Speeches

Mr President, Commissioner, thousands of medicines are lacking in the European Union, country by country, life-saving medicines, and the medicines available are often too expensive. States are paying absolutely crazy prices. But we must also dare to say why this is the case. The explanation, the reason is clear: You have decided to leave all the power to the big multinational pharmaceutical companies. They decide what to produce, when to produce, how much to produce and at what price to sell. Some of them even have the personal number of Ms von der Leyen. So if you are serious about the need for accessible, affordable medicines, there are two things you need to do. First of all, stop giving unconditional free money to these multinationals. Let's set clear conditions. Let's ask that the drug is actually accessible, actually affordable. Secondly, let us develop an infrastructure, a public company for research and development and for the production of medicines. You know, it exists in Canada, in the United States and even in Cuba, a small blockaded country that has managed to develop vaccines.

Mr President, Commissioner, you are drowning the fish a bit. You're drowning the fish. There is a terrible social emergency in Europe today. Terrible. In Belgium, a quarter of parents are unable to feed their children enough. Three quarters of teachers have already faced starving children in school. Students can no longer find a kot, a student accommodation payable. And if today, as a worker, you have to take public transport, you know that: accumulated delays, stations and trains removed. Do not get sick because hospitals are understaffed, they do not have enough equipment. If you happen to reach retirement age, you know that your statutory pension is unlikely to be sufficient to cover or guarantee the costs of a nursing home. But what you are not saying is that this is also the consequence of European policies: the liberalisation of the energy market, the austerity you have imposed, and worse. And here too, it is necessary to be honest – a bit of intellectual honesty, in the face of the worker who is working – that today the European Commission is proposing a return to the fiscal pact, with cuts, therefore, in public services. And this is unacceptable. We're going to fight him.

Madam President, Commissioner, as you have heard, these workers and firefighters who save us in difficult situations are 300% more likely to develop cancer. So let's recognize this work as painful and carcinogenic. Why does it take so long? Don’t we want to save them? Why can't it go faster? But let's not pretend that this will solve everything. Because a big problem is obviously the fact that these workers are understaffed. This further complicates already extremely difficult working conditions. So you have to hire professional firefighters and firefighters. But you, the European Commission, want to reactivate austerity, the fiscal pact, which is pushing for cuts in public services. This is contradictory. You can't cut public services and pretend you want to help firefighters. This is hypocrisy. So, give up this austerity. Second, the European Commission is still pushing for an increase in the pension age. A firefighter who has to work up to 64-67 is just not feasible. Do you know that a firefighter has a life expectancy seven years below the average? They cannot be made to work until they are 64 or 67, it is not feasible.

Madam President, Madam President of the European Commission, you have expressed with great eloquence all your contempt for the working class in Europe today. I know you earn 30,000 Euros a month, but do you know that today in Europe 30% of people have to skip a meal because they do not have the money for three meals a day? Do you know that 46% of Europeans are afraid to turn on heating, and therefore do not do so and stay in the cold? That 100 million Europeans are at risk of poverty? And what is your balance sheet, your own balance sheet? Have you blocked energy bills? No, no. Did you tax millionaires? No, no. Have you tapped the overprofits of multinational energy, pharmaceutical, military companies? No, no. So what are you doing today? Today, you are flooding, you are guaranteeing billions of euros to the military sector, to the multinational arms companies, while the workers are proposing the return of the fiscal pact, the return of austerity. Von der Leyen, this Europe – your Europe – will never be ours, we will fight you and your coalition.

Minister, I am surprised that you do not see the plundering of African resources – which is still widespread in Africa, whether it is fish in Senegal, gold in Mali or, indeed, uranium in Niger – as one of the causes of the anger of African populations against Europe and European policies. But I want to ask you a question. Your Special Representative for the Sahel, Emmanuela Del Re, said in the newspaper La Repubblica whereas "European sanctions are beginning to have an impact: lack of medicines, food and electricity, even more than before. We must maintain these sanctions. Do you agree? Is it the European line to starve a population, to deny them access to medicines, or do you dissociate yourself from your special diplomat for the Sahel?

Minister for Foreign Affairs, when more and more states in Africa are asking for the departure of European troops – first of all French, then other countries – there is a whole series of potential explanations that are provided, with varying degrees of relevance. Afterwards, when you listen to Emmanuel Macron’s party representative, you get the impression that France in Africa is almost an NPO – it is a charity association that is only there to do good. You gave a little bit of the same impression about the European Union. But what is not raised here is the social and economic issue that many Africans, especially young people, are facing today. As for Niger, there are 10 million people, 43% of the population, who live in abject poverty, despite the fact that Niger still supplies the European continent with uranium – and is underpaid for this uranium – which obviously creates rage, anger against European policies. My question is: In your opinion, what European, economic and trade policies do we need to change to stop this dynamic of destroying Europe's image in Africa?

Madam President, Commissioner, at the time of the Covid pandemic, indeed, many states closed their borders to keep certain goods and services at home. There was a reason for this: This is because these states often lacked medical equipment, for example in hospitals, due to years of austerity imposed on these hospitals. Another reason was that often there was insufficient productive capacity in different states, inequalities within Europe due to the liberalisation imposed. So today, rather than tackling the fundamental causes of the internal market and competition, you are coming up with a repressive, let’s say, approach that simply pretends to prevent states from doing so. It's not gonna pass. And what worries me a lot, Commissioner, is that in your cabinet you seem to have become accustomed to attacking workers’ rights. In your military production law, you tried to blow up the limit of 48 hours of work per week. In this text, you tried to weaken the recognition of the right to strike, which ended up in a non-binding part of the text. Fortunately, twice, thanks to the mobilization of the unions, we managed to get you back. If you try to get back into your future production defense law with a new attack on workers' rights, I promise you, Commissioner, we will push you back again.

Doesn't the war in Ukraine affect workers in Europe? Of course I do. And that is why I have thrown you a little in the face of the complete absence of diplomatic proposals. For the past year and a half, you have refused to take any diplomatic initiative to stop this war, so that Ukrainians no longer die under the bombs, so that we European citizens no longer face a war on our borders. You do not, and that is where your hypocrisy lies. You only want to invest in weapons; the diplomatic route, either you do not know it, and you have to go back to school, or you have to change your policy.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, we live in a paradoxical situation in Europe: today, on the one hand, states are investing massively in so-called militarisation, i.e. research, production and purchase of weapons, worth billions – 100 billion, 200 billion – and on the other hand, we are experiencing an incredible social emergency. We lack crèches, our schools lack teachers, our hospitals lack equipment and staff, and our public transport is disintegrating across the European Union. In this context, what is the priority, the urgency for the European Union? It is about boosting the demand for weapons, funding and helping states to buy more weapons. Do you realize that this is totally crazy and absurd? Instead, let's choose another alternative, a different policy: First, let’s work on peace, diplomacy – a word that most of you have forgotten, and then let’s invest in public services, in people’s needs. (The speaker agreed to answer a blue card question)

Madam President, what always strikes me here is that when we talk about taxing billionaires, it is as if they have an army of Members at their service, ready to defend them. We obviously have the macronists crying out: No, no, no, let's not tax the rich! You don't know? Let's work on tax evasion. You who are in government in France, you could perhaps start there. Maar ook het Vlaams Belang. Als wij yesterday zeggen: “Belast de miljardairs”, die 1 %, die 37 miljardairs die we in België hebben, staat het Vlaams Belang op z’n achterste poteen. Waarom? We kunnen daarmee eleven financial scholen. We kunnen daarmee investeringen doen. We kunnen daarmee eleven ziekenhuizen herfinancieren. And then there is a myth maintained by people who say that billionaires are useful, it’s important. Seriously? It is not the billionaires, it is not the rich who create wealth. It is the workers. It is the workers who produce, it is the workers who create the added value. You need to review your economics courses! Let us also ensure a democratic dimension. Because these people who concentrate all this wealth have an obvious influence on the political world. And it is an unhealthy influence that needs to be broken.

Mr President, cluster bombs are terrible weapons. They are weapons that do not differentiate between civilian and military populations. They are bombs that disintegrate and remain in the environment, that hide, that do not all explode, until a child sets foot on it and is killed. This is why the majority of European countries have banned these weapons and more than 100 countries worldwide have banned them. So what I do not understand is the silence, the lack of reaction from the European Union and almost all colleagues here when the Americans, the United States, decide to supply these weapons to Ukraine. Because this is a war crime perpetrated by the United States. It has been said, and you always repeat it, Mr Verhofstadt, that when the Russians do, it is a war crime. But when the US does, it’s a war crime too! You don’t like your allies being attacked. But the Russians are committing war crimes, and that is not acceptable. And when the US does, it is not acceptable either!

Madam President, listening to some of you, I wonder what planet you live on. You saw the images in Jenin of Palestinian families, Palestinian refugees, with their hands in the air, leaving their homes, leaving the refugee camp for fear of being brutally shot by Israeli occupying forces. Have you seen these images where you don’t care? Imagine for a moment that it was Ukrainians in these images, leaving their homes for fear of Russian troops wanting to kill them. You would have called for sanctions. You would have called for more support and more weapons for Ukraine. Why is the life of a Palestinian worth less to you than the life of a Ukrainian? I do not understand that and I find that unacceptable. This also applies to the European Commission. You have not lifted a finger in the face of these violations of international law and in the face of these war crimes. All war crimes must be punished. Let’s not make an exception for Israel.

Commissioner, historically, the African debt does not originate in China. It has its origins in colonization and in the role of European countries after decolonization. We must therefore acknowledge our responsibility in this. So are you at least prepared to say that we are going to abolish the debt these African countries have to European countries? That is a first question. Second question, very quickly. You did not really say what you would change compared to the past. Before, Europe, the Member States, you had policies of looting. What is fundamentally changing? Have you drawn up a picture of the situation: We used to do that, now we're going to do the opposite? Because if not, I have the impression that we remain in good intentions, without realising them.

Mr President, Commissioner, I would like to return to the issue of critical raw materials, because I think it is essential and I think that in Africa this issue is very sensitive. You know that the colonial and neo-colonial plunder of Africa was essentially the stealing of raw materials. You are also aware that, even after independence, these practices continued, often under the guise of recommendations, for example from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, supported by Europe, calling for a reduction in state intervention, particularly in Mali. As a result, at some point, the Malian government was no longer able to know the quantities of gold leaving its territory, for example. I am afraid that the alternatives, the new policies that you have presented, will not break with the old practices. You use the same language when you talk about "facilitating the business climate", "strengthening European investments"... I would like you to give me a list of what has changed between the old practices and what you are proposing. What is the big difference between European policy as it was before you and what you are proposing today?

Mr President, the European Parliament is discussing the lessons to be learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. I note that Mrs von der Leyen is absent. She was also, or refused to come, when we invited her to the Special Committee. She makes it a habit. Commissioner, do you have his phone number? Because when the CEO, the boss of Pfizer, sends WhatsApp, she responds. So maybe now is the time to text her. Perhaps it would come to respond democratically to this assembly. You remember at the time that every SMS, every WhatsApp that she sent, the price of the vaccine seemed to go up. So collusion, conflict of interest? The question arises. But what is clear is that we can no longer leave our health, our medicines in the hands of Big Pharma and the big multinationals. Our health is too important. We have to break the patents. We must indeed create a public infrastructure for research, development and production of medicines and vaccines in Europe that serves only the public interest. This is how we will build not only autonomy, production, production capacity, but also citizens’ trust in pharmaceutical policy.

Madam President, Mr Breton, the United States today, with which you want a stronger partnership, is also hindering the future of European industry. They forced a leading Dutch company to limit its exports to China. German companies are hit and pressure is put on universities and companies to prevent them from inviting foreign researchers or students, who bring know-how to us. At a Belgian university, buildings supposed to host partnerships with Chinese counterparts remain completely empty. And behind that, there are threats, pressures, intimidation from the United States of America, which also enters into alliances without including the European Union. So, who are you going to ride for? You offer billions, among other things, to American companies. But where is your defense of our sovereign right to choose, to develop our commercial and scientific relations with all the countries of the world? Let us not submit, Commissioner, to the Americans.

Madam President, Commissioner, hiding your money on a paradise island, let us be clear: It’s theft, it’s theft from the community, what these billionaires and millionaires do. They avoid that this money is used to finally invest in nurseries. They are responsible if there are not enough crèches; it is they who are responsible, if in the morning you wait for the bus, but you do not see it arrive, when you see "5 minutes", then "4 minutes", "3 minutes" and the bus disappears; they are responsible when trains are late; They are always responsible when there are not enough doctors and nurses in our hospitals. How come they don’t end up in jail? Because, obviously, there are politicians who are at their service, because we have laws that have been written tailor-made for the rich, for the millionaires. Today, everyone comes to cry: “Ah, they avoid tax! They don’t pay taxes, the rich, the multibillionaires!" Well, let’s do the right thing! Let us lift bank secrecy, impose a tax on millionaires – there is always a majority here to vote against – and stop economic transactions with tax havens, because otherwise it is hypocrisy with crocodile tears.

Commissioner, Mr President, I hear the Greens talking about Madagascar, the Liberals talking about Congo, but it is obviously easy to talk about other countries. We should start with Europe first. You know that in Italy today 340 000 children between the ages of 7 and 15 already have experience in the labour market? In Belgium, children were found working in the sheds of PostNL and its subcontractors for sending parcels. In the Netherlands, retailer Albert Heijn actively recruits children from the age of 13 to work in its supermarkets. That is Europe today. And why do you talk so little about it? Because, of course, the promotion and use of child labour by these companies is a consequence of liberal labour market policies (precarious contracts, lack of fixed contracts and decent wages, etc.). Of course, this leads to this kind of practice, to outsourcing. So if we really want – and we must – to end child labour in the European Union, it is a question of stopping this liberalisation of the labour market and imposing decent contracts and decent wages.

Colleague De Man of the ID/Flemish Interest faction, you will cycle past the issue. So for years you have been saying that Europe is too expensive, spending too much money and that you are going to ensure that savings are made. And then a list of people who have benefited from grazing pensions at taxpayers' expense leaks out, and your former president is on that list. How do you explain that? Is that pure demagoguery, just for the theatre, while when you come here you fill your pockets yourself? Is that the intention? Could you please answer that?

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, a pension of EUR 13 700 per month, EUR 13 700 per month in the pocket. After only 20 years of career. That is what a special pension fund here guarantees to around 900 European parliamentarians. About ten times more than what an ordinary European worker gets after about forty years of career, pure grazing pensions and, of course, paid by the taxpayer. And with those grabbers, those pension grabbers, just about all the political groups, including the far-right, hey, Mr De Man of the ID Group, Vlaams Belang. Your former President Frank Vanhecke: Apparently one of the pensioners. I can't believe it. Always against Europe, except if it is to fill your own pockets apparently. And what's the matter now? The issue now is that that pension fund is bankrupt, a gap of EUR 313 million. And then there is serious debate here about whether the ordinary taxpayer should supplement that. No, taxpayers don't have to. That fund should be abolished. Stop grabbing.

Mr President, Commissioner, you are therefore coming back with austerity, with the Stability Pact. It is austerity 2.0, more power for the European Commission, easier sanctions and permanent bargaining between neoliberal reforms and budget cuts. I am also surprised that there are Socialist colleagues who applaud you, because you come back with your ridiculous criteria of 3% and 60% – that the budget deficit cannot exceed 3% of GDP and that the public debt cannot exceed 60%. You yourself don't know why. You don't know that. Why 60%, and not 40 or not 80? Japan is 250%, I think. You invent anything because it serves only one purpose, to privatize and break our public services, to force countries to privatize, to sell our schools, our pensions, our railways to the highest bidder. Our healthcare, by the way, let's talk about it: austerity has been a disaster. We will resist this austerity 2.0.

Mr President, Commissioner, carbon tax for households, heating, petrol, taxing people, that seems to be the new speciality of the European Union. But there is one category that, strangely, always escapes your taxes, and these are the big multinationals, billionaires like Bernard Arnault and LVMH – what does it weigh now, €239 billion? They have a wealth greater than the GDP of a whole series of European countries, Greece, Slovakia, Estonia, it is unimaginable. But strangely, in the proposals, to these rich ones, to their superprofits you never touch. Are you scared? Maybe you're too close to them. Je sais que, Monsieur le Commissaire, on vous a reproché d'être trop proche du milliardaire Bernard Arnault. Well, you don't want to, but we'll put it on the program. Indeed, we have amendments to make the rich pay to finally tax the rich and make these big multinationals pay in Europe.

Madam President, Prime Minister, good morning, welcome. We belong to different political camps. We defend the camp of the working class. You are more on the side of bankers’ tax evasion, but I think you have given an important lesson to the European Commission and some of my colleagues, and I thank you for that. Because you know that the European Commission talked about banning TikTok, which they said "collects data". Well, it may be true, we have no confidence in this multinational, but Google, Facebook do no better. Last night I tried to buy shoes on Google. This morning, I found myself with a newsfeed full of ads for new shoes. Well, we can't trust these people either. But, oddly enough, the European Commission is not calling for a ban on Facebook, Google and others. In fact, let's be honest, when the Commission calls for a ban on TikTok, it obeys the United States. The US is afraid of TikTok because many people, especially young people, now prefer TikTok over Facebook and others. And the US would like us to limit ourselves to using US products, to limiting ourselves to consuming US information to making ourselves completely dependent on them. However, in a vision of European strategic autonomy, this vision does not have a place. The Commission obeys, but you said, I do not ban TikTok just because it is Chinese. You are right, we must protect our data from all social networks. We are not going to be taught the lesson by American boomers who do not know if TikTok connects or not to a WiFi. Frankly, Europe is better than that.

Mr President, almost 20 million children are growing up in poverty in the European Union. That's more or less one in four who risk an empty toast box every day. This is what the European budget should be for. But many of us come here to tell: “Ah, sorry, there is no money.” Yet there is money. Since 2020, 1% of the rich have pocketed around 45% of all wealth produced in Europe - 45%! In Belgium, my country, meanwhile, the richest 1% has as much as 70% of the population. Then the money is there. But I see hypocrisy from those who say: "We have no money" - crocodile tears! – because yesterday, in a vote in this same Parliament, you rejected a proposal to encourage a tax on millionaires, which would finally have taxed the rich. So what is it? We complain that there is no money, but at the same time we do not want to tax our friends? This is unacceptable! You know very well where there is money. Go get him! Now is the time to pick him up. Because people will no longer accept that millionaires, billionaires in Europe pocket, cash, while it is always up to people to pay and work without being paid as they should be.

Mr President, Commissioner, Madam President-in-Office of the Council: "I worked at Delhaize for 41 years and today we are sold as sold products", is the testimony of a worker from Delhaize, supermarket in my country in Belgium. Delhaize, which makes 2 billion profits, wants to put all its stores in franchise. Why: make workers work longer for up to minus 30% pay. 30% less salary! The objective: save a billion euros on workers to spin a billion euros more to shareholders like BlackRock and Goldman Sachs, these vultures. Is that the economy of tomorrow, the quality jobs, the jobs of the future, the Europe you want? Precarious contracts, always more flexibility. Burnouts with no trade union countervailing power. Because obviously, in these franchises, union representation is not guaranteed. We will not allow you to impose this model, this European model, neither in Europe nor in Belgium! We will be on the side of the workers, at Delhaize, but also everywhere in the other sectors of the economy, to effectively guarantee an economy commensurate with the people.