28/04/2022 | 16:02:13 Thank you very much, Mr President. So, we are here this afternoon to talk about the safeguarding of democracy in Europe. It is true that Europe is the continent where democracy was born. It was a very long time ago and it was, at that time, in small Greek cities. It also lived under the Roman Republic and then, together with the Roman Empire, it disappeared for almost 1 700 years. What was finally a disruption allowed the return of democracy was an invention: this invention was the printing... 15/03/2022 | 20:10:14 Thank you very much, Mister President. Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine signals the return of war to Europe. We thought, with the fall of the Berlin Wall, that we would be able to enjoy the dividends of peace. Now history is brutally reminding us that we are all Ukrainians. Faced with this armed aggression of one member state of the Council of Europe by another. There is only one solution: the exclusion of the aggressor. A few years ago, I defended Russia's continued membership in our... 29/09/2021 | 18:43:35 Good evening, Mr President. First of all, I would like to thank all of those who spoke in the debate. I have a nine-year-old son and we are all committed to leaving our children a planet that will still be liveable. We must not simply make grand declarations and laws: we must act. I believe that the Council of Europe can do that. The Council of Europe, together with all 47 member states, has a role to play, in doing what we have done with other partial agreements, in the field of research... 29/09/2021 | 17:09:02 Good morning, Mr President, I am very sorry that I am only speaking remotely. I was in the Chamber a few moments ago but, unfortunately, I have to leave for Paris urgently and I will therefore have to do so remotely. We have just had a good illustration of the climate crisis. This climate emergency is a reality in Europe; several hundred people died this summer in mega-floods or mega-fires. We all know that we are obliged to respect the zero-carbon objective by 2050, but 2050 is just around... 22/06/2021 | 11:21:48 Thank you Mr President. Ladies and gentlemen, A well-known French philosopher called Voltaire said: "Let us support the freedom of the press, it is the basis of all other freedoms". For more than two centuries, we have seen that media freedom and democracy travel the same path: when one deviates from it, the other is lost. In recent years the forms of media have multiplied: from the written press to radio, television, etc. As our rapporteur Mr Roberto RAMPI has said, we are now sailing on a... 20/04/2021 | 10:28:57 I welcome the French Prime Minister to my constituency; you will excuse me, Chancellor. I have two questions to put to you on behalf of the ALDE Group. First, I would like to know, at a time when the Council of Europe is launching its report on the COVID-19 health pass, what your position is on this idea of a "health pass" and whether you would consider it useful for states to follow the recommendations of the Council of Europe. Finally, after more than 15 years in office, during which you... 20/11/2020 | 17:19:29 Thank you. Thank you. So there's no personal amendment as far as I'm concerned for the committee. I just wanted to say, on behalf of the committee, that I wanted to congratulate Mr BRENNER on his report, to say that he has sounded a resounding warning signal to all those of us who tend to regard academic freedom as a second-class right for teachers and academics. Yet it is not a minor right but, on the contrary, it is one of the pillars of our democratic societies and even a factor in... 28/01/2020 | 19:57:23 Thank you very much, Mr President. "I don't agree with what you say, but I will fight to the death for you to have the right to say it". These are not my words, they are the words of a French philosopher, a little over 250 years ago, called Voltaire, who stressed the importance of freedom of expression. There is no freedom of expression if there is no freedom of the press, freedom of journalists and, of course, safety. And there is no freedom at all, if there is no freedom to investigate, to... 28/06/2019 | 10:14:28 Thank you very much, Mr. President. First of all, I would like to congratulate the rapporteur on the quality of her work. For more than eight years now, we have been experiencing the consequences of the Syrian crisis in Europe. In particular, through migratory flows, but also through terrorism led by the Islamic State, which has hit several of our countries. As we are experiencing a heat wave here in France, it is worth remembering that the origin of the Syrian crisis lies in a climatic event... 11/04/2019 | 10:59:44 I also congratulate the rapporteur on the report. Indeed, it is normal for an institution to tidy up its rules and regulations as required and as time goes by. However, I share a number of the concerns that have been voiced, particularly about the threshold required to establish a group. I think that having a figure would be better than having a percentage, and that 25 should be that threshold figure; that is a reasonable number to ensure a coherent grouping. There is no specific amendment...