Speeches

Madam President, the behaviour we have just experienced is intolerable. As chair of the meeting, you have the rules of procedure with sanctions. I am not satisfied with the co-worker's forced exit. I ask that the President be kept informed of this unacceptable behaviour. It is not tolerable to accept this behaviour, and the Rules of Procedure should lead to sanctions against the colleague. Disrupting the work of the European Parliament is not tolerable! I ask you to act!

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, last week the Commission announced that it would pay EUR 150 million to the Tunisian government, outside any democratic process. This 150 million is an unconditional check for a dictator who consolidated his power in a coup. On this payment, the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Development, at a joint meeting, adopted by a large majority an oral question, which was sent to the European Commission. But the Commission refuses the debate in Parliament and hastened to pay the funds to Kaïs Saïed. Some MEPs have even been pressured to dismiss this debate in this plenary session. We are the embodiment of European democracy. We must not give in to these pressures. We cannot be complicit in what the Tunisian people are going through. I would ask you, as it is urgent to do so, to accept the AFET and DEVE oral question and the resolution on the adoption of the special measure in favour of Tunisia for 2023, and to add them to our agenda. Let's take the time, let's be serious and live up to it.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, in fact the bombings in Gaza are already leading to despair. You are all talking here, ladies and gentlemen, about the Rafah attack as in the future, but that is already a reality. Israel is already bombing Rafah and the civilian population it had displaced. In Gaza, humanitarian aid is blocked by Israel and Egypt, and we are hesitant to support the entry of such aid. We encourage starvation and despair. In Gaza, since the decision of the International Court of Justice, there has been less humanitarian aid and more bombing of civilians. Today, we have a special responsibility. It is this week that Europe must pay the aid it owes to UNRWA. The only relevant question is: Are we going to do it or not? Mr Várhelyi's Europe, which has been trying for weeks and months to cut food, is not mine. She shouldn't be ours. Ursula von der Leyen must take responsibility. This week it must make a firm commitment to providing humanitarian aid, because in reality there is no other way to support children, women, the sick, the civilian population than to provide our aid. Are we going to be at the rendezvous of history? Are we going to assume our responsibilities? Are we finally going to make the right decisions? The rest are stories. The rest are speeches, the rest are interventions for each other's Instagrams. Commissioner, can you commit today before Parliament to ensure that this payment takes place?

Mr President, torture, enforced disappearances, unfair trials, executions: there is arbitrariness in Iran. On 23 January, Mohammad Ghobadlou and Farhad Salimi were executed. Tomorrow, so many more are at risk of being subjected to the regime’s bloodthirsty folly. Faced with her own people and the power of the peaceful movement "Woman! Life! Freedom!", the Islamic Republic of Iran wavers and sinks into repression. More than 8 000 people executed in 2023, already 54 in 2024 – and it is only 7 February! The European Union condemns, the European Union sanctions, the European Union supports civil society. It can and must do more and better for the Iranian people. When it wants to, the European Union knows how to use its levers for action. It can and should do so as soon as the oppression of a people is at stake.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, last Thursday in France, a woman of Jewish faith complained of anti-Semitic violence by a person holding public authority. Images show police officers humiliating him and ripping off his wig. Free violence, feeling of total impunity: the incident is not isolated. Every effort must be made to ensure that it does not become ordinary. France is regularly blamed for racial discrimination and police violence. Islamophobia, racism, anti-Semitism and xenophobia: we are now faced with acts that are becoming commonplace, and the State undeniably bears responsibility. Populist and far-right media, hate debates, stigma, discrimination, unfair laws such as the one on immigration, the Macron government’s game is dangerous for French democracy. Our executives have resigned in the face of a thriving far-right. In the face of intolerance and violence, the European project remains, I am convinced, our best bulwark. The EU must require Member States to comply with their obligations to: protect, educate, punish or rehabilitate victims. This is the road map that we here have a duty to promote.

Mr President, 100 days of war. A total war. An atrocious war. How do we get there? How can you continue to watch what is happening in Gaza without moving, without reacting? I was already asking this question in December. A month later, more civilians, more children and women were killed, more journalists fell at the front, more ambulances were targeted, more hospitals closed, more homes were demolished. And it is not just the bombings. There is a siege, a total, inhuman siege, which alone constitutes a war crime. One month later, more children were amputated, more women had caesarean sections without anesthesia, more hunger, more cold, more despair. So yes, Mrs. Loiseau, we must call for a permanent ceasefire now. Above all, however, it must be imposed, sanctions must be imposed and elements of genocide must not be allowed to take hold. It is no longer time to ask the question of the balance of positions in this conflict. It is not balanced: There's an occupant, there's an occupied one. You have to be against occupation, you have to be firm, you have to make decisions, you have to be committed, because that is also politics.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, behind these names and acronyms of MiFIR and MiFID lie very real and major issues for the lives of people across Europe. As my colleague Karima, the shadow rapporteur on this delicate issue, has said, the texts that have come out of it will indeed have a very concrete impact on the wallets of our fellow citizens, and we can congratulate ourselves on the victories achieved by the family of environmentalists here. In my work in our institution's ECON committee for several months, I have read and heard from experts pointing to the role of unlimited speculation and market manipulation in extreme price increases that we have experienced since 24 February 2022 and the outbreak of this war by Putin in Ukraine. How many millions of the most vulnerable people have been forced to ask for a staggered bill and have been forced not to heat themselves or to make cuts in their daily budget, to be able to pay their bills for heating, electricity like last winter and the current winter. According to Oxfam's annual report on inequality just released today, 99% of Europe's population has become poorer in the last three years. Yes, 99% of the European population has become poorer in the last three years. No, financial speculation is not the only cause of this inflation, but yes, it has played a role that no one can seriously deny. And yet, this factor has been completely neglected by the European Commission and has simply been ignored by the right-wing groups in this Chamber, who are too busy defending the interests of big business. The provision that my group made in the circuit breaker, this ability given to market authorities to suspend operations on given products in the event of significant volatility, makes it possible to mitigate, if not completely annihilate, this problem significantly. However, the subject is far from being closed and much remains to be done. In our next term, we will be there to ensure that large non-financial companies that act as unscrupulous speculators are indeed subject to the same rules as traders. As early as 2025, we will fight to build real barriers against commodity speculation. Like my colleague Karima, I therefore call on you to support this text.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, our youth in Europe is becoming poorer. In France, the category of young people who need to use food aid has increased by 13% in one year, and 39% of our young people are forced to continue living with their parents. For those who cannot, it is misery. But what future are we preparing for? We have a responsibility to empower our young people with dignity. Today, in France, environmental senator Monique de Marco is tabling a bill to ensure that young people have a social safety net between the ages of 18 and 25. Indeed, the French system is aberrant: it does not propose to this category, no safety, no net, nothing. Commissioner, allow Europe to ensure the right to housing by putting an end to the financialisation of this sector, to ensure equality by banning unpaid traineeships, to extend the right to a minimum income for our young people. Helping youth should not be a promise of charity. This must be a bet for dignified emancipation and for a more democratic future in Europe.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I sincerely ask you: What are we waiting for to call for a ceasefire? Do we need more deaths? We already have 17,000. Do we need twice as many? Three times more? Four times more? Should we starve the people of Gaza even more? They are already no longer receiving aid, and UNRWA no longer has the means. Do we need more journalists killed? We already have 80. How many do you need? Twice as much? Three times more? Four times more? A Europe of human rights cannot remain blind and silent in the face of gross violations of human rights. In the name of what are we looking at, without doing anything, the settler violence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem? In the name of what do we allow Israel to so defy international law? If Europe holds the two-state solution, it must act and it has the means to do so, like the United States, by calling for sanctions against extremist settlers. Let's freeze their possessions! Europe needs to be brought into line with international law on settlement products. The ICC investigation must be supported. This is what we need to do urgently, right now.

Mr President, first of all, thank you Mr Borrell, in the face of cacophony and irresponsibility, you have held the bar high in recent weeks and I thank you for that. Since yesterday, we've had two news. The possible humanitarian truce with the release of the hostages. This is good news and a permanent and lasting ceasefire must be encouraged. And proof that we never funded Hamas. Commissioner Várhelyi, who has reproached the European Union, the administration and endangered European staff, must leave and this is the honour of the European Union. We are audible in the world only when we are peacemakers, promoters of stability, guardians of international law, promoters of human rights. That is our role! So let's demand all this! And we have the means to do that, we are Israel’s first economic and trade partner, the first funder of the Palestinian Authority. We can weigh, we have tools. We must activate the sanctions regime against those who harm human rights and we must demand a lasting peace solution. Two states is the only condition for stability in the world.

Madam President, last year it was Egypt, this year the United Arab Emirates: Look for the error. At COPs, the future of humanity and life on Earth is at stake, but they can be organised in repressive countries – beautiful communication or camouflage operations for their governments that violate human rights. As an environmentalist, I can only raise my voice to defend the great forgotten of this diplomatic ballet: political prisoners. I want to talk to you about Ahmed Mansoor. Ahmed was sentenced to ten years in prison, and had an unfair trial for defending human rights in the United Arab Emirates. It was one of the last to do so openly. He has been held in solitary confinement for six years, and that is unbearable. I call on the representatives of the Commission, the Member States and the Council of this Parliament to: demand the immediate release of Ahmed and other prisoners of conscience from the Emirates. Climate justice and human rights must be the same fight.

Madam President, there are only three words worth saying today: Cease fire. You see, it’s simple, it’s easy. It takes strong convictions and a minimum of courage. So yes, the Hamas terrorist attack is filthy. It has been said, it has been repeated, it will be repeated as many times as necessary, but it does not give Israel the right to do what it does. Israel’s right to defend itself exists: it is, moreover, governed by international law and humanitarian law. But the international community must have the courage to demand that it be respected. It is not a right to indiscriminately kill civilians, it is not a right to target hospitals, journalists, it is not a right to target UNRWA schools, it is not a right to besiege a civilian population, starve it, deprive it of water and electricity. It is not a right to make a Nakba with refugees. As can be anticipated, it is not a right to revenge. Europe is witnessing the destruction of all the foundations of international law without saying anything. It is not up to the task. Let us have the courage to demand this ceasefire immediately, now, forcefully and ... (end of inaudible intervention)

Mr President, three years after the horror of Samuel Paty’s beheading death, France is experiencing another horror with the death of another professor: Dominique Bernard. France is in mourning; National Education is living a nightmare. If our schools are affected, it is not by chance. If this violence strikes at the heart of our Republic, where our young people learn, share and assert themselves, it is because our Republic, our principles and our values are disturbing. When terrorism strikes, it is to kill. And what terrorists hate most, above all, are our values of freedom, equality and fraternity. Islamism is a scourge. Islamism kills. He killed in schools. He also killed near a stadium three days ago in Belgium. Our European societies must stand as a bulwark: they must fight extremism at all costs, they must never get used to it. Here I want to pay tribute, a vibrant tribute, to teachers and educational staff, who have always stood up for the values of democracy, living together, dialogue, and for good reason! Samuel Paty died precisely because he defended secularism and the right of expression and tried to explain it to the obscurantists. So let's be strong and resist. Let us also resist easy solutions, those which would consist in stigmatising the enemy from within. We will defeat terrorism only when we come together. Let us also resist the political forces that are already seeking to prosper from this drama. These tragedies are hitting all over Europe. So what should Europe do in the face of this violence? How can we protect our fellow citizens? It is time to question our approach in depth. That is why I call on the Council and the Commission to take the time to reflect, together with us, and to define a concrete and common strategy, without confusion or denial.

Mr President, I strongly and unwaveringly condemn the terrorist attacks by Hamas, and on the left I resent those who do not, because they allow some on the right not to condemn Israel’s disproportionate response. My ancestors were Moroccan gum trees, they fought Nazism with the Europeans, they gave their lives to liberate my country, France, even though they had not spawned Nazism and had not collaborated with the Reich. Do not make this a war of civilisation between Israel, the West and Muslims. This is what terrorists expect: To generalize war everywhere. We have built ourselves on an ideal of peace. We have to carry this message, but we don't. Europe is not up to the task, it is not audible. The world is deteriorating without us having any influence.

Statement by the Council and the Commission on the Islamist terrorist attack on French schools and the need to protect people and promote social cohesion.

Madam President, last Friday, the French Republic was struck in the heart: at school, where our young people are built, educated and asserted themselves, thanks to teachers such as Dominique Bernard and, like three years before him, Samuel Paty. I therefore propose this debate with the following title, amended to take account of the opinions of other groups: "Declaration by the Council and the Commission on the Islamist terrorist attack on French schools and the need to protect people and promote social cohesion". Our Parliament has a duty to organise this debate and to address the staff concerned. We often talk about our freedoms, our principles, our European values. What will happen without our European Schools? That is why we are proposing this debate. That is why we are proposing this title. This is to make sure that we all live up to the time when I tabled it with an amendment, anticipating the request of a number of groups.

Madam President, inflation, declining purchasing power, the most vulnerable are those who pay the heaviest price for this crisis. As always, as always. Over the last decade, Commissioner, the number of homeless people in Europe has increased by 70%. Every night, 900,000 people sleep on the street. In 2022, almost 2.5 million households in France were waiting for social housing. The Abbé Pierre Foundation estimates that there are 330,000 homeless people in France, 30,000 more than the year before. Faced with this observation, the European Commission can no longer hide behind the fact that housing is not a competence of the European Union. Yes, creating a normative framework to regulate financial markets is possible. Creating a fund dedicated to the fight against homelessness is possible. Allowing access to dignified and quality housing is possible. Europe must act quickly, Europe must do better. This is imperative for the European Social Pact.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner Schmit said: Statistics will never be able to tell the whole truth, all the realities, all the suffering that our fellow citizens are going through in this context of multiple difficulties. And, as has been said, there needs to be consistency between what the European Union does and what we do at Member State level. I regret that President Séjourné is not in this room – since this debate takes place on a proposal from the Renew Group – because I would at least have liked to congratulate him on his sense of timing. This debate is being proposed to us at a time when, in France, Emmanuel Macron and the presidential majority, which sits in large numbers in the Renew Group, are proposing, in a difficult situation, to force the most vulnerable in France to work – I was going to say: ‘to be forced to work’ – 15 hours a week to earn a minimum income well below the poverty line. There needs to be coherence and mobilization. Some figures: People's Relief tells us that 35% of people can no longer eat three meals a day; Restos du cœur are facing a 22% increase in applications from beneficiaries, and the cost of funding this food aid has more than doubled in recent months. We need a major mobilization. That is why Europe needs to mobilise its resources. In the French public debate, a donation of €10 million of a great international fortune was welcomed. But this represents very little given the gravity of the situation. Let us not substitute charity for the necessary solidarity, which allows respect for human rights. Commissioner, the associations are asking us to urgently strengthen European food aid schemes. What do you answer them in a concrete and precise way, here, now? Because in a few months, with the arrival of winter, this situation will be dramatic.

Mr President, Tunisia is now on the European agenda. Is this good news for Tunisians? I don't think so. In any case, not for the democratic Tunisia we dreamed of so much. Commissioner, if your objectives were real, you would not have had to go through this Memorandum of Understanding. There was the Association Agreement, which you could have activated. In reality, this MoU is just an expression of your panic. You see the far right moving forward on the topic of immigration and you gesticulate, you give the impression of acting. And what saddens me is that this mode of action makes us hostage to authoritarian regimes. Every time you hand over the management of our borders to dictators, authoritarian regimes, you make us vulnerable. Vulnerable to build a different destiny with our neighbors, vulnerable on our values and principles. Some, including the EPP President, have called us utopians. Fortunately, our European Union was built on this utopia of peace and prosperity. Tunisia and Tunisians expect something else. Commissioner, you are at odds with history.

Mr President, two billion tax cuts for the middle classes. This is the promise made by Emmanuel Macron last May. A large part of the population must have felt concerned because – I quote – they were addressing French women and men who work hard, who want to raise their children well and who today have difficulty closing the month and are overwhelmed by the taxation of income. In short, we had to understand that the downgrading of the middle class was unfair and that it was mainly due to the help of the poor, who also poorly raise their children. Contrary to what this complex thinking suggests, it is the long-term liberal misconceptions that have accentuated the erosion of the middle classes in Europe over the past decade: the development of non-standard forms of employment, the need for flexibility at work, between overwork to keep one’s job and part-time work, pressure on real wages, these are the real reasons for the deterioration of working conditions and the impoverishment of the middle classes. The gross opposition between social classes trades in populism and should not be the political project of the liberals. The middle classes are finding it increasingly difficult to find a properly paid job, but they are also finding it increasingly difficult to find accommodation. They live alongside the poverty of the working classes, who remain the first victims of the indecency of our economic models. Should we call him back? Not surprisingly, the most vulnerable and an impoverished middle class express their anger through far-right votes. To reduce inequality and consolidate a strong middle class, we need to build a social democracy across Europe. I expect Europe to abandon its liberal dogma and move ahead with its social transformation. I expect Europe to continue its normative work in terms of labour law and protection. I expect Europe to commit to social protection, poverty alleviation and dignity. I expect Europe to provide itself with the means to achieve this ambition with its own resources. It is at this price that we can put an end to the impoverishment of the classes by putting social nets that will be necessary for our living together, all of us in decency.

Mr President, Commissioner, the detonation of the port of Beirut on 4 August 2020 still resonates throughout the Mediterranean. Lebanon, which was recovering from conflict, was again shattered, again bruised by its inner demons – not the sectarian clash, this time, but the rampant corruption, the lack of sense of responsibility of its leaders, the complicit laissez-faire of their international supporters. As a result, Lebanon is experiencing incredible corruption and crisis. Inflation reaches 330%, and a family has to spend half the average income to get water. The promises of the international community – and I am also thinking here, particularly those of Emmanuel Macron, who had positioned himself as the savior of Lebanon – have proved hollow. The Council has not placed any officials under the European sanctions regime. Syrian refugees are being singled out as scapegoats. Normalization of the Damascus butcher is underway. What better scapegoat could be designated? In a few days we will go to Lebanon. Let's carry a clear message: Lebanese politicians must end corruption, stop looking for scapegoats and serve the needs of Lebanese women and men.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, in the face of crises, the Porto Forum must enshrine a new European social contract. There is an urgent need not to let people sink into poverty without protecting their rights. There is an urgent need not to let Eurosceptics thrive on misery. There is an urgent need not to allow the extreme right to spread withdrawal and hatred. There is an urgent need not to let the violence of poverty sabotage the European project. Finally, there is an urgent need to move Europe forward, a Europe of solidarity, protective, inclusive and emancipatory. Our leaders can no longer hide behind their own limits to social competences at European level. To ensure that economic freedoms are never again imposed in the face of social rights, let us vote for the inclusion of a social progress protocol in our Treaties. Ladies and gentlemen, vote in favour of Amendment No 1 which will allow us to move towards a greater social Europe.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, 1990: First IPCC report. 2023: First European Year of Skills for the Green Transition. In 2023, in France, student unions are still waiting for sustainable development to be a compulsory subject in all training courses. Look for the error. Some denounce a brutal transition. I denounce here 33 years of inaction hidden behind the myth of profitability and growth. While 14% of young people are unemployed and without training and only 23% of energy service employees are women, we environmentalists offer a inclusive and inclusive transition. A transition that accompanies innovative training projects, such as the +4 baccalaureate, such as the return to employment of those left behind. A transition that rejuvenates apprenticeships, at a time when, in France, vocational high schools are about to be sacrificed. So that the transition in Europe is finally there, Commissioner, look no further, listen at last to the environmentalists.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Vladimir Putin, at the head of a system where his arbitrariness prevails, believes himself to be above the law. Above the law in Russia, for the crimes it commits against opponents, journalists. Above the laws he orders in Ukraine. The difference with other dark periods in history is the existence of the International Criminal Court. Deporting children en masse to Ukraine is a war crime and Vladimir Putin must be held accountable. In the present case, the Court’s arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin is correct. This Court is a valuable achievement and I call on all countries that have not yet done so, including the United States, to join it. I also call on all Member States to fulfil their obligations and implement this arrest warrant. No one should be above the laws, which watch over our humanity. In Ukraine, Yemen, Xinjiang, Palestine, no one should be able to commit atrocities without being brought to justice.

Mr President, the situation in Tunisia is deteriorating at a glance. Kaïs Saïed installs stone after stone all the components of a dictatorship. In a few months, all democracy is on the ground, separation of powers, judicial system, freedom of the press, human rights, associative fabric. Democracy has a new page of tears. Elected mayors have been removed from office. This new system also has many victims, including Noureddine Boutar and many others. The president cynically jeopardizes the lives of sub-Saharans with racist speeches that open the door to abuses against migrants and Tunisians who have the misfortune to resemble them. Populism is at its peak. It echoes, an unfortunate echo, the same European racist populism. We have the friends we deserve. It is time to clearly condemn this regime. It is time to ensure that no European funding directly or indirectly serves the establishment of this dictatorship and violations of human rights. Our responsibility is immense. Let us stand with those who still defend the rule of law and democracy in Tunisia.