Speeches

Mr President, we take note of this rejection vote and, together with my co-rapporteur, on the basis of Rule 60, we ask that the text be referred back to the committee responsible for re-examination, pending the Commission's reply.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, dear Emma, for several months we have worked tirelessly to seek the path of compromise, to advance this eminently perfectible text, in a context where the pressure on our forests has never been greater. We thought we could do it, we thought we could do it, because forests are part of the solution to the challenges we face, both environmental and economic. The rejection vote in committee was a failure. Ours as rapporteurs, but above all that of our Assembly, which is unable to build a balanced compromise position to negotiate with the Council and the Commission. In short, we have collectively decided to relinquish our role as legislators. Our EPP colleagues preferred compromise rather than compromise. I do not dare to hope for a jump in fidelity to their long political heritage. Alea JactaNow let's vote.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we are not mistaken in our fight. The vast majority of farmers and our fellow citizens do not want simplification that rhymes with deregulation. What farmers do not tolerate is that they are set high targets without sufficient means to achieve them, and we can understand them. It is therefore necessary to move from coercion to incitement; It's imperative. This requires an adequate budget and protection against excessively low prices and unfair competition. Céline Imart's report goes in this direction by strengthening producer organisations in particular. But what will happen if, in the next multiannual financial framework, there is no longer an envelope reserved for this purpose for fruit and vegetables, viticulture and other sectors? Europe cannot come empty-handed. Farmers cannot depend on the will of states alone. Commissioner, this is a sword of Damocles above what the CAP has done best to develop cooperation between farmers and strengthen the upstream in the face of downstream. We must find solutions to address these legitimate concerns, so that the work that has been done by Céline Imart, by our comrade André Rodrigues and by this Parliament is respected.

Mr President, Commissioner, our forests are burning and we are looking elsewhere. My thoughts go out to the families who lost a loved one, to the residents of the areas affected by this summer's severe fires. Spain, Portugal, Greece, France, it is our whole continent that burns, more than a million hectares. In this House, we have a responsibility to bring about a European forest monitoring system to better anticipate the various dangers that climate change poses to them. The European Commission has made an ambitious proposal in this area in order to develop cooperation between the Member States and the European Union. But today, on the benches of the right, the PPE, and the far right, I hear voices opposing this project. I say it with seriousness, it is not hearable. Let's stop the crocodile tears. Forests are also a European competence. What will you say to your children who will ask you why you did not act? So, as co-rapporteur for this regulation, I call on all groups to take responsibility for finding a way forward and setting up this European forest monitoring system.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, in fisheries agreements, we talk about fish, but almost never about the men and women who brave the ocean to live and feed others. The resolution I am defending today is a strong signal. Driven by an almost unanimous consensus of our Committee on Fisheries, it puts people back at the heart of the agreements. Yes, ecosystems must be protected. Yes, we have to track down illegal fishing. Above all, we must change our minds, build a partnership of equals, give local communities fair access to resources, involve them in decisions, comply with ILO, FAO and UN standards, and recognise the central role of women through training and by improving working conditions in the cold chain. European funds must serve them as they must serve seafarers. The Commission must hear this message and integrate it into its ocean diplomacy. Finally, this resolution is a tribute to Mrs Adama Diallo, who inspired and accompanied us, and who passed away in January. With this text, her fight continues, for her, for them, for us.

Mr President, Commissioner, the vision for agriculture and food is a very comprehensive overview of the challenges we must face to ensure food security for Europeans. To do this, we must close the liberal parenthesis opened in 1992. Without regulation, no food security or sovereignty. Our world is changing fast and we need to adapt our policy to it. We need to address at least two major challenges that hold both ends of the chain: ensuring an income for our farmers and tackling food insecurity, which affects 20% of Europeans and has only increased under the pressure of food inflation. For this, we must find instruments for regulating and stabilizing prices. I am thinking in particular of strategic stocks and the revision of intervention prices. Europe was created on a twofold promise: peace and prosperity. Failure to ensure food security is a betrayal of that promise. Commissioner, let us give ourselves the means of this vision, so that it is not a mirage, just another illusion.

Madam President, Commissioner, a lot has been said. I will focus on the conditions of reciprocity and, as a central issue, fair trade, both in terms of unfair competition and in terms of public health, environmental protection and social rights. In terms of health security, if we ban health products in Europe because they are CMR - carcinogenic, mutagenic, reprotoxic - proven by science, then it is our duty to make this ban an absolute obligation. Because the guarantee of health is a matter of public order, here and there. It must be binding on every decision-maker, every treaty, every agreement. This requirement must lead to the obligation of conformity of the products we import, beyond random customs controls or maximum limits of pesticide residues, of which we all know the flaws. These products must be the subject of a genuine certificate of conformity issued independently, in accordance with specifications drawn up by the European Union. In the absence of such a guarantee, Europe will incur its responsibility for endangering the lives of others, here and there. Trust does not exclude control. For now, the conditions for confidence are not there, even for a hypothetical billion.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, have you ever heard a farmer complain about the difficulty of his work, isolation, fatigue and stress? No. In the fields, we remain silent about his personal situation. We suffer in silence from the look that society puts on you, from being the one who pollutes, who poisons, who makes meat that must no longer be eaten, or even wine that must no longer be drunk. Of course, he will talk about issues of income, value sharing or Mercosur, but it is also a problem of recognition that he suffers. What is its role? What is its social utility? Like the worker, the peasant struggles to find his place in our social contract. Yet security, precariousness, food sovereignty, climate change, geopolitical situation: everything should be in the direction of an agriculture that is at the centre of our concerns. Because it is the first of the vital functions: food. Our European project, our common agricultural policy must put people at the centre – farm workers, landowners, peasants – otherwise we will end up submissive and consumers rather than citizens and producers. How much work ahead of us, Commissioner Hansen! We're ready.