Speeches

Mr President, Commissioner, I would like to begin by welcoming all those who have fought in Europe in the face of disasters and by welcoming the European Mechanism's response to crises. But the reality, as you said, Commissioner, is that you lack the means to deal with crises. The reality is that we do not know the vulnerabilities in Europe. The JRC is developing a tool – the vulnerability index – but it is not or little used. The reality is that in Europe there is no planning for adaptation to climate change and no real mobilisation for the preparation of societies. The reality is that your policy on disaster resilience objectives, which should be our common basis, remains siloed and essentially intergovernmental. The reality is that within this Parliament itself, the issue of civil protection has a marginal place. I would like to make two proposals today. The first is that in this Parliament there is a cross-cutting working group around the ENVI and REGI committees to address these issues as a whole. The second proposal would be that in February 2024, one year after the publication of your “disaster resilience targets”, there would be a high-level conference with the Council, the Parliament and the Commission to give – without waiting for the elections – a new impetus to this policy to finally change scale and model.

Madam President, dear Frans Timmermans, thanks to this morning's vote, the Green Deal is moving forward and that is good news. Now we need an agricultural Green Deal. The current blocking situation cannot continue. This morning, the whole agricultural part of the law was pushed back and that is not good news. The agricultural world must no longer delay change, but commit itself fully to it, because its future depends on it. For our part, we have an obligation to use all means, including financial means – and you mentioned this – to accompany them. And this morning, the right rejected any mobilization of the CAP and any new financial tool. So tonight I ask the question: How to reopen the discussion? How to rebuild trust? How can we equip ourselves for an agricultural Green Deal? For my part, I am convinced that this requires a new common agricultural and food policy, radically different from the current one, to restore nature and ensure Europe’s food sovereignty.

Mr Kuźmiuk, when you are heard, it is never the right proposal, it is never the right time. You always have to wait. You always have to go slower. You always have to do less. You just have to trust farmers and what's already started, as if everything is going well. So I have a simple question for you: When will it be the right time to act more strongly? Will this be the time when it's too late?

Madam President, after the COVID-19 crisis, health must once again become a priority at the heart of the Sustainable Development Goals. What will be the next epidemic, and therefore the next crisis? We do not know, but to believe that there will be none would be a serious mistake. Since epidemics come from outside, it is in Europe’s interest to mobilise for rapid progress in health around the world. First, push the One Health approach, which combines environmental health, food health, animal health and human health. Secondly, to structure mechanisms for rapid response to the emergence of epidemics, which are currently non-existent in many countries. It is also necessary to strengthen the resilience of health systems, both to deploy vaccination campaigns and to cope with an influx of patients. Finally, make essential medicines accessible. Opening up the intellectual property of vaccines is not the only answer; it is also necessary to allow on-site production of vaccines, medicines and medical equipment at appropriate prices. If we want to be at the rendezvous of the SDGs, we must open two paths: on the one hand, preparing societies for crises and making them capable of dealing with them in solidarity and cohesion; on the other hand, developing health sovereignty everywhere to enable effective local responses and avoid global chaos.