I'm an emotional person so sometimes tears overwhelm me [Applause] I wanna I wanna start with thanks I want to start with thanks because giving thanks is what makes us human well one of the many things that make us human and so gratitude should never be a footnote so I start with that thanking the 19 colleagues from five political groups as I said who embarked into this project with enthusiasm and Trust most of them said yes at the first meeting and we prove by doing that that people here in the European Parliament can work across political
boundaries for a common cause and what a cause because it aims at no less that making just life possible for all human beings all human beings present and to come on this planet all cooperation on this shows the way to go building broad coalitions to transform or economies so that they serve life and not the other way around secondly I want to thank and that may sound a bit special to you Roberta metzola maybe she doesn't agree entirely with say the ideas that we shared over the last the last three days but when I asked
her she literally opened the doors of our institution to all of us bearing no effort to make it possible none of this could have happened if we did not have the possibility to use the incredible facilities that the European taxpayers have given us if we uh could not put them at the service of our discussions to a view filling the Hemi cycle no less and all these other rooms to have all the technical infrastructure for you to join online and this is symbolically powerful because this is the house of European democracy this is your house
and frankly I am incredibly proud to have you sitting in this very room which frankly I never ever so vibrating as it vibrated for the last three days laughs I want to give a hard tip uh well the Insiders know him to uh the former Chief of Stafford Roberta mezzola who is now the highest civil servant of this Parliament Alessandro actually Alessandro was on the staff of the president of the parliament five years ago it was it was tayani not really the most Progressive politician here yet open enough to Circuit do it do it will
support you and therefore I I would like to ask the parliament staff interpreters ushers security but also communication scattering all who by that discrete yet efficient Services made our lives easy during these uh these three days they have been incredibly professional and everything was run smoothly thanks to a well-organized partition I wish to say special thanks to Lucia who has coordinated all this to Anna Lucas Angelica idoya Barbara and so many others [Applause] thank you [Applause] then I want to thank the president of the commission and the Commissioners five years ago the president of the
commissioner basically pushed back didn't want to have any anything to do with this this one and it came from the very top said okay I'm willing to engage and indeed many of you may think that the speeches she delivered two days ago was maybe not exactly the line that you would expect from a post-gross commission but this is not a postgross commission but having the leader of the commission coming from the European people's party that they were in that speech frankly well this has never been heard from that position in Europe [Applause] we need to
push further and obviously we heard a number of Commissioners speaking here who seem to be a bit disconnected with a number of scientific realities but we are going to continue pushing in that direction but then of course we I want to extend my thanks to the researchers from the European parliamentary research service and the European commission joint Resource Center these are two bodies not very well known they are doing research uh uh scientific research academic research for the institutions and indeed it's the first time that they produced papers on what we have been discussing so
it was officially produced it was not you know uh stuff produced by external think tanks the internal think tanks basically produce something and frankly you you should read it because it's uh it's good material for beginners I would say and you know many people in the institutions are actually beginners on this topic so so it's well done then there's my political group The Greens European tree Alliance uh well the group of course we did that in an ecumenical uh way but uh my group provided substantial financial needs and also people to make it certain that
it would become the success that it has become we believed in it from the outset and I'd like to thank Anna Jean Christian Simon Rita agnese Alex Claudio and so many more because none of this would have happened without your engagement [Applause] then believe it or not last time we we had a few partners and starting Esther with the European trade unions again from the beginning right this time we had no less than 60 partner organizations across really the field of Civil Society media trade unions I mentioned it they have helped us a lot broadening
the scope the world view and I think that all of them have a key role to play to indeed build this movement of movements that you mentioned danuna moving forward and then I'd like to thank of course all the speakers the contributors who participated in no less than Believe It or Not 27 panels for the index analysis of the problems at hand they're concrete innovative solutions and policy proposals they're thought provoking inspirational speeches and by the way the number of standing ovations that we've got here says it all and frankly I am humbled by the
extraordinary insightful interventions we had here I didn't know half of you and I learned so much as policy makers you know we need poses like this one because we are we are not just in a bubble we are also in a sort of continuous process of doing a committee week a group week going to strasbrook and and then again we start uh we need to exposes like this to reflect on where we stand where do we want to go how should we go there and mostly to collectively discuss and imagine what sustainable Prosperity actually looks
like to imagine a postgross Europe and its relation and uh and Agata uh well drew the focus on that it relations with the rest of the world because indeed it cannot be that we keep exploiting the rest of the planet well we are the European Union citizens we are six seven percent of the global population there's no reason why we should have more than our fair share of the resources that that this planet offers to us [Applause] I'd like I'd like to thank Claudia who has been busy three days uh graphically recording or debates your
drawings are invaluable capturing the very essence of what is being said today to consign it also to memory and to make it understandable in a graphical way with well sometimes we say you know a picture speaks a thousand words thank you less visible but no less crucial are all those invisible brains and hands I mean not the invisible hands of the markets huh but those of the staff working with the 20 MEPS who have organized a conference for smeps you know it's relatively easy to have an ID let's do a great conference oh yes and
then someone has to make it happen and that is of course you know prepare remorse as we say in French and uh among them I'd like to call on stage of course I'm getting emotional [Applause] where is my nose [Applause] yeah so yeah I'll join you [Applause] so stay on stay on stage Francois joined the team at the beginning of my last term so in uh in 2019 he replaced solivita the the anchor of the first edition of the conference and I told Francois if you come well your main task during this term will be
to organize the second Beyond gross conference in the European Parliament that was 2019 and then of course kovitz truck but the work has already had already started so don't believe that it was just waiting for coffee to be gone but of course it was a bit frustrating because it was start stop you know are we going to get out of confinement do we do it no at the end of uh of 2021 we feel okay let's let's try maybe spring 2022 and then yeah that's too risky let's do September and then yeah but then given
the size that this was taking we felt we might not have enough time to prepare so spring 2023 it will be but so ever since transfer has been working on that and then two years ago Leia joined Leia is a sort of a superstar hired by the French litigation of the the green group in European Parliament but actually they were well not really realizing the treasure that she is and therefore I found well I think that I have a good idea where our skills and immense Talent could be put uh put to good use and
you joined the team and well I've never regretted it of course but I must say the French litigation was helpfully in making this happen and so it's basically more than two years of work by two individuals making this thing happen so it's not a small thing and so doing that every six months that might be a bit of a challenge my no has been on the team already since a long time he has managed a lot of well what you see on slido and technicalities well all the the it and Social Media stuff happening behind
was pretty much miners work uh so thank you for all of this so thank you again [Applause] finally it's you it's you uh you cannot imagine the energy that uh well you've gave given me but I think everyone or this is really a matter of shared energy you know 2 536 people registered to come in the building 4920 people registered to follow from remotely and by the way there was no mandatory registration for those who followed remotely it's remarkable that we are all here United diversity and some might say not enough City and that's a
good lesson maybe for next time representing Academia Civil Society organizations trade unions businesses not many of them only one business Federation accepted to work with us SME United shouldn't be a surprise because smes are often on the losing end of this extractive system actually because they exploited themselves by the mega concerns of this planet EU National institutions use movements or simply citizens who wanted to to wanted it to be here uh with us I loved this intergeneration audience and without being patronizing I find it remarkable that so many young people came here to me it's
really a Beacon of Hope and provide us with Incredible energy because we together are sending a message to political parties including mine starting by saying it's the economy stupid you are showing that we can and should discuss this Central topic that you are not fooled by the rhetoric of too many policy makers about growth about that you demand that they listen to what science has to tell us indeed we need act science-based policies that's what we need and basically that's what they tell us right when they want to authorize GMOs they say well it should
be science based actually that that's uh that's the science that that serves them well paid science I mean um so we need to change all this we need basically to live well within planetary boundaries we need Social Justice right Justice this is what we need uh [Applause] we want we want the future for all of us uh and those who will come after us now thanks having been extended let me share with you a few thoughts as to what would be next first what did I sense in this room I sent three things you might
say Okay Cartesian way of going about surf first a sense of gravity I keep in mind two pictures one was shown by yamina saheb comparing the world my generation the generation of my kids and the generation story of my grandkids uh athlete of we live in and the one by juanstrom so so showing how much we already knew we shoot six of the nine planetary boundaries this is sobering it may even be distressing but you know changing the world demands that we start by taking a hard look at reality however frightening it is I also
felt and anona reminded us of it as well as Agatha a sense of impatience and I would even say anger it was 1972 what I was then nine years old when the limits to growth report was issued science was then already warning us of the deadly contradiction between growth and life and the first alarm Bells actually when you think of it had already been sounded by Rachel Carson 10 years before with a silent spring 1962 the year before I was born or for those 60 years a choice has been made consciously and consistently by the
majority not all but the majority of those who will political power to ignore science so as to serve those who wield economic power I call this not ignorance I call that utter dereliction of Duty [Applause] but I most felt here was a sense of hope a collective's choice because I think hope is a choice a colleague Thief choice to believe that the path can still be found out of the situation we are in we collectively do not just receive all from these nice young people you know we collectively choose to believe that Humanity knows its
diversity and I agree very much of the with those who say we have to learn from others indeed taking care of mother Earths while other civilizations have maybe done a better job than us Westerner said that why don't we try to reinvent let's learn right We believe We believe that Humanity needs diversity as a collective resources of imagination it starts there creativity and love to live in peace with and within the nature we belong to this hope is I believe the treasure that we cannot afford to bury the fire that we cannot let be extinguished
if we want Humanity to thrive but as my colleague Martin hoisig said yesterday morning winning the argument will be a struggle those who benefit from our extractive and exploitative economies stand to lose a lot at least in their terms of uh in their own standards of wealth so count on them to be helped by the priests of growth to mobilize all the resources of fear uncertainty and doubt to deter our fellow citizens from the Urgent change of Direction I think I said it yesterday or the day before the people who mentioned most the yellow vest
to me are the business federations they want us to look that way saying well you know be careful you politicians to change your system because these people will revolt against you of course so they distract the attention from the fact that basic exploitation happens at their hands [Applause] I hear I hear voices from the European people's party also left on the lion Zone and there I must really complement against sirpa and and the other uh two EPB members who have been here because indeed it takes courage to affirm values and frankly sirpa it's not of
today I know her since I I was in European Parliament she has stood firm for her ideas which are really resonating with the ideas that we invest over the three days within a political group but this this political party is telling us is really going on the offensive thing okay we are losing ground the farmers are our last stronghold let's protect the farmers so they say well if we need to feed the world we should actually double down on our industrial uh farming system did I hear this well actually science tells us that the 40
of the land arable land that is degraded is because of that industrial farming system so if I have to follow Manfred Weber well so the boss of the European people's party so if I understand you're welcome the best way to feed the world is to keep to keep killing life in the soil so that it becomes unable to bear fruit [Applause] and we are discussing fiscal rules soon in the European Parliament I also hear the Ayatollah of fiscal discipline basically arguing that it would be morally wrong to bequeath the future generations of pile of public
debt yeah sure you write question Linda question Linda is one of those ayatollahs he's a finance minister in Germany yeah you're right Christian and well too bad if the price of the discipline is bequeathing or kids a planet unfit for human life you clearly you [Applause] well these these ayatollahs F Well like all Ayatollah ever well quite interesting sense of priorities I also hear an increasing number of politicians saying that oh we have already done such a lot for climate we should take a pause a pause you know we cannot continue constraining our economy by
environmental legislation uh we need to give breathing space to our industry they mean the shareholders you see so yes Emmanuel he's my mascot you know that uh Emmanuel Ellis actually the number of square meters is houses in Paris I think is not really compatible with Beyond gross Europe but anyway uh but he's right he's right I mean it is us not understanding correctly and oftentimes he is willing to explain you again uh uh no no you're right so if I understand you well we should ask the planets oppose in its reaction toward massive or overexploitation
you're right we're going to ask that the planet and once again I must say you proved the immense superiority of your complex thought foreign and actually what I've done here is I think maybe using the best or the most powerful weapons against those ideas to show how ridiculous I would say dangerously ridiculous they are laughter is sometimes the best way to put pay to stupid ideas my my message is clear a year from now the European elections will determine the majority in this house and however Goods or Good Will of solar from The Lion is
if she does a second term she needs majorities she can have the best ideas she's not Emmanuel macro I'm glad that we don't have an elected Queen in Europe we have the leader of a commission which can propose legislation and we have of course to put pressure so that this is good legislation aiming us at the postgross Europe but then again if there's no majority here and no majority in the council we don't right so we need a majority here that will widen deepen and embolden European green deals so that it puts us on the
way towards Beyond growth Europe but this is a year from now and I'm sure that you don't want basically to sit there waiting or maybe Lobby your local candidates before doing something so we have work to do together not to lose the momentum of created by this conference I don't want this to be just a blip on the radio screen or basically a good memory for me in my last term you know to say ah I did this ah that was nicer so uh so let me share a few ideas to keep the energy flowing
first all the material will be on the website you might say well that is not so important actually it is so powerful as teaching materials learning material let's disseminate it and the speeches that go with it it's not just a presentation because you know some well sometimes maybe often I'm more inspired by by the words and sometimes I need a slide to back it up but I want to feel you know the way arguments are presented and there was so much of that so much of that so everything will be uh will be put on
the website of the conferences uh as well as soon as possible second well that was quite obvious that you want to organize yourself collectively so no we cannot share the email addresses of everyone with everyone we have the uh the gdpr so the the the regulation on on data protection that we need to abide by because we abide by the laws when they are for the general interest so [Applause] yeah so so yeah if you if you read that as a sort of plea or endorsement of peaceful civil disobedience yes that's it um no we
will find a link on the website to a slack channel uh to for you to register so that people can get in touch with one another it's managed by the well-being economy Alliance I thank them for providing the opportunity to ensure that the bridges and tires that were built over the last three days can last over time because indeed this is a marathon [Applause] now uh I must also tell you of stuff that is already happening that was not specially visible thanks to the commands Network the green European Foundation uh Tim Jackson and so also
a number of MEPS have hosted a meeting of national members of parliament trade unions uh trying with one one aim replicating this kind of event in National parliaments at National level so that indeed we multiply the impact [Applause] then something that was even less easy build but which is really I think groundbreaking is something that was organized by the zoo Institute the policy Labs what we try to do there was behind closed doors invite uh at the civil servant level policy makers from Parliament Council and commission to try and get deeper into the implications of
all this into lawmaking uh promising you that it will deliver immediately the thing is that we are we have started the contamination and actually Zoe has been busy with that for quite a while and we try to expand on that and and these workshops have been very uh very efficient uh let me see yeah we have a partner that the European economy and social committee it's a community no one speaks about it's located uh next door and uh it uh it brings people from Civil Society uh and uh social Partners uh basically trade unions business
federations to discuss economic and social issues and they ran already an event on these topics a few months ago and they have been a partner in organizing this one and I understand they want to be even more a partner organizing the next one now I'm almost there actually we are going to uh to finish ahead of time uh and that's good I think because well we've had our first year of talks the last the last three days uh I must mention the next International D gross conference that will take place at the end of August
in Zagreb in Croatia I will be there actually uh and then let me finish this is really the last paragraph of my speech you know I told you a year from now I will no longer be a member of the European Parliament that was my choice uh I think 15 years of which 10 leading my group in this Parliament is enough uh so I kept the promise I made five years ago organizing after the first one the second uh Beyond close conference in the European Parliament but I cannot make you the promise that I will
organize the third one now I have no doubt talking with people during these three days and actually hearing their reactions that people in my group will be very very motivated to organize the next one so uh we are going to continue always always in a sorry to use the word ecumenical Spirit across political boundaries because I do believe that not only there are actors of change in all political families but we need actors of change in all political families if we want this to happen as far as I'm concerned rest assured that I will remain
committed to our common cause that is that we humans can live in dignity and freedom on this wonderful Planet thank you [Applause] thank you thank you thank you [Applause] thank you thank you yeah actually actually what can I say [Applause] are you crazy so [Music] so apparently apparently a 60 year old white man from Europe can still somehow resonate with the spirit of the times I I have a friend who actually was a civil servant he made a new career a French company made him an offer the French company was total energy I promise you
one thing I won't do this [Applause] thank you [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Applause]
