What François-Xavier spoke about.

13 Sep

2023

FR Speech

State of the Union (debate)

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Madam President, in referring to the Commission's record, you are talking about the strength of Europe and its effectiveness, but the reality sometimes seems far removed from this Chamber. As we speak, the Secours populaire announces that 20% of French people live in the open. Across Europe, one in three people miss a meal to hold. Millions of households, craftsmen and businesses are no longer abl…

12 Jul

2023

FR Speech

Delivering on the Green Deal: risk of compromising the EU path to the green transition and its international commitments (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, yes, it must be said clearly, to use the title that the Greens wanted to give to this debate, Europe risks jeopardising environmental protection and failing in its international commitments in this area. But this is not at all because the EPP would oppose the protection of the environment, ladies and gentlemen. This is because today, with 12 votes, this Parliament has c…

14 Jun

2023

FR Speech

Surrogacy in the EU - risks of exploitation and commercialisation (topical debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for this debate. I believe it will have been essential, not least because it has made it possible to show that voices from all sides are trying to warn about this very serious questioning of human dignity, namely surrogacy. Some colleagues have spoken, I have no doubt about their sincerity, about the possibility of ethical surrogacy. However, the cr…

13 Jun

2023

FR Speech

Situation in Lebanon (debate)

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Mr President, all colleagues have said this: Lebanon is now in a situation of major collapse. The economy is bankrupt, institutions are paralyzed, Lebanese savings are confiscated by failed banking institutions, health is inaccessible, and the Syrian refugee crisis threatens to destabilise the entire fragile social fabric of the country. However, once we have said that, we must move from the obser…

13 Jun

2023

FR Speech

Question Time (VPC/HR) - Relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and at the Lachin Corridor

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Mr High Representative, I mentioned this negotiation, but can we accept that it takes place in the context of a crime, condemned today by the International Court of Justice, without doing anything against this crime? This would indicate that we accept that a situation of fundamental injustice now serves as a context for this discussion between, I repeat, a culprit and a victim. Once again, we do n…

13 Jun

2023

FR Speech

Question Time (VPC/HR) - Relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and at the Lachin Corridor

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Mr President, Mr High Representative, it has now been almost six months since the Lachin corridor was closed and the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh have been living in what amounts to a modern siege situation. Now that this seat lasts, everything is missing: electricity and even drinking water. What is Europe doing? She still doesn't do anything. We in this Parliament have clearly determined the po…

11 May

2023

FR Speech

Protecting and restoring marine ecosystems for sustainable and resilient fisheries - Agreement of the IGC on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (High Seas Treaty) (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, since the beginning of this debate I have been struck by colleagues who are constantly opposing biodiversity and fisheries. But, let us remember, European fisheries today represent the most demanding model in the world from an environmental point of view. For more than 40 years now, fishermen, through their efforts, have made it possible to put all, almost all, fisherie…

9 May

2023

FR Speech

This is Europe - Debate with the Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz (debate)

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Madam President, Chancellor, let us speak frankly: differences between our countries often become worrying. Mine, France, has its responsibility. But behind the words, your coalition ends up putting Europe at risk. You talk about a united Europe, but after imposing austerity everywhere, you launch the ‘Doppel Wumms’ without warning anyone: a massive support plan for the German economy, and much th…

8 May

2023

FR Speech

Impact on the 2024 EU budget of increasing European Union Recovery Instrument borrowing costs - Own resources: a new start for EU finances, a new start for Europe (debate)

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Mr. Speaker, here we are. Three years ago, everyone was delighted to see magic money raining down on Europe with this loan that was popping up. And today, this loan that no one knew how it would be repaid, we are faced with the cost it represents. This cost was to be 15 billion euros, the equivalent of all our space programmes in Europe over seven years. Well, today it has certainly exploded, even…

20 Apr

2023

FR Speech

Cohesion dimension of EU state aid and de minimis rules (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, this subject of State aid may seem technical, but I would just like to tell you a little story. When I visited the fishermen in Mayotte, who go out to sea on out-of-age canoes, they told me that they had not received a single cent of the funding they had been promised for years now to renew their fleet. All the major world powers help their fishermen to finance the r…

18 Apr

2023

FR Speech

EU relations with Iraq (debate)

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Madam President, we are talking about relations between Europe and Iraq, and there is so much to say, so much to say about the increasing droughts, about these major difficulties for irrigation of Iraqi agriculture, which threaten the food of so many Iraqi citizens. Why? In particular, of course, because of the blockades at the Türkiye level on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Turkey, too, is at s…

17 Apr

2023

FR Speech

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)

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Mr. Speaker, there are times when politics keeps its word and the promise becomes reality. By voting for the creation of the carbon border adjustment mechanism, we will finally see the coming of this long-awaited protection mechanism. Finally, Europe is emerging from naivety and environmental policy is not just about imposing increasingly complicated rules on those who produce in Europe, while ope…

29 Mar

2023

FR Speech

Order of business

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Madam President, yes, of course, the French are going through a trying time and, of course, in these moments of tension in particular, any police officer who fails must be punished. However, this does not allow amalgamation or interference. And our Parliament does not have to take the place of justice, which can be freely seized by any citizen in France. But we do not refuse a debate. This afterno…

15 Mar

2023

FR Speech

Conclusions of the Special European Council meeting of 9 February and preparation of the European Council meeting of 23-24 March 2023 (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, yesterday we discovered with great relief the plan to reform the European electricity market. Finally, the long term regains its place in the energy strategies we need to be able to invest in our future. Now it's not just about the market. The energy crisis we are going through is not just a trade issue, it is first and foremost…

14 Mar

2023

FR Speech

EU-Armenia relations (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, today the Armenian people are facing an existential threat. Tonight, it has been 92 days, 92 days that the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh must live without being able to leave their enclave, deprived of everything, deprived of food, supplies, gas to heat themselves, deprived of education for their children. 92 days for the world to remain silent.…

13 Mar

2023

FR Speech

Energy performance of buildings (recast) (debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, tomorrow we are going to vote on a directive on the energy efficiency of buildings. It is very simple to vote, but what matters is to think about the consequences. It requires major thermal renovation works to be carried out on 40 million buildings in Europe by 2033 – 40% of the total building stock in Europe in less than 10 years. For this, the Commission pr…

15 Feb

2023

FR Speech

European Central Bank - annual report 2022 (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, President of the ECB, I would like to join the thanks of my colleague Sven Simon and all my colleagues in saying that we are very grateful that you stayed so late – despite the difficulties of the day in the European Parliament – for this important discussion. You quoted Thomas Jefferson, who said that ‘the price of freedom is eternal vigilance’. Vigilance must be en…

15 Feb

2023

FR Speech

A Green Deal Industrial Plan for the Net-Zero Age (continuation of debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, since the beginning of this debate, I have heard some colleagues from the Greens or Renew ironize about our concern for the future of our businesses, our industries, our farmers. Well, yes, ladies and gentlemen, we are concerned, because many of the texts voted here will weaken our economy without in any way saving the climate. The European Union wants to achiev…

1 Feb

2023

FR Speech

Preparation of the Special European Council meeting of February, in particular the need to develop sustainable solutions in the area of asylum and migration (debate)

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Mr President, finally, the Council will address the migration issue, which is critical for the future of Europe, especially in the coming months – at least 330 000 illegal entries in 2022: a record since 2016! The explosion in comparison with the previous year can also be seen in the fact that almost one million asylum applications have been received in our countries, including 150,000 in France a…

17 Jan

2023

FR Speech

Human rights and democracy in the world and the European Union’s policy on the matter - annual report 2022 (debate)

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Madam President, we are talking about human rights at risk. They are particularly so this evening, in general indifference, in Nagorno-Karabakh. The Lachin road, the only possible access to this territory, was closed more than a month ago by Azerbaijan. 120,000 Armenians, 120,000 innocent civilians are being held hostage, including 30,000 children. A population that lacks everything and first of a…

17 Jan

2023

FR Speech

Presentation of the programme of activities of the Swedish Presidency (debate)

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Madam President, Prime Minister, welcome to Strasbourg. The Swedish Presidency is opening in a context, as you recalled, of a major crisis. I would like to thank you because, in this context, you are demonstrating with your government that it is possible to repair Europe. As you said, you want a greener, safer, freer Europe. Greener, not by less work and science, but on the contrary by relying, as…

13 Dec

2022

FR Speech

Implementation of the New European Agenda for Culture and the EU Strategy for International Cultural Relations (debate)

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Mr President, this text on culture is an opportunity to talk about a threat that, I believe, through a purely technical regulation, could directly affect European heritage, because the Commission is about to publish a revision of the REACH and CLP regulations on chemicals. Through this, there is a major risk: that of new standards that would prohibit productions that are vital to our heritage. Tak…

23 Nov

2022

FR Speech

Legal protection for rainbow families exercising free movement, in particular the Baby Sara case (debate)

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Mr President, in fact, through this regulation, the Commission simply wants to impose on all Member States a change that is not within its competence: decide on the definition of the family, the recognition of filiation. No treaty has given this responsibility, no treaty has given this power to the European institutions. Respecting the rule of law may mean first of all respecting our democracies a…

23 Nov

2022

FR Speech

The need for a European solution on asylum and migration including search and rescue (debate)

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Mr President, this morning we are talking about rescue at sea and asylum policy. Of course, of course, you have to save people who drown. No one disputes it here. But the best thing is to prevent them from risking their lives. What is bereaved today in the Mediterranean Sea? It is our collective powerlessness that means that if someone manages to enter Europe illegally, they are sure to stay there…

9 Nov

2022

FR Speech

REPowerEU chapters in recovery and resilience plans (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioners, some news from France: At the end of September, the mayor of Neuilly-sur-Marne, Zartoshte Bakhtiari, warned that his municipality would have to pay 32 times the price of its electricity bills. At the end of October, the Safran industrial group decided to suspend the establishment of a plant in Lyon and perhaps to turn to the United States. A few days ago, the Arcelor G…