Debate contributions by Angéline FURET

Mr President, drones and new war systems have profoundly transformed conflicts. They are fast, inexpensive, sometimes autonomous and capable of hitting strategic targets. The European Union needs to adapt to this. But this adaptation should not be used as a political pretext, because, under the guise of security, the Commission is pushing a gradual shift towards federal defence, by multiplying programs, funding and doctrines without clear bases in the treaties. However, the Treaties are explicit: defence is a matter for the sovereignty of the Member States. The Commission has neither democratic legitimacy nor operational responsibility to decide on the military engagement or the lives of our soldiers. Yes to technological cooperation, yes to innovation in drones and defence systems, but no to a de facto European army, built without a people's mandate! Europe’s security depends on strong and responsible nations, not on military centralisation in Brussels.

Mr President, what is happening today in Spain is not an accident: it is the result of a political system that speaks a lot of morality and assumes its responsibilities very poorly. For months, socialist leaders have fallen one after another after revelations of sexual harassment. Serious facts, resignations, and often warnings that already existed, but that nobody wanted to see. And yet, they are the same people who spend their time giving lessons in feminism, explaining to the people how to think, how to speak, how to behave. The reality is simple: slogans do not protect women, speeches do not replace courage, and ideology never replaces responsibility. This is not only true about harassment, it is true about everything: public money, immigration, security, freedoms. When there is a permanent gap between what we say and what we do, it is no longer a mistake: This is a political sham. People do not expect lessons; they expect consistency and, above all, action.

Mr President, Commissioner, this joint draft budget for 2026 is not the result of negotiation, but of a democratic masquerade. We had an all-night meeting to discuss 0.2% of the European budget, 0.2%. All the rest, the 99.8% were already tied, already recorded, already locked. And we call it a compromise, we call it a democratic debate. No, it is an institutional framework to validate choices that are no longer discussed. And what do we see in these choices already decided? Exactly what the people reject: a growing common debt, billions sent abroad, the reduction of Frontex resources, the decline of the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund and the infinite inflation of Green Deal spending. All this was fixed before we even entered the room. And all this goes directly against our values, our principles and the mandate we received at the polls: Protecting our borders, defending our farmers, restoring economic sovereignty, supporting purchasing power and ending fiscal flight. So yes, we were listened to. But to be listened to when everything is already decided is not to exercise democratic power, it is simply to witness the validation of a budget built without the people and against the people. The Patriots for Europe make this clear: This budget does not protect. This budget does not respond to any urgency. This budget completely ignores the will expressed in the ballot box. We will vote against, out of fidelity to our nations, out of fidelity to our voters and because Europe will only find a future when it first serves its own.

Mr President, today we are debating the renewal of the partnership between the European Union and Africa, 25 years after its creation. A partnership that is presented to us as renewed, but which, in fact, has produced nothing but empty statements and real frustrations. On the ground, African people want electricity, roads, jobs; Brussels talks to them about carbon neutrality and the green transition. While the Commission is drafting reports, China is building ports, Turkey is building hospitals and Russia is building power plants. Whose fault? To a European Commission disconnected from reality, led by Ursula von der Leyen who, for lack of a program, has made the Green Deal its only doctrine, which it now seeks to impose on Africa. We defend another course: energy autonomy, industrial co-development and reciprocity. Because a true partnership is based on mutual respect, not dependence. Africa deserves respect, Europe a little lucidity.

Madame Loiseau, I do not know what to say in the face of your defamations and the pathetic side of your accusations. You are well aware that no one here has the number of any Russian politician. Moreover, your party has long been a hidden child of the USSR. Don't be in politics and keep the level of debate, ma'am. For your age and responsibility, I find this very disappointing.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, air sovereignty is an integral part of national sovereignty. This is an essential principle of international law, which Mme Loiseau, affirmed by Article 1 of the 1944 Chicago Convention. Each State shall exercise complete and exclusive control over the airspace over its territory. If the incursions in Estonia, Poland or the Baltic region are found to be hostile, they will constitute a violation of international law contrary to Article 2(4) of the Charter of the United Nations. But the requirement of the right applies to all. Until the evidence is made public, the European Union must maintain the rigour and restraint of the law. To accuse without demonstrating, to react without verifying, is to risk turning away from the rule of law so dear to all my colleagues in this Chamber and to Mrme von der Leyen. Europe must protect its spaces, its infrastructure and its citizens, but without giving in to the cycle of war. Protecting Europe is our responsibility. It is not a question of inflaming the world, but of stabilizing it. It is not a question of imitating the powers that provoke, but of embodying those that reason and soothe. Firmness does not exclude lucidity. And lucidity today is to defend our security in strict compliance with international law.

Madam President, the Capital Markets Union, Mr Mario Draghi, presents it to us as the miracle solution to save Europe from bankruptcy, but what is it concretely? It is as if we take the savings of all Europeans to put it in a single common pot. Except that it will not be the people who decide how to use it. No, it will be the big financiers and foreign funds. And, behind all this, there is Ursula and the technocrats of Brussels, who use Mario Draghi as their Swiss knife: yesterday to save the euro for the banks, today to push this new plan. Let's be clear, it's not reform, it's treason. A betrayal to our savers, to our SMEs, to our peoples. We say no! Europeans' savings must serve our businesses, our farmers, our industries and strengthen our economic sovereignty, not fatten Wall Street and Beijing.

Madam President, today we are talking about the future European budget. This is fundamental, because it is the money of Europeans, especially the French. We are already hearing, in Brussels and here, voices calling for more and more. More debt, more taxes and, above all, more green budget, using the false pretext of an alleged climate emergency. Let’s be serious, please! Ms von der Leyen and her supporters are not displeased that Europe's real challenge is a green ideology served by opaque funding. No, Europe's real challenge is jobs, security, the competitiveness of our businesses and concrete investment in our territories. The next European budget must therefore be realistic, concrete and focused on the immediate priorities of the citizens. It will have to support our industries and defend our borders, our farmers and our craftsmen, namely those who make our economy run concretely and guarantee our sovereignty. The French do not want a Europe that wastes their money. The French want an effective Europe that protects and acts concretely for them. It is therefore only for this purpose that French money must be spent.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, today we are asked to examine the 2023 and 2024 reports on Albania. Billions of euros: for what? Or rather to make what? To finance a corrupt regime, a justice system and a muzzled press? European taxpayers' money deserves better than that. And I'll be more specific: the money of French deserves better than that. Let’s stop financing the illusion, let’s stop financing corruption and contempt for democracy! Before we talk about enlargement, let us demand results, let us demand transparency!

Mr President, today we are presented with the 2024 Annual Report on the European Investment Bank: EUR 76 billion financed in Europe, of which only 13% for France. We could say to each other: But let’s be clear, France is a net contributor to this bank, that is to say that we give much more than we receive. And what exactly does the European Bank invest this money in? In the famous ecological transition, whose ears you reshuffle every day. Go explain this to our craftsmen, our companies, our SMEs, who close in cascade, every day! Explain this also to our rural areas, which no longer have public services! Their urgency is not to please urban eco-scooters, but to have a job, a future and dignity. I say it clearly: The European Bank must invest for the real economy, for our jobs, for our territories. France must not simply be the milk cow of the European Union. It is a matter of respect, it is a matter of justice.

Madam President, Europe promised us EUR 750 billion to get out of the COVID crisis, but the truth is that it is a gigantic scam. Brussels has borrowed this money from private banks, on our behalf, and it will cost us 1 400 billion with interest. As a result, every Frenchman will have to repay every euro wasted, and why? Chinese solar panels? Overpriced electric cars? Unnecessary training? Today, this plan is already a total failure. The European economy does not leave, prices continue to explode, companies close and the French are impoverished. The promised relaunch never happened. However, Brussels wants to reoffend with a new plan to finance a European army, the European defence support programme. Exactly the same method, to make the French pay a debt decided elsewhere. Meanwhile, our own army can no longer even pay its bills: EUR 8 billion is missing. We have given everything to Ukraine. And now, as the world ignites, our country is defenseless. Tomorrow, Brussels will no longer just borrow on our behalf. She will go straight to get the money in our pockets with new European taxes. It calls this own resources. I refuse to see our freedom sold off by irresponsible bureaucrats. That's enough! I am here to defend France, our freedom and your money. It's time to stop this scandal now.

Mr President, we are being told about energy sovereignty, but the European Union has knowingly compromised its own autonomy. The destruction of the Nord Stream pipeline remains a serious attack on our interests. Yet no serious investigation, no designated officials. This silence questions. By cutting off Russian imports, replaced by overpriced US gas, the Commission has imposed an ideological and costly realignment, with catastrophic economic consequences: a strangled industry, suffocated households. We defend a realistic, diversified and sovereign energy policy, based on the interests of the European peoples, not on external injunctions or dogmatic choices.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, apart from the 2023 budget of the European Court of Auditors, which is exceptional and very well managed, we will vote against the discharge of the 2023 budgets. Why? Because the European Commission has funded and persists in opacity funding activist NGOs to advance its ideological agenda, such as the Green Deal, without democratic validation. Billions of euros are thus allocated to structures such as WWF or Friends of the Earth that lobby in disguise under the guise of environmentalism. Worse still, the European Union has paid tens of millions of euros to Islamic Relief, an organization that the German authorities consider close to the Muslim Brotherhood. It is also funding a research project entitled "The European Qur'an" for almost €10 million. Is that the budget priority? As for the European agencies, their budget reached €4.7 billion in 2023: an explosion of expenditure without real control, with duplications, irregularities and an added value that is still unclear. We will not give a quit to this drift; For the respect of peoples, sovereignty and taxpayers, we say no.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the Savings and Investments Union, under technocratic airs of economic common sense, is in fact hiding a project of dispossession of our financial sovereignty, our social model and the control of our savings. This project, led by Brussels, imposes massive transfers of competence in terms of taxation, regulation and even financing of strategic sectors. The pan-European pension savings plan, for example, directly threatens our life insurance and our REP, pillars of French popular savings. While SMEs are promised easier access to capital, it is mainly foreign investors who will dictate their conditions tomorrow, to the detriment of our local productive fabric. As for our rural territories, they risk being left behind once again. The National Rally says no to this technocratic Europe and yes to a Europe of free nations, masters of their financial destiny. We demand a referendum on any progress on this project.

Mr President, the current European energy policy is a decoy. We claim to reduce our dependence on Russian gas, but we now import it via third countries, which simply resell what they buy in Moscow at gold prices. This hypocrisy is costly for Europe. Our industries are paying unbearable additional costs, our jobs are under threat and our sovereignty is crumbling. Worse, we enrich intermediaries who take advantage of our weaknesses, without solving the root of the problem. The solution is not in these bypasses, but in the immediate recovery of our energy industry. Why import Russian gas stamped "Turkey" or "India" when we have nuclear power in France, a sector of excellence that creates jobs and guarantees independence? Why subsidize dubious intermediaries when we could invest in our infrastructure, local resources and innovations? Brussels must stop imposing dogmas and free the Member States. Let them develop realistic energy strategies, rooted in their national realities. Let us protect our businesses, stabilise prices and build a Europe that relies on its own strengths, not on the whims of third markets. European dignity depends on industrial audacity, not hypocritical schemes.

Mr President, Mrs Lagarde, the European Central Bank's 2024 report confirms an alarming reality: Under the pretext of resilience and stability, the ECB has continued to impose monetary policies that stifle our national economies. It has persisted in maintaining high policy rates, penalising our SMEs and farmers, already weakened by absurd environmental regulations and a suffocating single market. Worse, this report ignores the essential: Sovereignty of States. The ECB, subservient to the federalist vision, uses monetary policy to strengthen Brussels' power at the expense of nations. When she talks about a data-driven approach, she forgets about human data: unemployment, deindustrialization and rural distress in France. In the name of the green transition, it encourages pharaonic investments in technologies inaccessible to our territories, while our peasants are crumbling under energy standards and costs. Europe's competitiveness? A decoy, when our companies are suffocated by structurally higher energy prices than elsewhere. We must reject this technocratic leap forward. France needs to regain control of its economic policy, its currency and its destiny. Rather than blindly following the dogmas of Frankfurt, let us demand an ECB at the service of the people, not ideologies.

Madam President, blockchain and cryptocurrencies were born from a simple idea: restoring control to individuals, enhancing transparency and ensuring equitable access to open systems. Decentralization, transparency and security are therefore the fundamental values of this revolution. But today, blockchain goes far beyond financial transactions. It revolutionizes data management, traceability and digital trust by transcending borders and calling for global cooperation. However, with this immense potential also come challenges: fraud, unequal access and lack of clear regulations. This is where our collective responsibility lies. We need to build global standards, not to stifle innovation, but to frame and amplify it. These standards must therefore 1) secure users; 2) Preserve decentralization; 3) fostering an environment conducive to innovation. Europe, with initiatives such as the MiCA Regulation, has shown that regulation, although partial, is possible. It must therefore now act as a bridge to initiate a global dialogue. Blockchain is a unique opportunity to build fairer and fairer systems. Together, we can steer this revolution towards a more open and prosperous future.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I am here to denounce the Digital Services Act, the DSA, which, under the guise of combating disinformation, institutionalises state censorship at European level. Indeed, this text flouts one of the fundamental principles of our democracies: freedom of expression, the once sacred principle that the DSA now seems to want to bury, sacrifice on the altar of an official truth, not always authentic, imposed by technocrats. By muzzling dissenting voices, this regulation does not protect citizens, it infantilizes them, it deprives them of their capacity for discernment. All censorship is an admission. We only gag the mouth that tells the truth. With the DSA, the European Union is only admitting its fear of the truth by constantly imposing ever more oppressive control tools. Also, I urge you to reject this authoritarian drift. Rather than censoring, let us defend the rights of European citizens to express themselves freely, without fear or institutional muzzle.

Madam President, on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, it is essential to recall the following: this convention makes it clear that childhood is a sanctuary, that the protection of children from all forms of exploitation and abuse is a fundamental principle. However, we are now seeing worrying initiatives in this area, sometimes encouraged by public institutions that tend to promote so-called sexuality education from an early age. Thus, under the guise of raising awareness and combating discrimination, some of these actions risk trivialising inappropriate content or breaking the framework of protection that we must guarantee to children. These practices, far from being educational in reality, can therefore be assimilated to a form of exploitation and ideological manipulation. Children's sexuality must not be exploited in any way. So what is the European Commission doing to ensure that so-called sexuality education remains age-appropriate and respectful of children's innocence? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. What is the Commission doing to ensure that no piecemeal initiative can undermine children's healthy development or integrity? Nothing. Again, absolutely nothing. And what is the Commission doing to ensure that these abuses are not financed or promoted by European funds? Nothing. Over and over again. Absolutely nothing.

Mr President, Europe is peace. The formula is repeated at will by all seasoned Europeanists. Still, it's a lie. Indeed, today, the European Union is pushing for war. The European Union is trying to federate, through the war in Ukraine, and is interfering in the defence policy of the Member States in defiance of their sovereignty. After creating a post of European Commissioner for Defence, the European Commission is also overstepping its powers: it wants to withdraw EUR 400 billion from the budget, earmarked for the development of regions in difficulty, to be used to strengthen the military-industrial complex of the Member States and to provide military assistance to Ukraine. Is it democratic when the Commission decides, on its own, to drag all European citizens into a war against Russia? Of course not! Europe, normally, is peace. But with Mme von der Leyen at its head, Europe is war!

Mr President, under the guise of utterly misguided humanism and false good feelings, politicians who are traitors to the peoples of Europe are promoting a fanatical ideology which they have set up as dogma: immigrationism. Unfortunately, this desire for altruistic suicide imposed on Europeans has concrete consequences on a daily basis. The city of Le Mans, France, is a sad example. Immigration has more than doubled in 15 years and, with it, crimes and misdemeanours. Increase in theft by more than 300%, increase in rape by more than 500% and increase in knife attacks by 1,000%. Yes, ten times more than before the arrival on our soil of these delinquent foreigners, these criminals imported at the expense of the Europeans you call "migrants". The blood of the victims of this abomination is on the hands of the Members of the European Commission who ordered this submersion and on the hands of the Members who voted for it.

Mr President, ‘God laughs at men who deplore the effects whose causes they cherish’, said the writer Bossuet. This maxim is reminiscent of the catastrophic record of your industrial policy, if it ever existed. In your era, we will have known everything: Europe’s digital vassalage, its manufacturing dependence on emerging countries, and now the erasure of car civilisation. You are scrambling to impose the all-electric route on the entire industry in 2035, at the risk of seeing many parts of the continent disappear. Volkswagen has already announced plans to close plants. The Renault Group is sounding the alarm about the thousands of jobs at risk, such as at Valeo in Sarthe, where the automotive supplier will close its site, leaving more than 250 employees behind. So my question will be simple: How many factory closures and massive redundancies will it take for you to finally challenge your declining policy?

Mr President, I wish to defend Valeo and the employees of the La Suze-sur-Sarthe site who will lose their jobs because of uncontrolled globalisation and cascading relocations. On July 15, the automotive supplier announced the sale of its plant located 20 kilometers from Le Mans. 270 employees are now the victims of your electric dogmatism and intra-European social dumping, since the site's activities are transferred to Spain and Poland, where labor is cheaper. Less expensive and more efficient solutions than the thermal ban exist. I will fight to save our auto industry and our territories. The employees of the Valeo-La Suze factory have an inalienable right to keep their work. The French state, the largest shareholder in the group, can and must save all the employees of the Valeo factory.