What Sandro spoke about.

14

Dec

2022

FR Speech

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Defending democracy from foreign interference (debate)

Mr President, I do not know whether for us it will be like the works of Heracles, to which Raphaël Glucksmann referred. What is certain is that I agree with him: Interference and corruption are the cancers of our democracies. Parliament, together with Qatargate, is paying for it today. Yes, this House has done a huge job since 2019 – I am thinking for example of the Digital Services Act – but this…

14

Dec

2022

EN Speech

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Defending the European Union against the abuse of national vetoes (debate)

I am not sure I have seen a question here, but I will try to give an answer. I never said that the Council, the European Council or the Council of Ministers is less legitimate than the European Parliament, I said the European Parliament plays a role, but no, I didn’t say that. But I don’t understand why we should not apply the Treaty. And at the moment we are not applying the Treaty because this s…

14

Dec

2022

FR Speech

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Defending the European Union against the abuse of national vetoes (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, the Europe of vetoes is the Europe of inaction, delays, blackmail and disappointment. This is grotesque. Until recently, at the Conference on the Future of Europe, citizens called for European defence, an energy union and global power. All this is now denied by the vetoes of some and the hypocrisy of others. Orbán’s Hungary is the stark example of this, of course – Buda…

4

Oct

2022

FR Speech

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Radio Equipment Directive: common charger for electronic devices (debate)

Madam President, Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, dear rapporteur Agius Saliba, thank you for your excellent work. Finally common sense, finally coherence, finally a concrete solution! This is proof that when the EU wants, it can. First of all, the common charger is clearly a common sense choice: 84% of consumers have problems with phone chargers, and the cost of this mess and confusion is huge …

15

Sep

2022

FR Speech

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State of the SME Union (debate)

Madam President, it has become a mantra in Europe: "Think small first". How many times have we recalled that SMEs are the bedrock of our economy. And then there is a reality, very hard: yesterday COVID, today the energy crisis, a reality that requires further action. That is why we, Renew Europe, wanted this debate at the initiative of Martina Dlabajová, whom I would like to thank on behalf of my …

15

Sep

2022

FR Speech

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Statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations (debate)

Madam President, Madam Vice-President, a democracy cannot function without functioning political parties and movements. European democracy cannot be limited to 27 separate political spaces; it must be based on genuine European political parties, it must be strengthened in a transnational political space. To this end, European political parties must become real parties and be able to do real politi…

14

Sep

2022

FR Speech

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Economic, social and territorial cohesion in the EU: the 8th Cohesion Report - EU border regions: living labs of European integration (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, during the COVID crisis, border regions wanted to cooperate more. They could not, due to bureaucratic obstacles. In the face of natural disasters and the energy crisis, integration between border regions is needed. They face too many obstacles. Cross-border workers request services in their workplace that local authorities cannot offer. President Omarjee's report den…

4

Jul

2022

FR Speech

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Digital Services Act - Digital Markets Act (debate)

Mr President, with this digital package, we have achieved the impossible. I would therefore like to thank Margrethe Vestager, Thierry Breton, all colleagues and the French Presidency of the Council. A more open and competitive market, more protection for our citizens, more instruments against illegality and disinformation, more transparency of algorithms: This is great. In the face of the digital …

9

Jun

2022

FR Speech

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

Mr President, the outcome of the Conference on the Future of Europe is very clear: Europe will be democratic and powerful or it will not be. We wanted this citizens' debate, launched, I want to remind you, in 2019 by President Macron. We need to live up to our commitments and now we need to start revising the Treaties. It is therefore very strange for me this morning to hear the criticisms of Mano…

8

Jun

2022

FR Speech

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Parliament’s right of initiative (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, a parliament proposes and adopts laws and controls the executive, otherwise it is not a parliament. Europe too often pretends. We pretend to have a foreign policy: we don’t have it. We are pretending to elect a full-fledged Parliament and we do not have it. This assembly must become a Parliament in its own right, with a wider power of initiative, as citizens cal…

3

May

2022

EN Speech

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

Yes, I will answer in Italian, so I hope she will understand better. Sono convinto che ci sia un'identità europea. Sono convinto che come cittadini europei noi possiamo esercitare i nostri diritti in qualsiasi posto dell'Unione europea. È per questo che da italiano ho deciso di candidarmi in Francia e l'ho fatto esattamente per portare avanti questa idea di politica transnazionale, di democrazia t…

3

May

2022

FR Speech

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

Madam President, Madam Vice-President, ladies and gentlemen, we defended this conference proposed by Emmanuel Macron in March 2019 from the very beginning and forcefully. And for good reason! For a year, we have done Europe differently, with a completely new democratic exercise. Citizens are calling for radical change because the world has changed, war has returned to our continent, empires threat…

2

May

2022

EN Speech

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Election of the Members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage (debate)

Thank you, colleague. No, colleague, I want to reassure you: I am Italian, elected in France, but I don’t think I will be a candidate also in Sweden. But let me say that we don’t take anything away from the Swedish system. Nothing will change for Sweden. Your voters will elect you, or others, exactly in the same way, only they will have an additional democratic choice, an additional democratic pow…

2

May

2022

FR Speech

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Election of the Members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage (debate)

Dear Paulo, I am sure that we are now debating in good faith. And if we have a debate in good faith, you can remind our dear colleagues that, in the citizens' panels, the citizens had asked outright to elect half of the members of this plenary by voting directly for European political parties. You can't say otherwise because it's in citizens' panels, and you could be denied easily. The second poin…

2

May

2022

FR Answer

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Election of the Members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage (debate)

First of all, the age of sixteen is not an obligation dear colleague, it is an option. In some Member States, the right to vote is from the age of 16 and in others it is at the age of 18. If there are states that want to choose this possibility of granting the right to vote at sixteen for the European elections, thanks to this electoral law, they will be able to do so. Member States that do not wi…

2

May

2022

FR Speech

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Election of the Members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage (debate)

Mr President, first of all it is a nice debate, I think we can be satisfied. The idea of transnational lists was endorsed at the Conference on the Future of Europe and this Parliament is committed to responding to citizens’ requests. Indeed, citizens are right, they see further than we do, I think, because European democracy can no longer be trapped in a strictly national logic and only in the 27 …

7

Apr

2022

FR Speech

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Right to repair (debate)

Madam President, 77% of Europeans would rather repair their property than change it. Yet three quarters of them are forced to throw away without repairing. It is impossible to talk about a circular economy without the right to repair. It is unacceptable to deny consumers freedom of choice. We must ban planned obsolescence practices and the reparable choice must become the default choice. The chall…

6

Apr

2022

FR Speech

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Data Governance Act (debate)

Madam President, an innovative and sovereign Europe is entering the world stage. As such, the Data Governance Act appears to be the most sustainable and relevant solution to harness the enormous potential of data. Indeed, we must promote and secure data sharing without anyone being forced to do so. This is how we will multiply transnational opportunities, for our citizens, for our businesses and f…

8

Mar

2022

FR Speech

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Foreign interference in all democratic processes in the EU (debate)

Madam President, I would like to talk to you about ICTs. These four letters were until recently the pride of our democracies. Yes, the new information and communication technologies made it possible for as many of our citizens as possible to learn, exchange and live. I say ‘permitted’ because these four letters are now twisted, damaged by democrats such as China, Venezuela and, of course, Russia. …

16

Feb

2022

FR Speech

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The Rule of Law and the consequences of the ECJ ruling (debate)

Madam President, what does it mean to be European? While we are different in our languages and cultures, we share strong values: the rule of law and democracy are among them. The judgment of the Court of Justice reaffirms once again that our Union has a solid foundation. This is our European identity. The Polish and Hungarian governments have tried everything; They failed. We are on the side of Po…

15

Feb

2022

FR Speech

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Tackling non-tariff and non-tax barriers in the single market (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, the single market is the best European achievement, opening up a huge number of possibilities. This is a huge asset, which we must now make full use of and put at the service of our new priorities: strengthening our strategic autonomy and positioning Europe as a role model in the green and digital transition. Yet we are trampling. Barriers have been present for years, a…

19

Jan

2022

FR Speech

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Digital Services Act (continuation of debate)

Mr President, Vice-President of the European Commission, Commissioner, two centuries later, finally, the Union is taking its responsibilities in the face of the digital revolution. Yes, two centuries, ladies and gentlemen, since the last great text on e-commerce dates back to 2000 – and 20 years in digital is two centuries. Digital is part of our lives and brings us many benefits, opportunities, b…

14

Dec

2021

FR Speech

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Digital Markets Act (debate)

Madam President, our market is unique and it creates more opportunities for businesses and 450 million consumers. Yet it is not yet fit for the digital age. Paradoxical, because Europe accounts for 15% to 20% of GAFA turnover and offers huge business opportunities that these players cannot and do not want to ignore. I would therefore like to thank Margrethe Vestager, Thierry Breton, the rapporteur…

20

Oct

2021

IT Speech

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The rise of right-wing extremism and racism in Europe (in light of recent events in Rome) (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, the mobilisation against the severe attacks on the headquarters of the CGIL has sent a very clear message to the whole of Europe: Italy has the antibodies to defend itself against the fascist virus. Of course, it is true, there are those who pursue some minorities, no vax, no pass, there are those who blow on discontent, there are those who, it is incredible,…

19

Oct

2021

FR Speech

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The Rule of law crisis in Poland and the primacy of EU law (debate)

Mr President, by challenging the primacy of European law in a systemic way – and I am saying it in a systemic way – Poland is attacking the jackhammer at the heart of the European edifice. If this were accepted, each Member State would be a member of nothingness, as there would no longer be any unity. It looks like yes to Europe à la carte, in which everyone takes what is right for them. A contine…