European elections: “Raphaël Glucksmann, it’s the clarity and sincerity of positions” supports Carole Delga

Carole Delga veut croire en l’émergence d’une nouvelle gauche. – LAURENT DARD

The vote of June 9, the campaign of the head of the socialist list, the importance of the EU for the Occitanie region which she chairs: Carole Delga spoke entrusted to the editorial staff of the Dépêche group.

The European campaign is marked by one constant: a National Rally at its highest in the polls. What does this inspire you one week before the vote??

These are only polls, but it is undeniable that the extreme right has been making progress in our country for several months, even for several years. When a people no longer believes in its future, when it no longer believes in politics, it expresses its anger and protest by turning towards the extreme right.

This must be seen as a demonstration of despair, of a very strong feeling of abandonment among a majority of French people.

Whose fault is it??

The current situation is the consequence of the very unfair policies led by Emmanuel Macron and the inequalities which continue to grow in the country. I am thinking of the pension reform or, closer to home, the unemployment insurance reform which is once again hitting the most precarious.

And then, there is the behavior of the President himself who is dizzyingly irresponsible in demanding a debate with Marine Le Pen, the day after that between Gabriel Attal and Jordan Bardella. How can we not see this as an institutionalization of the extreme right and, in fact, this undermines the credibility of the Republic.

Just think: Jordan Bardella, who is at the top of the list among 37 others, has been brought to the level of Prime Minister. This is a serious mistake on the part of macronie. And it follows the ideological victory which was given to the extreme right with the immigration law and national preference. It’s terrible to love the Republic passionately and to see that the highest official in the country is playing with it out of cynicism and narcissistic excess.

Raphaël Glucksman is on a roll during these European elections, to what do you attribute this success?

The clarity of its positions. Clarity and sincerity are the primary conditions, the French need them. And on the left, he is the only one who talks about Europe and its sovereignty.

There even seems to be a consensus at PS…

Let's hope it continues.

Should it play a role at the national level?

We will have this discussion after the Europeans. There, we must stay on this election.

His good score next Sunday could definitively bury the Nupes, and bring about a new left.
What would your definition be??

For me, the left is necessarily republican, universalist and humanist. She cannot be communitarian. There are fundamentals, it’s the republican question or else we sink into communitarianism.

La France insoumise introduced the Palestinian question into this campaign. Should we recognize a State of Palestine ?

Yes, Palestine must be recognized as a state. Pedro Sanchez's initiative is a good initiative (the head of the Spanish government recognized it as such, Editor's note). To say that there is a two-state solution is good for both people. I demand a ceasefire and the release of the hostages.

Europe remains essential to the Regions ?

Yes. But I have always believed in Europe, it is the best way to live in peace on this continent. Never in thirty years have these elections had such importance, due to the geopolitical context: rise of populism, totalitarian regime of Vladimir Putin and his invasion of Ukraine, possible re-election of Trump, exacerbation tensions in the Middle East.

In this period, we need a Europe of defense as proposed by Raphaël. But also a sovereign Europe on energy, food and industrial issues. For a Europe of carbon-free mobility, we must create a rail Airbus.

What consequences would a victory of the extremes have for Occitanie?

This would cause a drop in cohesion funds. In Occitanie, we benefit from 1.4 billion European credits over five years, this is not neutral.

In the very short term, this means a reduction in financial support from Europe for projects beneficial to Occitans. For L’Computer, for example. Or fewer credits for agricultural projects, rural development, renewable energies.
At the European level, the hard right and the extreme right want to reduce solidarity policies on territorial development.

However, they must be strengthened: we need a major European loan on mobility, and the CAP must be profoundly reformed.

Are Occitanie's relations better with Brussels than with Paris ?

Today, yes. We are one of the Regions that manage to allocate the most European credits. The European Investment Bank is a very large financial partner. We work a lot with European authorities, they are a more reliable partner. In recent weeks, even more so…

The Regions of France had an unpleasant surprise: the credits announced, and voted on as part of the 2024 finance law, will be reduced. For Occitanie, there will be a shortage of 106 million euros in revenue from the 2024 budget.

Beyond maintaining the cohesion funds that you are calling for, what are your expectations on the major structuring issues ?

On renewable energies, I remind you that Occitanie is the only one to have been selected following a call for projects for green hydrogen. We need an energy mix to guarantee the sovereignty and power of Europe. Same thing on mobility. We need to carry a large loan of several billion euros within the European Commission to have cross-border connections, and to invest in rail. We have no weakness towards authoritarianism.

For their part, our farmers are subject to the abundance of standards, ecological constraints, markets, … You're pleading for clarity, so what do you have to tell them?

Tell them what I have been doing for them for eight years, through financial support for quality, profitable agriculture and the installation policy. Let’s evolve practices, bring together to rethink the system.

Ensure an income for farmers with more local French products in collective catering, as we do in our thirteen departments through the Occitalim platform. It’s also a token of pride for our producers.

And I am against the instilled model which creates monodependence on aid: we must renegotiate next September this CAP which was voted by the macronie, the right and the extreme right, which is linked to surface area to the detriment of installation and diversification. We need a CAP linked to the number and creation of jobs and organic agriculture.

International agreements must also be balanced by fair competition, Europe must not compromise on fairness.
And finally, let's not oppose each other: agroterrorism and ecoterrorism do not exist. When we want to stigmatize we divide, and that is deadly. Let us leave this dogmatism to reconcile social and ecological issues.

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