Mr President, Commissioner, from to right in this House, there is a consensus, and this time it is not a weak consensus, but a genuinely strong signal sent out to the Commission. A resolution on the steel industry will be adopted soon. We entirely support it. Having said that, allow me, aside from the resolution, as a from Liège living next to the first site that was affected by Arcelor’s restructuring, to express my anger. We are all suffering now, as we have said, as the result of the lack of a regulatory framework allowing us to deal with the ultraliberal actions of the multinationals. I am aware that this phrase might make people laugh, but I stand by it. We can no longer tolerate decisions that are based on purely financial considerations and which can wipe a region from the world map in one fell swoop, without considering the families that live there, the workers that have built it and the children that will grow up there. Now it is Liège that is the target, next it will be Florence, Brême, EKO Stahl; now it is the steel industry, next it might be the hi-tech industry. There is no end to this arbitrary phenomenon. Commissioner, you presented Arcelor as the good student of Europe. In my opinion, this international steel company is doing a dreadful thing, which is both heinous and ridiculous. Not content with abandoning its commitments to Cockerill – developing technological innovation, renewing tools, promoting employment – Arcelor is making threats. Its directors are announcing that rationalisation must continue, otherwise they could close earlier, or even straight away. And the lock-out of nineteenth century capitalism is suddenly re-emerging out of the mouths of its directors. Moreover, at the same time as announcing the death of the European hot-working sites, the Arcelor group is seeking to purchase Polish companies, but above all it is heavily investing in the Brazilian continental hot-working steel industry. That it what is heinous, Commissioner. What is ridiculous, is the image that Arcelor portrays on its web site, a company, and I will quote without laughing, ‘that is socially aware and which, conscious of its role in the Community, is supporting and sponsoring science, medicine, sport and the arts’. Unfortunately we are not talking about sponsorship, art or sport today, but the future of a region. And on this subject, Arcelor sees itself as being reassuring. It is promising a restructuring plan and early retirement. But who is it trying to fool? Because as well as the 1 700 workers that are directly affected, who are therefore benefiting from a restructuring programme, what will happen to the other 5 000 or 7 000 sub-contractors, suppliers, who will be out of a job? Commissioner, finally give us the means to support coherent, integrated European policies, bearing the stamp of the economy, no doubt, but also socially convincing. I ask the Council and the Commission to finally prepare a regulatory framework that will enable us to prevent the all-powerful financial considerations from shattering the alliance between Europe and its citizens. Because that alliance is fragile and what is the point in Europe being an economic giant if, like the ogre in the fable, it is now eating up its children? (Applause)

Political group: PSE