François Ruffin and Raphaël Glucksmann, between Amiens and Charleroi, two visions of Europe | EUROtoday

In January, the 2 rising figures of the left showcased their ideological variations by means of an epistolary change with speckled foils. In his missive, the deputy La France insoumise (LFI) of the Somme François Ruffin had in contrast Raphaël Glucksmann to “an elite that advances with arrogance”, “unconscious”, in response to him, of the ravages of the European Union on the business, embodied by relocations, from Whirlpool to Delsey by way of Goodyear. The MEP, head of the Socialist Party (PS) listing for the European election (EU) of June 9, responded to him a couple of days later, reproaching him for his “approximations” and his “caricatures”. Two months later, twenty-four hours aside and 200 kilometers aside, the duo delivered a brand new episode of this distant duel, this time on the bottom.

Tuesday March 26, it was 8:13 a.m. when Raphaël Glucksmann boarded the Thalys which took him to Belgium. His good friend, the president of the French-speaking Belgian PS Paul Magnette, invited him to Charleroi to go to a neighborhood manufacturing facility, not too long ago renamed Wallglass. Wallonia, just like the north of France, has been devastated by deindustrialization, and the unemployment charge is excessive. Paul Magnette needs to point out that this isn’t inevitable. “Here is the good example”, praises the Belgian socialist. The firm was purchased in October 2023 by Pepe Strazzante, a former employee and union activist, specializing within the takeover of bankrupt corporations. In a couple of months, Wallglass managed to reorganize itself and direct its automotive clientele in direction of the excessive finish. She even rehired. The firm is now learning its diversification in direction of the meeting of photovoltaic panels.

Pen in hand, Raphaël Glucksmann takes notes. “You lay out the assets, but what about the prices? », asks the MEP, aware that the market is 95% dominated by Chinese manufacturers. The company is counting on the European regulation for a “net zero” business, supposed to advertise clear power, complementing the “Green Deal”. For Wallglass, the trail remains to be strewn with pitfalls, however Mr. Glucksmann guarantees them that the Social Democrats will probably be there. “We don't know exactly what it's going to be like. It will depend on the elections”he swears.

“Deepening” the European Union

We now go to the manufacturing traces: Wallglass machine instruments, used within the design of windshields, are invented and manufactured on website by in-house employees, a approach of preserving specificity within the face of competitors. This know-how arouses the admiration of the candidate, who goals of repatriating all worth chains to Europe. Like the manufacturing of polysilicon, the fundamental materials for photovoltaic panels, now imported from China.

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