Manon accuses Aubrey, saying, “So far, the elected LREM Board of Directors has defended the interests of the pharmaceutical companies.”

Emmanuel Macron was so far Systematically opposed to the lifting of patents in the World Trade Organization, Manon Aubry, a member of the European Parliament in France, notes on France Info on Friday 7 May, accusing him of defenseThe interests of pharmaceutical companies. The head of state finally announced himself on Thursday Strongly in favor of raising intellectual property Eve European Porto Summit Where the topic will be discussed. This procedure is suggested Wed by US President Joe Biden.

On Thursday, the French president followed in Joe Biden’s footsteps by announcing that he supported raising the patent for anti-virus vaccines. Is that what you’ve been asking for a while on the left?

Manon Aubrey: In fact, it has been more than a year that we have been struggling to obtain this patent leverage and mass production of production capacities internationally, to take the monopoly of production out of the hands of pharmaceutical laboratories, to ensure that this does not happen. There are no profits from the pandemic. But in this regard, I note that Macron has very different rhetoric of action, as he has systematically opposed the patent filing in the WTO. The republic is in motion, voting against it in the National Assembly and European Parliament. After that, the elected En Marche toured the groups [de télévision] To explain to us that it is not necessary. The truth is that so far they have defended the interests of pharmaceutical companies to ensure their profits from this pandemic.

Opponents of patent filing for Covid vaccines make clear that even if we transfer intellectual property to other countries, for example, there will be no means of production behind us. Was it beautiful in vain?

However, not all production capacities are exploited at the international level. We have squandered months and months during which the European Union, along with France, blocked the patent lift in the World Trade Organization. These are many lives that we could have saved when countries are waiting so impatiently for these vaccines in particular. We see dramas taking place in India and even France. We can see how long it took before taking a turn allowing all those who want to be vaccinated gradually. And I think that this is a mistake that Emmanuel Macron will pay for or will have to endure for a long time.

The other central component of this European summit is the desire to inject more social measures into Europe after the severe damage of the health crisis. Do you see this desire for a social transformation?

The question is clearly a big one, with a very difficult social crisis in Europe affecting particularly those who were already unstable. I think of the younger generations being sacrificed. I think of all those who have precarious jobs and lost them, unemployment and poverty growing across Europe. Having said that, I’ll be honest with you, I am 31 years old and I think I’ve heard of Social Europe since I was a little kid, even long before I was born, and I think this is a form of ancient European eel. Here, too, speeches are not enough. This type of great European crest, which often gives birth to a mouse, falls short of a social emergency. We have been putting concrete proposals on the table for months, starting with declaring a social emergency, declaring a climate emergency, with right-wing political parties opposing it, but also part of the left. We were asked for months to have a law on well-off workers and a minimum wage in Europe.

This European coordination in favor of employment must pass through what?

With a European minimum wage equal to 75% of the average wage. This is the proposal that we’re putting on the table today because social Europe is actually social dumping, it’s resettlement. Unfortunately, the news is full of them: the big industrialists who prefer to go to Hungary and Poland, where wages are sometimes five to six times less than in France. This competition is unbearable at the heart of the European Union.

“We need a gradual coordination process from the top that allows everyone to live in dignity everywhere in the European Union.”

Manon Aubry, member of the European Parliament, revolts in France

To franceinfo

But here, too, there should be a very clear threshold in European law.

All of this needs funding. We started talking about a second economic stimulus plan in France. what do you think ?

I think it is necessary. First stimulus plan made in France As in Europe, we are barely 1.2% of GDP. This is nothing compared to the losses incurred, especially for small businesses. We need a recovery plan that goes directly to the most disadvantaged families. We need an environmental recovery plan.

“We need a recovery plan that does not require peers, as is currently the case with the European recovery plan. The other side is still formidable.”

Manon Aubrey

To franceinfo

It is reforming unemployment insurance, providing more than two billion people for the unemployed, and reforming pensions that no one wants in France. Stimulus plans at a time when we want to socialize Europe, this is the most complete hypocrisy. Next, we also need ways to finance it with a tax on financial transactions and a tax on those who have taken advantage of the crisis to enrich themselves – Amazon, for example, which has tripled its profits. These are also specific suggestions that we bring to the table.