What François-Xavier spoke about.

19 Oct

2022

FR Speech

Preparation of the European Council meeting of 20-21 October 2022 (debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, it is not cold yet, but winter is starting for Europe and the most worrying sign is the drastic reduction in the consumption of gas by our industries, which shows how close we are to a potential economic collapse. Once again, there is an urgent need to act – and we repeat this here – and an urgent need to finally effectively decouple gas and electricity price…

6 Oct

2022

FR Speech

The death of Mahsa Amini and the repression of women's rights protesters in Iran (B9-0425/2022, RC-B9-0434/2022, B9-0434/2022, B9-0435/2022, B9-0436/2022, B9-0439/2022, B9-0442/2022, B9-0455/2022) (vote)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, in 2021 the European Commission financed a communication campaign on the Islamic veil, which stated in particular that, I quote, ‘freedom is in the hijab’. These words are unjustifiable at a time when so many women in Iran and around the world are risking their lives, being killed because they resist the oppression imposed on them. Europe’s message cannot be …

4 Oct

2022

FR Speech

The death of Mahsa Amini and the repression of women's rights protesters in Iran (debate)

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Mr President, the whole world is receiving a lesson in courage from Mahsa Amini, Hadis Najafi, Ghazale Chelavi, and so many others who risk and lose their lives all over Iran simply for not living in hiding, trapped in a veil imposed on them in the name of Islam, even when they cry out that they did not choose it. These 20-year-old women are giving Europe a lesson in courage. And this continent, w…

3 Oct

2022

FR Speech

Striving for a sustainable and competitive EU aquaculture: the way forward (debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, we have before us a very good report to support aquaculture. In particular, I would like to thank Mr Clara Aguilera for the work she has done to coordinate our work. Supporting aquaculture is a commitment that was expected by a sector that continues to transmit a legacy, a know-how maintained for centuries, which has constantly reinvented itself, but to which…

3 Oct

2022

FR Speech

Momentum for the Ocean: strengthening Ocean Governance and Biodiversity (debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, finally we have a discussion on the EU Ocean Strategy! And you said it, ladies and gentlemen: It was time! The European Union is the world’s first exclusive economic zone and must now take on this responsibility: It is legitimate to act. This negotiation on the text we are discussing together, this long negotiation, will have made it possible for obvious disa…

14 Sep

2022

FR Speech

State of the Union (debate)

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Madam President, the crisis we are experiencing requires us all to return to reality, especially in terms of energy, to get out of our dependencies, to protect the environment, we are no longer entitled to illusions. You want to develop wind power massively and you have cited Denmark as a model. But with nearly 10,000 wind turbines, Denmark remains dependent on its coal-fired power plants and has …

13 Sep

2022

FR Speech

Resumption of the sitting

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, this night, shortly after midnight, Azerbaijan launched a full-scale military attack on Armenia. Intense shelling targeted several towns and villages on Armenian territory. Military sites, of course, but also places inhabited by civilian populations. At this point, the toll is at least 49 soldiers and three civilians killed. Nothing, nothing can justify this …

5 Jul

2022

FR Speech

Objection pursuant to Rule 111(3): Amending the Taxonomy Climate Delegated Act and the Taxonomy Disclosures Delegated Act (debate)

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Mr President, to conclude this debate, as we have said, it is a moment of truth that is emerging. Tonight, we heard from colleagues who call themselves environmentalists and who are willing to sacrifice the energy sector without which, says the IPCC, we will not be able to save the climate. We have heard from Socialist colleagues who are ready to sacrifice the energy sector that will make it possi…

5 Jul

2022

FR Speech

Objection pursuant to Rule 111(3): Amending the Taxonomy Climate Delegated Act and the Taxonomy Disclosures Delegated Act (debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, you are part of the Group of the Greens and I believe that we have in common a desire to combat the climate crisis. How do you respond to the fact that nuclear emits half as much CO2 as wind and ten times less than solar energy, and what do you respond to the IPCC saying that we will not be able to solve the climate challenge before us if we do not do with nucle…

22 Jun

2022

FR Speech

Preparation of the European Council meeting of 23-24 June 2022, including the meeting with Western Balkan leaders on 23 June - Candidate status of Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia (debate)

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Mr President, Mr Vice-President, this Council will be marked by growing concerns, of course, on the economic front: inflation is reaching unprecedented levels and is now hitting millions of citizens in our countries who, by working or having worked all their lives, are no longer able to cope. Will we have the means to sustain the war effort that will have to be made to deal with the conflict in Uk…

8 Jun

2022

FR Speech

The massacre of Christians in Nigeria (debate)

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Madam President, last Sunday in Owo, Mass was coming to an end when the first shots were fired. More than 50 people were killed and dozens injured, including many children. What was their crime? For having been to Mass. Less than a month ago, still in Nigeria, young Deborah Samuel was lynched, stoned, her body burned by her classmates in the name of Islam. What was his crime? She was a Christian. …

7 Jun

2022

FR Speech

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))

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Mr President, Commissioner, Minister, there are moments that count in a mandate and this one, I believe, is part of it because, for years, Europe has allowed all the imbalances of globalisation to settle. And when it was concerned about the environment, it set increasingly demanding standards for all those who produced in our countries. And these constraints eventually installed a form of unfair c…

19 May

2022

FR Speech

The REPowerEU Plan: European solidarity and energy security in face of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including the recent cuts of gas supply to Poland and Bulgaria (debate)

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Mr President, the situation created by Russia’s war against Ukraine risks putting us in a situation of shortage in the medium term in the European area and will continue to raise energy prices for consumers and businesses in our countries. That is when the coalition currently in power in Germany decides to backtrack and vote against the delegated act of the taxonomy, including nuclear energy sourc…

4 May

2022

FR Speech

Discharge 2020 (debate)

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Madam President, a word to go back to the discharge of Frontex, because we see that this procedure risks being instrumentalised by all those who would like to prevent the agency from carrying out its mission. Its task is not to control the Member States, but to help them, in particular to deal with illegal immigration, which we can clearly see could jeopardise the very balance of our countries. To…

6 Apr

2022

FR Speech

Violations of right to seek asylum and non-refoulement in the EU Member States (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, it seems to me that our debate is marked by an ambivalence that some are seeking to exploit. Of course, the principle of non-refoulement prohibits a state from pushing someone out of its borders who would be in danger in the country to which it is being returned. But the principle of non-refoulement does not say that it is forbidden to control its borders. The princi…

4 Apr

2022

FR Speech

Future of fisheries in the Channel, North Sea, Irish Sea and Atlantic Ocean (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, the report we are about to vote on finally puts the spotlight on the disastrous consequences that Brexit will have had for European fishermen: the consequences of the application of the agreement, since our fishermen will lose 25% of their activity in value in British waters – no economic sector will have been affected to this extent – but also the consequences of th…

24 Mar

2022

FR Speech

The Power of the EU – Joint European Action for more affordable, secure and sustainable energy (debate)

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Madam President, Minister, Commissioner, the current situation is obviously a terrible crisis for European households, which are seeing their fuel bills explode, and reveals our continent’s dependence on Russia, which we are paying at the price of our honour in the current crisis situation in Ukraine. Of course, urgent action is needed, and many of the measures you have announced, Commissioner, ar…

23 Mar

2022

FR Speech

Need for an urgent EU action plan to ensure food security inside and outside the EU in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine (debate)

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Madam President, Russia’s attack on Ukraine not only endangers the lives of Ukrainians, it also endangers living conditions for many others and for a long time by threatening planting and harvesting in Ukraine, but also by cutting off from the world a region that today produces 30% of the world’s wheat. Meanwhile, in our countries, farmers and fishermen are in extreme difficulty because of the ris…

10 Mar

2022

FR Speech

Destruction of cultural heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh

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Madam President, Commissioner, one war must not make us forget another. Even today, families in Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh, are waiting for the return of ill-treated prisoners of war illegally held by Azerbaijan, used as bargaining chips. Military personnel and civilians are regularly targeted by Azeri soldiers, in defiance of ceasefire commitments. Just yesterday, the village of Khnushinak was tar…

9 Mar

2022

FR Speech

Debate with the Prime Minister of Estonia, Kaja Kallas - The EU's role in a changing world and the security situation of Europe following the Russian aggression and invasion of Ukraine (continuation of debate)

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Madam President, needless to recall the very correct findings that we have just heard, I would simply like to recall one point that concerns us all, far beyond these walls. With the invasion of Ukraine, it is not only the freedom and sovereignty of the Ukrainian people that is under threat – a people to whom we owe our solidarity. These are also the principles necessary for world peace. Never, nev…

8 Mar

2022

FR Speech

Rising energy prices and market manipulation on the gas market (debate)

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Mr President, we are facing an existential crisis and it is time to take the measure. 400% increase in the price of gas in just one year, it is obviously a major crisis, a crisis vital for, of course, European households and countries, but also for tens of thousands of companies that could be condemned to bankruptcy as well as for our entire financial system, which is threatened with collapse in t…

16 Feb

2022

FR Speech

The Rule of Law and the consequences of the ECJ ruling (continuation of debate)

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Madam President, I hope we all agree here that the rule of law must be defended scrupulously and that Europe is a civilisation that carries with it the principle of freedom, which we do not have the right to negotiate, even in times of crisis. However, this respect for the rule of law must never become the occasion for a double standard trial, which ends up discrediting the case he claims to be de…

19 Jan

2022

FR Speech

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

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Madam President, Mr President of the Republic, you have just opened this presidency with great promises, but we must tell you the truth: No one here really believes it. Not only because the calendar you have endorsed will serve your presidential campaign more than European action, but above all because you have contradicted yourself so much. You've played so much by deflecting to the meaning of th…

15 Dec

2021

FR Speech

The European Commission Guidelines on inclusive language (topical debate)

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Madam President, Bernanos wrote, ‘you may wonder if there will still be Christmas nights with their angels and shepherds for this world so foreign to the spirit of childhood’. Amazing, but true, the day has arrived: We must now try to save Christmas, which the European Commission seemed to have planned to condemn. Commissioner Dalli considers that the term is not inclusive enough. Crazy! Reaching …

10 Nov

2021

FR Speech

The escalating humanitarian crisis on the EU-Belarusian border, in particular in Poland (debate)

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Mr President, in Eastern Europe, the Belarusian dictatorship is organising a migration crisis and right now, as we speak, Poland is facing thousands of people massed at its borders. This is not Poland's problem, this is our problem. These people want to enter Europe illegally and Poland is defending the whole of Europe. If we do not help him, we have no future, because the one who does not control…