What Valérie spoke about.

20 May

2026

FR Speech

Advancing towards a care society: addressing the gender care gap (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, who cares for children, who accompanies an elderly or suffering parent, who puts his or her day in parentheses when a loved one needs help? In the majority of cases, it is still women, and this has a price on their career, on their salary and, later, on their retirement. With the aging of the population, the demand for care will increase sharply…

30 Apr

2026

FR Speech

Women’s entrepreneurship in rural and island areas and outermost regions (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to reiterate what should be obvious: Our overseas territories, like our rural or remote areas, cannot remain the poor parent of European policies. Their realities, their constraints, but also their formidable potentials must be fully taken into account. That is the whole point of this report, which I welcome. It has a clear ambition…

27 Apr

2026

FR Speech

Importance of consent-based rape legislation in the EU (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the lack of consent must finally be at the heart of the definition of rape throughout the European Union. To clearly define rape as any sexual act without consent is to protect all women, including victims of chemical submission, such as Gisèle Pelicot. CNN recently revealed a chilling reality, a veritable online rape industry. Thousands of videos …

12 Mar

2026

FR Speech

Rail transport safety in the EU – lessons learnt from the Adamuz accident and three years after the Tempi tragedy (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the railway accidents in Tempé and Adamuz have upset the Greeks, the Spaniards and, beyond that, all Europeans. After the time of mourning and recollection, it is now up to us to take the necessary measures to ensure that such tragedies never happen again in Europe. It is difficult to provide a single answer to two different sit…

11 Mar

2026

FR Speech

AccessibleEU and the strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities: state of play and the future of EU accessibility policy (debate)

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9 Mar

2026

FR Speech

Gender pay and pension gap in the EU: state of play, challenges and the way forward, and developing guidelines for the better evaluation and fairer remuneration of work in female-dominated sectors (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, closing the gender pay gap is not only a social policy, it is also a competitiveness policy. Europe is facing a shortage of talent and a slowdown in productivity. At the same time, women remain underrepresented in strategic sectors, including science, technology and engineering. We cannot talk about European competitiveness while underutilizi…

12 Feb

2026

FR Speech

Recommendation to the Council on EU priorities for the 70th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (debate)

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16 Dec

2025

FR Speech

European Citizens’ Initiative ‘My voice, my choice: for safe and accessible abortion’ (debate)

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16 Dec

2025

FR Speech

EU Defence Readiness (joint debate)

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26 Nov

2025

FR Speech

EU strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities post-2024 (debate)

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9 Oct

2025

FR Speech

Declaration of principles for a gender-equal society (debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, today's vote of approval does not mark the end of a process. On the contrary, it commits us to do more together to make concrete changes in women's lives and to oppose any setbacks or obstacles to the exercise of their rights, including the control of their bodies. I think of Gisèle Pelicot, back in court this week, and all the women victims of violence who dare…

2 Apr

2025

FR Speech

The importance of trans-European transport infrastructure in times of stalling economic growth and major threats to Europe’s security (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, our transport infrastructure is the backbone of our economy. Our ports, our rails, our bridges, our roads are concrete links between Europeans, but our network no longer meets the challenges of the century. Member States are insufficiently connected, which is an obstacle for the mobility of Europeans and goods, but also for the green transition of …

9 Oct

2024

FR Speech

Prevention of drug-related crimes, their effect on European citizens and the need for an effective European response (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, the Mazan rape trial in France highlights the phenomenon of chemical submission. This scourge is not limited to GHB in nightclubs; it also includes the misuse of medicines. The aggressors are not always strangers; they are sometimes close people, or even very close. Faced with these attacks that too often leave victims, often women, in a state of deprivation, amnesia…