What Joachim spoke about.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. Binding fiscal rules are essential in a single market with a single currency, but in which economic and fiscal policy remains a national competence. Unequal debt levels in the euro area strain the stability of the euro and at the same time ensure that public investment for higher-debt countries is accompanied by disproportionate financing costs. Reform was overd

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. The Economic Partnership Agreement with six countries from southern Africa has been in force since 2016. Time to review the extent to which the Agreement has achieved its objectives. And, of course, time for the European Parliament to formulate requirements for the further development of the partnership. In the light of the objectives pursued by the Agreement, i

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Because there have been some irritations about the agreement, it should be stressed in advance that the EU-Angola Sustainable Investment Promotion Agreement (SIFA) is not a classic investment agreement to liberalise market access for foreign investors. It does not contain any provisions on financial support for investments, nor does it contain any . SIFA is a

Mr President! With Niger, the third country in the Sahel, which is a strategically important region for us, is now ruled by the military after the coup. What is remarkable, however, is that this coup is well supported in larger parts of the population. And what is also remarkable is that the new military government is also working with really anti-European arguments and that is partly shared by th

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Indeed, we face difficult economic and fiscal challenges in Europe. In an environment of rising interest rates and high inflation, a socially responsible climate-neutral transformation of our economy must be promoted. At the same time, it is important to ensure that high inflation does not lead to growing social inequality and impoverishment of broader sectio

The Commission's proposal, which is also very much based on the positive experience we have had with the Reconstruction Fund. There should be country-specific plans, there should be common criteria, and the Reconstruction Fund also provides for an incentive system so that countries are more willing to do so. Therefore, with reference to the analogy, I would like to ask you once again to give it a

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! The COVID pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the apparent geopolitical changes are posing new challenges to relations between Africa and the EU. Our trade and economic relations must be put on a new footing. The Economic Partnership Agreements no longer offer sufficient prospects. What is needed is a new partnership on an equal footing that takes

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, The Russian invasion of Ukraine will also have profound economic consequences for the EU. That is why it is right to consider suspending the European debt brake in 2023. This also gives us more time for necessary reform debates. First of all, we need a reform of the debt rules. Parliament adopted an important report on this issue in the middle of last year. B

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, This is correct: Given the changing geopolitical situation, the EU needs to take more responsibility for its own security. However, the baseline of this report on defence and security policy is questionable. It gives the impression that more European sovereignty means, above all, increasing the EU's military capacity and capabilities as quickly as possible. T

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, The Commission's initiative for a new EU-Africa partnership is right. However, the envisaged partnership also makes it necessary to critically question the EU's previous trade policy with Africa. We know that the so-called Economic Partnership Agreements, which the EU has been pushing for over the last 20 years, have been and still are very controversial in m

Madam President, Mrs Lagarde, ladies and gentlemen! The inflation rate has risen significantly. Some of the causes are temporary. As a result, the inflation rate will weaken again over the course of the year. But for the foreseeable future, we will have a much higher level of inflation than in previous years. Some take this as an opportunity to urge the ECB to act vigorously. Many also immediately

Madam President, Dear colleagues! Implementation of the Reconstruction Fund is on track. In the first interim balance sheet, we can see that the jointly agreed criteria for disbursing the funds are met. So far, the implementation of the Reconstruction Fund has been a successful example of European solidarity and effective European coordination of investment policy. The Reconstruction Fund thus sta

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! The EU has set itself the target of reducing CO2 emissions by 55% by 2030 and becoming climate neutral by 2050. This will require a great deal of effort from our society and economy. The climate-neutral transformation requires extensive private and public investment in new products and new production processes. This technology change is not in vain

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I believe that we urgently need a reform of the fiscal rules before the old rules are reinstated. Why? The suspension of the old rules has allowed us to take vigorous action against the economic consequences of the pandemic. A premature return to the old rules, especially the debt target of 60 percent of GDP, would have catastrophic economic repercussions. Ma