What Estelle spoke about.

12

Feb

2025

FR Speech

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Competitiveness Compass (debate)

Mr President, at the end of January, the President of the Commission presented her compass for competitiveness, but we are not honoured to be here today to discuss it with us. Yes, that's good. If the European Union is at a crossroads in many respects, including the need to rebuild strategic autonomy on the industrial, digital or energy level, the project on the table is more than worrying, with t…

12

Feb

2025

FR Speech

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Collaboration between conservatives and far right as a threat for competitiveness in the EU (topical debate)

Mr. Speaker, is collaboration between the Conservative parties and the far right a threat to competitiveness? Yes, of course. But above all, this collaboration is a danger to our democracies and our fundamental values. It is therefore essential to maintain the cordon sanitaire. If the extreme right today tries to be frequentable, its DNA has not changed. It remains fundamentally racist, sexist and…

11

Feb

2025

FR Speech

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The need to address urgent labour shortages and ensure quality jobs in the health care sector (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, five years ago Europe and the world were facing the worst health crisis since the end of the Second World War. During this time, we have all experienced intimately how much health is our most precious asset and how essential our health systems are not only for society as a whole, but also economically. Workers in this sector, who are mostly female workers, were then rec…

19

Dec

2024

FR Speech

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Need to update the European strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, in 2023, almost 30% of adults in Europe, or more than 100 million people, had some form of disability. It is essential to recall that, like all Europeans, these people with disabilities have the right to participate in all areas of life and to be autonomous. And the right to have a job, for those who have the opportunity, is obviously essential …

18

Dec

2024

FR Speech

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Tackling abusive subcontracting and labour market intermediaries (debate)

Mr President, Mrs Mînzatu, ladies and gentlemen, in 2024, in Italy, an Indian agricultural worker, an undocumented worker, died with his arm severed as a result of an accident at work. In 2023, in Sweden, five workers died in the fall of an elevator on a construction site under construction. Four days after the accident, the contractor still could not say whether they were his employees. In 2022, …

18

Dec

2024

FR Speech

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Promoting social dialogue and collective bargaining and the right to strike in the EU (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, as the President of Georgia reminded us again this morning, the repression of social movements is the prerogative of authoritarian regimes, and trade union and democratic rights at work are no exception. However, the rights of association, information, consultation and strike are fundamental rights, enshrined at international and European level. Th…

16

Dec

2024

FR Speech

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Regional Emergency Support: RESTORE (debate)

Madam President, the impact of natural disasters is increasingly dramatic in Europe and around the world: recently in Spain, in the Valencia region, now in Mayotte, but also in 2021 in my country, Belgium. More and more, too many deaths, lives destroyed and terrible devastation caused by extreme weather events are to be deplored. These dramatic situations require urgent responses in terms of mater…

28

Nov

2024

FR Speech

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Strengthening children’s rights in the EU - 35th anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (debate)

Madam President, 35 years ago, the Convention on the Rights of the Child was the first international instrument to recognise children as individuals with fundamental rights. Yet today in Europe, one in four children or young people live in poverty or social exclusion and the mental health problems of young people are more worrying than ever. Three years ago, the European Union adopted a European C…

27

Nov

2024

FR Speech

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Rise of energy prices and fighting energy poverty (debate)

Madam President, in 2023, more than 10% of Europeans said they were unable to heat their homes sufficiently. And this energy poverty is increasing, which is unacceptable, because energy is an essential good whose access must be guaranteed. The causes of this precariousness are diverse, but this should not prevent us from being willing and ambitious to act on these different causes. First, by ensur…

26

Nov

2024

FR Speech

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Urgent need to tackle the gender pay gap (debate)

24

Oct

2024

FR Speech

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Closing the EU skills gap: supporting people in the digital and green transitions to ensure inclusive growth and competitiveness in line with the Draghi report (debate)

Mr President, it is clear that strong commitments need to be made to improve skills and training, which are key components to address the challenges of the climate and digital transitions, but also to address the challenge of job shortages in certain sectors, such as care, healthcare and education. But it is important to stress that this issue is mainly linked to the quality of employment in these…

23

Oct

2024

FR Speech

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Tackling the steel crisis: boosting competitive and sustainable European steel and maintaining quality jobs (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the European steel sector is experiencing a new crisis, which is likely to be even more tragic than the previous ones. In one year, steel production in the European Union fell by 30 million tonnes. Thousands of workers are temporarily unemployed, and since 2008 almost 100 000 direct jobs – and arguably as many indirect jobs – have disappeared in…

22

Oct

2024

FR Speech

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Guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the report on which we are going to vote tomorrow, and which was presented by our President here, shows the importance of Parliament’s involvement in the development of employment policies. The many amendments that have been tabled, adopted and supported by a large majority of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs show that this Parliament’s commitment …

21

Oct

2024

FR Speech

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Empowering the Single Market to deliver a sustainable future and prosperity for all EU citizens (debate)

Madam President, Mr Letta, Commissioners, ladies and gentlemen, it is also worth recalling that Mr Letta's report will be -me von der Leyen herself said so – one of the red threads of the next Commission. So it was really important that you came and presented it to us and that we could discuss it today. Thank you, Mr Letta, for taking up the words of Jacques Delors, architect of the single market,…

10

Oct

2024

FR Answer

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World Mental Health Day - need for a comprehensive EU strategy on mental health (debate)

Colleague, on the issue of decriminalization, I think that would require much more in-depth debate than we need to discuss. What is indeed essential for us is to consider that addiction problems, whatever they may be - we can talk about tobacco, alcohol or other forms of hard or soft drugs - are above all a mental health problem, which must be treated like other mental health problems.…

10

Oct

2024

FR Speech

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World Mental Health Day - need for a comprehensive EU strategy on mental health (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen of the Commission, 10 October is World Mental Health Day. However, the mental health situation in Europe is very worrying, especially – but not only – among young people. This situation stems in particular from the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis, eco-anxiety or the global geopolitical situation, but also from the increase in precariousness for many citizens …

8

Oct

2024

FR Speech

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The crisis facing the EU’s automotive industry, potential plant closures and the need to enhance competitiveness and maintain jobs in Europe (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioners, there is, of course, no need to go back on the importance of the automotive sector at European Union level. Mention was made of the 14 million direct or indirect jobs, as well as the significant manufacturing value added that this sector represents. If today the export balance remains positive, there are alarming signs that raise fears for this…

17

Sep

2024

FR Speech

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The future of European competitiveness (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, the release of Mr Draghi's report commissioned by the European Commission, just as the European portfolios and the mission letters of the European Commissioners are being distributed, is probably no coincidence. We can also see that the information we have received today on the appointment of these Commissioners is largely inspired by Mr Draghi's proposals. A…