Debate contributions by Jordan BARDELLA

Madam President, Madam President of the European Commission, after a mandate marked by many failures and scandals, after elections marked by an unprecedented challenge to the functioning of the European Union, you are today presenting us with the new team that will form the European Commission. These European commissioners are anonymous, unknown to the general public. They were not elected by anyone and yet they dictate the daily lives of 450 million citizens. And yet they are the ones who have the right to life and death over entire parts of the European economy. It is they, at the bend of a corridor in Brussels, who can decide to ban the sale of thermal vehicles by 2035, to plunge our industry into distress, to subject farmers to draconian standards, without ever thinking of the devastating consequences of these decisions for those who suffer them. Despite the popular protests, despite the mobilizations, like that of our peasants, you remain camped on your positions, on your ideology; you reaffirmed, a few moments ago, the disproportionate ambitions of the Green Deal, which is the other more bucolic name of your disastrous project of degrowth, which will put the sovereignty of the nations of Europe and our destiny in the hands of others. The Commission refuses to reform itself because it refuses to publicly acknowledge more than a decade of mistakes and wanderings that have led the nations of Europe to where they are today. Failing in the face of the United States, threatened by the rapid advance of China, challenged by the emergence of new giants like India, emptied of its talents that expatriate each day more, Europe has become the sick man of developed economies. This reality should startle you, but it undeniably leads you to continuity: the same inaction in the face of unfair competition, the same European rules of the electricity market, the same punitive ecology, the same migratory surge that changes the identity of our continent, the same weakness with regard to Islamism and its relays. Mrs von der Leyen, like many elected representatives here in this Parliament, you are a woman who called herself a right-winger, but who dreamed of being adored by the left and its fads. With the same causes having the same effects, this path will lead Europe straight to decommissioning. So do not count on us to accompany you there. The Patriots for Europe group will vote unanimously against this new European Commission.

Madam President, Mr Borrell, on 5 November, Donald Trump was elected the 47th President of the United States of America. By his patriotism, by his voluntarism, Donald Trump embodies the promise to defend America first. This is probably a shock here for the European Commission, but it is nevertheless the primary duty that the peoples entrust to their leaders in all the countries of the world. Because this is the first lesson we must learn from this American election. Europe's vocation is not to come to the aid of others, but to take care of the nations of which it is composed and to defend their interests as a matter of priority. The second lesson is that Europe runs the risk of falling further behind the United States. While France today has the GDP per capita of the poorest American state, Mississippi, our continent could experience an even deeper dropout in the coming years. Why? The United States plans to protect itself from unfair competition, trust businesses and entrepreneurs by lowering taxes, regulations and standards. Meanwhile, punitive ecology and diminishing ideology prevail in the Brussels Commission and in the corridors of this Parliament. They plunge our continent into darkness, spoil our strengths and hinder our talents. The situation could be summarized as follows: The United States is protecting itself, Europe is letting itself be protected. The United States liberates, Europe taxes. The United States innovates, Europe regulates. The United States has Elon Musk, Europe has Thierry Breton. We need a revolution in European mentalities and we need to do it quickly, based on national identities, support for nuclear power, innovation, business, respect for the past and belief in the future. We have no other choice. Let's wake up or we'll disappear.

Mr President, I would like to make a point of order, please, on the basis of Rule 73, for a personal questioning on the part of Mr Borrell, who has just left us. On the occasion of the debate on the commemorations of the massacres of 7 October, the head of European diplomacy, Mr Borrell, specifically called me into question by losing his means and calling me a defamer, because I pointed to the misappropriated funding of Hamas by public funds from Europe, and therefore by the money of our compatriots. I stand by my words. Between 2014 and 2021, the European Commission paid nearly 1.7 million euros to the Islamic University of Gaza, whose spiritual guide, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, is none other than one of the founders of Hamas. My comments were supported by journalistic investigations, including an article published by The Figaro 24 October 2023, which everyone can freely consult. The liar is therefore called Josep Borrell and the money of our fellow citizens has well fed, in a roundabout way, the Islamist ideology.

Madam President, Commissioner, this is the end of a myth, that of a Europe without borders, which is supposed to lead us to peace and prosperity. So here is the end of an ancient illusion that dwelt and still dwells in the spirits of this house and this continent for 30 years. During the European election campaign, we proposed for our country, France, the establishment of a double border, which would constitute a double protection for the French people. We were then told that it was impossible. In response to the threats posed by out-of-control migration flows, eight Schengen states, including Germany, have recently tightened controls at their national borders. Denmark, where I had the chance to visit a few days ago, is doing everything possible – it is a socialist government – to make its territory as unattractive as possible for candidates for migration. The world without borders is that of mafias, smugglers, Islamist attacks, trafficking, unfair competition and all violence. This world is undesirable. Listen to what the people are saying, election after election. Our fellow citizens no longer want to undergo an anarchic immigration of fait accompli, which very often upsets the great balances of our societies. Take note of this deep will and act without delay in the face of the migration crisis. First, by abandoning the crazy project of mandatory distribution of migrants in European cities and villages under the European Pact for Migration. Then, by suspending all public money subsidies paid to pro-migrant NGOs, accomplices of smugglers' mafias and human traffickers. Finally, by reserving the acquis communautaire of free movement to European citizens, to return to the original spirit of Schengen. Europe can no longer afford the luxury of angelism. It's time to act.

Madam President, Mr Borrell, on 7 October 2023, Hamas’s Islamist barbarism struck with indescribable horror. Within a few unsustainable minutes, Israel was experiencing both its 9/11 and its Bataclan. This date will remain engraved in our memories, because it changed the face of the world. It has changed the face of the world as much as it has accelerated hatred and liberated a word and violence that was thought to be over. October 7th reminded us of the rise, everywhere around us, in our societies, of Islamist ideology, its supporters and its relays, which are the fuels of an atmosphere of anti-Semitism that is unleashing. On 7 October we were reminded of this European naivety when we raised here in amazement that public funds from Europe were feeding the Hamas terrorist movement in a roundabout way. October 7th reminded us of the weakness of our leaders, blind and sleepwalking. On this day, in France, the Minister of Education gave up organizing a minute of silence in French schools. So begins submission. October 7 revealed the error of the left which, through electoral commerce, justifies the unjustifiable, sends Hamas spokesmen to this chamber, smears the beautiful word of resistance, submits and sinks into dishonor. On this anniversary of this tragedy, I want to have an emotional thought for the victims, for the hostages still held in Gaza, for their families, for their loved ones and, of course, for the 43 missing French people. Faced with anti-Semitism as well as its accomplices, let us stop closing our eyes.

Madam President, Mrs von der Leyen, the elections to the European Parliament last June delivered their lessons and no one can ignore them: by strengthening patriotic parties across the continent, by disavowing the centrists, the left and the greens, who are undergoing significant ebbs, the peoples of Europe have voiced their aspiration for protection, for the defence of their identity and, above all, for democracy. They have said that they reject a punitive ecology as a pretext for attacking their traditions, our farmers and their standard of living. They have said their refusal to endure an inflation of ever more restrictive norms, at the very moment when you legitimize the great move of the world and a commercial naivety that makes us a prey for the great powers of this world. They have expressed their rejection of mass immigration and their willingness to protect our borders. This cry of the heart cannot remain unanswered. Europeans want to remain themselves. Continuing as if nothing were on the way to the Green Deal or immigration imposed by the Migration Pact would be ignoring the new exit from the polls. At a time when war is returning to our doorsteps and Russian aggression, at a time when there is a risk of economic collapse, at a time when the climate, migration and new technologies and artificial intelligence are challenging us, our future will depend on sovereignty and the quest for essential strategic autonomy for Europe and our nations. For Europe, but also for France. I call on MEPs in this Parliament to ensure that Mrs von der Leyen’s mandate as head of the Commission remains unique. Consistently and responsibly, the Patriots for Europe will oppose your renewal.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, on 24 February 2022, we witnessed the return of the tragedy of history. By launching an illegal and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine, Russia has committed a gross fault. She reminded us that peace is a precarious asset that we must constantly watch over. I say it here in all clarity: we cannot let Russian imperialism absorb Ukraine. We must not allow the Russian aggressor to violate Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty with impunity and, with the same senseless gesture, to threaten international order and world peace. Nevertheless, the resolution you are proposing today poses a number of problems. We dispute that each Member State should, as a matter of principle, allocate 0.5% of its GDP per year to support Ukraine, which is equivalent for France to EUR 7 billion per year. We are not in favour of the delivery of weapons for direct strikes on Russian territory, nor of Ukraine’s entry into NATO. These two proposals would, I believe, fuel a risk of escalation with a nuclear power. The entry of Ukraine into the European Union, as proposed by this resolution, would threaten the sustainability of our economy and agriculture by seriously unbalancing the Common Agricultural Policy. Finally, this resolution, which explicitly condemns Viktor Orban’s diplomatic visits, undermines the unity of Europeans. Hungary, a reliable partner of the Atlantic Alliance, cannot be accused of wanting to keep the channels of discussion open. Just a few days ago, President Zelensky himself called for Russian leaders to be present at a peace summit in Kiev in November. Are you going to condemn him, too? Europe’s response to the return of war to the continent must be to provide Ukraine with what it needs to stand up: military defence equipment, ammunition and shells for self-defence. Military production in Europe and Europe has been hampered for too long by irrelevant environmental objectives here that have undermined our defence technological and industrial base. In the face of rising geopolitical antagonisms, Europe’s long-term global response is to regain strategic autonomy by strengthening its energy and agricultural independence and allowing European preference in the purchase of defence equipment. Within this strategic framework, France must play a full role in leading the construction of a new defence architecture in Eastern Europe. Driven by its status as a nuclear power present on all fronts of the globe, France’s voice will remain singular because it is one and because it is strong, bound by alliances made according to its history. Our nation will never have to dedicate itself. These are the priorities that should be ours in times of war.