Speeches

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, in a few moments we will be voting for the consent of the European Parliament on the Treaty for the Conservation of Biodiversity on the High Seas. This moment is historic. The world’s states have understood that their future depends on the ocean, the oxygen it provides, the carbon it stores and the resources it supports. It is a common good, threatened, that needs to be regenerated. This treaty concerns international waters, but the ocean knows no borders. Its preservation and sustainable use are also a key issue in our maritime space, the first on the planet. That is why the ocean must be a priority in the next mandate. Thank you to the rapporteur, Silvia Modig, and thank you all for your commitment.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased that Parliament’s first reading can be concluded before the end of the term of office and that this essential dossier has withstood the anti-Green Deal headwinds that have been blowing over our house for a few months. Thank you to the rapporteur and shadow rapporteurs for their good cooperation. We need to understand one thing: industrialists themselves have been trying for decades to put in place good practices to deal with the pollution caused by plastic pellet losses that they themselves have seen. However, their efforts are not enough and it is here that we understand the need to set standards – which many are now challenging – and to do so at least at European level, hoping, as I am promoting, that a regulatory framework will emerge at international level, either through the Plastic Pollution Treaty or through the recommendations of the International Maritime Organisation. I also welcome the introduction of maritime transport in this text and the possibility for Member States to use the envisaged penalties to support clean-up projects where it is still possible. Finally, if I may, Madam President, I would like to take this last speech in the European Parliament to call for the next term of office to implement a real Blue Deal, a European Ocean Pact, which reflects the maritime dimension of the European Union and for us to work to regenerate the ocean, our common good.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, a year ago, our French Minister for the Ecological Transition took a decision that I found courageous, and I said to myself: "Finally, let's measure the consequences of climate change for France." He decided to strengthen the adaptation plan, taking the very likely assumption of a France at 4 °C. "We must get out of denial," he said. We are already at 1.7°C of temperature increase in France, and IPCC experts tell us that, at 4°C, we will have five times more droughts and much more intense heatwave days. So, thank you to the Commission for this absolutely indispensable communication. However, action is needed right away and at all levels of governance. As stated at European level, it is imperative to manage several climate risks at once. For example, effects on marine ecosystems require action on protection, fisheries policy, land-based pollution control, maritime spatial planning and international coordination. Commissioner, I have a question: What are your proposals to address all these topics in a more coordinated and efficient way?

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank the Commission for this communication on submarine cables, a subject which would fit perfectly into a comprehensive European Union strategy on the sea. I am talking about a strategy that would integrate all the challenges of preserving the blue economy, but also geostrategic. It is this Blue Deal that I have been calling for since the beginning of my term of office, and I hope that it will come about during the next term of office. I would like to focus on one point raised in your communication, namely the need to ensure a reduced, minimal impact of this infrastructure on the climate and the environment, and in particular on marine and coastal ecosystems that are home to rich biodiversity but are also carbon sinks. It is therefore, in my view, necessary to ecodesign these infrastructures, the development of which I support. This should also be integrated into maritime spatial planning, taking into account the conjunction with other activities. And this can be done in particular by implementing nature-based solutions in order to create a so-called "reflective" effect. This is known as positive impact maritime infrastructure. This ecodesign must also apply on land, especially for data centres that are highly energy-intensive. It may be interesting to look at solutions that are currently being tested, such as immersion or heat recovery. Ecodesign is all the more important in my view, since one day it will probably be necessary to remove these cables, which are so necessary today, but which may one day become obsolete and lining the bottom of our oceans.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the reason why the committee has proposed this action plan is that it is urgent and that our legislative framework is inadequate. Urgency to restore marine ecosystems that are constantly deteriorating due to pollution, due to climate change, but also to human activities at sea and in particular fishing. To preserve resilient fisheries and aquaculture, scientists are unanimous on the need to regenerate ecosystems and not just manage stocks. They shall alert on fishing gear that is not selective enough, in particular trawl and towed fishing gear in contact with the ground. We should, with the fishermen of course, engage fishing in a real transformation: Ecological fishing in the image of an agroecology. The Commission’s action plan may be imperfect, but it is necessary to protect the common good of humanity, the ocean. The report put to the vote today is clearly burdensome and I admit that I, for my part, would find it difficult to support it. Let us not lack political courage, let us set an ambitious course, let us make the European Union the leader in this transition, and this action plan is an opportunity.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to place this debate within the broader framework of the Integrated Maritime Policy, and to stop dealing with maritime issues in silos is one of the main objectives of my mandate as a Member of the European Parliament. I do not question the common fisheries policy – the necessary legislative framework for our European fishermen – but fishermen have seen the sea and the maritime world evolve: climate change, pollution, invasive species, the emergence of activities such as marine energy, increased foreign competition, etc. So the seafarer finds himself at the crossroads of all these major maritime issues. To ensure its future, it is essential to preserve the ecosystems on which it depends, but also to support it in the transition of its business. I argue that the portfolio of the future European Commissioner, and the Commission as a whole, must reflect these maritime challenges and this integrated vision, and I launch the idea of a future committee in the European Parliament, a committee on maritime challenges. I am convinced that the future of Europe will be built with the ocean and that we need to take a much more strategic view of what is at stake. There is a real need for a blue pact.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, in this Chamber, all the plastic objects that you have around you have gone through the granular stage, because it is the raw material of plastic. For years, our coasts have been marked by oil spills, and today they are marked by white tides, which are also harmful because these granules are processed oil and merge with sand grains. The disaster that occurred in Galicia – and all my thoughts to my Spanish colleagues – like the previous ones, alert us once again to the need to put in place effective preventive measures. I have a bit of a fist on the table because the solutions have been around for a long time and are not applied, and they are not so difficult to implement. There are leaks, as has been said, at all stages of handling these pellets, but how can we still accept containers falling into the sea today? At a minimum, they must be stored inside the holds. We must continue to push the International Maritime Organisation to make progress on container traceability, and in the text on pellets that we are working on today, I will push to also ensure the traceability of the pellets themselves in order to identify responsibilities.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, in the coming years debates on the exploitation of the deep seabed will be recurrent. After being ignored for a long time, the ocean is looked upon as a new Eldorado. His exploration reveals his wealth, especially mineral, but also genetic, while on land, resources are diminishing. So let us not reproduce at sea the mistakes we may have made ashore. We have the opportunity here to prevent environmental disasters on these deep and fragile ecosystems. The scientific community is unanimous: Yes to exploration, no to exploitation. Today, a coalition of 24 states defends a moratorium, as voted several times here by the European Parliament, or even a ban, like France. There is an urgent need for this coalition to expand within the European Union and more broadly among the states currently negotiating the future international mining code. I am surprised by this decision by Norway, which was also among the first States to sign the treaty to preserve biodiversity on the high seas and which is very influential at the international level to preserve the ocean. These seabeds that it plans to exploit are those of the Arctic Glacial Ocean which plays a fundamental role in the balance of the climate and which, as such, should be declared a vast marine protected area. Norway has a responsibility, as do all of us, to humanity, because the ocean is our common good. He is one and our common good.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I believe that we can really thank those who have found the phrase 'transition out of fossil fuels', which saves this COP, and I would like to welcome the firmness with which the European negotiating team has worked to find this agreement. The text thus sends information to the countries of the South that we recognize their right to access energy to meet their development needs in a transition path to decarbonized energy. That is what we are going to put forward in a report that we are going to vote on in January, but we are going to have to bring that expression to life in our partnerships. The other victory of this agreement is the place that the ocean is taking, more and more, in the COPs. It is a real progression of ocean-based solutions and the text invites the parties to preserve it, but also to rely on all solutions. This is not only about the decarbonisation of maritime transport or marine energy, but also about the restoration of marine and coastal ecosystems. I say once again that we need a real blue pact at European level.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, the dramatic geopolitical context we are experiencing must not hamper our efforts on the Sustainable Development Goals, quite the contrary. Last month's UN stocktaking is an urgent call for action, as the implementation of the 2030 Agenda is at risk. Only 15% of the targets are on track to be met. We need to step up our efforts to transform our world sustainably by 2030. The commitments made at political summits must be translated into concrete actions, and innovative financing mechanisms must be put in place. Adaptation to climate change is of course a top priority, but this will only be effective with enhanced cooperation to combat poverty, inequality, armed conflict, food insecurity, etc. Moreover, I remain convinced – like all members of Parliament’s Alliance for Sustainable Development Goals – that all these issues are interlinked. Therefore, a cross-cutting approach to the SDGs offers a formidable universal reading grid. It is an essential tool, which must be the backbone of our public policies, to strengthen our resilience to current crises and anticipate future ones.

Madam President, first of all, I would like to thank my colleague Pierre Karleskind for bringing this report. As we strengthen our demands on our fishermen through the Fisheries Control Regulation, there is an urgent need to warn about the drifts of Chinese industrial fishing: no traceability, no transparency in agreements, fishmeal factories, etc. – Pierre, you have already mentioned everything a little. It is also China that, together with Russia, refuses to give its voice to the creation of marine protected areas in Antarctica. However, we will never achieve the Sustainable Development and Sustainable Management Goals without China. So there may be hope in spite of everything. I want to believe that there is a way to call on the Chinese authorities to cooperate and implement international commitments. It was China that, during its Co-Presidency for Biodiversity at COP15, made it possible, together with the European Union, to achieve ambitious objectives, and it again, last month, co-signed the High Seas Treaty. So I hope she understands that the ocean is our common good, and that it must be preserved.

Madam President, Commissioner, rapporteur, ladies and gentlemen, while large trawlers overflowing with fish tend to refer to an image of abundance, the fisheries resource should in fact be regarded as a rare and valuable asset. This is all the more true as global warming threatens ocean balances, including resource availability. In view of this, scientists are calling on us to adopt a precautionary approach that promotes the recovery of overexploited or depleted stocks, and to do so we need to know precisely what we are fishing for and where, including by-catches – which the fisherman must now bring back to land. Thus, beyond the fact that it provides for a ‘fisheries police’, the Fisheries Control Regulation is also there to increase knowledge of it. We can therefore welcome the progress made in revising this text in terms of traceability or capacity-building. While these measures are demanding for fishermen, they are necessary for sustainable fisheries, as much as they allow us to be consistent with our international commitments for the implementation of SDG 14. Finally, they strengthen the role of fishermen as sentinels of the ocean.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, numerous studies have shown that pollutants in surface water or groundwater have a strong impact on the health of life and of terrestrial, but also marine, ecosystems. They spread and affect organisms sometimes very far from sources of pollution. However, lakes and rivers represent only 0.01% of the water on Earth, groundwater 0.63%, where the ocean accounts for 97.3%. It is the health of this great cycle of water – oceans, seas and rivers – that is under threat today. Strengthening controls at source, as highlighted in the report, is therefore essential. In addition, I call for a better link between the Water Framework Directive and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. I would also like to highlight the pollutants released by plastics in nature, especially as they fragment into microparticles and represent a time bomb. By the way, I call on the Commission, Commissioner, to publish as soon as possible the draft regulation we are expecting on microplastics. Water, like the ocean, is a common good. Let's make sure they're both safe.

Mr President, Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, if the world’s states have managed to agree after 20 years of negotiations on a treaty to preserve biodiversity on the high seas, despite a very tense geopolitical context, it is for a simple reason: State representatives are aware that our collective future also depends on safeguarding the ocean and that it is in danger. Wherever we are on earth, we share the same ocean. Whether you are Austrian, Hungarian or Portuguese, we all benefit from its benefits: the oxygen we breathe, the carbon it absorbs, the proteins, but also the genetic resources that were one of the issues at stake in the negotiations on the high seas. The ocean is our common good and preserving and regenerating it is our individual and collective responsibility. So responsibility at global level – and I would like to welcome the commitment of the Commission that contributed to the achievement of this treaty – but also at European level, and it is the whole challenge of the Marine Action Plan that the Commission is proposing, a plan that I support. At the heart of these two approaches, marine protected areas are a real tool for regenerating the ocean. Scientists are unanimous on the environmental, economic and social benefits they bring. But we also need to find alternative solutions to the strong pressures of our activities on land and at sea. Adapting our fishing practices, but also developing the ecodesign of maritime infrastructure. I will tell you, even change practices in what was my job, offshore racing, because we too, we have impacts, we know collisions with cetaceans. It is possible to combine economic development, but also regeneration of nature, the two are not contradictory. So our job is to promote solutions in this direction. There's an emergency, so we have to go fast.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, this week brings warmth and cold, hope and questions, and even anger. What gives hope are the texts we voted on this week, which should put the European Union on a path to climate neutrality. It is the strength of the European project to work together to build this response to the climate challenge. What also gives hope are the solutions within our reach, as recalled in the report, which highlights in particular the importance of the regeneration of marine and coastal ecosystems, which contributes significantly to climate change mitigation. Ladies and gentlemen, it took us four years, four years, to build this framework. While scientists are alerting, there is not a degree, not a year to lose. Every half degree, every tenth degree counts. In some places, mitigation and adaptation are not and will not be sufficient. We'll have to be resilient. So I ask all our institutions: in our debates, and in particular in the campaign for the upcoming European elections, what place are we going to leave in the fast-paced climate? Where are we going to leave the ocean and the burning forests? What place are we going to make for action? Yesterday, I was with one of the IPCC Vice-Chairs and asked him what message should be delivered in a minute. He did not hesitate. He told me: Let's think about leaving a habitable planet to our children.

Mr President, I would like to welcome, Commissioner, the adoption on 4 March of the Treaty on the preservation of biodiversity beyond exclusive economic zones, and to welcome the commitment of the European Commission and several Member States, including my country, France. This historic treaty would have deserved a little more than a minute, but a debate of at least an hour. It creates a legal framework based on a lawless space that represents 64% of the planet's surface. We will be able to create marine protected areas on the high seas and regulate the exploitation of genetic resources, which are one of the promises of the ocean. The benefits of these resources will be shared with the countries of the South. Commissioner, it is now urgent to start the ratification process and not to lose momentum. I would also like to point out that in these troubled times, it is the ocean that wins multilateralism. There is only one ocean. It is a wealth for humanity. And the states of the planet have understood that they must agree to preserve it, that the ocean is a common good of humanity. I have worked to ensure that this moral concept is included in the preamble to the Treaty, as it is its raison d’être. It is not integrated, but I will continue to promote it and I call on the Commission to do the same.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, thank you to the rapporteur for this own-initiative report on the coherence of development policies essential to the European Union's foreign policy. This tool deserves new political impetus and more effective implementation. In a geopolitical context marked by climate change, its acceleration, the consequences of Covid and the war in Ukraine and at a time when the role of the European Union is often questioned by some partners on the international scene, the text proposes concrete recommendations, including the strengthening of coordination mechanisms. Being the first funder is commendable, but our role goes beyond our financial involvement. We often lack a more strategic vision. I will take the example of the Great Green Wall, for which the Commission pays EUR 750 million a year. If you look at it, there is no structuring project of the Great Green Wall, but rather a mosaic of programs that can be put under the banner of this African initiative. It often lacks a strategic vision that would make this project a response to the challenges of climate change adaptation, economic development and even population displacement. So many issues that are at the heart of our international partnerships. Then there are two more things, two elements, Mr President. I believe that this policy of policy coherence for development also requires a more integrated vision, a more integrated approach. And finally, it is necessary to have also a communication policy, because knowing how to do it is one thing, but letting it know would strengthen this cohesion policy.

Madam President, Commissioner, while you were in Sharm el-Sheikh, I decided to go back to sea and crossed the Atlantic in a solo race, with the ambition to raise the stakes of the oceans and give them light. By the way, I could see the effects of climate change on weather disruption – we can talk about it. I co-founded the Ocean and Climate Platform and I see that the place of the ocean is growing in the various climate negotiations. Unfortunately, it is far from what it should be. I believe that the European Union, which has the world’s first maritime space, should not only catch up, but be even more ambitious in integrating the ocean and marine and coastal ecosystems into the response to climate challenges. We know how to map blue carbon ecosystems and we know how to develop blue finance. I was told that Dubai had decided that COP28 would be aBlue COP". . . So I ask: will the European Union join this initiative, and will you finally be able to integrate the ocean a little more into the European Union’s response to the objectives of the Paris Agreement and, more generally, into public policies?

Madam President, Mr Kelly, my question is addressed to you, but it could have been addressed to all your colleagues who denounce this measure of the European Commission, because there is one thing I do not understand: all your interventions give the impression that this measure is being taken against fishermen. As you have pointed out, these ecosystems are sensitive. The idea is to move the fishing action and avoid this part, these areas which are very delimited. So my question is: What are the real consequences for fishermen? Because, in the end, you talk about it as if it were dramatic, but where is the drama? In fact, for fishermen too, this measure is relevant.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank the Commission for this implementing act, which has been awaited and requested by the European Parliament for six years, and I would like to say why I support this regulation. To understand what we are talking about, I think it is better to look at a three-dimensional bathymetric map rather than the two-dimensional map that you have disseminated. Between the continental shelf, which is 200 meters away, and the deep seabed, the declination does not take place in a gentle slope. There is a steep rocky fall which is the place of a very rich biodiversity, because it benefits, you know, from the phenomenon of ‘upwelling’, the upwelling of nutrients that come from the deep sea, and it is there that we find in particular the corals of cold waters. You have to look at these 87 areas that you are going to, that you want to protect, like coral reefs from the warm seas. These ecosystems are biodiversity hotspots, but they are also very fragile. Hence the urgent need to protect them, and therefore to move fishing activities to the vicinity of these areas. And it is the fishermen who will be the first beneficiaries. At a time when the European Union is negotiating the future treaty on the conservation of biodiversity on the high seas, it is absolutely necessary for it to lead by example. So I am aware of national sensitivities. These measures must be developed in consultation with stakeholders and in particular with fishermen. But there is also a need to support the development of gear for more sustainable fishing. Finally, I would point out that there is only one ocean, that it is the common good of all humanity and that it is our individual and collective responsibility to preserve it.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, two weeks ago we voted on a resolution calling on Europe to turn to the sea. And tonight, I remind you that we can make it the champion of green ships and allow their construction in Europe. Indeed, the text we are going to vote on alternative fuels for maritime transport is an opportunity to accelerate all emerging decarbonisation solutions, which are struggling to develop due to a lack of legislative framework and political support. This text is an opportunity to achieve our climate goals. He stressed the value of the Ocean Fund as foreseen under the EU ETS Directive, which would support innovations, but which needed to be strengthened. We need to take better account of the contribution of sailing propulsion through a reward factor proposed by my colleague Pierre Karleskind and make it the driving force behind the revival of the European shipbuilding industry, as proposed in the amendment I tabled. We need to expand the scope to cover almost all emissions and to be able to test the solutions on the smallest boats. We need to include an additional sub-target for the use of alternative fuels of non-biological origin: 6% for 2035. Finally, we need to set a target of 100%, instead of 80%, of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in 2050. I invite you to visit the exhibition offered by Pierre Karleskind in the Emilio Colombo space, which will teach you much more about velic propulsion.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, finally a debate and a resolution on the ocean! The European Union must build on its maritime dimension, commit to a Blue Deal within the Green Deal, and make it a force to carry its values around the world. There is an urgent need to: All the extreme weather events we know draw their energy from deep ocean warming – a direct consequence of global warming, with sea level rise and acidification. To continue to feed humanity, but also to develop the economies of coastal regions, where 80% of the world’s population will be concentrated by 2050, it is imperative that we accelerate its restoration. This is a matter of survival, especially for Europe's outermost regions, which ensure its maritime dimension. Regenerating this ‘hydrosphere’ – the ocean, seas and rivers –, as the Starfish mission calls it, means bringing together all European policies – biodiversity, climate, energy, transport, water, waste treatment – and better coordinating governance. As one explores the ocean, one discovers all its riches for humanity: a reservoir of multiple resources – energy, genetics and minerals – the very resources that are shrinking on Earth. But let us not reproduce at sea the mistakes we have made on earth. The movement printed by this year’s major international conferences aims to provide a framework: that of a sustainable future with the ocean, and the European Union and the Member States are negotiating the future of the planet. It is imperative that Parliament takes up this issue. There is only one ocean: It is our common good, and it is our individual and collective responsibility to preserve it. It is an instrument for peace and multilateralism. Ladies and gentlemen, I call on the European Union to resolutely turn to the sea and to carry this message, which I myself, in a month’s time, will carry, Madam President, by crossing the Atlantic alone. This will be my challenge, Commissioner, for the ocean.

Mr President, Commissioner, two other issues concerning the climate agenda. The first: Will the EU join the Blue Carbon Coalition and put blue carbon ecosystems on the climate agenda, in the Member States' determined contributions? And second question: In Lisbon, France spoke out in favour of exploration, but against deep seabed exploitation. Will you support this expected position to move other Member States in this direction?

Mr President, Commissioner, as was widely mentioned last week in Lisbon at the United Nations Ocean Summit, the ocean is in an absolute emergency due to global warming, pollution and our activities. As the Starfish mission you launched reminds us, it is imperative that we not only protect, but also regenerate our seas, rivers and the ocean if we are to continue to balance the climate, reduce coastal immersion and feed people. The ocean is in absolute urgency and despite everything, I was unable to propose a resolution to the European Parliament this week. I will resubmit it in September. However, I would like to take the opportunity of this exchange because the United Nations, as you pointed out, will take absolutely major decisions on several negotiations by the end of the year, and even before COP15. The European Union plays a fundamental role in these negotiations and I would like to welcome, Commissioner, the commitment of the Commission and your teams, which I support. I would like to express my support, but also to ask you a first question in the context of the negotiation on the preservation of biodiversity on the high seas. In Lisbon, were you able to move forward on the... (The President withdrew the floor to the speaker)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I would first like to pay tribute to the work of our colleague Morten Petersen: Really, thank you. I have always compared coastal and island territories to ships that must seek their energy autonomy with what nature offers them. I am therefore in favour of all forms of offshore energy: those that use wind energy, as discussed here, but also those that use the inexhaustible energy of the sea, its heat and its currents, in particular for the outermost regions of the Union, in a land-sea energy mix approach. However, I put two essential conditions for their development: firstly, the urgent need to consider their location in the context of ecosystem-based and usage-based maritime spatial planning; secondly, the urgent need to go further than simply reducing environmental and social impact, seeking co-benefits for ecosystems as well as for professions. Finally, I would like to highlight the scarcity of our debates on the sea, which is in danger, even though it is our future – we see it here with energy. All European citizens are concerned by its safeguarding. So, as a continuation of the One Ocean Summit, the 2022 international conferences are an opportunity to take action. I therefore call for the ocean to enter this Chamber. I call for a debate on our ocean, which is our common good, ahead of the UN Lisbon Conference in June.