Speeches

I am pleased to have found, among the proposals made by the President of the European Commission, answers to some of the concerns of citizens and myself - for example, in terms of speeding up vaccination, the European semiconductor strategy, the Global Gateway connectivity project and digital education. However, there were also surprising points of view, such as the announcement of doubling EU funding for global biodiversity and increasing the European contribution to supporting the ecological transition in the world's less developed countries. This is because the EU risks an unprecedented internal social and economic fracture in the coming decades, without a serious impact analysis of the green transition. First and foremost, there is a need for genuine solidarity within the Union, including through a Social Climate Pact, which we European Social Democrats are proposing. Next, a global partnership is needed to save the planet, whose pollution the EU contributes only 9% to. As regards Mrs von der Leyen's plea for a European Defence Union, I would like to point out that from the necessary creation of a European cyber defence policy and capability to the fatal risk of NATO doubling and undermining is a step that must be categorically avoided.