Speeches

Chair Lange, you said that Europe cannot impose its social and environmental standards on the rest of the world, and we have had the debates here in this House together. You were rapporteur for the sustainable development chapters reform under the last mandate, and together we decided that we would go for binding TSD chapters, which are completely absent in the current agreement with the Mercosur countries. So how do you explain that? How can you accept that your own reform is not integrated in this deal?

Madam President, when, in Europe as in the Mercosur countries, farmers, associations, consumer protection associations, trade unions, academics and citizens oppose the trade treaty between the European Union and Mercosur, millions of people denounce these economic, social, environmental, climate and human impacts. It is an agreement dating back to the last century, Commissioner, it is not a New Deal. These millions of people weigh little against the economic interests of a few industrialists and the biggest farms for - attention! – an expected profit of +0.1% of GDP. Little glorious, isn't it? Ah yes, it is still necessary to deduct the millions from the agricultural compensation fund promised to compensate for the negative effects of this agreement on the agricultural world, without solving the problems. Account must also be taken of the effects of the rebalancing mechanism: rebalancing for the states of the Mercosur countries that will allow the Brazilian government, or rather agribusiness, to challenge our laws if they affect their economic and commercial interests. Examples: carbon border adjustment mechanism, anti-deforestation laws, against forced labour, the duty of vigilance of our companies. Then there is total astonishment, an unbearable attack on our strategic sovereignty and even on our economic security. We refuse to sell our agriculture by subjecting it to totally unfair competition. We refuse to export our banned chemicals and pesticides to Europe, further sell off our standards and consume glyphosate limes, hormone beef or poultry for avian flu. Encourage deforestation as well. It is impossible to make an inventory of all the problems. But one thing is certain, you are presenting us with a text that is worse than in 2019, when Parliament said that it was impossible for it to ratify the Mercosur agreement as it stands. It is by defending the democracy, values, social and environmental standards that protect our citizens and ensure the prosperity of our economies that the European Union will make a difference. Dear Mercosur friends, we want partnerships with you, but truly equitable partnerships.

Mr President, the M23 and Rwandan troops are once again spreading terror in the east of the DRC, causing thousands more to die and hundreds of thousands more to be displaced, and the bodies of women and girls being used as a real battlefield. The humanitarian situation was catastrophic and it was therefore imperative to secure a ceasefire and to bring humanitarian assistance to rural areas. Congolese today feel literally abandoned, plundered, sacrificed for resources that make the wealth of others. The situation reveals not only the failure of European diplomacy, but also the complicity in fuelling the conflict. The European Union must therefore urgently suspend military cooperation and adopt an arms embargo and a trade embargo, in particular on minerals labelled as Rwandan; suspend the Memorandum of Understanding on minerals – it seems to me that there is unanimity here to call for it, as a matter of urgency, Commissioner, but also for sanctions against the leaders of the M23 and the Rwandan officers involved –; protect civil society. The double standards of the European Union vis-à-vis the aggressors are unacceptable. The European Union must therefore use all the means of action it has in its hands and cease its complicity with the Kigali regime.

Account settlements, shootings, assassinations are multiplying on the streets of Europe, from Stockholm to Brussels. Unimaginable scenes that scare for our safety and that of our children. Organized crime affects communities in depth. It also poses a much broader risk to our democracies and the rule of law, both through its direct effects and through the liberticide responses that are currently being provided. No simplistic, warmongering or xenophobic discourse will provide the answers that our fellow citizens legitimately expect. Yes, we must be exemplary, act in a coordinated and systemic way with means ranging from prevention to repression, from our municipalities to the European Union. Let's continue the networking here at European level: strengthen the fight against corruption by extending the competences of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. Let us show ambition for the anti-corruption directive, Commissioner, and ensure resources, from the local to the European level. Let us also develop international judicial cooperation by putting pressure on States, such as Dubai, which host drug traffickers, and by allowing cooperation agreements to be concluded quickly between Eurojust and Latin American countries. Finally, let us harmonise the European response to organised crime with a European criminal law response.

Madam President, children are the first victims of crises: from climate change to wars, from Valencia to Gaza, poverty, abuse, violence and difficulties in accessing education. Why? Because policies are not tailored to their needs and do not reflect their best interests. How can we tolerate the fact that almost 25% of European children, or nearly 20 million children, are at risk of poverty or social exclusion? How can we tolerate thousands of children sleeping on the streets of our capitals and dying in the English Channel and the Mediterranean? How can we tolerate the regulation against forced labour covering only 3 million children, while 78 million of them are victims of the worst forms of forced labour? Worse still: we will conclude a trade agreement with Brazil, which has 1.5 million children who are victims of dangerous labour. However, the agreement does not provide for anything to help them. How can we tolerate that 14,100 children have lost their lives in Gaza, that they are trapped in an endless war in the Middle East and that Europe remains silent? For the past five years, we have been calling here in this House for their voices to be heard. But why, while fossil lobbies can make their voices heard at the COP on climate, can't children? Why does the European dialogue on youth policy not extend to all children? It's time to listen to them. Each Commissioner is responsible in his/her mission letter for organising the European Youth Policy Dialogue within the first 100 days of his/her mandate. Children's voices must be heard so that all European policies finally have a child-friendly approach. This is the only way to understand all their problems, listen to them and finally build a world of peace.

Mr President, Commissioner, you said so: Temu, Shein, AliExpress, Amazon and smaller platforms are flooding the European market with low-cost products. But behind these low prices, there are huge costs, including online manipulation techniques incentivising hyper-consumption or low-quality products that can be dangerous for health and safety. One survey even found that 80% of tested toys imported through these platforms did not meet European safety standards. It also leads to unfair competition for European companies that respect social, environmental, product and safety standards. These standards exist at European level for good reasons: the protection of consumers, workers and the environment. They must therefore be respected by everyone, including importing companies and third-country platforms. Hundreds of thousands of parcels arrive at our home every day, with one click and without having been checked. These are all potentially dangerous products that do not meet European standards. This unfair competition affects all sectors and is often an obstacle to the development of sustainable and socially responsible local sectors. This is particularly the case in the textile sector, where unfair competition from Chinese platforms for ‘ultrafast fashion’ threatens the emergence of a sustainable textile sector in Europe. The European Union is here to protect consumers and our entrepreneurs: it is therefore necessary to ensure effective compliance with the rules, transparency and consumer information, but also reinforced customs controls and the means necessary for such controls, customs duties even for purchases of less than EUR 150, and increased penalties for platforms that do not comply with the rules.

Madam President, drug-related crime is a real human, social and economic tragedy. It penetrates the most fragile strata of our communities and infiltrates our economies and the rule of law. The settling of accounts, shootings and assassinations are multiplying in our capitals, as in Marseille or Brussels. The stakes in terms of safety and public health are colossal. I hear you say, Commissioner, that the action plan against drugs is bearing fruit, but we must strengthen the action of the European Union and support and share positive initiatives on the ground. Professionals, but also our local elected representatives, are sounding a real alarm. They need significant human and financial resources to carry out this fight, resources for prevention, investigations, police and judicial prosecutions, sanctions and rehabilitation. Tackling this phenomenon requires a systemic and multidisciplinary approach, to which the European level must contribute through networking, strengthening the fight against corruption and broadening the competences of the EPPO and through international judicial cooperation. When are we going to put pressure on states, like Dubai, that host drug traffickers? It is also necessary to harmonise the European response to organised crime, to make the European Ports Alliance a real operational tool in the fight against drug trafficking, but also to combat poverty and improve detention conditions to prevent recidivism. In short, we must act, by listening to the professionals on the ground, the police, the magistrates and the social and health workers, who are at the heart of the action and the response and who are at the bedside of the communities most affected by this phenomenon, and finally, support our municipalities, on the front line in this fight.

Madam President, on the Audi Forest site, 3 000 people are now seeing their jobs threatened, 4 000 people including subcontractors. Thousands of people are on the spot. Their lives are being turned upside down by unwise industrial choices on the part of Audi and its leaders. The crisis in the automotive sector is also linked to the lack of a coordinated European industrial policy and strategic investments, and to this absolute belief in a deregulated globalisation that would favour European industry, while weakening it. The US and China have distorted competition by massively supporting their industries. The time of naivety is over. Europe must take urgent measures, such as the one on taxes on Chinese electric vehicles, but above all take its industrial destiny into its own hands. A strong and sustainable European industry, capable of facing up to future societal challenges, and cheaper green solutions, require above all a strategy that would follow on from the Green Deal, in consultation with trade unions, the private and public sectors, and a massive investment plan at European level, focusing on local, quality jobs that respect ILO conventions and workers’ rights. There will be no climate justice without social justice.

Mr. Speaker, preserving biodiversity on land and in our oceans is the guarantee of our own survival. To defend it, as Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson does, is to defend us all. Under an international arrest warrant, he is threatened with extradition to Japan for opposing the country's illegal whaling. His arrest in Greenland, on European soil, in a context where the use of judicial procedures to silence activists and whistleblowers is increasingly widespread, is extremely problematic. In the case of Paul Watson, the use of an Interpol red alert is an abuse of international judicial cooperation for political purposes, in contravention of Interpol's statutes. Environmental protectors, who are also our protectors, must be free and protected. Legal proceedings gag to silence them have no place in our democracies. The case of Paul Watson illustrates the threat to the rights to protest, to speak out, to come together for all citizens committed to causes across Europe and the world. Denmark must refuse the use of Watson's case for political and economic purposes, and refuse the extradition of Sea Shepherd's founder. And we also expect the European Commission to take a position along these lines. Free Paul Watson.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, the fight against organised crime unfortunately becomes a priority for most of our governments only when gunshots are heard in our streets and the issue is the subject of media attention. Yet it has been years since European agencies have alerted our governments who have more or less knowingly ignored the problem and focused police resources on the fight against Islamist terrorism. Necessary, but not enough. Organised crime affects communities in depth and poses a real risk to our democracies and the rule of law, both through its direct effects and through the current responses to it, which often have the effect of restricting our freedoms, such as border closures, but also through ultra-security measures. From corruption to drugs, from environmental crime to cybercrime, from trafficking in human beings to crimes against people's property, organised crime is multifaceted and requires responses ranging from prevention to repression. Prevention includes economic and social inclusion, access to employment, education, housing and neighbourhood work. Because it is precariousness that also allows networks to thrive. These dimensions are sorely lacking, particularly in terms of European action, hence the imperative need to strengthen our social Europe. The means of investigation and prosecution must be supported through the development of police and judicial cooperation in compliance with fundamental rights, the creation of specialised services and courts, the increase of human and financial resources, or access to targeted training, particularly in financial crime. The issue of sanctions is also important, but to the necessary penalty must be added rehabilitation. Without it, it is the circle of violence that continues or radicalization that continues to make its way. An in-depth analysis of increasingly complex criminal trends must be ensured by involving researchers and field agents in this work. Finally, I would also like to reiterate the importance of protecting civil society, which fights organized crime on a daily basis. At European level, it is crucial to continue the excellent work of networking and to develop European legislation. Fight corruption by effectively expanding the competences of the EPPO, by having a greater ambition for the Anti-Corruption Directive and by ensuring means of action from the local to the global level. Develop international judicial cooperation, including by putting pressure on states like Dubai, for example, that host drug traffickers. To harmonise the European response to organised crime by considering a legislative response, and finally to improve detention conditions to ensure the dignity of detainees, particularly in pre-trial detention, and to prevent reoffending. Europe can strengthen coordination and put in place the tools, but it is up to the Member States to seize them and put in the appropriate means. Faced with this major security challenge, it is really high time to act for all our citizens.

Madam President, I extend my sincere condolences and wishes for recovery to the people of Solingen. Horror strikes again. All my solidarity goes to the victims and survivors of this attack. I am also thinking of the many victims of previous attacks who have learned to reconnect to prevent violent radicalization rather than suffer it, to unite rather than exacerbate racism and violence. Contrary to the title of this debate requested by the Christian Democrats, with the support of the extreme right and conservatives who, once again, instrumentalize a despicable terrorist act for racist and electoral purposes, it is the means available to prevent such acts that should monopolize our attention today. Provide training, strengthen police personnel, improve working conditions, strengthen the financial means of investigation, prosecution and restoration at the level of justice, the means of prevention, support, rehabilitation in our prisons which are the first places of radicalisation, provide justice and reparation to victims and survivors on the basis of an existing European framework which will soon be strengthened. It is up to each Member State to live up to the needs of victims and invest resources in its police and judicial system. The problem is that these measures are often invisible, but much more effective than making the foreigner the scapegoat. The best response to those who want to destroy us is to respond with justice, law, respect for fundamental rights, Commissioner, not to embrace the terms of the debate imposed by the right by linking terrorist acts to foreigners.

Mr President, the Energy Charter Treaty has already done far too much damage and has allowed far too many fossil fuel multinationals to obtain billions in state compensation. The European Union's decision to withdraw from this treaty is therefore a real victory for the protection of populations and the fight against climate change, as well as a victory against fossil fuel lobbies. This decision was the subject of a great deal of unanimity in this Parliament; This is to be welcomed, as is the work of our colleague Anna Cavazzini. This victory is also that of civil society. She denounced the abuses of a treaty that allowed industry to dictate its laws to the States. Proof that citizen mobilization, from the street to petitions, makes the difference. With today's vote, we are sheltering the European Union, Euratom and the Member States that want to leave this climate-safety treaty, and we are removing an obstacle to the ecological and social transition. While this vote is therefore a key step for the entire European Union, the fight for a treaty on the non-proliferation of fossil fuels and for a definitive exit from subsidies and investments in fossil fuels must continue.

Mr President, human mobility has made the cultural and economic richness of our continent. But today, I ask myself the question: Where have the values of humanism and solidarity, which are the pillars of our Europe, gone? Europe, you, will yield to the rhetoric of the extreme right for whom it will never be enough to push back, never enough to lock children with their families at our borders, to leave children at the age of six and not to have mandatory solidarity and fair distribution among the 27 Member States of the European Union. This pact does not provide an answer to better manage arrivals, to put an end to deaths in the Mediterranean, human trafficking, reception crises in our Member States, violations of fundamental rights and the right to asylum. On the contrary, the pact seals this fortress Europe in texts and collaboration with dictatorships. You hear that a deal was absolutely necessary after ten years of blockage by European governments. But better no deal than a bad deal that marks a regression of fundamental rights, a real failure of civilization.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, five years ago this Parliament called for the repatriation of all European children detained in camps in north-eastern Syria. Returns have taken place in the meantime and I commend the work of the child, justice and security services that accompanied these returns. Today, experts are unanimous and positive about the reintegration of children, but also about the process of rehabilitation of most returned women. Collectively, our societies manage to overcome the trauma of the indiscriminate and deadly violence of attacks to understand without justification, to heal wounds and to do justice. Today, several hundred children and their mothers are still in Syria. Dozens of European nationals are still in detention, with no prospect of trial. We must continue to repatriate children, in a word, to save them. Bring them back.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, indeed, last week, new colleagues were spied on using the Pegasus spyware. These new colleagues are added to the list of colleagues previously spied on – Greek and Catalan colleagues, colleagues from other parliamentary committees as well as an attempt to spy on our President. This is a threat to our fundamental rights, to our democracies, to European security and, as far as we are concerned, it is a violation of parliamentary immunity. The recommendations of our committee of inquiry set up following the revelations by Forbidden Stories, Amnesty International and Citizen Lab on the illegal espionage of human rights journalists, lawyers, men and women politicians are still not being followed up by either the Council or the European Commission. If we tolerate espionage, ladies and gentlemen, we tolerate espionage of all our communications and negotiations. I strongly recommend that you have all your phones checked, if you have not yet done so. We need to make it clear to the European Commission and the Council that we expect them to implement all our recommendations. That is why we are submitting this request for debate to your vote.

Mr President, Commissioner, my speech today is inspired by a conversation with the daughter of farmers with lymphoma, a cancer most likely linked to pesticide exposure. "How to restore respect?" she asked me. Respect for farmers, their health and that of consumers. Respect for production, which requires fair remuneration, but also an end to food waste and greenwashing, respect for life and the land. Farmers have come to remind us that this respect is only possible if we fundamentally review the rules of international trade at the WTO, synonymous with unbridled free trade, which leads to unfair competition between producers in the South and the North. Free trade that does not respect producers, workers, consumers or the environment. Nobody understands that we send our milk powder to Africa, where the cows give fresh milk, and our frozen fries to Peru, a country historically producing potatoes. All you have to do is find it consistent to import chicken, beef or sugar when we produce it at home in such a quantity that we export it. The Green Deal is the backbone of our European action before it is unravelled for political reasons and when the world has gone above 1.5°C. For it not to be a new neo-colonial instrument, a Global Green Deal is needed to ensure people's food sovereignty, fair trade, and the goal of which is to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The Belgian Presidency must really mark a turning point in this context. You must clearly position yourself for the end of negotiations with the Mercosur countries on free trade treaties that are contrary to all commitments.

Madam President, here is the first working tool for farmers: the earth. To ensure our food sovereignty and stop the haemorrhage of our countryside, it must be protected. However, the only response from Heads of State to angry farmers is the removal of an environmental measure. What do farmers expect? They expect to live with dignity from their work and be accompanied in their green transition. They expect a guaranteed cost price, the regulation of mass distribution, the cessation of free trade negotiations with the Mercosur countries and a new agricultural pact built with them and for them, with citizens and for citizens. We are waiting for you, national and European leaders, to finally understand the social and climate emergency, of which farmers are the first victims. While your neoliberal policies, supported by the right but also by the extreme right, which claim to be alongside farmers, have wiped out more than half of the farms in 20 years, while Spain is drying up and Nord-Pas-de-Calais is drowning, you continue more beautifully and condemn our future. A new agricultural pact that ensures dignified incomes for those who feed us and preserves our planet and our health, which is why we will continue to fight.

Mr President, thank you to the rapporteur for his report on the implementation of the agreement between the European Union and Canada. CETA is a free trade agreement that has given rise to a lot of controversy, we can say it in this way, so it must draw our particular attention to what elements, five years later, in the context of provisional implementation, could still be problematic and explain that some Member States have not ratified the text five years later. If nothing has changed, five years later, if new guarantees are not provided, what would allow these Member States to change their position? I think it is difficult for us to adopt a report that does not call for a revision of this treaty in terms of sustainability in order to bring it into line on the European side with the reform of the sustainable development chapters, which we adopted under this mandate, and on the investment part as well. And the paradox is that Canada itself is prepared, without all the Member States of the European Union having ratified it, to review the part of the sustainable development chapters and I call on our institution, and on the European Commission, to move in this direction in order to effectively allow, if necessary, the Member States to join the coalition of States that have ratified it, but as it stands, we cannot adopt this report.

Mr President, 100 days of war, death and desolation in Gaza. 100 days that Israeli hostages are being held away from their loved ones. 100 days and more than 23,000 Palestinians, including 10,000 children, killed by Israeli forces. 100 days and more than 100 UN workers and 80 journalists dead. An unprecedented humanitarian crisis according to the largest international NGOs, the imminence of a great risk of genocide according to the United Nations. All this must stop. Faced with this massacre, the silence of Europe for 100 days is making noise. History looks at us and we do not live up to it, while the European Union and the entire international community have obligations under international law. The European Union must demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire, respect for international humanitarian law, an end to arbitrary detentions, the release of Israeli hostages and the adoption of sanctions against those responsible for war crimes, a ban on imports of settlement products and the suspension of the Association Agreement with Israel. The European Union must once again become an actor of lasting peace in the region.

Madam President, Prime Minister, Europe has to choose. To the return of austerity that has pushed our fellow citizens into precariousness and into the arms of reactionary ideologies, let us oppose solidarity and investment in transitional jobs, in public services and in conditions of a dignified life. At the regulatory pause in environmental and climate legislation, which some want, including you, Prime Minister, to propose an energy transition that creates jobs for a healthy environment, insulation and renewable energy for cheaper energy bills, biodiversity, local agriculture without GMOs. To retreat into oneself, to the temptation of identity, to the return of Nazi salutes to the streets of Europe, to a fortress Europe that deals with dictatorships, let us oppose living together, the rule of law, solidarity and humanity. Mr de Croo, on the eve of the European elections, the Belgian presidency will have to give the breath and the prospects that the European Union fundamentally needs. To achieve its climate and biodiversity objectives through a new Green and Social Pact, to make social Europe a reality that protects and invests in its citizens, for a democratic Europe where fundamental rights prevail, we must prove to European citizens that Europe is their home, that they can count on it and, above all, that they have a say in future European policies.

Mr President, the investigation carried out by OLAF and the pressure from the European Parliament against it led to the resignation of Frontex Director Fabrice Leggeri. A good part of this Chamber probably thought that the agency would be reborn under new auspices, that it would leave behind the dysfunctions of the past and thus make it possible to justify the continuous evolution of its budget of more than EUR 900 million over ten years. What a challenge! The Agency is once again engaging in abject practices. By communicating the GPS coordinates of boats seeking to reach Europe to a Libyan militia, she delivered innocent people to a criminal group that finances itself through migrant smuggling and tortures them. Remind me how much the European Union spends on its anti-trafficking plans, of which it has made one of its priorities? Is cooperation with traffickers a concept shared by both Frontex and the European Commission? Frontex has implemented almost all the recommendations, but apparently not that of respect for fundamental rights. And will you, ladies and gentlemen, in this Parliament, all of you assume your responsibilities by demanding the implementation of the recommendations of the Frontex resolution as a sine qua non condition for granting budgetary discharge? It is time to be consistent, otherwise scandals will continue to recur, and the rule of law will continue to deteriorate.

Mr President, the best interests of the child enshrines the right of every child to have a family, and there are 2 million children in Europe, 2 million children, for whom this right will become truly effective if the regulation on the mutual recognition of parenthood is adopted. Two million children will finally be able to move and settle freely within the European Union with their LGBTQIA+ families. That counts for those 2 million children and their families. It matters to us because, in 2023, in Europe, the rights of these children are being violated by conservatives, by the far right, which is attacking the rights of LGBTQIA+ families, in Italy and elsewhere. In 2023, the EU must protect the rights of all children and families. If you are a parent in one country, you are a parent in all countries. It is now up to our governments, who will have the final decision in their hands, to make this right statement by the President of the European Commission a reality: A child is a child, a family is a family, and all have rights, for which our governments must be the guarantors.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, today I appeal to our hearts. The European Union bears historic responsibility for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; Today it bears a historic responsibility to speak with one voice and achieve an immediate ceasefire, to end the unprecedented massacre of civilians, innocent children, journalists and humanitarian workers, to secure the release of the hostages, all hostages, and to seek a political solution to the conflict. A two-state solution, with the aim of restoring lasting peace, in line – too! – international law. The European Union must also be coherent. It must freeze and confiscate the assets of Hamas terrorists, as France has done. It must also adopt sanctions against violent Israeli settlers, ban trade with settlements and punish leaders guilty of war crimes. The European Union must be on the right side of history and also make sure that it is on the side of solutions. Solutions for peace, for security, for stability, to protect our children from war there, to protect our children from hatred and anti-Semitism here.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, the clock is ticking for European democracy, which was built on the ashes of the Second World War and – let us not forget – against the far right, which wants to bring us back to the darkest hours of our history. From now on, it is also against foreign interference that we must fight. In this sense, the first package of measures for the defence of democracy is obviously welcome, but it is a first step. Let me share my astonishment at not seeing one of the recommendations of the Spyware Inquiry Committee in this package of defence of democracy packages. Surveillance by means of spyware is contrary to freedom of expression, it is contrary to freedom of the press. Journalists were monitored, political opponents, civil society, MPs, elected representatives of this assembly and members of the European Commission as well. If this continues to be tolerated, I fear that we will miss a famous turning point in the preservation of our democracies.