Speeches

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the proliferation of standards by the European Union is forcing fishermen in the ORs to bring their fleets into line. To this end, EUR 64 million has been allocated by the Commission to five overseas departments. Many fishermen, however, have not seen its colour. It is impossible to know how many of them are actually concerned by the allocation of that aid, for lack of transparency on the part of the French Government. Further evidence of the Borne government’s inability to address the issues. This lack of transparency led the Commission to suspend its aid. Once again, it is our overseas compatriots who are being abandoned and marginalised by the risky management of President Macron. The Rassemblement National was already warning about the importance of this subsidy, and we are doing it again in this Chamber about the lack of transparency in its use. The Commission must re-grant this aid and give France time to draw up its report. As for President Macron and his government, they must fulfil their obligations to promote the sustainability of this essential aid. (The Chair withdrew the floor to the speaker)

Dear colleague, I think you misunderstood me. I have just explained that I tabled in committee a proposal for the creation of a European Maritime Agency, which was not even discussed on the sole ground that I was a member of the Rassemblement National. So, in terms of partisanship, sectarianism, we have no lessons to learn from you.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, thanks to France and its 11 million square kilometres of maritime domain, the European Union has the world’s first maritime space. It is thanks to overseas France that this area has many assets that force us to do so. Indeed, many of our citizens live thanks to the ocean, and its conservation, future and protection require a constant effort. The cooperation of maritime states would make it possible to provide the necessary responses and innovations to marine challenges. I proposed in the REGI Committee the creation of a European Sea Agency modelled on the Space Agency based in Kourou, Guyana. Unfortunately, the proposal was rejected on strictly partisan grounds. Through this cooperation, Europe would become a recognised player, able to respond to many challenges and research in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. So, because our exchanges demonstrate the plurality of ocean issues, it is time, colleagues, to put aside any political and partisan vision to focus on the essential, the general interest, and in this sense, to give the ocean its rightful place in our policies. (The speaker agreed to answer a blue card question)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, French news in Mayotte is distinguished by the Union of the Comoros’ refusal to accept its own nationals, its inappropriate and irredentist assertion of Mayotte’s territorial membership of the Union of the Comoros, and its interference in France’s policy. Neither the French Government nor the European Union has reacted to the unacceptable behaviour of this micro-state, which forgets that, three times and by referendum, Mayotte has confirmed its desire to be French. Both pursue one-sided cooperation with millions of euros. The European Union allocates almost €46 million under the EDF to the Union of the Comoros. The European Union owes unwavering support to France, the founding state and contributor. I therefore solemnly ask the Commission to put an end to development aid to the Comoros. This concerns the territorial integrity of a Member State. It is about respect for the will of the Mahorais to be French, and it is about respect for our compatriots from overseas France, whom the European Union cannot regard as second-class citizens.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, today, 8 May, France is celebrating the end of the Second World War and its 50 million deaths. In France, we commemorate the defeat of an increasingly dominant Germany that, three times, tried to enslave Europe and even the world. This is the day that Metsola and von der Leyen chose, not only to sit rather than to revere peace, but also to discuss an arms policy that could plunge the world into deadly warmongering. Would it not be up to the European Union, in order to honour its Nobel Peace Prize received in 2012, to do everything possible to achieve a negotiated situation between Ukraine and Russia? Was it not for Ms von der Leyen, from the beginning of the conflict, to pitch her tent and enter between the two sides, as close as possible to the front line? Would it not have been inspired to encourage the UN to deploy an interposition force made up of blue helmets? But for this to happen, ladies and gentlemen, it would be necessary for the word ‘peace’ to still have a meaning for the European Union, which is constantly pushing for military escalation and war. Ladies and gentlemen, at the time of tomorrow's votes, I invite you to reflect on the consequences of your seemingly innocuous move to press a red button or a green button. Ensuring that peace remains the watchword that guides the European Union, or accepting a delivery of arms and ammunition that will inevitably lead to slippage, and will undoubtedly turn into a new butchery to which we will be forced to send our sons. The night carries advice. Think about it.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, in 2015 a "dieselgate" broke out, which involved many car manufacturers. They were accused of fraudulently reducing the polluting emissions of their thermal engines during approval tests. Of course, these lies to buyers and the European Union should never have existed. However, we must try to understand how these manufacturers got there. Brussels' increasingly unachievable environmental standards eventually pushed these manufacturers to the fault. The European Union has been waging a punitive environmental regulatory war against motorists for years. The preservation of the health of Europeans and the fight against pollution are laudable, but the means employed are always disconnected from reality, arbitrary and unfair. Yesterday, Europeans were encouraged to buy diesel cars. Today, they are forced to switch to electric power, by geographically shifting pollution generated by the extraction of rare earths, which are necessary for the manufacture of batteries. What will happen tomorrow? The maneuver undertaken with this debate is clear: to attack again the combustion engines, without thinking that, in the depths of our countryside and France overseas, many compatriots still work with generators. We are therefore looking forward to the debate on the pollution generated by the manufacture of electric batteries: pollution of rivers, air and soil, in addition to pollution that sometimes seriously affects other continents. But the European Union will turn a blind eye, probably believing that there is good pollution and bad pollution.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, on entering the Chamber, many of you certainly drank a glass of water, which in the 21st century, in the European space, seems quite normal. However, one third of French people in the West Indies, 40% of those in French Guiana and 31% of our compatriots in Mayotte are not connected to drinking water. Lack of sanitation, failures, obsolete network and contaminated water are the difficulties of our overseas compatriots. As Marine Le Pen denounced during her visit to Guadeloupe, the State and the European Union cannot continue to ignore this subject. In the French Antilles, chlordecone has had devastating effects on groundwater, which is now contaminated. In Guadeloupe, the abandonment by the State of the water union slows down any rehabilitation of water networks. In 2018, out of 80 million cubic metres of water collected for drinking water needs, only 21 were actually used. The rest was wasted in significant losses. This problem of water in the outermost regions even affects education. Without water, many schools temporarily close their doors. The outermost regions are not inhabited by second-class citizens, and their geographical remoteness cannot in any way justify the precariousness of access to drinking water. So, before trying to save the whole world by interfering here and there on matters that are not European, the European Union has an obligation to take care of the vital needs of our overseas compatriots, which it does not do.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the flags of our European partners are flying in front of the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou. But the reality of the presence of these nations in the construction and support of European space projects is much more contrasted. After Soyuz left the space center, nearly 300 jobs were cut. We should have expected the support of our partners in the development of the space center and these projects. This was to forget the German choice to prefer the propulsion of its satellites from the American Space X launchers, even though the European Ariane 5 launcher has the ability to carry out the same mission. Our neighbour across the Rhine has always preferred to support his interests, aware that whatever happens, the European Union will benefit him. How can we not question Germany’s claims to be a representative of the European engine when it chooses to support the projects and aspirations of non-European powers? CSG Kourou and Ariane 5 illustrate the ability of European nations to come together around a modern, ambitious and necessary project. I call on Germany not to play its own card, but to prefer Europe.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to illustrate the hypocrisy of the political formations of our Assembly. For example: the very specific case of the West Guyanese power plant, a highly innovative project, based on the creation of a ground-based photovoltaic power plant to supply energy to an area around Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni. The project company is a pioneer in the field of renewable hydrogen. This technique fully meets the European criteria in terms of green transition and energy independence. The procedures were completed, and as the work began, some activists supported by environmentalists and LFI tried to prevent the project from progressing by physically blocking the work. The only current power supply in this part of French Guiana is a highly polluting thermal power plant. It is curious to see this schizophrenia for the transition and renewable energies, here, for overbidding and confrontation, as only the eco-terrorists who recalled it on Saturday in Sainte-Soline, there, know how to do. All of this is once again fuelling the strategy of chaos and widespread zadisation. I call to defend this beneficial project and not to give too much credit to the virtual ecologists that we can meet here.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the bankruptcy of the SVB is reminiscent of past crises and their geopolitical, social and economic context. When Bruno Le Maire explains to the French that this crisis will not cross borders, it reminds Ms Buzyn that the virus did not have a passport. Credit Suisse's price fell by 30% this afternoon. And the risky adventure in Chinese real estate, the feverish assets of Deutsche Bank, closely linked to Société Générale and Monte dei Paschi, remind us that finance is a bubble ready to burst. The European Union is cutting states off from their sovereignty, but will not hesitate to make them pay for a new crisis linked to its economic and financial policy. All this in a context of over-indebtedness justified by the invocation of magic money. Europeans do not want to pay for a crisis that is predictable. The European Union must react. Inflation, corporate bankruptcies, overregulation, overtaxation, unemployment, sluggish growth, competitive bidding, questionable investments, over-indebtedness and dependence on foreign powers: this outbreak of American fever is a warning that must be taken seriously.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the Commission is funding an Erasmus stay on online Islamophobia for more than EUR 30 000. The organising association does not hide its proximity to the Turkish authorities and the Ismailaga movement, which is close to the Taliban and regarded by Germany as Islamist. As the EU prepares to sign the Istanbul Convention, it is no longer at odds. When France mourned its deaths from the November 13 attacks, this movement you finance relativized this barbarism. After the beheading of Professor Samuel Paty, this movement explained that Turkey will protect the honour of Islam and that Europe is an enemy of Islam. Your Europe finances the promotion of the veil. Your Europe is therefore one of youth indoctrinated with Islamism. How long will the EU encourage organisations that condition our children against theirs? How long will it interact with those who drink the tears of our fellow citizens? These findings lead to only one question for Europe: jumping or collapsing.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, should the 30th anniversary of the single market be celebrated today? To take stock, we will see that the single market has undermined the labour market by encouraging the arrival of posted workers. The single market will have encouraged France’s relocations and deindustrialisation, causing it to lose thousands of jobs. The single market will have imposed regulations on us that no longer allow France to protect key sectors, which are subject to the competitive bidding obligation. For example, hundreds of bakers, traders and other craftsmen are about to close because they are unable to pay their electricity bills, which EDF’s monopoly could have avoided. The single market will have made us dependent on powers such as the United States or China in strategic sectors such as pharmaceuticals or more recently with AI. The Single Market will have fostered crime by facilitating arms trafficking and the movement of terrorists. The single market will have fostered out-of-control immigration of foreigners who do not speak our language and are ignorant of our culture. The European Economic Community is the common market, it is about getting together to trade, but that must not mean abolishing national sovereignty, said General de Gaulle. This vision of Europe is that of Marine Le Pen, a Europe of cooperation in which every state remains sovereign. This is not the one we know, and it will be difficult for France to celebrate this anniversary.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, well-ordered charity starts with oneself. How can we evoke a human rights anniversary with 6 500 workers dead on Qatar's construction sites and the scandal that ensues and shakes our institution? Although he did not hesitate to sell his services to a foreign power, one of us is setting himself up as a lesson giver, even though he did not see anything coming concerning his comrades in the Socialist Group, now behind bars for corruption. Our colleague would like to launch a "clean hands" operation, but what explanations did he provide when his ex-wife was arrested with several million dollars in his suitcases? Always quick to reproach the opponent, what did he say to Ms Zourabichvili, President of the country of which his wife was Minister of the Interior, who wondered whether, as a husband, he was unaware of the excesses of the police, the torture in prisons and the human rights situation there? You told us, Madam President, that you wanted to shake Parliament. So please make sure that Mr Glucksmann can no longer chair the ING2 committee.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Reunion Island, France’s outermost region, is Europe’s largest producer of sugar cane. Since the abolition by the EU of sugar quotas and the emergence of third countries on the market, the French Government, at the instigation of the Commission, has been forced to fill the gap in earnings of a profession which accounts for 13% of market employment, i.e. 20 000 jobs. However, not only did the government of Emmanuel Macron reduce the annual amount of compensation for planters from 30 million to 14 million, but it was slow to pay them, generating many street movements. Today, the government persists in error. It intends to allocate its subsidies in a way that is completely illogical, unfair and contrary to the principle of tonnage coupling intended to favour the most modest producers. Mrs. Borne and Mr. Darmanin intend to give pride of place to the biggest. Given this situation, does the European Union not intend to reintroduce sugar quotas?

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, 700 000 victims in Verdun, 1 200 000 deaths at the Battle of the Somme, 20 million at the end of the first global conflict, 60 million, most of them civilians, in the wake of the Second World War. 2500 years ago, Thucydides explained that history is an eternal beginning. So have we learned nothing, learned nothing from these wars, from this barbarism, and here in Strasbourg from the occupation? Are we ready, a century later, to turn into a new European tragedy with this Russian aggression against Ukraine? In 2012, the European Union was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. What remains of it today, if not a spirit going to war? It is certainly easier to sink into anathema and belligerent imprecation by taking the path of war than to find the path of peace. And if it were to be confirmed that the European Union is failing in its mission and its responsibilities as a peacemaker, it is up to France, whose every village honours a monument to the fallen, to bring all parts of Ukraine, Russia and NATO to the negotiating table. It is up to France to make peace in order to put an end to the escalation of this conflict. And when the elements of lasting peace are found, be assured, regardless of your nationality and membership in this Chamber, that our children, our grandchildren, we... (The President withdrew the floor to the speaker)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, water is life. Unfortunately, it must be noted that the French outermost regions Guadeloupe, Martinique and Mayotte suffer from water supply problems. The pipe systems have not been maintained and the distribution of drinking water cannot be ensured on a daily basis. The French government has proved incapable of apprehending this catastrophic health situation. In the 21st century, it is as inconceivable as it is unacceptable that our Caribbean and Mahoran compatriots, citizens of the fifth world power, cannot have access to running water. Even today, a third of the population of the West Indies does not have access to drinking water, particularly and cruelly in this post-cyclonic period of the passage of Storm Fiona. In order to put an end to this health disaster, I ask the European Commission to apply Article 168 TFEU to help the populations of the French outermost regions Guadeloupe, Martinique and Mayotte, so that clean drinking water flows permanently to the tap of these three French departments.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I am surprised that Mr Omarjee’s text met with almost unanimity in committee. Behind consensual approaches, he hides a deeply federalist and dangerous logic. He proposed relaunching the ECBM proposal, a mechanism invented by the Commission, which would allow a region to choose to apply a foreign law for a given subject. This form of legal extraterritoriality would create a porosity of national legislation and a confusion of sovereignty that we would not be able to accept. The aim is of course that the regions have only one interlocutor: Brussels. The Commission has mentioned living laboratories, which is hurtful and shocking, because it seems to imply that the ultramarine citizens concerned by this text are guinea pigs. With regard to Mrs Krehl’s report, I am pleased that some of our proposals have been taken up. A pre-validation mechanism that project leaders could use with their bank so as not to have to wait for budget releases, often late. On the other hand, I agree with the criticism of the lack of impact assessment accompanying the abolition of intermediate regions or the integration of the EAFRD into the general regulation. Finally, I regret that such a large report does not say a word about the impact of migration policies on economic or cultural cohesion. For these reasons, we shall vote against Mr Omarjee's report and abstain on Mrs Krehl's report.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the Commission intends to increase the wind capacity of the 27 from 190 gigawatts to 480 by 2030. The lifespan of a wind turbine is estimated at a maximum of 20 years and it is not known how to recycle it. The base for fixing a wind turbine is 1 500 tonnes of concrete, which has been definitively ordered to remain in the ground. In the absence of wind, they must be coupled to gas power plants generating 500 grams of CO2 per kilowatt hour or, worse, coal, which generate 1 000 grams, accompanied by fine particles of uranium and mercury. The price per megawatt hour has just risen from 108 euros to nearly 1,000 in one year. This industry benefits only its promoters, who have received tens of billions in France. The example of the German electricity mix based on wind turbines is a failure. It emits 400 grams of CO2 per kilowatt hour, seven times more than the French model, based mainly on decarbonized nuclear power. Wind turbines are undeniably an ecological, environmental and economic scam. Does the Commission intend to continue its support for this sector?

Mr President, Commissioner, rapporteur, ladies and gentlemen, this report regrets the Union's lack of vision for the European islands and I would like to focus on the French outermost islands, which have been suffering particularly for five years. Pursuant to Article 168 of the Treaty, which relates to human health, the Commission must take into account health disasters, in particular chlordecone, access to running water and the devastation of Sargassum algae, on which I have already expressed a great deal. Secondly, given the dramatic economic situation suffered by our overseas compatriots, the ERDF budget must be increased and its access made more fluid, so that beneficiaries can dispose of it as soon as possible, the duration of the deadlines being such that the persons concerned cannot dispose of it in a timely manner. These administrative barriers deprive them of borrowing capacity. The establishment of a European guarantee mechanism reassuring lenders should therefore be envisaged. Similarly, the POSEI scheme must be extended beyond this year and it must not be plentiful to the detriment of the CAP and the French farmers who have been hit hard this weekend. The budget for the specific supply scheme should also be increased, the amount of which has not been revised since 2013 by 26.9 million. Finally, I proposed the creation, on the model of the European Space Agency and between States with a maritime domain, of a European Sea Agency whose headquarters would be located in overseas France. This intergovernmental agency, which could be joined by countries outside the European Union such as the United Kingdom, would have as its strategic development axis the exploration of energy and mining resources, hydrocarbons, polymetallic nodules and sulphide mixtures, research on marine renewable energies, animal and plant biological resources, transport and maritime surveillance. Such cooperation cannot call into question national sovereignty over the maritime areas concerned, nor the monitoring role of national navies. This agency could be a place for diplomatic cooperation on maritime issues and a starting point for commercial projects on a European scale. It would benefit from considerable importance, while the French ORs play an undeniable strategic role in the geopolitical balance, particularly in the Indo-Pacific. Mr rapporteur, I regret that you did not accept this amendment, which is of general interest.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, more than 90% of Guadeloupeans and Martinicans are contaminated with chlordecone, which gives the West Indies the sad world record for the number of prostate cancers. Soil, subsoil, rivers and shorelines should be decontaminated, but also support for the conversion of contaminated plots should be put in place, and drinking water production sites should be modernised and monitored. In 2022, Guadeloupeans, Martiniqueans and Mahorais still did not have access to running water. Sargassum algae ravage the ecosystem of the French Antilles in Martinique and Guadeloupe. So, pursuant to Article 168 TFEU, which provides for a high level of human health protection in the definition and implementation of all EU policies and activities, what measures could the Commission take to better take into account these health disasters affecting the French outermost regions?

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, in France, more than 90% of Guadeloupeans and Martinicans are contaminated with chlordecone, which is the cause of the sad world record for prostate cancer. As with Sargassum algae and access to running water, Marine Le Pen was a whistleblower on this subject, while President Macron and the government ignored this health tragedy, causing mistrust among the population and contributing to the anger we are experiencing today in Guadeloupe. In addition to environmental decontamination, concrete measures must be taken, including the introduction of aid for the conversion of contaminated plots and the modernisation and monitoring of drinking water production sites. Pursuant to Article 168 TFEU, the European Commission must take measures to help the West Indies who need the support of Europe and the French public authorities, which have done absolutely nothing to date.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, Marine Le Pen, candidate for President of the French Republic, was the first to denounce the calamitous management of the COVID pandemic, both by the European Union and by President Macron and the French Government. Confinements and self-isolation generated by anxiety-inducing communication have blocked access to care for the most vulnerable people in France. Faced with this fifth wave, according to the WHO, 500 000 people could die from COVID in Europe by February. This epidemic recovery is also due to a certain decrease in vaccine immunity in subjects who have received their second injection for more than six months. The response to this new wave is not based on increased care, but on coercive and liberticidal measures that bring the French department of Guadeloupe to the unprecedented crisis we are experiencing today. In Pasteur’s country, we still do not have an antiviral medicine in tablet form, which can block the replication of the virus from infectious contact. When will governments and the EU anticipate and take all necessary measures to rapidly vaccinate and develop an antiviral medicine to block the replication of the virus?