Speeches

Mr President, her name was Juliette, 15 years old forever, because the weight of cyberbullying pushed her to end her life on 1 May 2021. Maëlle, 14 years old forever, committed suicide in January 2020 following the broadcast of an intimate video on social media. For Maëlle, Juliette and all victims, a comprehensive European criminalisation strategy is essential, as the different forms of violence are often intrinsically linked to cyberviolence. They may precede, accompany or follow her. And cyberviolence has this particularity: She follows the victim everywhere. It does not stop when you return home, there is no place where we are safe. It is a gangrene necrosis, a perverted monster that, behind its screen, only wants to rape you. And what to do then? To run away from a social network is to isolate oneself. And this escape is not synonymous with a safe haven, because your harasser may be your neighbour, your classmate, your colleague. Together with the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, we have drawn up a trans-partisan text. It is intended to be a bridge, an umbrella, a solid roof under which the European Union must provide legal protection and assistance to victims. Parliament's position is clear. Now it is up to you – the Commission – to act because if we are not ambitious on this point, if we turn a blind eye, we will be complicit in these broken lives. And as the silence and its consequences gradually consume the women victims, the young girls victims and the LGBTQI+ victims, let us be their voices, their shoulders and do them justice.

Madam President, everyone knows about asbestos. It is everywhere, this indestructible material that has killed thousands of men and women who have been exposed to it professionally. And yet, at European level, nothing has really changed since 2013. We looked at the asbestos scandal through the lens of worker protection and this allowed us to focus also on cases of mesothelioma directly related to asbestos, in people who have not been exposed to it professionally. And that is why, with this report, we have created something of paramount importance for consumer protection: following a so-called surface detection, the introduction of certificates for the presence of asbestos in buildings, renewable every five years. These certificates, made available to both buyers and lessors, will reduce the risk of passive exposure. Information, warning, anticipation and withdrawal of danger are the pillars of an approach based on the precautionary principle, which is also accompanied by monitoring the development of the building. Many thanks to Nikolaj Villumsen, thanks to Manuel Bompard, thanks to IMCO colleagues. We have firm and concrete proposals. Alea Jacta. Now it is up to the Commission to change the outcome of a tragedy called Asbestos.

on the rights of persons with disabilities, their daily lives remain the path of the fighter, whether for integration into the world of work or access to school and justice, through all aspects of their daily lives, including their rights. Disability is also seen in the eyes of others. Yet it is others who decide their needs. They do not ask for charity or self-pity, but for access to their rights, actively participating in decisions that affect them: They want to become actors and not spectators. For this, we must also change our eyes. It is one of those subjects where our political divides must be overcome and with this report we lay the foundations of a house where it is written ‘fairness’. It's been far too long since the first validists cut the rope and it forces us to re-establish the link. Society can only be achieved if each policy is adapted to the disability. So, let's unblock the anti-discrimination directive and do it now, here. Our challenge is to give the keys and the legal framework to the Member States so that disability policies no longer suffer from blindness. Because even if the essential is invisible to the eyes and can only be seen with the heart, the border has never been a miracle, but a fair policy can change the lives of the most vulnerable.