What Caroline spoke about.

Mr President, getting your driver's license is a real milestone. But behind that pink card is quite a lot of regulation, and the revision of this driving licence directive should reduce that regulatory burden. That is why it is good that driving in a car or truck becomes possible from the age of seventeen, with or without a companion. This can significantly reduce our driver shortages. It should a

Mr President, Commissioner, for 500 days we have been dealing with extreme Russian aggression in Ukraine, in our European backyard. And we have to arm ourselves against that. And I understand very well the feeling that we do not need weapons and ammunition at all, because there is really nothing beautiful about weapons and there is nothing beautiful about war. But the harsh reality in Ukraine is t

Mr President, Commissioner, the mountain of debt in Europe has been far too high for too long, and for years the Commission has been condoning this. We really need to do something about that now. And why? It cannot be the case that the Dutch taxpayer is presented with the bill when other countries make a mess of it. And now comes the time when we must do what is necessary to get the budget in orde

Mr President, President Lagarde, for more than a year now, Europe has been experiencing the highest inflation we have seen in decades. Citizens notice this in their wallets. Fortunately, the ECB has awakened and is stepping up its fight against inflation. However, the ECB should not constantly find new ways to support southern European budgets, but do what is necessary to reduce inflation and radi

Mr President, Commissioner, "Is there no loading file at the charging stations? Will my charge card be accepted?’ Charge stress: This is a well-known phenomenon for many electric drivers. And also for me, and my hope is that this plan will make this stress a thing of the past. And it is not only for road users that concerns must disappear. Our waterways and airports also deserve the right infrastr

Mr President, and Søren, branch, we are taking a flight together towards a greener aviation. A European aviation blending rate is of unprecedented importance. I also hear sounds around me from: ‘it does not go far enough’ or: ‘It's just a drop on the glowing plate’. On the contrary, as far as I'm concerned. Look at the Netherlands. Even the Netherlands is starting a sprint with a blending obligati

Mr President, if I ask you all: Do you want to make the energy transition a success for our maritime sector? Then everyone in this house no doubt applauds that. The pandemic has had a huge impact on the maritime sector and on the transport and logistics sector in general over the past two years. On top of that, there is the terrible war in Ukraine, which results in higher fuel prices. At the same

Madam President, I will speak on behalf of my dear friend and colleague Stéphanie Yon—Courtin. The distributed ledger technology (DLT) pilot regime is yet another good proof that Europe is the continent for digital finance. With the pilot regime, Europe will be a pioneer on the use of blockchain on the financial markets. And with this pilot regime, innovative financing solutions for SMEs will be d

–President, Commissioner, while supermarket prices are skyrocketing and energy bills are actually going through the roof, the ECB continues to refuse to intervene. We actually hear one excuse after another: inflation is only temporary, more data is needed to analyse whether an interest rate hike does not solve the problem. Where the economy suffers from deficits, the ECB has no shortage of excuses

Mr President, Commissioner, the other day someone asked me: ‘What good is a banking union, just as a hardworking Dutchman?’ A simple but super good question. And the reason for that banking union is actually ten years ago, when the financial system was really on the brink of collapse and banks with gigantic amounts of taxpayers' money had to be saved. And the problem? National banks that were too

Mr President, inland waterway transport is on the verge of a number of radical changes that are being driven by sustainability and digitalisation. Where are the needs of the inland waterway sector, what problems need to be solved and addressed, and how do we make this sector future-proof? Finally, I am proud to present the report, which is the final result of intensive consultations and discussion

Mr President, when the world came to a standstill last year with a shock, one of the biggest questions was whether the European countries would be able to take the economic support measures needed in the very short term to keep the companies afloat and so that people would keep their jobs. And we have seen that the countries have indeed done everything in their power to achieve this. Member States