Speeches

Madam President, you have a package of money, public money – like 10 billion – and you promised citizens that it will be used to develop new environmental technologies, new innovative medicines, all that... And what are you doing? You put that money in public-private partnerships. It's called a joint venture now, it's a bit of a new language, but it's the same instrument that failed several times in the previous legislature. So who appointed these joint ventures this time? Who will co-manage and who will co-decide priorities? But it is once again the same multinationals as before. Don’t you believe it? But they are not the least. For example, in the bio-industry partnership, who is involved? Total and the Italian giant ENI, also a fossil giant. In the meds? "Big Pharma"! The Big Pharma lobby that will co-decide which medicine to develop, because we know they can be trusted, right? They have already proven it. No, frankly, at that level, it’s a joke. If you just wanted to give money to these big companies unconditionally, you had to say it honestly and openly. Because in the end, the product developed will not even belong to us. It will belong to the big companies, who will sell it to us. And what is this? It is really just subsidies for large companies. So frankly, we misunderstood each other. It is true that I often talk about the Europe of multinationals, but it is to denounce. It is not a manual, it is not advice. So, please, can we change our logic and make public investments that are controlled by the public?

Mr President, Commissioner, dear Members of the European Parliament here from the Vivaldicoalitie from Belgium, have you heard? The European Commission is pushing you to reduce VAT on energy. The European Commission says that this is not only okay with the European rules, but also a good idea. It is not every day – dear CD&V, dear MR, dear VLD, the greens, the socialists – that the European Commission adopts a proposal from the PVDA. So I suggest that you listen to that and that you reduce the invoice for the people in Belgium. But do you know, Commissioner, that VAT on energy in Belgium is 21%? Same as champagne or caviar. That's absurd. The VAT has to go down now. We have to help people. Parce que vous permettez aux riches de planquer leurs milliards dans des paradis fiscaux, Panama et autres, mais les gens, eux, doivent douiller. Il n’en est plus question, ça doit se terminer ici et aujourd’hui. On va lutter pour ça, on ne vous laissera pas faire.

Mr President, the vaccine contracts are being kept secret. However, we have been able to light up a tip of the veil and have understood that Pfizer and Moderna are increasing their prices by 20 and 13 percent respectively. We are therefore paying the third dose more than the first, while the production costs of these companies are decreasing. The production capacity of the companies is often created thanks to public money, but we still pay. How the hell was this negotiated? The companies in question already make hundreds of millions of profits, but we pay more as their costs fall. This makes no sense at all. You have used public money to finance, buy out and purchase the vaccines, among other things. You have transferred the investment risk to us, but you have not asked for anything in return from the major pharmaceutical companies. In fact, you said: ‘Determine the price and production quantity, but we will pay’. This is a financial mismanagement and an attack on our social security. In addition, many countries cannot afford this and are therefore without vaccines. As a result, new variants are emerging and the pandemic continues to drag on. The British Medical Journal spoke of a crime against humanity. You're an accomplice to that. Stop this, share the vaccine technology and lift the patents.

Mr President, Commissioner, we are talking about real people, about disasters and Mrs von der Leyen, President of the Commission, has come to us. She went to Rochefort, Pepinster and in front of the people there, she said she had a bleeding heart. She said: ‘I have a tight heart’. I think she should have apologized, rather, because because of European austerity, which the Belgian government has been very enthusiastic about, we have closed four of the six civil protection barracks in Belgium and our firefighters are terribly lacking in equipment. But no, you're going to continue this murderous austerity, we can say. And if, in front of the people, you have whined, here, far from the eyes, I find that you are stabbing them by proposing this new carbon tax on transport. This tax will hit exactly the same workers who have now suffered the floods, while, as we know, it is the rich who pollute the most. I'd like to ask you to keep your crocodile tears. Today we need to protect workers, to give up austerity once and for all and to make billionaires pay to save our planet.

Mr President, oh dumpling! Ladies and gentlemen, the dumpling! Frankly, it cannot be invented. I read and just learned that two years before the COVID pandemic, the European Commission said: “There is a risk of an epidemic, we have to prepare.” There was already, it is true, a coronavirus in 2003, and then a second coronavirus in 2012. It actually makes sense to want to be ready. And what is the European Commission doing? She will see the pharmaceutical industry, logically! She says: “Look, we have a lot of public money. Billions of euros. And we would like you to do research against epidemics.” That was well seen by the European Commission, I concede. But what does Big Pharma say? No. Let's see you! We're not interested in that. It doesn’t pay enough.” And wait, it’s not over! Because what is the real scandal? This is the reaction of the European Commission afterwards. Because what does she say when Big Pharma says to her: Listen, no, you're not interested in epidemic research? She replied: Okay. Well, you’re the one who sees.” But wait, are you kidding? Are they the ones who make the law? And after us, the citizens, we have a year of lockdown and millions of deaths worldwide. You think that's normal? It is unbelievable and shameful! So it is time, ladies and gentlemen, to regain control over health and research. Let's focus on finding the drugs we need rather than the drugs that make the most profit.

Madam President, for years Europe has been pushing people to work longer – 60, 65, 67 – and the lower the pension age, the more long-term sick people there are. Basically, your policies make people sick. You can imagine my revolt when I read in your new analysis, your Green Paper, that ideally the pension age should rise to 70 in Europe, or even 72 in Luxembourg and Lithuania. But you imagine yourself? In Lithuania, the average life expectancy for men is not even 72 years. You really want people to die at work? It is unbelievable that you dare to say that. So I agree enough with what Joëlle told me. Joëlle is a housekeeper and told me: I would like politicians to work a week or a few days like us. They would realise that working until the age of 67 is painful. We can’t do that anymore.” Guarantee the right to rest! Pension – a dignified and decent pension – is a human right. And if the European Commission does not agree, while working for a week as a domestic helper! We will send all these commissioners to make this effort, to work a little hard as a housekeeper or as a worker... And they will understand why we say that working longer is not feasible.