Speeches

Madam President, last Thursday the European Court of Auditors published a report revealing that the European Commission uses consultancy firms. After the McKinsey scandal in France, the Commission therefore spent almost EUR 1 billion per year on external consultants between 2017 and 2020. The massive use of these private firms is eminently reprehensible, while the Commission has 33,000 officials. This also raises questions of interference, sovereignty and collusion. We must have a debate on this highly sensitive subject. Our Parliament must not, of course, turn into a chamber for registering proposals that are expensively paid by the taxpayer with private firms that are sometimes outside Europe and do not pay any tax in France.

Madam President, as the amendment rejecting this regulation prolonging the use of the EU Digital COVID Certificate until June 2023 has just been rejected, which we deeply regret, I now call for the ID Group amendments to be put to the vote in order to limit the ensuing infringements of fundamental rights. These amendments propose, for example, that the use of the EU Digital COVID Certificate be required by Member States only where strictly necessary and proportionate, that the EU Digital COVID Certificate be phased out before the scheduled date of 30 June 2023, that antibody tests or any other scientifically validated method to prove natural immunity be able to benefit from the EU Digital COVID Certificate, and that by 31 December 2022, the Commission submit a report to Parliament. I remind my dear colleagues that this is a democratic debate, and to reject these amendments would be profoundly undemocratic.

Madam President, this report is another attack on EU countries that want to remain sovereign and master of their destiny. For example, Poland and Hungary, which not only do not receive any assistance from the European Union, while these countries host millions of Ukrainian refugees, but also do not receive the European Recovery Plan funds to which they are entitled. The Commission has managed to circumvent the Treaty that requires unanimity to suspend the payment of these funds through the so-called ‘conditionality mechanism’, validated by the Court of Justice of the European Union and intended to sanction states that do not respect the rule of law, a vague and debatable concept that is in reality only a reflection of the federal and globalist ideology of the European Union. The Court of Justice of the European Union has thus, in fact, carried out a genuine judicial coup d’état and this is to be compared with the conclusions of the Conference on the Future of Europe, where the French President called for decisions to be taken no longer by unanimity of the Member States but by qualified majority, which would make it possible to impose on the recalcitrant States the same ideology that we are fighting against. In the face of health and international crises, globalists see a new opportunity to advance their ideas. They do not want to understand that only a Europe of nations with strong countries that retain their identity and sovereignty can strengthen Europe. By wanting to dilute peoples and nations in an informed and soulless whole, it is ultimately the erasure of Europe that will result. And we do not want that.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, on 12 May in Nigeria, a young Christian student, Deborah Samuel Yakubu, was stoned to death and then burned, because she had simply complained about the influx of religious messages on the WhatsApp group in her class, which was considered blasphemous by Islamists. Christian communities in some Muslim countries suffer numerous murders and assaults, desecration of churches and cemeteries, attacks on processions. But this is also happening in Europe and France. However, the European Commission still refuses to appoint a coordinator for the fight against Christianophobia or to establish a European strategy to combat this scourge, despite the fact that such a coordinator has been created to combat antisemitism and Islamophobia. The European Parliament must debate this important subject of the persecution of Christians around the world and, more specifically, the case of the young Deborah Samuel Yakubu. Doing everything to avoid such tragedies is an absolute necessity; To do nothing would, a contrario, be guilty.

Mr President, the conflict in Ukraine is causing horrors that are upsetting the whole world. Scenes of devastation and desolation are multiplying and the number of victims is constantly increasing. The population is severely affected, mainly women and children fleeing the war, abandoning their devastated homes and separating from a husband, a father who remains defending their country with arms in hand. It is unbearable to see such scenes. Such tragedies on the European continent are intolerable! In the face of these atrocities, European solidarity has manifested itself, often spontaneously, with great humanity. Our peoples have truly mobilized. We must welcome and encourage all the initiatives, at all levels, that make it possible to come to the rescue of all these unfortunates. Notable countries include Poland, which hosts 2.5 million refugees, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Romania. These are examples of the best that a true Europe of nations can give. These countries must be helped, but they are not. It is even the opposite. It is already surprising that, in the face of this surge of solidarity, no European aid has reached them. But even worse: in another area, the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Commission have imposed sanctions on Hungary and Poland, which are accused of breaches of the rule of law, a concept that is in my view highly questionable. Admittedly, this is not the same subject, but it is shocking to note that, in the face of this surge of solidarity, Poland and Hungary are not supported by the European Commission. The Commission now withholds EU funds for these countries: €7 billion for Hungary and €39.4 billion for Poland. How can it be that, at the same time, countries that are also exemplary in their solidarity with millions of refugees are sanctioned by our European institutions? Not only should these countries not be sanctioned, but they should be helped and praised. The Commission has been able to find ways, more or less quickly, to get through the health crisis, to finance weapons for Ukraine and to sanction Russia. It could, and should, also take measures to help Poland and Hungary, starting with lifting sanctions and allowing them access to EU funds. Unless these political regimes are not suitable for the Commission? And we are – I must say – particularly outraged that the left and the liberals in this European Parliament are putting pressure on the Commission not to release this €39.4 billion for Poland. The Socialists and Democrats, Renew, the Greens and the Left in this House dared to send a letter to this effect to the Commission on 24 March. I find this truly unworthy. Quick: that the European Commission release these funds from the recovery plan and grant additional aid. Protect these millions of refugees. Protect this highly vulnerable population that is plagued by all dangers.