What Leila spoke about.

15

Jan

2024

Speeches FR

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Commemoration of Jacques Delors

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, this moment of commemoration is an opportunity to look back on the decisions taken during the whole period when Jacques Delors chaired the European Commission between 1985 and 1995, because these decisions shape the architecture of today's Europe. Jacques Delors, like the great majority of the political leaders of the time, believed that the relaunch of European integration must go first and foremost through the deepening of market logics and that, of course, social was important, but that social harmonisation would naturally happen once allegiance was made to the dogma of competition. Instead of social Europe, we were entitled to a brutal Europe, a Europe that hurts: austerity, free trade, single act and single thought, Maastricht, ever more sacrosanct competition, relocations in turmoil. Experience has shown us that social has not arisen spontaneously from the market and that, if we want social in Europe, we need political will, we need concrete decisions in this area. But then, some, among the most fervent defenders of liberalism, panic as soon as they find themselves faced with a European text that could improve the lives of workers. They are also the same people who claim to be the heirs of Jacques Delors in the desire to relaunch a European construction and who stand in the way of texts that improve the lives of workers at European level. To put it clearly, I rage to hear leaders like Emmanuel Macron position himself on the national scene as a great defender of a Europe that protects and at the same time to see this same Emmanuel Macron, here, at the European level, working hard to bring down a directive that should give some rights to platform workers, all in order not to offend Uber's interests. In a few months the European elections will take place. Believe me, we are going to make sure that European citizens know that those who boast of being the most pro-Europe are actually those who are blocking advances that could improve the lives of millions of Europeans. To the most zealous defenders of European integration, I say: By taking up the dogmas of brutal Europe, you will achieve European destruction.

20

Nov

2023

Speeches FR

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, peace is buried under the rubble of Gaza. Peace is the first word of the Schuman Declaration. Since 1950, the world has been told that peace is the raison d’être of the European project. And when it’s time to put the founding principles into practice, what is Europe doing? The war. In Gaza, Israeli bombs rain down on hospitals. In schoolyards, children are massacred by IDF missiles. What is Ursula von der Leyen doing? She's on the bomb side. It could have demanded a ceasefire, recalled its ambassador to Israel, suspended the EU-Israel Association Agreement. Nothing. Europe has failed. That is why we want to table a motion of censure against the European Commission. This is a power that the European Parliament has and that we must use today. Colleagues, the world is watching us. Therefore, I solemnly ask you to bring your signature to this draft motion of censure to demand a ceasefire, the only way to achieve peace.

13

Jun

2023

Speeches FR

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Establishment of the EU Ethics Body (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, you took your time to present your proposal for an independent ethics body. We thought that if you took so much time, it was because you were preparing a solid and ambitious proposal. Last week, you finally presented us with your proposal, and then we said: All this for that! Parliament asked you for a body that sets ethical rules; you propose a working group for common minimum standards. Parliament asked you for an independent ethics body; your organization is made up of members of the institutions who make their own self-assessments. Parliament called for the ethics body to have the right to investigate potential conflicts of interest and to have a sanctioning power; you do not propose either. In short, despite its pretty name, this organization will not serve anything at all. Commissioner, your proposal is an affront. We ask you to withdraw your proposal and consider an independent ethics body, as proposed by Parliament, so that the European Union finally ceases to be the kingdom of lobbies, secrecy and opacity.

12

Jun

2023

Speeches FR

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Madam Speaker, I think it's really starting to show: I am pregnant and in two months I will give birth to a little girl. (Applause) Thank you! This is good news, it is true. But this is not necessarily good news for those who elected me. Because I necessarily asked myself whether I was entitled to an absence for maternity leave. Well, then I found out that no: in the European Parliament, nothing is planned, as if, when you were a Member of the European Parliament, you had to give up having children. As if, in the end, to be a Member of the European Parliament, one had to be a man who was a Member of the European Parliament. The problem is not so much for us. The problem, as I said, is for those who elected us. There is a democratic problem of representativeness. So, Madam President, please hear this call, and make maternity and paternity leave possible for elected officials. One should not have to choose between exercising one's mandate properly and giving birth to a child.

1

Jun

2023

Speeches FR

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Strengthening social dialogue (B9-0259/2023)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I would like here, from the Chamber of our European Parliament, to alert you to the situation of social dialogue in France. The French government has authoritarianly pushed back the retirement age by ignoring all the demands, all the proposals of the social partners, refusing to negotiate with the trade unions, and then ignoring and flouting parliamentary representation. As you have understood, this reform, which will have a significant impact on the lives of French people, was adopted without a vote, without dialogue, either with the social partners or with the national representation. The government went one step further yesterday, going so far as to withdraw the constitutional right of amendment from opposition MPs. Political manoeuvres, attacks on social dialogue, on trade unions, all this marks a dangerous authoritarian drift. Colleagues, as European parliamentarians, this way of flouting social democracy, this way of attacking trade unions, this way of attacking democracy must alert us to the utmost.

10

May

2023

Questions FR

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Roadmap on a Social Europe: two years after Porto (debate)

Mr Orville, in the same way as Mrs Vedrenne, you indicated that you support the directive for platform workers. You know that at the moment this directive is blocked in the Council, where we have a group of states, first and foremost the French government, France, which is trying to ensure that exceptions, exemptions, suspensive periods are put in place, that everything is done to dilute the directive. Can you convey the message you expressed there to the President of the Republic and the French Government that he should stop sabotaging the directive in the Council and that we should be able to go along with the proposal made by Mr Nicolas Schmit for a directive to protect platform workers?

10

May

2023

Speeches FR

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Roadmap on a Social Europe: two years after Porto (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, before, my political family and I felt like we were shouting in the desert. But the health crisis and the war in Ukraine have gone through this. And in the face of the terrible social consequences for European households, the importance of public services, hospitals and State aid was realised. A door was ajar. The lines have moved. The dogmas of austerity, of competition, these software have become obsolete. Yet, since the promises of the Porto Social Summit two years ago, what has happened? Full of good ideas, but all stopped in the middle of the ford. A directive on European minimum wages that does not set a threshold. A directive on pay transparency that will affect less than 1% of workers. A non-binding minimum income initiative. The door is ajar, but some, behind, push to close it. Next year's European elections are an opportunity to decide the debate. Will we decide to open the door completely, to put more than one foot in it, and to throw in the trash those dogmas that lead the European peoples into the wall? I want to issue a warning: If the European Union leaves citizens at the door, it will not survive.

8

May

2023

Speeches FR

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, today is Europe Day, and it is the day that platform workers from all over Europe have chosen to speak with a common voice to European labour ministers. These workers are waiting for the directive that will oblige their employers to respect labour law, and to pay social security contributions. In the European Parliament, we are ready. We have validated our position for three months already. But in the Council, it's blocking. It blocks because some countries, like France, do everything to torpedo the directive by adding criteria, multiplying the grounds for exemption. This is blocking, because France and Emmanuel Macron’s friends are trying to empty the directive of its substance. So I join the call of Uber drivers and Deliveroo deliverers. Ministers, do not try to sabotage this directive. European workers are getting impatient. They are waiting for the final phase of the negotiations, for it to finally be adopted, this directive which is crucial for the future of wage-earning. Ladies and gentlemen, show them that Europe is not about Uber, but about platform workers.

17

Apr

2023

Speeches FR

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Revision of the EU Emissions Trading System - Monitoring, reporting and verification of greenhouse gas emissions from maritime transport - Carbon border adjustment mechanism - Social Climate Fund - Revision of the EU Emissions Trading System for aviation (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, let me warn you. Europeans are caught in the throat by inflation and you are about to tighten the rope that is strangling them. By validating the extension of the carbon market to buildings and transport, you will make households pay for the green transition. For those who have no choice but to put petrol in their car to go to work, you say: “Global warming is your fault. You will pay more, but it is for the good cause and do not complain.” Just because you make petrol more expensive does not mean that Europeans will consume less petrol or find the thousands of euros to buy an electric car. Just because you make heating more expensive does not mean that Europeans will suddenly find thousands of euros to invest in the thermal renovation of their homes. In this context, the Social Climate Fund is just a bandage on a wooden leg. Fighting global warming, yes, but not by making workers and the most precarious households pay for the green transition. The European Commission itself recognises that all this will have an impact on the household portfolio. Experts are talking about 50 cents increase per litre of petrol – and this is not the darkest scenario. Some here have short memories. I am thinking above all of my French colleagues and those of Renaissance in particular. We are in a good position in France to know that hitting workers in the portfolio under the guise of fighting global warming is counterproductive and creates social anger. Be careful, colleagues, not to add social injustice to climate irresponsibility. Be careful, colleagues, because if you decide that it is up to European workers to pay the bill for the green transition, you may well find on all the roundabouts in Europe this yellow vest that I am showing you as a warning.

15

Mar

2023

Speeches FR

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Need for immediate reform of the internal rules of the Commission to ensure transparency and accountability in light of alleged conflicts of interests (debate)

Madam President, nine business class trips, all paid for by Qatar, are the nice gift given to the European Commission's top official in charge of transport. While Mr. was enjoying a five-star meal in the sky at the expense of Qatar Airways, his services were negotiating an air transport agreement, which turned out to be much more in favor of Qataris than Europeans. On the day of the revelations, the European Commission said: Don't worry, we checked it out. No, no, no, we swear, there is no conflict of interest. Commissioner, luxury travel paid for by Qatar's petrodollars while negotiations for an agreement with Qatar take place at the same time is a conflict of interest. One cannot be satisfied with a system in which senior officials themselves control whether or not the gifts they receive are a conflict of interest. That is precisely why Parliament is asking you for an independent ethics body. When you get caught in the bag, you stop procrastinating.

15

Mar

2023

Speeches FR

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More Europe, more jobs: we are building the competitive economy of tomorrow for the benefit of all (topical debate)

Mr President, yesterday, between meetings, I went to the Castorama store in Lampertheim, ten kilometres from here. It was not to rebuild the partition of my office, but it was to support Xavier, who is employed in the paint department and is on hunger strike in his car, in front of the shop. Xavier earns EUR 1 400 a month while he is 13 years old. With prices skyrocketing, he and his colleagues are no longer able to make ends meet. Some even sleep in their cars all year round. Meanwhile, Castorama binges: almost €3 billion in turnover in 2022; for shareholders, more than €540 million distributed. Profits have never been higher. And the prosperity you talk about, employees never see the colour of it. After the health crisis, after the war, after inflation, we must stop repeating the same dogmas again and again – the single market as a magic solution, sacrosanct competition, restrictions on state aid ... One element must now be at the heart of our European economic strategy: share. Sharing the wealth produced with those who create it, this wealth: workers.

14

Mar

2023

Speeches FR

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Adequate minimum income ensuring active inclusion (debate)

Mr President, in France, there is a minimum income called the active solidarity income, the RSA. But when you are under 25, you are not entitled to it. France is one of the only countries in the European Union to place an age requirement on access to minimum income. Thousands of young French people find themselves condemned to start their lives in poverty because they are discriminated against in accessing the RSA. A directive can remedy that. Not just a recommendation to the Member States, a directive. A binding directive, with a non-discrimination clause, would oblige France to open access to the RSA to those under 25. Commissioner, make a directive. Show young French people that they can count on you, that they can count on the European Union.

14

Feb

2023

Speeches FR

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Establishment of an independent EU Ethics Body (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, how many ticket cases will you need, how many suitcases, before you finally decide to publish a legislative proposal? Four years ago, Ursula von der Leyen announced the creation of a body to monitor conflicts of interest and corruption. A year and a half ago, a report from Parliament asked you to set up this ethics body, and you did nothing. Two months ago, the "Qatargate" scandal shamed us all! The biggest corruption scandal in the history of the European Union: suitcases of banknotes found under Members’ beds. We thought it only happened in movies. We can imagine the reaction of citizens when they received the notification on their phones, the same citizens who are so hard-pressed to be interested in Europe. As a result of such an electroshock, it was said: Here, the European Commission will wake up. Two months later, still nothing. If Parliament had the right of legislative initiative, this ethics body would already be in place. Earlier, we are meeting with the representatives of the different political groups to agree on a joint emergency resolution. And we will insist, once again, and we can tell you in all languages – given that we have the chance here in the European Parliament to have interpreters in 24 languages: please activate! Submit your proposal for an independent ethics body! On Valentine’s Day, I remind you that there is no love without proof of love, and there will be no ethics without an ethics body.

13

Feb

2023

Speeches FR

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Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in European Parliament elections - Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in municipal elections (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, 12 million Europeans live in an EU country that is not their own. These Europeans have the right to work, live and study in another Member State and they know that. These mobile citizens also have the right to vote in the European elections in their host country, but often they do not know this. And so, in practice, they don't vote at all: neither in their home country, because they do not live there, nor in their host country, because they do not know that they have the right to do so. This report aims to make this right effective, first and foremost by promoting access to information, which will be given to mobile citizens as soon as they register in their new country of residence. Thus, they will be able to make an informed choice as soon as they arrive to vote in their Member State of origin or from their Member State of residence. In a context where abstention is massive in every European election – I am not saying that the revision of this directive is a magic solution – we cannot balk at more citizens being able to go to the polls in the European elections and this report contributes to that.

19

Jan

2023

Speeches FR

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Revision of the European Works Councils Directive (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, rapporteur, a Frenchman named Jean Jaurès said about democracy: The Great Revolution made the French kings in the city and left them servile in the business. Unfortunately, Dennis Radtke’s report does not propose to make a revolution in the company. However, it is very important because it proposes to infuse democracy into business by strengthening the power of European Works Councils. Political democracy is obvious to all of us. Social democracy in the workplace must become a reality. There is no reason why, when we arrive at work in the morning, our citizenship should be taken to the back of our pockets. There are therefore works councils, European works councils, which are essential for consulting employees when important decisions are taken within the company. You don't have to be fooled, though. At work, workers are subordinated and will never have full power. Democracy will never be perfect in business. And let us be aware that European Works Councils and in general social democracy bodies in the company are often used as a democratic veneer on decisions taken unilaterally by management. Let us also not forget that the ultimate objective of an undertaking is not to enable the sovereignty of employees to be achieved, but to make a profit. Those profits, who creates them? Who creates wealth? Without workers, the company is nothing, creates nothing. So why would investors be consulted at general meetings to validate companies’ strategic policy decisions and why would employees not be consulted, who create wealth? Companies – and I think this is the main interest of works councils – are now organising themselves at European level, to go where the legislation suits them the most. And European Works Councils are essential in the sense that they are counter-powers. Because very often, the credo of companies, and I am thinking in particular of Amazon, is to divide in order to rule better, to play on the atomisation of employees, their dispersion, their partitioning. Everywhere, wherever the workers of multinationals have set up spaces for discussion and exchange, they have succeeded in reversing the balance of power. In my view, this is the main interest of European Works Councils as a tool for transnational action to mobilise workers.

18

Jan

2023

Speeches FR

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Revelations of Uber lobbying practices in the EU (debate)

Mr President, in July, when the Uber Files were published, the immediate reaction of Uber’s spokesmen was to say: “Circulate, there is nothing to do. All this is ancient history.” Yet these revelations confirm what we have seen for three years now in this European Parliament, namely how Uber and platforms are working hard to influence legislators’ decisions in order to write the law themselves. So yes, I say so, because yes, as I have seen, lobbying by Uber and the platforms is still ongoing. And why is it still relevant? Because it has to be said, it benefits from the complicity of MEPs, MEPs who are strangely absent today in this debate and who spend their time repeating like parrots the arguments of the platforms, which put pressure on the negotiating teams of the Platform Workers’ Rights Directive. Members who are willing to lock themselves in rooms in this European Parliament to get their heads stuffed by platforms by refusing the presence of workers, or even insulting them when they have the audacity to invite themselves. Ladies and gentlemen, Parliament must validate its position on this directive. This vote will bring down the masks and answer an important question: Who are we driving for? Who is this Parliament for? For platforms or for workers? Colleagues, I am counting on you. I'm counting on us. Let us show that this European Parliament works for citizens and workers and that no, we will not give in to lobbying by Uber and the platforms.

18

Jan

2023

Speeches FR

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Terrorist threats posed by far-right extremist networks defying the democratic constitutional order (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, everywhere the fascist international is gaining ground. The latest example is the failed coup attempt in Brazil, where thousands of far-right putschists invaded the Brazilian presidential palace because they refused the outcome of the ballot box. Closer to home in Germany, it is the seditious far right that is trying to storm the Bundestag. In France, far-right terrorists are killing Kurds in the heart of Paris. The resemblances are troubling with the Europe of the interwar period. Everywhere, the extreme right expresses the same detestation of democracy, the same detestation of the constitutional order, the same xenophobic violence. And I am very, very worried when I see the shift from the classic right, the Republican right to the extreme right, whether in Sweden, Italy, France, with Eric Ciotti winning the Republicans. To defeat the far right, declarations of intent are no longer enough, moralising postures are no longer enough. What is needed is to build an alternative political project through action, break resignation and change everyday life.

13

Dec

2022

Speeches FR

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Suspicions of corruption from Qatar and the broader need for transparency and accountability in the European institutions (debate) (debate)

Mr President, more than one and a half million euros in cash is 94 years at the SMIC. In other words, a couple who work their entire lives will not make as much money as Qatar has spent on corrupting European politicians. And again, we are only at the beginning of the investigation. Most of us have not been offered ticket cases. On the other hand, most of us have experienced phishing. It’s the name given to a technique that feels like we’re fish that we love with bait. We all got those baits. Just last week, I received an invitation to go to one of the most luxurious hotels in Brussels, sent by the Qatari Embassy to my EP email address. Two weeks earlier, it was an invitation to go to Qatar, visit stadiums, meet with trade unions and observe how Qatar had put in place a package of measures to strengthen social protection and working conditions. Colleagues, we need to tackle the roots of this scandal and legislate so that unbridled lobbying and corruption are no longer like a fish in the water in the European Parliament.

24

Nov

2022

Speeches FR

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The European Year of Youth 2022 Legacy (debate)

Madam President, be careful, ladies and gentlemen, drum roll: the European Year of Youth is coming to an end. The European Year of Youth. I took the test last night, went to Strasbourg and asked all the young people I met if they had heard about the European Year of Youth. Well, don’t you see that not one of them answered yes to me. Not one. Still, it could have been an event. It had every reason to be the European Year of Youth. With the explosion in the number of young people forced to start their working lives by lining up at the Restos du cœur. One in five people lining up for food aid is between 15 and 25 years old – between 15 and 25 years old! It made sense, this European Year of Youth, given the number of students who navigate between scholarships and odd jobs and who are forced to settle for one meal a day because they cannot pay their bills. Yet we can say that today the European Year of Youth was a missed opportunity. The Youth Guarantee. The Youth Guarantee could have provided young people with access to genuine, stable and quality employment. But no, in the end, she puts them in precariousness. On the minimum income, we expected a real binding directive from the European Commission, a directive that gives everyone access to the minimum income, regardless of their age. That directive would have forced France to put an end to the discrimination of young people under the age of 25 in access to the RSA. But no, we had a recommendation. Even the trainees. The trainees were forced last week to come before the European Parliament and ask us to ban the modern slavery of unpaid traineeships. So, it is true, I admit, I had a taste for large-format posters with smiling young people saying ‘European Year of Youth’ in the morning when you arrive at the European Parliament. It is true that I will miss this. But admit, admit, we could have done so much better.

17

Oct

2022

Speeches FR

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International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, what is the difference between these two packages of pasta? None, you might say. Well, the difference is their price: 21% difference between these two packets of pasta; 21% increase in one year for pasta prices. Food prices have skyrocketed. Eating noodles is becoming a luxury. But I could also have come here with frozen meat, the price of which has increased by almost 30% in one year. Or with a watermelon: Watermelons have increased by 40% in one year. Or with cookies: Some biscuits have increased by 50%. Between food prices and soaring energy prices, more and more households need to tighten their belts. The situation has become untenable. Meanwhile, the profits of some multinationals explode, their shareholders binge. Here in France, an example is very telling: Total’s CEO grew by 52% in 2021, while Total paid out $2.6 billion in windfall dividends last week. All this while people struggle to fill their fridges and heat themselves, and they have to choose between putting gas in their cars or paying the electricity bill. Meanwhile, what is the European Union doing? The European Union palabre. She has been telling us for months that she will act. And for months, we've been waiting, we've been waiting. Here in the European Parliament, we are currently waiting for the proposal to be made by the European Commission to respond to the increase in energy prices. We wait, we wait. The European Commission has always been very good at setting ceilings – capping debt, capping state aid, capping the public deficit. But when it comes to capping energy prices and basic necessities, capping the profits of multinationals, there is no one left. But now is the time. Now is the time to cap. Capping energy prices will have a real impact on people’s lives. Commissioner von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, 400 million Europeans are watching. It's up to you to get your hands on the dough.

8

Jun

2022

Speeches FR

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Parliament’s right of initiative (debate)

– Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I imagine that you are also regularly questioned by citizens, by associations that tell you: "There is a super important problem in Europe, the European Union should legislate. And since you are a Member of the European Parliament, well go ahead!" And I imagine that at that point, like me, you feel a little embarrassed to have to explain that it is not as simple, and, above all, that you do not have the power to write laws. The European Parliament is the only one in the world that does not have the right of legislative initiative, i.e. it does not have the right to propose laws and must wait for the European Commission to propose and draft them. A European Commission made up of officials and Commissioners, who do not have the democratic legitimacy of universal suffrage that we here in the European Parliament, the only European institution elected by direct universal suffrage, the only democratically legitimate one, do not have the power to propose laws. We are parliamentarians and we are obliged to play lobbyists with the European Commission to push it to propose the laws that the citizens who elected us wish to see adopted, hoping that Her Majesty the European Commission will be kind enough to agree to propose a draft directive on the issues expected and requested by our voters. You know, two years ago, I decided to take it, this right of initiative, and to draft a proposal for a directive, because I was tired of waiting for a proposal from the European Commission that was announced and was slow to arrive. This was on the issue of digital platform workers. I knew it had no legislative value, but it was sort of my way of lobbying. You can't imagine the reactions: It was original, unexpected, disruptive... That MEPs propose laws should no longer be original or disruptive. On the contrary. That is why the European Parliament must be given a genuine right of general initiative.

7

Jun

2022

Speeches FR

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Revision of the EU Emissions Trading System - Social Climate Fund - Carbon border adjustment mechanism - Revision of the EU Emissions Trading System for aviation - Notification under the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) (joint debate – Fit for 55 (part 1))

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, do not exceed EUR 2 per litre of petrol and 2 °C of warming: These should be our two main priorities. However, most of the right-wing amendments and the many, not always very subtle, recommendations of the lobbies speak only of emission allowances, these polluting rights distributed free of charge to the sectors most harmful to the climate, such as aviation or the steel industry. Listening to lobbies, we should continue to water the carbon market with these rights to be polluted in order not to harm the competitiveness of companies, and all this at the expense of the climate. But, despite pressure from lobbies, we have stood firm here in Parliament with a first victory and a compromise that proposes to postpone the carbon market for fuel and heating for households to at least 2029. The inclusion of transport and buildings in the carbon market would have only increased the already far too high bills for petrol and heating. We affirm that: the carbon market is not the solution. Entrusting the keys to our climate policy to market fluctuations is going straight into the wall. On the contrary, what we need is planning, both to achieve our climate goals, but also to make the transition as just as possible. It is precisely in this spirit that I was in charge of the negotiations for my group on the Social Climate Fund, a tool that can be improved, but which allows the issue of transition costs to be finally put on the agenda. For the most modest, it is necessary to hold both ends: do not increase the price of petrol or the temperature.

2

May

2022

Speeches FR

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Election of the Members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage (debate)

Mr President, first of all I would like to congratulate my colleague Domènec Ruiz Devesa on this excellent report. I am not going to come back to one of the major issues that is being debated, which is transnational lists, but I would like to come back to another point. You will find that in this report reference is made to the possibility of having alternating lists of women, men, women, men, women, men. Then the French who listen to me will say: "Yes, so what?". And before working on this report, I would have been the first to say: ‘Yes, so what?’ Because in France, alternating lists are the norm, they are the law. All our elections are held by alternating lists and no one from all sides of the political spectrum questions this because it ensures roughly equal representation of both genders in elected office. And frankly, I never thought that claiming alternating lists would make me a Simone de Beauvoir. Well, on the contrary. When the subject began to be raised in the negotiations, some shouted scandal. So, in the end, alternating lists are mentioned in this report, but only as a guideline, as a possibility. And it is a pity that this is not mandatory, as it would have rebalanced the proportion of MEPs compared to the proportion of MEPs. And this knowing that 21 countries out of 27 send more MEPs than MEPs here in this Chamber, and that some countries have no women elected to the European Parliament. So I confess to you that I ask myself a question: the Committee on Constitutional Affairs in which we negotiated this report is the least equal in the European Parliament. Do I have the twisted mind to think that there is a connection with the fact that alternating lists have been the subject of so much controversy? I am tempted to believe that, had this House been parity, the alternating lists would have been self-evident.

9

Mar

2022

Speeches FR

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A new EU strategic framework on health and safety at work post 2020 (continuation of debate)

Mr President, yesterday in Brittany, a 43-year-old farm worker was hit by a machine used to sow grass. He's dead. The day before yesterday in the Yonne, in a company that manufactures sofas and armchairs, a 50-year-old worker who took up his post at 5 a.m. was crushed by a machine. In France, more than 800 people die every year at work. This is the highest figure in the European Union. Emmanuel Macron, who is, as you know, the man who chairs the Council of the European Union at the moment, once said: "The life of an entrepreneur is often harder than that of an employee. He must never be forgotten because he, the entrepreneur, can lose everything.” How can he dare? It is the workers who risk their lives every day at work. Two-thirds of deaths at work are workers and the problem will not be solved by putting an accident counter at the entrance to factories, much like in the Simpsons generic or at the entrance to Amazon warehouses. As if accidents at work were only a matter of motivation, the fault of the workers. It is not because workers are stunned, it is not because they are clumsy that there are accidents and deaths at work – should it be repeated? Nor is it inevitable. All this is the result of political choices that encourage a race for profits where human capital is seen as a cost, as a burden. Productivity first, and for safety, we'll see later. The answer is political. We must stop this race for profits, improve working conditions. There is a very concrete need to empower labour inspectorates by doubling the number of inspectors who ensure that law and safety are respected. And we must not only re-establish the Committees on Health, Safety and Working Conditions, or CHSCT, which Macron, with his cap as President of the French Republic, had barely elected, but also increase their resources. Working kills, and that is unacceptable.

15

Dec

2021

Speeches FR

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EU response to the transport poverty (debate)

–. Mr President, Commissioner, there is no better place than a petrol station to understand the increase in the price of petrol. That is why I went to the Champigny-sur-Marne station in the Paris region. Why this station, you will tell me? Because it was the cheapest morning in the whole of eastern Paris. Some of the motorists I met drove 20 km to save between €3 and €5 on their diesel fuel. They told me about their difficulty in refuelling and the lack of public transport in the suburbs. They also told me that they were cutting back on other expenses to keep using the car. Commissioner, people are suffering from rising fuel, gas and electricity prices, especially when wages are not rising. To address this situation, Europe will set up an instrument, the Social Climate Fund. A fund that will only be useful if it allows the people of the Champigny station to move around without bleeding their wallets.