Speeches

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, we have come a long way, but here we are. We will therefore finally approve definitively the heart of the climate package and, thanks to these texts, Europe is facing this absolutely historic challenge of climate change. This climate package is both ambitious and realistic, as evidenced by the creation of a carbon border adjustment mechanism. We made this ecological barrier a campaign commitment in my delegation, and we kept that promise. We have been carrying this commitment for many years because we cannot impose drastic environmental standards on European producers while bringing products that do not meet these standards. It is therefore both a measure in favour of the green transition, but also a social justice measure that will protect us from environmental dumping. I am sure that this mechanism will prove itself quickly and that we will be able to gradually expand it to other sectors. Thanks to him, the European Union is finally emerging from naivety and pushing for trade to respect the Paris Agreement. Evidence that the Single Market, if able to adapt, can be a great political and environmental tool. Today, I am proud to be an MEP and proud of the European Union.

Madam President, Commissioner, COP 19 is a strategic event for the protection of wildlife and the regulation of wildlife trade. The stakes are threefold. The first challenge, of course, is to preserve our biodiversity, while the sixth mass extinction has already begun, species are dying out at an alarming rate. Second issue, health, COVID, rightly or not, has put a spotlight on zoonoses and we must protect ourselves from them. Finally, the third, safe issue, wildlife trafficking is an important financial windfall that feeds criminals and armed groups. CITES, but also our European legislation, still have important weaknesses in which, alas, traffickers are engulfed. They should therefore be corrected. At European level, the revision of the EU Action Plan should strengthen our action on wildlife trafficking. Of course, there is a need to reduce the demand for illegal wildlife products, but also to strengthen law enforcement, which means improving our means of inspection and data collection. It is our customs and judicial authorities who are in the front line against this traffic. We must provide them with the necessary means of action, particularly with regard to cybercrime. Because, as we know, part of this trade is now played online.

Madam President, Commissioner, as we celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Erasmus programme this year, let us make a commitment together: Finally, let us lift the last brakes that prevent people with fewer opportunities from benefiting from these emblematic mobilities. For 35 years, efforts have been made, of course, but many obstacles remain. They are economic, cultural, linked to health, disability, geographical isolation, language barriers, learning difficulties or simply lack of awareness of the programme itself or its administrative complexity. We obviously need to address this. First of all, no one should be unaware that they can go to Erasmus. We must emphasise the leading role of teachers and institutions in raising awareness of the programme and supporting future learners. We can also further support the activities of alumni networks by encouraging them to act as ambassadors, for example during Erasmus Days. The level of scholarships is also often considered insufficient. It is essential to increase financial support, to ensure that scholarships correspond to the standard of living of the host countries. Finally, and I will end with this, the simplification of the administrative procedures of the programme must continue, in particular through initiatives such as the European Student Card. So let's continue our mobilization.

Mr President, Commissioner, the latest figures on the unemployment rate in France have just been published. The post-COVID economic recovery has helped to reduce this rate, but it obviously remains worrying, especially for those under 25, as it stands at 14.9% on average in the European Union. The European labour market has changed and must respond to several major challenges. I am thinking in particular of the impact of globalisation, the rapid pace of technological change, the acceleration of the green transition and the shortages of vital forces in certain sectors. The creation of a European Education Area is a step in this direction and should make it possible to realign workers’ skills with those sought by employers. In this context, the development of new lifelong learning opportunities, such as individual learning accounts and micro-credentials, seems to me to be essential. These opportunities make training more accessible, flexible and inclusive. They make it possible to acquire useful skills at any point in your career and thereby increase your employability. But all this will only be effective by removing obstacles to the recognition of qualifications.

Madam President, at last! Finally, the 8th Environment Action Programme – which I am convinced we are going to adopt today – will be able to enter into force, albeit one and a half years late due to the health crisis, but the fact remains that it was becoming absolutely urgent to have key indicators to assess our progress in implementing the Green Deal. Thanks to this Environment Action Programme, we will now have a compass until 2030 to ensure that our results are in line with our objectives. It will enable the European Union to create the conditions for sustainable growth within planetary boundaries so that the green transition creates new jobs and contributes to the well-being of our citizens. The agreement we reached in the trilogue is a good one and I would like to thank Grace O’Sullivan for her excellent work. It creates a clear but also effective action programme that identifies concrete initiatives rather than increasing administrative burdens. It focuses on the essentials, i.e. our environmental and climate policies, without calling into question our main economic instruments. It is thanks to this clarity that it will be a useful programme for the future. That is why, ladies and gentlemen, I will naturally vote in favour of this text and count on you to do the same.

Mr President, Commissioner, of course I can only join previous speeches and thank the negotiators for reaching such a swift agreement on the European Year of Youth 2022. Young Europeans are the engine of tomorrow's Europe, but the COVID-19 crisis has stopped their momentum. Between confinement and health measures, some people sometimes experience isolation, dropping out, or even precariousness. This European Year of Youth must therefore be an opportunity to make their voices heard, to involve them in our initiatives and to guide our actions. One of the main objectives of this year - which concerns me in particular in the Committee on Petitions - is the participation of young people in the decision-making process of the European Union. The right to petition, the European Citizens’ Initiative and the right to refer matters to the European Ombudsman must all be tools in their hands to enable them to become more involved in the life of the European Union. As Members of Parliament, we have a key role to play: helping young people gain a better understanding of the various opportunities available to them, whether at European, national, regional or local level. I am also thinking of the Erasmus+ programme, which will celebrate its 35th anniversary in 2022, and which will play a central role in the implementation and financing of the activities of this European Year of Youth. As the French Presidency of the European Union starts in January 2022, I will be fully committed to our youth to make this year a real success. The actions we will put in place should not be limited to 2022, because young people are our priority and our future.

Mr President, Commissioner, COP26 was supposed to be a historic event. This COP, alas, if it were to remain in the annals, would be the COP of small steps. Indeed, let us be lucid, it has not fulfilled the hopes that we had placed in it. But above all, Mr Timmermans, I deeply regret that the European Union has exposed its divisions. When a few states sign a declaration on the sidelines of COP26 not to include nuclear in the taxonomy, it does not serve the European Union or the fight against climate change and it goes against the work of experts. The moment was, however, crucial. The European climate package is nothing more or less than an industrial revolution. From this disappointing COP, I will nevertheless retain the few small steps forward. The acceleration of the emission reduction schedule, of course, the call to reduce coal energy and fossil fuel subsidies, or the establishment of a real work programme. It is on these advances that we must build the next COPs, but being less naive, and in particular on the commitment of some of our partners, such as China, for example, which is the biggest polluter in the world. This is why the rapid establishment of a carbon border adjustment mechanism must be at the heart of our climate action. Our citizens must not pay the price for the lack of international commitment.

Mr President, Commissioner, COP26 is a major event. The European Union is committed to being the first carbon-neutral continent in 2050 and that is all the better. It is clear that with the climate package, the promises have been translated into concrete actions. But we alone account for only 10% of global emissions. In other words, without a global approach and without a global commitment at COP26, we will not go very far. There is therefore an urgent need to increase investment in developing countries and to make the global phase-out of coal a top priority by 2050. But for that, we need to stop being naive. It is also necessary for the European Commission to show courage on an energy essential to the implementation of our objectives: nuclear power. How is it that we still do not know, despite the conclusions of several expert groups in this sense, whether nuclear will be well included by the European Commission in the taxonomy? How is it possible that at a time of soaring energy prices, the necessary decarbonisation of our energy mix, we are still asking ourselves the question of supporting low-cost, non-carbon energy? Ladies and gentlemen, the success of COP26 must be built on our experience and realism, not on a deadly ideology that refuses to believe in innovation and wants us to think that we need to decrease in order to progress.

Madam President, Commissioner, upon her arrival at the head of the European Commission, President von der Leyen made the fight against global warming and the protection of the environment a top priority. I am delighted that we can vote tomorrow on this 8th Environment Action Plan. I would also like to thank all the negotiators with whom we have had a very constructive negotiation on this text on an ongoing basis. This action programme is another cornerstone in the implementation of the European Green Deal. It corresponds to a serious approach to environmental action, an approach that together with my EPP colleagues, as well as Peter Liese, we are tirelessly advocating. To set targets, we need to know upstream whether they are achievable and then, on the basis of scientific evidence, evaluate our progress in their implementation. This action programme will be used to assess these developments. The principle of a mid-term review that we are introducing in this text is also essential as it will allow us to adjust our actions according to what has already been achieved. Our objectives are numerous and the most important of them – carbon neutrality by 2050 – requires considerable efforts. The imminent announcement by the European Commission of the climate package will be one of the most striking examples. More than ten pieces of legislation will need to be amended or created to make these objectives a reality. It is also sometimes quite easy to get lost! But, thanks to this action programme, we will have a kind of compass until 2030 so that our results finally correspond to our objectives. It will enable the European Union to create the conditions for sustainable growth within planetary boundaries so that the green transition creates new jobs and contributes to the well-being of our citizens. That is why, ladies and gentlemen, I will naturally vote with my group, the EPP, on this text, and I invite you to do the same.