Ryszard Antoni Legutko, on behalf of the ECR Group.– Mr President, many have said today that the joint appearance of President Hollande and Chancellor Merkel is historic because it shows that the Franco-German engine of Europe is still powering on and we have a radiant future in front of us. But do you not think, President Hollande and Chancellor Merkel, that it is at least a part of the problem that one or two countries decide for the rest? All together we are 28, and 28 is far more than two.

Over the years, the EU of course evolved but my feeling is that its leadership has not. Chancellor Merkel, events have placed a burden of leadership on your shoulders. Your critics say, however – and they may have a point – that you sometimes forget about the difference between leadership and dominance. I get the impression that people across the European Union are concerned about that distinction, because it has become more and more a vital question, and that is part of the reason why we face this crisis over Europe’s future.

People are concerned that their viewpoint does not matter. Some are ignored, others are bullied, others still are vilified. People are concerned because they hear this deafening federalist rhetoric, not rooted in reality, and through that thin veil of rhetoric they see a ruthless power-play with President Hollande and Chancellor Merkel as major actors, more powerful than those who hold formal positions allegedly higher in the political hierarchy.

Chancellor Merkel, you spent your early years in a communist country. So did I. I remember a saying from the bad old days that communism is a system which courageously solves the problem it itself created. Toute proportion gardée, I think that the same could be said about the European Union. We created the euro system, and since day one we have been wrestling with the problems it generated, and solving those problems has led to more dominance and more disregard for the elementary rules of cooperation.

Turning to the issue of migration and refugees: again a similar story. Of course the EU did not create the problem but it failed to identify it soon enough and, let me add, it has not yet entirely succeeded in identifying it. I am just wondering: why invite the immigrants and then cancel the invitation? Why play a cat and mouse game with the Schengen procedures? Why this absolutely unbearable confusion of humanitarian, moral and political arguments that obscure the gravity of the crisis we are faced with?

This is not the language of dialogue. This is a language to obscure things. We cannot really talk to one another using that kind of language. It is preaching. It is not a dialogue: it is preaching. And there has been a lot of preaching in this Chamber this afternoon – and, as a matter of fact, every day.

So, it was your decision to suspend the Schengen rules and to open the German border, and it was your decision to close the border again. As far as I know, you did not consult any government, or any European institution for that matter. If this is not proof of dominance, what is? If one wants to have more proof, look at what happened last month at the Home Affairs Council. This is not the right way of doing things.

President Hollande, Chancellor Merkel, let me finish with the following plea, if you will. I urge you to be more responsive to reality. The more European hubris is riding high, the more people are being left behind, not listened to, and pushed outside a territory of respectability. This has lasted long enough and it cannot go on forever. European politics needs less self-adoration – of which you had an abundant sample of today – but it needs more freshness, clarity and fairness. Otherwise, the EU will increasingly be looked at with reluctance and disdain, if not outright hostility, and we do not want that, do we?

(Applause)