is supported by European imperialism – it must be said, in fact – with weapons and millions. That is why the massacre of the Palestinians, which would not be possible without European complicity, continues.

Madam President, but what contempt! Frankly, this morning the President of the European Commission, Mrs von der Leyen, must have been there for an hour, an hour and a half. This is the last sitting of the European Parliament, she has to report for an hour and she walks in the middle. Already, the Council is not there, Charles Michel has nothing to do with it, and in addition, Mrs von der Leyen despises us like that. Anything! However, someone who is accused – because I have met a lot of people lately – so Mrs von der Leyen is accused of a conflict of interest in buying vaccines that would have been bought too expensive, even nepotism – she is accused of appointing a senior official – but she is running away. What people hate most about this European Union, this European Commission, is this contempt: the Green Deal, which is imposed but paid for by workers; These multinationals receive aid while wages are not enough. This contempt for workers is what makes people today demand a break-up. And this break-up will be imposed on you on 9 June.

Mr President, listen, after more than 12 300 Palestinian children killed by Israel, which is more in a few months than in four years of war all over the world, Israel is now starving an entire population, and dozens of children have already died of malnutrition. Those who deny it have not listened to the Israeli leadership: already in October the Minister of Defence had announced this. He said: no water, no food for Palestinians, no food for these human animals. So they announced their genocidal policy! In the face of this, what have you done? Nothing. Nothing! Worse: the European Union has strengthened its ties with Israel, investing, giving the green light to a new gas pipeline that will connect it to the Jewish state, granting it advantageous loans, expressing its full support. Nothing! You're complicit! We need a military embargo now, otherwise your hands will be filled with blood!

Mr President, listen, we are living in a state of social emergency in Europe. Our schools lack teachers, hospitals lack resources and carers, transport is subject to more and more delays if not cancellations, and in this context, what is the brilliant idea of the European Union, celebrated by the Belgian Presidency – the Belgian government here? It’s about imposing cuts on national budgets! Not to go and get money from the super-rich, those millionaires, those multi-millionaires who don’t know what to do with their money – no, not at home! – but among workers, once again! We'll tell them: "Listen, your pension is too high," "Your salary, you know? This automatic indexing? It's not very good, we're going to cut in there.” I want to bring here the voice of the workers and trade unions who were mobilized yesterday in Brussels in front of the Schuman building, saying: ‘No way, we won’t pay!»

Mr President, Commissioner, today we have a Europe where Big Pharma, the big multinationals, decide which medicines to produce – or not – and at what price to sell them. Consequence: we often pay far too much for our medicines and we have shortages all over Europe, thousands of medicines missing – not least because Big Pharma shareholders are no longer interested in producing them. You have been told here for four years that binding licences are needed to break the Big Pharma monopoly, allow more companies to produce, increase supply and lower prices. Finally, today we are about to go in that direction. Congratulations! Of course, you are giving in under pressure, and I welcome that. Well, even in the middle of a crisis, you still want to negotiate in the first place with Big Pharma, guarantee their profits a little – probably not too much to hit the buddies – but, above all, you want to prevent us from sharing the technology or even exporting these medicines! So how are you going to explain to the Latino, African and Arab peoples – who already remember that during COVID-19 we did not want to share technology as the European Union – that even today, according to your vision, they are not entitled to medicines? It’s still a disgrace! That is why the peoples of the South despise this European policy. Change course!

Colleagues, in Flanders, in Belgium and actually throughout Europe, people are afraid. Fear that they cannot afford the renovation, the insulation of their house and some fear even having to sell their house. And then there is a European directive, a European framework, and then you think: Yes, well, but then you expect that it will guarantee that people do not have to pay everything out of their own pocket? Unfortunately, this directive does not guarantee this. It is left to the governments, but the directive includes fines, if it does not go fast enough, if your apartment is not isolated fast enough. We have already seen in Flanders what a bad idea that is. The Flemish government came up with a very strict version of this renovation obligation two years ago: fines if you buy a home and the energy label does not improve quickly enough. For example, because the works are dragging on or because you no longer have the money. You'll get monster fines. Absurd ideas. At one point, I believe, a young working couple in Ghent was fined EUR 13 000. You don't think that's possible, because those renovation works drag on because you don't have the money or because it goes less quickly than expected. And then you get a fine on top of that. Yes, of course it does not go forward at all. What we need here is not a renovation plot, but a renovation plot that ensures that everyone can not only renovate, but also be helped to renovate by, for example, a third-party payer system. In Germany, over ten years, 4 million projects were financed through a public bank. Let's look at that. Let's take that as a model. That is the Europe we want. People should not pay for this climate transition again.

Mr President, losing your life at work, not knowing what right you have afterwards is horrible, and it deserves to be discussed here. But let’s be clear: we lived it in Belgium, we live it every day and now there is this tragedy in Italy on this site. How many subcontractors were active on this site? How much? So there is a measure that we can take at European level thanks to a directive that limits subcontracting. This one has become a real business model used by companies across Europe not to grant workers the rights to which they would normally have access, not only those under the employment contract, but also, quite simply, human rights. And secondly, do not come and tell the states that they have to cut off their social services, their administrations and then complain that there are not enough social inspections, that there is not enough labour inspection. So stop this austerity too, we need strong social inspection and hard work all over Europe.

Commissioner, the masks are falling! To the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, we are talking about years of war, millions of deaths, countless refugees and untold war crimes. And you and the United Nations have pointed to the responsibility of the Rwandan government and the Rwandan army, which supports the M23 rebels and intervenes directly with missiles in the Democratic Republic of Congo. But in this context of aggression against a sovereign country, what is Europe doing? Will it defend tooth and nail, heart and soul, Congolese sovereignty, as it does for Ukraine? Well, no! Two weights, two measures. First, it offered last year, remember, €20 million to Rwandan forces. Recently, Poland has been promising all possible support and military aid to Rwanda. And now you are signing an agreement with Rwanda on raw materials, on Congolese resources. Because yes, it is: Here, we are, in fact, thanking and rewarding Rwanda for its aggression. How is this possible? Wasn’t Europe’s goal to defend peace, human rights? No, clearly not in Congo. There, apparently, you want the resources. Congo holds between 60 and 80% of the coltan, essential for modern technologies, and this war makes it easy to plunder these resources. An NGO report indicates that up to 90% of strategic minerals exported by Rwanda originate in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Commissioner, the Congolese can no longer rely on your neo-colonial approach in the service of European multinationals. So please listen to them and tear up this deal!

Madam President, on the phone with the emergency services, little Hind, a six-year-old Palestinian girl, is terrified: “I am so scared. Please come, pick me up. Are you going to pick me up?" In a car with his family, they are fleeing the Israeli bombs. They ran into an Israeli tank. Her uncle has set himself aside, but the Israeli soldiers have still fired and Hind is stuck in the car, in the middle of the bodies of her killed family. Then the call is interrupted. His body will be recovered a few days later. I will never forget Hind’s voice on the phone. His death alone illustrates the genocidal nature of the war Israel is waging. Nor will I forget that this house, this European Union, has not called for an end to arms exports to Israel. What complicity, what inhuman shame!

Madam President, Europe, with the complicity of the Belgian government, is constantly repeating to us that there is no more money, neither for pensions, nor for education, nor for health. On the contrary, we are told that Belgium will still have to save EUR 30 billion in the coming years. This is huge, while people are already unable to make ends meet! What do we have here? Obviously, the lack of willingness to tax millionaires, the lack of willingness to tax the overprofits of multinationals. But here today I am told that EUR 50 billion can be sent to Ukraine. So there is money, and there is money until 2027. But why is it that for war, for Ukraine, we always find money, but for workers, it is always a concern, it is always too complicated? And you, here from the Socialist Greens to the right, applaud. Instead, tax overprofits, tax millionaires, and invest in peace.

Mr President, Commissioner, you are in fact bothered by our work. The European Commission wants to take away our right of control over your agreements with other countries. Is it because we can read? Because yes, we know how to read, and so we looked a little bit, for example, at the association agreement you made with Israel: Strong support for Israel, which has seen Europe become the first trading partner of the Hebrew state. For example, 30% of the goods Israel imports come from Europe, and Israel even has access to billions of EU funding. But we know how to read, and we see in Article 2 of that agreement that it calls for respect for human rights. So logically, when the International Court of Justice says that there is a plausible risk that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, what should you do? Suspend this agreement, stop this agreement, because otherwise you support and are complicit in Israeli war crimes in Gaza. But rather than suspending this agreement, Commissioner, you want to silence us. You want to exclude us. We're not gonna shut up, we're not gonna let you. This complicity is unacceptable, and we will continue to say so.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, listening to you, sometimes I wonder what theatre I have landed in, frankly. Because, this morning, you come here to say loud and clear that teachers are important, you see the lack of teachers, the poor state of school buildings, too many students per class, and, listening to you, I spontaneously say to myself: 'Ben chiche! They got it! That’s good! Let's put the money in, invest in our schools: better working conditions, more teachers, fewer pupils per class, etc.’ Well, no! This is for the gallery, your statements! It’s for the gallery! Because at the same time – and this is all your hypocrisy – what are you doing? Well, you bring back European rules that prohibit states from investing in schools and education. The European rules of austerity! The European fiscal rules, which will strangle the state budget. Here, in public, you come to declare all your support to teachers and students, but behind the scenes you put the rope on their necks. What cynicism, frankly!

Madam President, Commissioner, major producers of solar panels are threatening to relocate from Germany to the United States. Meanwhile, in my city, Brussels, Belgium, Audi workers are afraid that their company will relocate the production of an electric car. These companies, often, such as Audi for cars or Meyer Burger for solar panels, have obtained European or local public support. What a failure for your green industrial policy! For the past five years, I've been telling you: take this into your own hands, plan this publicly, including when it comes to installation! But you refuse. So I told you: at least attach conditions to subsidies, state aid. When the state gives money, supports companies, they must be asked to respect employment and invest. But then again, every time, you refused. These are the consequences. Today, these companies have replenished their profits, and they are now being encouraged by your main economic partner, your ally, the United States, to relocate. But, for workers, no guarantee. Today, European industrial policy protects profits, not workers. Basta!

(IT) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, let us face it, if it moves forward today in several European countries, the extreme right is above all because people are looking for alternatives to traditional policies, those policies brought by the centre-right and the centre-left that today have caused people to be afraid even to go shopping, because it costs too much. Let us realize today what is happening, which is a social emergency in Europe. And then comes the far right, we know, saying "well it's easy, it's all the fault of immigrants, refugees and Muslims" and pretends to defend the workers; Obviously we know that it is a scam, because then here they accept the stability pact, which will force Italy to billions of cuts, or they oppose the minimum wage, a basic right for many workers everywhere in Europe but clearly not in Italy. To defeat this demagogy of the new extreme right, however, we must offer an alternative: No to the Stability Pact; Salaries must be adjusted to inflation; a decent minimum wage must be introduced, including in Italy; You have to give an income to those who don't have a job. We need dignity and hope for the workers. What are you waiting for?

Madam President, Prime Minister, apparently we need to hurry up a little bit, because you still have to go to Davos. I am well aware that this is not the reality with the millionaires there. You will still take the time to listen to us for five minutes, because the reality of the millionaires in Davos is obviously not the reality of the working class in Europe today. Your government is leading a Europe in a catastrophic social situation. Wages are no longer enough. People are afraid of race prices, afraid to raise heating even when it is cold like today. And here, it is still extremely striking that, in this context, you do not dare in your speech to assume one of the central priorities of this Belgian Presidency: the return of the fiscal rules, which you are silent on, which is present in the document, in the plan, but here, in your speech, you are hiding the return of the European austerity laws. What does this mean? This means budget cuts in hospitals, schools, nurseries and even – as you know, in 2023, the European Commission has already complained about wage indexation in Belgium – even our salaries are at risk of being attacked with this mechanism. So do you really want to be the government, Mr De Croo, that will bring this straitjacket back and put the rope on the neck of the working people all over Europe? We must not bring this straitjacket back, we must bury it and as president, sabotage these negotiations, stop these negotiations on the Fiscal Compact. Rather than cutting our salaries, our services, Mr De Croo, read yesterday’s Oxfam report. Multinationals all over the world, also in Europe, make overprofits. Their profits will smash all records in 2023. In Belgium, your country and mine, 1% of the richest, own as much as 70% of the population. And yet no ambitious initiative for fairer taxation in your program. None. Have a minimum of ambition, please. Tax millionaires, large multinationals or financial transactions. Are you afraid to do so because after that, I don’t know, Bill Gates will not be moving to the Belgian pavilion later in Davos? Frankly, it is not this Europe that workers need. Het is toch waar, mijnheer De Croo. Nu België voorzitter eens van de Europese Unie is, wat zijn dan de prioriteiten? Gaan bezuinigen? Gaan we weer besparen op dingen die de werkende mens nodig heeft? Dat kan toch niet! Stop dat! U kunt als voorzitter zeggen: "Nee," said Europa zal niet meer besparen. Deze begrotingsregels, die willen wij niet en wij gaan die vergaderingen rekken, vertragen of daar in elk geval geen prioriteit van maken”. Dat is de verantwoordelijkheid van België, want 5 miljard EUR per jaar besparen op de komende jaren zou een drama zijn voor België en voor de rest van Europa. Want welk signaal stuurt u daarmee naar de werkende mens? Mensen die nude geen bus meer hebben? Die geen station meer hebben? Mensen die bang zijn hun verwarming op te zetten? Kijk naar Oxfam, Luister naar Oxfam en ga het geld halen waar het zit. Zet een ambitieus rechtvaardig belastingprogramma op poteen of neem tenminste een klein initiatief. Dat moet toch mogelijk zijn voor u. Ten slotte belooft u in uw document by Russische oorlogsmisdaden in Oekraïne niet onbestraft te laten. Goed, maar geen enkel woord over by oorlogsmisdaden van Israel. Waarom? Waarom geeft u Netanyahu een vrijbrief?

Madam President, Mr Commissioner, so following the Israeli attack on Gaza, Yemen has indeed been attacking ships, the Houthi groups, and denying freedom of navigation in the Red Sea. This has an impact on world trade. It also has an impact on factories in Belgium. It is, of course, remarkable, first of all, that those that are now calling for action against Yemen are the same ones that never called for action against Israel, protecting trade routes for some in this Chamber is clearly more important than protecting the lives of Palestinians. Now, we need to be clear, because those colleagues that say we need action seem to forget that there’s already been action. Last week, the United States, with a number of European countries, bombed Yemen, bombed cities in Yemen. This was not the first time. Barack Obama bombed Yemen. Donald Trump bombed Yemen. Joe Biden now bombed Yemen. Saudi Arabia bombed Yemen for years. And none of these interventions brought peace or security to the region. Rather, on the contrary, as these attacks were not covered by the Security Council resolution, which spoke about protecting vessels, not about bombing Yemen, this might actually deteriorate the image of Europe and the West in the world further. What we need is now a critical assessment of this policy and clearly look at the consequences and alternatives. And, of course, we need a ceasefire in Palestine as soon as possible.

Madam President, the climate summit will therefore have talked about fossil fuels. It's positive. But before posing, as Europeans, as climate defenders vis-à-vis the rest of the world, we must still look at the facts: Today, we are investing heavily in new terminals to accommodate American shale gas. The United States obviously multiplies its production to export it to us, and we know that this shale gas is more expensive and more polluting than conventional gas. This extraction releases methane, huge amounts of methane, which is a bit for the climate like coal. These investments lock Europe into a double dependency: in the United States, on the one hand, to fossil fuels, on the other. And in the meantime, the big project to turn the North Sea into Europe's wind power plant? With the current investments, we will not reach half of the 2030 target. So let's change course, let's not leave it to the good will of multinationals but let's take it back in hand, publicly, for green and cheap energy all over Europe.

Madam President, our trains are running late, our crèches are overcrowded, hospitals are overcrowded, and housing is becoming unpayable. And in this context, what does the European Commission propose? A new major investment programme for multinational arms companies! Yes, of course, while people are sorting, we will still guarantee gifts to companies that are among the most profitable on our continent and that, moreover, are doing a good business, currently, thanks to the war in Ukraine. We're going to produce more weapons. For our safety? Well, no! Europe already spends much more on weapons than Russia, India, South Africa, Brazil, etc. We can defend ourselves. No, you, your model, are the United States. You want to do like the United States, go to war all over the world. Look at Iraq, Libya: It is your wars, your weapons that have created instability and threaten our security here. Stop it! Stop it! Put that money in our services, in our transportation, in our utilities and in our hospitals. Make peace, not war!

Mr President, today, when you look at the evolution of rents in Belgium, I think that over the last five years they have increased by 12%, and in Brussels, over the last ten years, by 30%. Buying a house or apartment for a young person or a young couple is almost impossible. And when you get there, it’s a lucky thing to find a crèche, because you have to have registered your child before you have even conceived it, otherwise you can’t find a crèche. All these problems, we can solve them. There is no need for a magic wand to solve them, but it requires investment. That means we have to invest in housing, we have to invest in public services. We can all cry here about the plight of young people, which really matters to us, but if you come back with austerity, with European rules that oblige us, that oblige states to cut public services, to spend less, to stop social investments, we will return within six months to cry again, to complain about the plight of young people. Investments are needed. No to austerity!

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, UNICEF is talking about a war against children. Currently, more than 7,700 Palestinian children have been massacred by Israel. When the same thing happened in Ukraine, you were talking about genocide. Today, a number of you justify Israel. I will not answer you, because there is no political difference between you and me, there is simply a difference in humanity. Those who defend Israel today either do not hear what the Israeli leaders say, because the Israeli leaders themselves say that this war is a war against the entire population of Gaza. They want to drive them out. Two million Gazans must leave Gaza, and you applaud? Congratulations! Congratulations! I hope that one evening you will still be able to look at yourself in the mirror without shame on your face. Today, the European Union remains complicit because it remains bound to Israel by an Association Agreement. It continues to hand over weapons to Israel, weapons that will then effectively kill innocent people in Gaza. Let's stop this complicity!

Madam President, the European Union is preparing to tell you again that we need to tighten our belts, that there is no money for health or for schools. Yes, it will be necessary to tighten the belt, except that it will be up to the workers to do it, because the multinationals, frankly, they, they profit. We talk about the ‘crisis’, but it is not the crisis for everyone. This is not the crisis for multinationals in the pharmaceutical sector, which replenished profits during COVID-19. This is not the crisis for multinationals in the armaments sector, war obliges. And in these times of energy crisis, the big multinational energy companies have obviously filled their pockets. How is it that when we talk in this Parliament about taxing multinationals, it is always backwards? The European Commission never wants to do it, and Parliament never succeeds (“But let’s do it temporarily!...”). Workers are not taxed temporarily; They are taxed all the time. So we have to stop with this story, that multinationals are too big to be taxed! No, no, no! We must tax these overprofits! Secondly, a little story – because, at the head of these multinationals, there are rich people. The richest man in Belgium is Eric Wittouck, who is worth around EUR 10 or 11 billion. By way of comparison, the average Belgian worker would have to work and save his entire salary for 2 355 centuries. We go back long before Jesus-Christ and before the Roman Empire: this is almost at the time of the onset ofhomo sapiens. So why can’t we introduce a millionaire tax? What is blocking you? Well, what is blocking you is that you have chosen your side. You're on the millionaire side. We are on the side of the workers.

Mr President, frankly, people are fed up with the fact that the European Union comes with dictates every time, saying ‘you have to cut the budget of your schools, your nurseries, your hospitals, you have to work longer, for less money’. Frankly, neither can people have this Europe without transparency, without democracy, without being listened to. And in this context, what does a coalition of Green Socialist Liberals propose here? This means more power for the European Union and less democracy within it. Frankly, aren’t you ashamed to even propose a commissioner, ha no pardon, a secretary for austerity? This means that this austerity, these budget cuts, you want to institutionalize them even more. People can’t do it anymore, it won’t pass. And you propose, what? No more war? You want to take away the right, for example from Belgium, to say no when it comes to sending Belgian soldiers abroad. Because that is the shift from unanimity to majority voting. You don’t admit it, you don’t assume it, well people won’t accept it.

Madam President, when it comes to industry, people are basically interested in two things. First, a quality job, and second, a healthy living environment. And what do you propose to us today in this text? First, to give full support to businesses in the name of competitiveness, without strategic priorities and without strong conditions, especially without strong social conditions. And we know this strategy in Belgium, companies pocket gifts, thank, and then, when they receive a better deal Elsewhere, they relocate anyway, we know the little song. Then deregulate. Deregulation means flexibilizing, e.g. obtaining environmental permits. But where are we going to stop. Will we end up cutting down forests to install wind turbines? Perhaps you have heard of the PFAS scandal? In Belgium now, in some regions, people are sometimes afraid to drink drinking water because of pollution. And we want to make it easier? I know we have two former CEOs here presenting the new technological industrial strategy, but still... the state must not be at the service of the private sector, employers and profit, but at the service of the people.

Mr President, Commissioner, your self-satisfaction is truly unbearable. Frankly, you are talking about a success of European politics, while Belgians, for example, still pay twice as much for their energy as they paid before the crisis. Is that success, bleeding people, raising their bills? You dare call it a success? Please start by breaking the power of multinationals, by breaking this market. Bloquons les prix et taxons les surprofits des multinationales. Qu’est-ce que vous attendez? Then you will come back to talk to us about success if you manage to do the minimum of the base. Let's talk a little bit about the morality of your policy, too, because you have decided not to import Russian gas via pipeline. All right, all right. This obviously increased prices, but you said it was moral because we do not want to finance Russian war crimes in Ukraine. All right, all right. And then, what are you doing? You're going to make a gas deal with Israel. So not only are we paying more now, but we are also funding Israeli war crimes in Gaza. Congratulations! Clearly, a Palestinian child is not as valuable to you as a Ukrainian child.

Madam President, the Parliament has rightly scheduled a debate to condemn the attack – the 7 October attack of Hamas on Israel. Since then, however, the Israeli attack on Gaza has killed 725 children. Water, food, electricity has been cut off to Palestinian homes and hospitals and over 1 million Palestinians have been ordered to leave their homes. The UN Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Territories has said that in the name of self-defence, Israel might seek to justify what would amount to ethnic cleansing – and we have indeed seen Israeli government officials speak in that direction. Yet Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, has not even asked Israel the very basics: to, for example, respect international humanitarian law. The Parliament needs to send a clear message that all war crimes are unacceptable – be they on behalf of Israel, be they on behalf of Hamas. You know, a Palestinian life is not worth less than a Ukrainian life and therefore we propose to change the title into ‘The despicable terrorist attacks of Hamas against Israel, Israel’s threat of expulsion of 1.1 million Palestinians and allegations of Israeli war crimes against and in Gaza.’