Speeches

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, you want to protect the democracy of the European Union from foreign influence, but you are the first to be succumbing to the various dictatorships in the world. For example, you are favouring China, the dictatorship par excellence and the communist regime. About what? On the electric car and batteries, guaranteeing them an indecent monopoly that will pave theautomotive from all over Europe. What is the point of talking about democracy if you then allow China to buy us piece by piece, without ever telling her anything about systematic violations of human rights and workers' rights? And what about Iran? You talk a lot about women's rights and then you are the first to promote the Islamic veil in Commission communications as something positive. You want to be bulwarks of freedom and democracy and then it turns out that, for years, community funds have been used to finance Islamist realities and close to terrorism. In other words, in addition to the proclamations, a bit of consistency would also be needed.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the text on packaging is a complete folly. That is why the rapporteur did not appear today, I understand. Put whole countries in crisis, Italy for example, a model nation for the circular economy. We are the first in Europe and therefore in the world in recycling: As Italy, we reached the European targets seven years earlier. But also throw away years of investment: from 2001 to 2021, €7 billion was invested to develop separate collection and €4 billion to cover start-up costs for recycling and recovery of materials. But there is still money in the NRRP for recycling. Eliminate plastic packaging, increasing waste, compromising food safety and also protecting products in transport. But then we talk about food waste, right? You are a bit schizophrenic because, on the one hand, you say that to combat waste you have to make smaller and smaller packages and then, on the other, you say for the salad that it takes at least a kilo to be packaged! There is no impact analysis: studies show, indeed, a greater environmental impact of reuse, because obviously the packaging must be transported back and forth and, to be reused, it must be washed, therefore more water, more energy. In short, you want to blow up businesses and workers at home: You will damage strategic sectors of the economic fabric. I only say one thing: Stop, please, stop!

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the green transition must not be an economically and socially unsustainable boulder. After the cars, you decided to impose the electric also on heavy vehicles: you have decided to dismantle companies and entire supply chains. For what? Well, not for the climate. You said no to biofuels, to renewable fuels. We have proposed them. It is therefore clear that behind environmental policies, industrial policies are hidden. Yes, because only China will benefit from it. There will be consequences for companies and entire supply chains. The transport sector, a sector already struggling with the economic crisis and fuel costs, will be on its knees. There was no impact analysis. There are no viable alternatives for such long routes. And then, for the municipalities, you decided to impose 100 % electricity for public transport by 2030. So I ask myself, especially the small municipalities, where do you think they can take the money? An electric bus costs an average of five times more. You are jeopardizing the future of businesses, workers and municipalities just because of an ideology.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, they hate us in the name of Allah. Islamic extremists hate our way of life. They hate women's freedom to choose who to love, who to hang out with or how to dress. They hate our values. They hate our traditions. They hate our culture. They hate our art. They hate our identity. They hate our civilization. They hate our entertainment and our passions. They hate the achievements we have achieved. They do not want to integrate and have a very strong grudge against us. Faced with this hatred, your answer is submission, goodness, political correctness. Instead of defending us, promote backsliding on who we are. You are building a weak Europe, when we need a strong and proud Europe. While they want to oppress us with fear and terror, Europe is asleep. Oriana Fallaci was right: "Wake up the West" or it will be too late.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, where is Europe in the face of the tragedy of the Armenians fleeing Nagorno-Karabakh? Nearly 100,000 people are fleeing, frightened by Azerbaijan's threats. Why is the European Union not indignant? We have seen children and the elderly weep leaving their homes, civilians reduced to hunger, Christian churches destroyed, a people abandoning their lands and their identity, which is also ours, the Christian one, all in the indifference of institutions. Indeed, in recent years we have seen President von der Leyen define Azerbaijan as a reliable partner. The Armenians were abandoned. Has the European Union preferred gas supplies to the lives of innocent people? What has Europe done in recent years and months? Nothing, he didn't do anything. He left entire families in the hands of a regime that aimed to send them away. Now the UN promises funds and economic aid for this area. What good are they if they almost all ran away and why didn't he do anything before?

The issue here is that competition is not so much that of the European Union. We are competing on our own by favouring countries, such as China, outside the European Union. I would therefore like to understand, precisely operationally in the trade agreements with China, if and how you intend to act.

Mr Vice-President, Beijing has 60 % of the global production of electric cars in its hands and more than 60 % of the batteries in circulation are 'Made in China'. To produce electric cars, China uses energy from coal-fired power plants. Eurostat’s estimates of carbon dioxide emissions in EU countries in 2022 show a decrease of 2.8% compared to 2021, but China, on the other hand, shows an increase of 4.2% and in the first months of 2023 another increase of 4%. In China, oil consumption rose by 5.5%, coal by 3.6% and gas by 1.4%. So, my questions. The first is: Is the European Union's policy, under the guise of the environment, to deplete Europe for the benefit of the Chinese economy? Because that's what it seems to be. And then I'd like to know: Is the European Union considering new incentives for the purchase of cars that take into account the carbon dioxide emissions emitted in their production and distribution process?

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I ask you and I ask you: Are we in Iran or Europe? I ask you because for weeks I have been threatened with death for having expressed, precisely in this House, my 'no' to the Islamisation of our continent and my 'no' to the Islamic veil. I received dozens and dozens of death threats for simply showing a shirt with the words "No to the Islamic veil". I'll read some of them: "I'll cut your throat", "I'll stab you", "You die", "You're to be burned", "I'll kill you", "I'll choke you", "You explode", "I'll smash your face", "It ends badly for you". And I'll spare you the threats to my children, too. These are just some of the hate messages I received on social media and via email. I wonder if it is still possible in Europe to be free to say that the Islamic veil is not a symbol of freedom, but a symbol of submission. If I can still freely say that I do not want an Islamic future for our continent. Can I still say that we must not back down on our values, human rights, our identity and our culture? In the face of an Islam that takes place in Europe, opposing it is more than ever a duty. Death threats don't scare me.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I am ashamed; I am ashamed of a European Union that pretends to support the protest of Iranian women and to remember the courage of the great Mahsa Amini. I am ashamed because it is you who promote the Islamic veil for your events. For years now, we have seen the hijab represented in a positive way in the communications and social networks of the European institutions: We saw it for the Conference on the Future of Europe, youth events, environmental publications, Human Rights Day and Gender Equality, and even for the anti-homophobia day. I am ashamed of a European Union dominated by Islam. I am ashamed of a European Union that sees the Islamic veil as an instrument of integration and diversity, when it oppresses women. I am ashamed of a European Union that turns its back on the many women who want to be free not to wear it, to dress as they like, to date, love and marry whoever they want. Today more than ever we must reiterate that the Islamic veil is not a symbol of freedom but of submission. No to the Islamic veil!

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Europe must do more to combat disasters. Its strategy risks weakening the necessary interventions in the territories: I am thinking of the tragic flood in Emilia Romagna, which could have been very limited if the necessary water containment tanks and dams had been built, if the rivers had been cleaned and the embankments had been cleaned up. Dams, tanks, river cleaning: These are all actions you oppose because they are at odds with your nature restoration policies. Natural disasters such as floods are limited with more man-made structures and not less. On the heatwaves, however, enough with alarmism. Two months talking about the hot and fiery summer and then it turns out that the data say the opposite: Electricity consumption in Italy decreased by 3.3% compared to July 2022. Not only: the average temperature in July did not show an exorbitant increase; indeed, a decrease in Italy of 0.3 degrees compared to the same period of the previous year. Beware of shooting tones from apocalypse: It makes climate debates less serious.

(IT) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the objective of the Ecodesign Regulation would be to reduce the environmental impact of products during their life cycle, but, once again, it ultimately imposes additional burdens on companies and lays the groundwork for future new initiatives, with major hazards for companies. We appreciate the references to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, but we still have a lot of doubts about this proposal. One, among all, is the lack of inclusion of recycling among the exemptions in the definition of destruction, as well as practically reuse and remanufacturing. In short, according to the proposal, recycling would be a way of destroying the product. This is an absurdity that would affect Italian companies in different sectors that have been investing in recycling for years – considering that Italy is the first in the world in recycling – and we consider it a paradox. In practice to attack fashion companies low cost Luxury brands are also affected: It is a paradox that companies like Armani, if they have an unsold dress, can not destroy it but can not even recycle it. It should dismantle the luxury market, which in Italy alone is worth 17 billion euros and 78% of luxury fashion is made in Italy. We have tabled an amendment introducing the requirement for information on the origin of the product, so that the made in Italy can be recognized and therefore valued as excellence, but even in this case the left, of course, will be absolutely opposed. We have read 130 pages of rules and constraints for companies. In addition, inter alia, this Regulation decides to empower the Commission to introduce additional requirements and obligations through delegated acts or specific legislative acts. We remain against it. You continue to bring forward regulations and proposals green They will not save the world, but rather make Europe less competitive than other competitors. It's not worth it.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, we are here to talk about the European Day for the Victims of Climate Change. I already see them, the great European minds, thinking: But there is a memorial day, what should we talk about? But yes, let's do it on the victims of climate change. It is yet another ideological stunt by a Commission that now lives only on empty ecological slogans and is totally disconnected from reality. Continue to pursue a totally masochistic model, which severely penalises European businesses, consumers and families. You do not understand that, while Europe somehow self-penalizes, there are those who continue to pollute more and more, in the total silence of the European institutions. I'll give you some data. So, Eurostat estimates say the following, i.e. that, for example, the EU countries’ carbon dioxide emissions in 2022 are 2.8% lower in Europe than in 2021. But in short, in the face of the virtuous behavior of European countries, we see that China has instead increased emissions by 4.2% and that even in the first months of 2023 Chinese emissions have increased by 4%. In China, oil consumption rose by 5.5%, coal consumption rose by 3.6% and gas consumption rose by 1.4%. The figure for coal in 2022 is impressive. Beijing has granted permits for 106 gigawatts of capacity at 82 sites, four times the capacity approved in 2021, and is equal to the opening of two coal-fired power plants every week. In short, Europe produces only 8% of global emissions. Are you really so presumptuous as to think that ours are the ones that are in some way decisive? If even in the next few years we could halve them, would anything really change? What do we do instead? We give commercial sectors to go and buy the goods from those countries that make them without any respect for the environment! It's crazy. On the altar of ecological transition we are destroying the automobile industry without understanding that we will become a branch of China, on which we already depend today for batteries and rare earths. We are taking great strides towards industrial desertification and you are happy about it. It is such a masterpiece of madness that I honestly think that, sooner or later, somehow after Qatargate we will find ourselves in front of Chinagate.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, we have come from years when people like Carola Rackete have been invited to this Parliament to make a pathetic pontificate on immigration and reception. For too long we have been expecting new strategies from the European Commission, which unfortunately is dominated by left-wing do-gooders and those who aim for open doors for all migrants. In March, after the tragedy at sea in Italy, we saw the President of the Commission say: Immigration needs European solutions. Well-awakened, considering that in these four years nothing has been done. Then we heard the President of the Council Michel who promised: We must work towards a European pact on migration and asylum by the end of the mandate, and we must do so to fight together against criminals who speculate on poverty. Words, only words in all these years and only now, by the way, come to our positions. Let's remember that Matteo Salvini, for having defended the borders of Italy and therefore of Europe, is still on trial. Now, finally, in Parliament comes a debate that focuses on stopping irregular immigration and not feeding it as the left wants. For years, we have been saying that we need hotspots in North African countries and that asylum applications must be processed in third countries. We believe that Europe should act to link economic aid to African countries to clear commitments on the return of irregular migrants and measures to counter boat departures. The time for promises and your slogans is over, we need to move on immigration, European citizens demand it.

Mr President, for years the European Commission has been explaining to us that the word 'solidarity' is the solution to the problem of immigration. Solidarity, then. How supportive is Macron's France that sends migrants back to Italy to Ventimiglia with the gendarmes? How supportive is socialist Spain that deploys its army against migrants in Ceuta and Melilla? How supportive is Social Democratic Germany, which calls for a legal immigration system in Europe and then finances NGOs that bring illegal immigrants to Europe? How supportive is the Social Democratic Denmark that no longer wants to be a welcoming country and wants to send immigrants back to Rwanda? How supportive is this Europe, which had promised the redistribution of migrants, the rotation of ports, the defense of continental borders and then did nothing? But in fact you have done something, you have wasted billions by giving them to Erdoğan's Turkey, from which boats are constantly departing, with the result of witnessing dramatic tragedies at sea. We are tired of solidarity propaganda and your inconsistency. Irregular immigration must be tackled by all means. We need hotspots in North African countries, cooperation with African countries and a serious European policy of returning illegal immigrants. Italy can no longer be left alone. No more words, no more deeds.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the atrocities of the Islamic regime in Iran are increasingly shuddering. Hundreds of girls have been intoxicated in many schools in Iran. Mass poisoning. Some want to deny Iranian women their right to education. It is a form of revenge against the many female students who participated in the protests and made videos posted on the media. social They take off their headscarves and shout anti-government slogans. We also saw five girls doing an Islamic veilless dance in the middle of the street: Here, those five girls were arrested and forced to apologize to the covered boss. The prohibitions imposed by the Islamic dictatorship fully represent their conception of women: with the Islamic veil, submissive, without instruction, an inferior being. We must support the girls who are fighting and condemn the acts of terror carried out by the regime against women's freedom. Just be silent, just close your eyes. Woman. Life. Freedom.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, you are hypocrites. The deaths at sea are the sole responsibility of the European Union. Goodwill and pro-immigration policies have led to more departures and thus more deaths at sea. Your pathetic slogans for reception are detrimental to migrants and also to the citizens of the European Union. Your attitude towards immigration is embarrassing: on the one hand, talk about humanity, then leave Italy alone, with all the responsibility of welcoming. You gave Erdoğan 7 billion euros. Yet boats continue to sail from Turkey. You speak of European solidarity, but the numbers on relocations are practically ridiculous, there is no rotation of European ports and no one wants economic migrants. Enough of your sympathetic propaganda! Illegal immigration must be stopped and smugglers must be seriously combated. And then, in short, with all this rhetoric and all your hypocrisy, with all the deaths at sea: How do you look in the mirror in the morning?

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, the European Union's plan for the environment continues to be a disaster. Commissioner Timmermans, you spoke of a just and fair transition. Well, I don't think so. In short, your measures will lead to the sacrifice of the productive sectors, companies and workers on the altar of an ideology. There will be a further shift of production out of Europe, benefiting big polluters like China. Globally, 33% of total global harmful emissions are China's fault: alone – and I say, alone! – exceeds the sum of the following four economies: United States, European Union, India and Russia. And be careful: It has not yet reached its peak in emissions. To chase Greta's slogans, you want to penalise Europe and its citizens. But most importantly, who pays for these super plans? They will pay consumers with price increases and workers with failure anxieties and social crises we already see. Do you want to give us a Europe that is poorer and more and more subservient to China? I find it a total shame! Nice plan, though, yours. I dossierBut let them vote for the Chinese, because we certainly won't vote for them here.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, talking about violence against women is always very important, but today I would like to bring the case of Saman Abbas to the attention of the House. Saman Abbas was an 18-year-old girl of Pakistani origin who was killed in Italy by her family. The motivation? She wanted to be a free woman. She wanted to choose the man to love and not be forced into an arranged marriage. He wanted to live by dressing as he saw fit, perhaps even without wearing the Islamic veil. She was killed by her family. Yet the extradition of his father from Pakistan is continually postponed, with numerous hearings constantly skipping. It's a shame. We want justice for Saman. Pakistan must bring this murderer to justice and Europe must intervene, and not only for the case of poor Saman, it must intervene for all those women of Islamic faith who choose freedom, who want to live without perhaps the Islamic veil. Among other things, the veil that too often the European Commission carries out also in the advertising and posters of the Commission's activities. I therefore call on Europe to intervene urgently in memory of Saman and for women's rights.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the European Union has forgotten the suffering of the Armenian people and ignores the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh. No one considers the situation of the 120 000 Armenians living there. They are closing kindergartens and kindergartens because there is no possibility of offering meals to children. The basic necessities are running out, supermarkets are almost empty, there are no more medicines, fuel and even hospitals are in trouble. How long will the inhabitants of this area be able to resist? This situation, this continuous persecution of Armenians, who are forgotten as weak in the face of the Azerbaijan-Turkey alliance, is unacceptable. It is time for the European Union to have the courage to defend this population and to demand respect for human rights with strong words of condemnation.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I have not gone mad, I ask my colleague because before her someone on the left mentioned Mimmo Lucano, who was probably still here as a model of reception and, since her colleague was talking about reception, I wanted to know her opinion on the condemnation that Mimmo Lucano had and, therefore, also in general to the NGOs that deal with the matter.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, what is the criminalisation of NGOs? Illegal immigration, not as I say, but as Frontex claims, is facilitated by NGOs that with their activity in the Mediterranean help criminals, smugglers and also increase deaths at sea. Because more departures mean more tragedies. You bore us with good words, but where is European solidarity? Where are the relocations? Think that from Italy there have been more than 100, more or less, in the last year. Where is the rotation of ports? But then do we really want to talk about NGOs criminalized after the Qatargate scandal? Citizens are well aware of the real use of some NGOs, often set up for under-the-counter business and money recycling. But, I must say, not only in this European Parliament, but also in the Italian Parliament we have seen the case of Soumahoro, a champion of the left, whose family NGOs, instead of welcoming migrants, did millionaire business and exploited workers. The truth is that the only one to have been criminalized was Matteo Salvini, who ended up on trial with the only fault of having defended the borders and Italian sovereignty, countering illegal immigration and effectively blocking the landings in Italy. We are tired of your rhetoric, of your invitations in Parliament to people like Carola Rackete or Luca Casarini. It is good for the Italian government to want to limit activity outside the rules of NGOs. We are against illegal immigration and we claim it with pride.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, milk + 14%, eggs + 17%, vegetables + 14%, bread and cereals + 14%, cheese + 12%: These are just some of the price increases in one year of food products in Italy. What does the Commission do in Europe? What is he doing? What does he want to do? The impression is that he is asleep. You are too focused on criminalizing producers, farmers, breeders, financing synthetic meat, approving new insects as food of the future, supporting labels such as Nutriscore that penalize our food excellence, or introducing new ones, such as those on cigarettes, but on wine bottles. You are totally disconnected from reality and in this context you have also invented a new regulation on packaging that penalizes the recycling of products. Have you considered the problem for producers and have you considered that the cost will end up on consumers, as is already happening from the figures I have told you?

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, it is very right to discuss the rights of people belonging to ethnic and religious minorities and to guarantee their commitment to respect for human rights. But you have to be honest: For too much ideology you have focused on favoring resolutions, funds, communication campaigns only for certain communities. We have been talking for years about the problem of Islamophobia, according to which for you there is racism towards Muslims, but the real persecuted in the world are Christians, of whom no one talks. More than 360 million Christians worldwide are persecuted because of their faith. In 2021, 6 000 Christians were killed for religious reasons. 16 are killed every day. There are also more than 5,000 churches attacked. The truth is that the European Union and the UN do not open their eyes to a drama that is of direct concern to us. Perhaps, I thought, many of you were more interested in favoring Qatar, which aims at the Islamization of Europe.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, for years we have witnessed sermons, ridiculous fake news, lessons of moral superiority from the left over foreign interference. You created an Interference Committee with the sole purpose of attacking Matteo Salvini, but you found nothing about it. But you did not see, or did not want to see, what was happening in your house; Now the huge Qatari corruption scandal unveils your gigantic hypocrisy. In exchange for money on the Italian and European left, there are those who would have closed their eyes to the violation of human rights. There is also a huge NGO problem. From the interrogations we find that NGOs are used to make money; It is clear that, under the guise of human rights and support for the weakest, parallel structures were created that betrayed those ideals and were used only to make money. The European Parliament must intervene severely and the left must explain and apologise.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Iranian women protest, they risk their lives, they do so with blatant gestures, we can say. Yes, because in Iran taking off the veil or kissing your boyfriend in the square are considered subversive gestures and therefore prohibited. What does the European Union do? Nothing, if not expressing empty closeness, no real condemnation of the Iranian Islamic regime, no real criticism of the abuse of the mandatory Islamic veil, no concrete support for the struggle of women who just want to be free. Your position is shy, but why is it shy? Because for years you have supported and promoted, even with public money, the idea of the Islamic veil as a symbol of freedom. You took a blunder and promoted the wrong model. The Islamic veil is an instrument of oppression, as evidenced by Iranian women tired of violence and religious police orders. Enough hypocrisy, Europe defends the value of freedom and women's rights.