Speeches

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, this evening I would like to draw your attention to an epidemic currently affecting livestock in Europe. Bluetongue, BTV or blue tongue disease, does not affect humans but decimates herds. Present on European soil since November 2023, it has been on the rise since this summer in many countries, including France. A vaccine against this disease exists, but by the very admission of the French Minister of Agriculture, stocks are lacking. And for good reason: two strains of this disease circulate in the European Union and only two laboratories produce vaccines for the whole of Europe. The consequences are dramatic. Some herders have lost nearly 40% of their herd and it will take years for the industry to recover. To support the farmers most affected, Member States will have to put in place aid. It is therefore important for the European Union to give them this flexibility. Since the European Union dreams of being a protector, it is important that it honours its promises to farmers. We therefore hope that emergency aid budgets can be activated to support the sector. Our food sovereignty and the survival of our farms depend on it.

Mr President, Mr Vice-President, ladies and gentlemen, this week a group of experts presented a report to Mrs von der Leyen for a greater ecological transition aimed at transforming our agriculture and our eating habits. One of the goals of this worrying program is to reduce our consumption of meat, with these experts claiming that it is bad for health and the environment. This report promotes vegetable proteins and proposes to impose vegetarian meals in schools, accompanied by propaganda classes. This report overlooks a major fact: For many, eating less meat is a matter of purchasing power, not a conversion to ecological dogma. Families are reducing their meat consumption because they can no longer afford it. This discrepancy shows how disconnected the Brussels elites are from the economic reality of our citizens. As for the herders, they will be the first victims of this forced transition. By aiming for farming without livestock or reduced to a minimum, the European Union is threatening thousands of farms, which are essential for the rural economy, landscape management and biodiversity. These standards will push small-scale farmers to abandon and encourage the import of foreign meat produced under questionable environmental and health conditions. This aberration will increase our dependence on poor quality products. This is the will of the Brussels bureaucrats who negotiate free trade agreements...