Matthieu VALET

Policy topics Matthieu VALET is active on

What Matthieu VALET has said (16)

• 2025-11-05 “E-004380/2025 Answer given by Ms Mînzatu on behalf of the European Commission Countries in the Maghreb and the Middle East are not associated to Erasmus+ and do not receive a dedicated budget. Yet, higher education students from those regions continue to benefit from the already existing opportunities under the international dimension of Erasmus+ programme, funded by the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument, which include short term student exchanges from any region in the world towards the EU. The Pact for the Mediterranean 1 promotes a comprehensive, whole-of-route and rights-based approach to migration and mobility, which includes pursuing an effective return and readmission policy. When applying for visas, including for study purposes, third-country nationals go through thorough security checks. As part of the general conditions set out under Article 7 of Directive 2016/801 2 , where third-country nationals are considered to pose a threat to public security, they should not be admitted. The Commission is legally bound to ensuring that organisations and individuals that do not respect EU values, such as the rule of law or respect for human rights do not receive EU financial support. EU financial rules include an exclusion ground under the Early Detection and Exclusion System for entities engaged in activities contrary to EU values relevant in the implementation of EU budget. The suspension of Hungarian institutions from the Erasmus+ programme concerns only a limited number of institutions (governed by the so-called public interest trusts) and is based on the Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/2506 3 adopted on the basis of Regulation 2020/2092 4 . The suspension is not aimed at Hungarian students and Hungary continues to receive the full Erasmus+ budget. 1 JOIN/2025/26 final (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:52025JC0026). 2 OJ L 132, 21.5.2016, pp. 21–57 (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2016/801/oj/eng). 3 OJ L 325, 20.12.2022, pp. 94–109 (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2022/2506/oj/eng). 4 OJ L 433I, 22.12.2020, pp. 1–10 (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2020/2092/oj/eng).”
  EU-Syria relations · EU-Algeria relations
• 2025-10-15 “P-004047/2025 Answer given by Mr Brunner on behalf of the European Commission EU law on returns (the Return Directive 1 ) requires Member States to assess each return case individually, and decide if those with no right to stay in the EU can be returned safely and with dignity, in compliance with European and international law, especially the principle of non-refoulement. On 16 April 2025, the Commission tabled a proposal for an EU list of safe countries of origin 2 . The Commission proposed to designate as safe certain third countries where, in general, there is no persecution or real risk of serious harm in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2024/1347 3 . This assessment is based on the legal situation, the application of the law within a democratic system and the general political circumstances. This proposal is currently being negotiated by the European Parliament and the Council. Once adopted, Member States will need to process applications for international protection from nationals of the third countries designated as safe through the accelerated examination procedure as specified in Article 42 of the Asylum Procedure Regulation 4 . The proposal does not affect Member States’ national agreements with third countries regarding return. The Commission has not proposed to include Afghanistan or Syria in the EU list of safe countries of origin. The Commission is working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to facilitate voluntary returns of Syrians who wish to go back to Syria and support the country’s early recovery. The Commission is also working to ensure EU-level coordination, including with the Member States and international organisations, regarding the situation of Afghans illegally staying in the EU. 1 Directive 2008/115/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on common standards and procedures in Member States for returning illegally staying third-country nationals, OJ L 348, 24 December 2008, p. 98. 2 COM(2025) 186 final, Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) 2024/1348 as regards the establishment of a list of safe countries of origin at Union level. 3 Regulation (EU) 2024/1347 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2024 on standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection, for a uniform status for refugees or for persons eligible for subsidiary protection and for the content of the protection granted, amending Council Directive 2003/109/EC and repealing Directive 2011/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council, OJ L, 2024/1347, 22 May 2024. 4 Regulation (EU) 2024/1348 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2024 establishing a common procedure for international protection in the Union and repealing Directive 2013/32/EU, OJ L, 2024/1348, 22 May 2024.”
  Asylum & border control
• 2025-02-05 “E-000531/2025 Answer given by Mr Hoekstra on behalf of the European Commission Delivering on the EU’s net greenhouse gas emissions reduction target of at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 and the climate neutrality target by 2050, as enshrined in the European Climate Law 1 , calls for ambitious action to ensure a swift decrease in emissions from all sectors, including transport. The revised CO 2 standards Regulation 2 sets targets which get more stringent over time, up to a 100% emission reduction for new cars and vans registered in the EU as of 2035. These standards drive a gradual transition towards zero-emission mobility, while giving industry enough leadtime to develop an adequate compliance strategy. The 2025 target requires a 15% reduction of emissions from the 2021 baseline. It was agreed by the co-legislators in 2019 and was confirmed in 2023. For manufacturers that may not be in a position to achieve target compliance on their own, the Regulation provides the option to pool with other manufacturers. Pooling is not mandatory but provides manufacturers with one more flexibility to choose from. In the Industrial Action Plan for the European automotive sector 3 , the Commission has announced that it will swiftly present additional flexibilities, through a targeted amendment of the CO₂ emission standards, which would determine that compliance is assessed over the years of 2025, 2026 and 2027 combined to allow manufacturers to compensate target exceedance in one or two of these years by overachievements in the other year(s). This will contribute to safeguarding industry’s capacity to invest, keeping the overall ambition of the 2025 targets. The Commission will also accelerate work on the preparation of the review of the Regulation. 1 http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2021/1119/oj 2 http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/851/oj 3 COM(2025) 95 final.”
  Road transport environmental policy · EU Competition policy
• 2025-01-15 “E-000140/2025 Answer given by High Representative/Vice-President Kallas on behalf of the European Commission The EU has a long-standing history supporting gender equality and women’s rights in Syria. This has been done through support to Syrian women’s civil society, humanitarian support with a strong gender and protection lens, participation in the United Nations-led political process (Syrian Women’s Advisory Board and Civil Society Support Room), and support to international accountability mechanisms, which have carried out their mandates with a gender perspective. During the EU’s early interactions with the interim authorities, the High Representative/VicePresident, the Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, and the Commissioner for the Mediterranean have emphasised the need for women’s full, effective and meaningful participation in the political process. Throughout the transition, accountability and transitional justice processes should continue to have a gender perspective, ensure women are heard at all stages, and keep a victim and survivor-centred approach. The EU takes note that the National Dialogue Conference that took place on 25 February 2025 included the participation of women, and that the Constitutional Committee announced on 2 March 2025 – and tasked with drafting a transitional constitutional declaration – includes two women among its seven members. As part of its overall support, the EU will support efforts to maximise the role of civil society, women and non-armed political actors in Syria. The EU calls for an inclusive Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political transition process, guided by the respect for international law, human rights (including women’s rights), fundamental freedoms, pluralism and tolerance among all components of society.”
  EU policy on Islam · Gender roles, equality and inclusion
• 2025-01-15 “E-000139/2025 Reply It is not for the Council to comment on posts on social media or articles appearing in the press. Moreover, the matter referred to does not fall within the jurisdiction of the Union.”
  EU policy on integration and ethnic, racial and religious discrimination
• 2025-01-15 “P-000150/2025 Answer given by Mr McGrath on behalf of the European Commission The Commission will not comment on alleged statements that previous Commissioners may make in a private capacity. Democracy is a founding value of the EU. Elections are at the core of democracy and should be free from any interference. The conduct and the organisation of elections are the competence and responsibility of the Member States, in accordance with their national constitutional and legislative rules, as well as with their international obligations and EU law. National competent authorities and courts have the primary responsibility of ensuring compliance with these rules. The Commission has no comment on the decision by the Romanian constitutional court of 6 December 2024 to annul the first round of the Romanian presidential elections. This is a responsibility of the Member States. The Commission actively supports Member States, notably through the framework of the European cooperation network on elections 1 , which brings together national authorities with responsibilities that are relevant to electoral matters. This allows for exchanges of information and best practices and to discuss challenges. Several EU rules are relevant in national electoral contexts within the EU, such as the Digital Services Act 2 , the Regulation on political advertising 3 (which will become fully applicable in October 2025), the General Data Protection Regulation 4 or the Artificial Intelligence Act 5 . 1 https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/policies/justice-and-fundamental-rights/democracy-eucitizenship-anti-corruption/democracy-and-electoral-rights/european-cooperation-network-elections_en. 2 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32022R2065. 3 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/900/oj/eng. 4 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj/eng. 5 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1689/oj/eng.”
  Rule of law and democracy in the EU (political compass)
• 2024-12-11 “E-002865/2024 Answer given by Ms Šuica on behalf of the European Commission The fall of Assad’s criminal regime marks a historic moment for the Syrian people. The European Council Conclusions of 19 December 2024 1 stressed the historic opportunity to reunite and rebuild the country and underlined the importance of an inclusive and Syrian-led political process that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people. The EU stands ready to support the new phase in Syria in coordination with regional partners, including Türkiye. Türkiye has an important role to play in the stability of Syria and the region, which is in the common interest of the EU and Türkiye. It is important that the good cooperation between the EU and Türkiye, which is also a member of the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh 2 , continues in the fight against terrorism. Türkiye has legitimate security concerns and a legitimate right and responsibility to fight against terrorism, ensuring that this is done in accordance with the rule of law, respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, and in full respect of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of neighbouring states and international law. In line with the Council Conclusions of June 2018 3 , which were repeated regularly since then, Türkiye’s accession negotiations have effectively come to a standstill. No progress has been achieved in the areas of democracy, rule of law, fundamental rights and the independence of the judiciary. As a result, the Commission has substantially reduced the EU financial support to Türkiye under the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance 4 since 2018, and reoriented this funding towards the civil society, people-to-people contacts and the Green Deal-related common priorities. A large part of the current financial assistance goes towards supporting Syrian refugees (about 3 million) present in the country. 1 https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/jhlenhaj/euco-conclusions-19122024-en.pdf 2 https://theglobalcoalition.org/en/ 3 https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/35863/st10555-en18.pdf 4 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32021R1529”
  EU enlargement
• 2024-09-10 “E-001670/2024 Answer given by High Representative/Vice-President Borrell i Fontelles on behalf of the European Commission The EU is following the political and security situation in Bangladesh closely and it is well aware that shifts in power dynamics in a country or a region could lead to more space for extremism. The EU is also aware that Bangladesh in the past has been the victim of terrorist attacks. On 6 August 2024, the EU Heads of mission in Dhaka expressed concern over reports of multiple attacks against places of worship 1 and members of religious, ethnic and other minorities. The EU understands that the situation has since then improved, but the EU will continue to follow closely and raise the issue during the upcoming Sub-group on Human Rights and Good Governance of the Joint Commission. The Joint Commission and its subgroups are established according to the Cooperation Agreement 2 that is the framework for the EUBangladesh relations and of which the respect for human rights is an essential element. The EU is engaging with the interim government and is ready to support a transition, which should be peaceful and inclusive, respectful of democratic principles, human rights and the rule of law, and would lead to democratic elections. 1 https://x.com/EUinBangladesh/status/1820768987598278684/photo/1 2 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A22001A0427%2801%29”
  EU policy on Islam · EU-India relations
• “Thank you very much, president. Now, it. We, the people, need to give feedback to the commission on its work. Out of 100 days. And the results now have been disastrous. Miss von der Leyen wants to work on agriculture and wants to destroy agriculture. She's talking about Mercosur. But this. But we see suicides in France every few days as a result of the pressure that farmers are under. But then what? And what about the military? And will she be opting for American fighter jets or or French ones. What about. And then we have seen in Algeria the problems there. We underline has been staying in Brussels. We have seen significant problems with Islamism as well in France. Now I say that you need to get to work now. Thanks.”
  Trade relations with Mercosur
• “(17:57:19 – 18:00:14): You, chair, dear colleagues, representative of the commission. I'm very happy to see this in France. There's no day that goes by without the use of Kalashnikov, whether that's in Paris or other big cities. There is collateral damage from drug trafficking. I've looked into the situation in Europe. I was a member of the police before being an MEP. Firstly, when it comes to the worsening of circumstances, things seem to be going in the right direction. I was involved in investigations on organized crime, and certain weapons can be considered aggravating circumstances. I've seen that in Italy, Germany, Belgium, etcetera, there are strict rules when it comes to obtaining weapons. But when it comes to cooperation between member states, there is work to be done. We have Interpol also. Also, when it comes to Kalashnikovs, which are used a lot in different countries, Belgium, Italy, Germany, etcetera. Over 80% of weapons come from the black market in France, and a lot of them come from Eastern Europe. So it's important to specify that also. Weapons being used in Ukraine can end up coming back to us. And this is something that's very relevant at the moment. The last point would be differentiating between the use of weapons for leisure, sports, hunting, for example. Of course, we can't mix all of this up, and we can't put them in the same basket as criminals. And we all, I would imagine here, want to tackle crime because it's a huge public concern for Europe. Missus Biesnevska, ECR. Well,”
  EU law enforcement cooperation in criminal matters
• “Thank you Chair McAllister and thank you Madam for your detailed presentation on bilateral relations. A specific question: Canada is part of cooperation between Europol and Canada. There are a lot of cases underway, particularly on artificial intelligence, pictures of nude children and investigations into that. So cooperation between the EU and Canada but also a simplification of the procedures for exchanging data and files on crime prosecution. I saw that there was going to be an enhanced partnership on security and defense seeking to particularly underscore those aspects of cooperation. I'd like to know if there has been any progress on this. Europol is a service that works particularly well and I know that Canada since two thousand and five has been participating at a high level. I'd want to know whether any further progress has been made on this cooperation. Thank you.”
  EU law enforcement cooperation in criminal matters
• “Thank you, chair. Thank you to the speakers. Now. We've already said that, um, uh, human rights advocacy doesn't protect anyone if we don't deal with the smugglers. Now, our oceans or seas are graveyards, and obviously, we've, uh, we go and rescue these little boats, which are, uh, put out to sea by smugglers profiting from human misery. And we see men, women, and children who drown. And unfortunately, we've all seen the images and, um, Being humanist isn't just to outsource our job to humanitarian NGOs, but we've got to have a clear human rights policy, and we've got to also fight against human trafficking. And then regarding the externalisation of the processing of asylum applications, well, Europe and all of its member states have got diplomatic networks which we can use. So what is the point of these now? What is the point? We've got to take steps, and we've got to be able to process some of these applications in countries of origins, and we've got to support the states who want to work together with us to fight against these illegal trafficking networks. That's why this I mean, this is a policy which many of us are citizens have been demanding for some time. And you can see this also, uh, the sort of impact this has on electoral election results. And I think it's absolutely crucial for us to be able to protect our borders. And we've also got to be firm when it comes to combating smuggling networks. Thank you.”
  Asylum & border control
• “Yes. Thank you. Chair. I'm very sorry to have come along late to this subcommittee. I must say, I admire your courage. I admire what you have been doing. There are French people who have died in Afghanistan for your freedom. And a lot of blood has been shed in Afghanistan. A lot of lives have been sacrificed. We are with you. I personally was raised by my mother. And I recognize your great courage in what you are doing. It's a important that women worldwide fight for their liberty to get the same rights as everybody else has. So that's just what I wanted to say, very modestly. I really, really admire your courage and your bravery.”
  Gender roles, equality and inclusion
• “: Honorable member, you talked about digital platforms in Marseille. A 14 year old, killed a, taxi driver. I'm quite surprised, by what you're saying. I was a police officer in a very difficult district in France. Do you not think that a child who kills others should end up in prison. Surely, we should protect others because whether you're 15 or 30, we need to protect our fellow citizens from weapons and from being killed. Thank you for your question. I, would condemn something in the debate this evening. I abhor the fact that we are wondering whether children belong in prison or not. We're completely overlooking the backdrop to these crimes. These are children, minors. They are being exploited, groomed, manipulated, press ganged into committing atrocious crimes, but we must protect them. How can we do that? Well, 1 approach would be to regulate digital platforms. We want regulate digital platforms to protect children, but you refuse to do so, and that has a harsh consequence for our society.”
  Privacy & detection of online child abuse
• “Mr. president, thank you, chair, and thank you for that presentation. A couple of points. Firstly, in French we have overseas territory. You mentioned China, but we have New Caledonia, which is now almost in a situation of uprising. And the origins of the violence, of course, are not to do with interference as such. But Azerbaijan and China do have an influence on that island. And China has a major influence in this area of the Pacific. I don't know whether the EU has taken an interest or done any investigations to look at whether there has been any interference in that island, which is part of France. The same applies to Mayotte. Russia and China have interests there when it comes to the Melrose area, which is also a French island. So we're looking at overseas territories of the French Republic. And since this is part of the international sphere, I think we also need to be vigilant about that. And then when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I think that we need to come up with a two step solution. I don't know what the EU's position is on this, but in reality, a two stage solution would involve a democratic government and not Hamas in Palestine, which is a terrorist organization, so that we can have a sustainable peace between those two nations. We've had over 50 years of conflict, and the deaths on both sides are to be condemned. And I think it's important to remember that.”
  Foreign interference in Europe
• “Thank you, madam president and colleagues. Now let me talk about France. You mentioned Marseille. More than 14 percent of young people who who are being subject to interrogation for for crimes in France. This happened time and again. More and more cases of, break ins involve children. In 2023, we're looking at more and more, minors recommitting crimes after they are held and then set back to prison, you can see that we're not just talking about prevention. The figures are very clear. We need repression. We need to to, support our citizens who haven't asked for this. Then we're looking at a vast majority of young people who are more and more violent. We're looking at lowering the criminal age of responsibility from to 16 from 18. Now years ago, we it was at 16. And now child parents who abandon their, children who are receiving social housing and benefits, they should also be punished. Then we have a tax on the victims. It should be a tax on the criminals. It should be up to parents who ensure that children are kept at home, that they behave, that they do their homework, they go to school. And then this is something which we should have been doing for years now.”
  EU policy on criminal justice