Speeches

On Sunday, June 5, in southwestern Nigeria, gunmen attacked a Catholic church in the town of Owo during Pentecost Mass and killed 21 worshippers, according to an initial report released by the authorities. This attack is the latest in a long series targeting Christians around the world. According to the 2022 edition of the Global Index of Persecution of Christians compiled annually by the NGO Doors Open, in 2021, 5,898 Christians were killed because of their faith, 5,110 churches were targeted for closure or violence, and 6,175 Christians are detained for their religious beliefs. Unfortunately, I have to say that this Parliament has never given the issue of the persecution of Christians in the world the importance it deserves. This is evidenced by the fact that my colleague Jean-Paul Garraud’s request to add a debate on this subject to the agenda of the plenary session on Wednesday 18 May, in particular the case of Deborah Samuel killed by Islamists in Nigeria for a simple message on WhatsApp, had been rejected by the majority of this House in a cold indifference behind their backs.

Madam President, Commissioner, the consequences of economic sanctions and trade restrictions in response to the war in Ukraine are already being felt in the agricultural world, with soaring prices of raw materials, such as wheat, soybeans, rapeseed and maize, but also of fertilisers and oil, which have an impact on the food security and sovereignty of nations. In order to cope with this crisis, it is necessary to ensure that countries are able to obtain supplies, but above all to be independent. It is therefore necessary to review our approach to food security in order to reduce our dependence on imports of cereals, oilseeds, maize, protein crops and fertilisers. We understand the concern of our citizens about the immediate and future availability of sufficient, nutritious and high-quality food. For all these reasons, we must act quickly to prevent possible shortages, not only in Europe but also in developing countries, which could also create social and political destabilization and generate new waves of migration towards our continent. Together with my colleagues from the ID Group, we have proposed to the European Commission that a series of measures be taken immediately to prevent market disruption and to support the sectors most affected by the crisis, such as pigmeat and seeds. We must act quickly to produce more to guarantee our food independence, by releasing funds for our farmers and breeders.

Madam President, electric vehicle batteries are now produced in Asia. In 2020, the top six global players in the sector captured 86% of the market and are all from China, South Korea and Japan. An industrial choice from which we must highlight our dependence, which is supposedly ecological, which is imposed on us, but which is far from unanimous among experts, because electric batteries are polluting, whatever we say. Although the European Commissioner talks about the circular economy, recycling and environmental constraints, this sector raises many questions. The production of batteries is so energy-intensive that the so-called green transition is a vast deception. In Swedish Lapland, for the installation of a gigantic battery factory, a forest as large as 70 football fields was razed. Producing batteries requires phenomenal amounts of energy. An example: To produce a 50 kW battery that will provide 400 km of range for a car, the plant consumes 3 500 kW of electricity, or 60 times more. In the midst of the energy crisis, it is ugly. To this, you add the question of the harmfulness of the raw materials that go into its composition: lead, mercury, lithium and cobalt. We quickly understand that we are dealing with products that are highly dangerous to our health and the environment. Resources whose extraction was the subject of a UN report, published in 2020, concerning the production of batteries for electric vehicles. A chapter of this report on the exploitation of cobalt, its social and environmental challenges, is relevant in more ways than one. The report states, for example, that most of the cobalt supplied to global markets comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 20 per cent of which comes from artisanal mines in southern Katanga, where 40,000 children work. And there are many cases of non-compliance with human rights. Finally, there is the issue of traceability through a battery passport, which poses a risk of motorist registration, with a clear violation of the right to privacy and the consent of the vehicle owner. In the face of these major challenges, why not invest in biofuels and hydrogen, which could ensure energy independence at a lower social and environmental cost?

Mr President, Commissioner, the crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina today is due to the violation of the Dayton Peace Agreements, signed in Paris on 14 December 1995. The Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina has always respected the legal structure, rights and obligations set out in the Dayton Agreements. It is imperative that the autonomy of the two entities of the country and the constitutionally guaranteed rights of the constituent peoples are respected. Unfortunately, the measures taken by the UN High Representative on the ground and the political pressure exerted by the largest Bosnian party, the Democratic Action Party, on state institutions are undermining the country’s institutional framework. A striking example of the stranglehold on the institutional framework that has governed the State since 1995 is the clear bias of the Constitutional Court, composed of nine members, four of whom are chosen by the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (two Croats and two Bosniaks), two appointed by the Republika Srpska and three foreigners appointed by the President of the European Court of Human Rights. All too often, these international judges, in violation of the principle of impartiality, aligned themselves with the Bosnian judges and put the Serbs and Croats in a minority. In this way, decisions were taken on the basis of more political than legal criteria, especially to the detriment of the Republika Srpska and its autonomy. In view of the lack of due process on the part of international judges, I proposed two years ago to reform the Constitutional Court by replacing those judges with national judges. The hypocrites, far too numerous in the Chamber, who are moved by foreign interference are the same ones who, at the same time, remain silent about these violations of the rule of law. The time of the protectorates is long over. Let us remember that, in 1914, Europe flared up from Sarajevo, and if we do not want to accentuate the current tragic episodes in Europe, we must demand full compliance with the Dayton Agreements.

Mr President, the Europe of Brussels is again trying to make people believe that it would take essential measures to facilitate free movement and save national economies. Yet it is still struggling with its repeated failures in managing the COVID-19 crisis. The European Union is thus attacking the sovereignty of the Member States, the last bulwark of its federalist drift, without bringing any added value. The Commission wants to establish today a standard acceptance period of 270 days for EU Digital COVID Certificates attesting to the completion of the vaccination scheme. That operation, in his mind, was intended to facilitate the free movement of its holder. This is yet another attack on the sovereignty of the Member States, again deprived of the possibility of introducing additional travel restrictions and thus prevented from carrying out all necessary checks on the safety and security of persons entering their territory. The European Union is now making the abolition of internal border controls and the seizure of controls at its external borders one of the central pillars of its political legitimacy. It should be recalled that the primary responsibility for the protection of health, and in particular health care systems, remains with the Member States. During this crisis, the European Union has demonstrated its inability to mitigate sources of danger to human health and to harmonise Member States’ public health strategies. Another controversial topic of this EU Digital COVID Certificate concerns the protection of personal data, in addition to their possible misuse. For all these reasons, the Members of the Rassemblement National opposed Brussels and this draft European COVID-19 certificate for nationals of the Member States. The EU has not been able to ban aircraft from Wuhan, it has been unable to monitor the arrival of migrants, but it has been able for two years to deprive citizens of their freedom with the sanitary pass, which, however, is useless. Our ID Group and my party, the Rassemblement National, have always opposed and will continue to oppose the very principle of this European COVID Certificate, which is nothing more than excessive coercion, a vexatious measure and a genuine instrument of deprivation of liberty. The vaccine pass should also be removed immediately: it is a disproportionate restriction of freedom, which has absolutely no health purpose.

Mr President, Commissioner, the agenda is a milestone and state of play on the elimination of violence against women. The conclusion is that nothing is done, nothing is advanced. In France, 220,000 women per year suffer domestic violence; more than 100,000 women are raped or assaulted every year; 120 000 are excised each year; The number of rapes has increased by 32% in the last two years. Further proof that nothing is done, neither in France nor in Europe. You prefer to invest in advertising for the wearing of the hijab and show hypocrisy, even irony, by signing an international agreement called the ‘Istanbul Convention’, a Turkish city of which President Erdoğan is an Islamist. This Islamist relegated Ms. von der Leyen to a couch like a little schoolgirl, leaving men with serious discussions. Nothing can ever improve the condition of women in this European Union victim of Stockholm syndrome. If you ever want to get your feet back on the ground, it is 35% of women who say they have been exposed to physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. 101 women have died in France since 1 January this year. This is what happens when you want to entrust fate, the fate of women to their worst enemies. Michel Sardou sang "Women, I love you". It would be really time to love them, and really love them.

Mr President, on 28 October, the Council of Europe launched a campaign co-financed by the European Union to promote the Islamic veil in Europe, with the slogan: Beauty is in diversity as freedom is in the hijab. "Freedom is in the hijab": you give legitimacy to an instrument of oppression of women, the symbol of their submission in Islamic countries. The members of the Council of Europe include Turkey and Azerbaijan, which are not examples of the rule of law, democracy and human rights. And behind this despicable campaign are also the Muslim Brotherhood, recognised as a terrorist group by Egypt and Austria in particular. The Council of Europe is being used to spread messages and ideas that do not belong directly or indirectly to our civilisation. Let’s stop funding Islamism and Islamists with taxpayers’ money. Let’s stop funding those who want to keep women in a position of inferiority.

Mr President, Commissioner, as usual at the European summits on the Western Balkans, the meeting held in Slovenia on 6 October last saw no significant progress. The European Union is, as usual, recklessly enlarging itself to include countries which are far from having incorporated the b.a.-ba of the acquis communautaire and for which the promotion of our European way of life remains a chimera. Indeed, how is it possible to propose accession to countries characterised by highly complex political and geopolitical situations such as Albania and North Macedonia, or even Kosovo, which, I would remind you, is an entity not recognised as a sovereign state by five Member States of the European Union? These countries are best known for corruption, trafficking of all kinds and the judicial timeliness of their leaders. In this whole region of the Western Balkans, only one people is close to us and shares our values. It is the Serbian people, a people who, in the difficult moments of history, have always chosen the camp of democracy and freedom, and who have made the Franco-Serbian friendship a point of honour for their political action at international level, despite the horror of the NATO bombings in 1999.

Madam President, Commissioner, the oral question tabled by the Committee on Transport and Tourism evades the only point of interest to professionals in a sector most affected by the COVID-19 crisis, particularly in my country, France, the world’s leading tourist destination. The crucial question should have been: How much is the Commission willing to pay to support the sector and compensate it for the losses it has suffered as a result of the mismanagement of the crisis? Businesses cannot keep afloat if the crates are empty. This is all the more true of a sector composed largely of small and medium-sized enterprises: Whether they are self-employed or family businesses, these categories already find it difficult to listen attentively to banks. Do you really believe that hoteliers, coffee makers, restaurateurs and plagists are waiting for the result of a bureaucratic investigation into the deployment of the health pass? No, but frankly! They suffered this suicidal measure for trade, which caused many customers to flee. All workers, including tourism workers, have been hit hard by a drop in turnover, and the French government is now proposing to extend this measure until summer 2022. Stop it! Let's stop ideological whims and let tourism professionals work freely. They must be consulted before any decision is taken. They need the financial support they need to survive. There is also a need to address the issue of employment that the sector is now facing. According to the French Ministry of Labour, 237,000 people left the hospitality industry between February 2020 and February 2021. To address this, let's start by putting in place the national priority and remove the Posted Workers Directive. Finally, trust local elected representatives and local authorities. This is how to help tourism professionals.

Mr President, Commissioner, the EU promised mountains and wonders to improve our lives. But bad took it from him. Because behind the slogans hides a disastrous balance sheet. And it is the European Court of Auditors that says so: 57 billion budget foreseen for the corridors of the interconnected European Transport Network, with 17 billion additional costs, an unforeseen increase of 47% of the total budget. On average, the delivery of these megaprojects is 11 years behind schedule. All this with public money from our taxes, with our money. This is a direct consequence of the complex and bureaucratic functioning of the European Commission, which is above ground and disconnected. To remedy this, the Commission needs to cooperate more with local elected representatives, professionals and user associations. Projects would go much faster and cost taxpayers much less, especially the French. This is proof that cooperation between nations would have been more effective than the technocratic and outdated European Commission.