What Hélène spoke about.

9 Jun

2022

FR Speech

The call for a Convention for the revision of the Treaties (debate)

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Madam, I myself was coordinator on behalf of the ID Group for the Conference on the Future of Europe, and the only thing I noticed was that, no, it was not representative. There were very few citizens who registered on the online platform. We had several meetings, including a plenary, which were cancelled due to a lack of an agenda. No, the representativeness was not really there, ma'am.…

9 Jun

2022

FR Speech

The call for a Convention for the revision of the Treaties (debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the Conference on the Future of Europe has been transformed into a genuine communication operation, thus erasing the many manoeuvres and failures. There was very little follow-up to this conference. In fact, as an open, transparent and deliberative exercise, it was really only a question for Parliament of organising a democracy that had been badly undermined, an…

18 May

2022

FR Speech

Commission’s 2021 Rule of Law Report (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, on 27 April the European Commission officially launched an administrative procedure against Hungary, which is another step in a sanctions regime unprecedented in the history of the European Union. This situation should lead us to reflect on why so-called "treaties bis" are being written, with the approval of the CJEU. The procedure, which could last between five and …

3 May

2022

FR Speech

The follow up of the Conference on the Future of Europe (debate)

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Madam President, President Verhofstadt, ladies and gentlemen, first of all, I note that the final proposals adopted by the Executive Board eliminated more than two-thirds of the proposals put forward by the citizens’ panels, risking increasing citizens’ mistrust and distance from the European Union, after all the promises made. Emmanuel Macron had made this conference a priority for the EU preside…

5 Apr

2022

FR Speech

Guidelines for the 2023 budget – Section III (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, the energy crisis that all Member States are going through must change the priorities of the 2023 budget, with massive investments enabling us to achieve energy independence. The unprecedented rise in energy prices is impacting all European citizens as well as our businesses, and in particular SMEs. Increased energy autonomy is a major challenge. Moreover, energy-rel…

9 Mar

2022

FR Speech

European Semester for economic policy coordination: annual sustainable growth survey 2022 – European Semester for economic policy coordination: employment and social aspects in the annual sustainable growth strategy survey 2022 (debate)

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Madam President, Minister, Commissioners, even if the macroeconomic stability of the European Union is a guarantee of an overall economic recovery in the area, a debate must begin on the role and efficiency of the European Semester. First of all, as an instrument for the coordination of economic and budgetary policies, I am surprised by the lack of involvement of national parliaments in the decisi…

7 Mar

2022

FR Speech

Shrinking space for civil society in Europe (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the issue is not so much the scope of civil society organisations in the European Union, but their impartiality and added value in the legislative process. The European Union suffers from a multitude of entities aggressively lobbying all of its institutions. For example, for internet users, there were no less than 1 452 lobbyists who have spent EUR…

16 Feb

2022

FR Speech

EU-Russia relations, European security and Russia’s military threat against Ukraine (debate)

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– Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, unfortunately, France has not made any diplomatic progress following Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Moscow. And for good reason: so far, the potential threat of conflict with Ukraine is mostly a position put forward by the US. Let us not forget that the great boss of the German navy was dismissed because he had dared to put forward a different position – indicatin…

14 Feb

2022

FR Speech

European Central Bank – annual report 2021 (continuation of debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner Lagarde, ladies and gentlemen, since its introduction, empirical reforms have enabled the euro to go through several major crises with varying degrees of resilience. In general, the current economic environment should lead us to question the relevance of the ECB’s rate choices, but also its ability to find new tools to intervene in the event of new tensions. The insti…

15 Dec

2021

FR Speech

State of play of the RRF (Recovery and Resilience Facility) (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the European Union – we – will not get out of the wrestle with Poland and Hungary, whom the European Union is humiliating by denying them a down payment for their recovery plan. Especially since we have just heard that the Commission wanted to wait until next April's parliamentary elections in Hungary before taking a decision. Brussels is settin…

23 Nov

2021

FR Speech

2022 budgetary procedure: joint text (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the 2022 budget reveals too many contradictions in the European Union. The official speech of the European Union, which hammers out a strengthening of controls at European borders, is at odds with a EUR 65 million decrease in Frontex’s budget compared to the latest proposal. Events in Poland must remind us that Frontex’s budget is our only bulwark …

20 Oct

2021

FR Speech

Global Tax Agreements to be endorsed at the G20 Summit in Rome, 30th/31st of October (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, although there are many uncertainties surrounding this tax revolution, particularly in its implementation, I support the principle of fairer taxation of multinationals and effective minimum taxation on profits. This revision of global corporate taxation is a fundamental part of the change we need to see. Everyone has to pay their fair share. It see…

6 Oct

2021

FR Speech

The state of play on the submitted RRF recovery plans awaiting approval (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, beyond the question of own resources and repayment of the loan, which is far from being settled, I am very concerned about the allocation of European funds. First of all, I condemn this form of blackmail against the Hungarian and Polish governments. Economic recovery is currently the cardinal priority and funds must be allocated without political c…

6 Oct

2021

FR Speech

Reforming the EU policy on harmful tax practices (including the reform of the Code of Conduct Group) (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, it is clear that unfair tax regimes practised by certain Member States, such as tax rulings or tax facilities reserved for non-residents, continue to exist despite the establishment of the Code of Conduct Group in 1998, whose role was to identify aggressive tax planning practices. There is now consensus on the reform of this group, but the backlog …

15 Sep

2021

FR Speech

Implementation of EU requirements for exchange of tax information (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the repeated scandals relating to tax evasion and tax fraud in the European Union call for a better application of the DAC directives and an overall reflection on the subject. Tax evasion has been taking place for several years now in a transnational context, with organised fraud ignoring land borders. The Achilles heel of the scheme stems from …

6 Jul

2021

FR Speech

The creation of guidelines for the application of the general regime of conditionality for the protection of the Union budget (continuation of debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I am astonished by the failure to take into account the actions brought before the Court of Justice of the European Union by Poland and Hungary on 11 December 2020, which makes the regulation which entered into force on 1 January 2021 de facto suspensive. The Parliament is showing legal misunderstanding by calling for the immediate activation of the new mechanis…

5 Jul

2021

FR Speech

Financial activities of the European Investment Bank - annual report 2020 - Control of the financial activities of the European Investment Bank - annual report 2019 (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, although the role of the EIB in mobilising financing for the economy and in particular for SMEs must be supported, the two reports for 2019 and 2020 dodge substantive questions. First of all, funding that will only be granted in the light of decarbonisation seems to me excessive and must not come at the expense of other sectors that are key to econ…