What Markus spoke about.

Madam Commissioner, Europe needs businesses – which have been discussed several times today – that can really compete on world markets. The draft of the new April Merger Guidelines is a step in this direction. Greater account should be taken of economies of scale, innovation and resilience. At the same time, Commissioner, you say that the new guidelines are not a blank cheque and that efficiency g

Mr President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! An excess profit tax does not reduce a single energy bill. It does not change high energy prices. It does not solve the problem, but it is pure symbolic politics. The money ends up in households, but in public budgets, not with citizens. If you want to ask polluters to pay, we've been doing it all for a long t

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen. The so-called Affordable Housing ActNot only is it disappointing, it's a political mist candle. We have a supply problem. In Europe, too little is being built. And if you have a supply problem, you need solutions on the supply side. Your proposal instead relies on short-term rentals and requires new reports. Deficiency management does not create ne

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen! We are seeing very vividly that questions of economic governance are on the agenda. Bond markets are sending a clear signal on government bonds. When it comes to public finances in Europe, not everything runs smoothly. The cost of new debt is as high as it hasn't been for a long time. In such times, Europe needs clear rules that are credible, reliable, but also

Madam President, Commissioner! Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen! If Member States add national special provisions to European regulations, this is not only a bureaucracy problem, but also an internal market problem. If Brussels decides on common rules and Member States impose additional obligations on implementation, European law will once again become a national patchwork. For a group t

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, The report on the European Semester shows very clearly where Europe stands. The Commission expects the European Union to grow very poorly in the coming years and potential growth is also falling due to demographic trends. This is a warning sign, because our prosperity depends on productivity, on innovation, on investment. Precisely for this reason, the semest

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! The report we are voting on this week is very clear in the diagnosis: the housing crisis is above all a supply problem. Housing has been too weak in many Member States for many years. Permits are granted at a snail's pace, and the gap between demand and available housing is driving prices ever higher. If we want affordable housing, we need one t

I would like to explain to you how a market economy, as well as a social market economy, works. Prices are based on supply and demand. If you have a higher demand for housing and keep supply tight, prices will go up. If you expand the supply with the same demand, prices will fall. This is what we call a market-based instrument. And that's why the rental prices will also go down if you make an offe

Madam President, Commissioner! Dear colleagues! Affordable housing has become the social issue of our time. Many people do not find an apartment because too little has been built over the years and too little has been invested. The main problem is a supply problem. We can only solve this problem by building more. And, of course, Europe can help. I therefore welcome the fact that the Commission has

Madam President, Russian billions are frozen in European vaults, while houses, schools and hospitals are destroyed every day in Ukraine. Leaving the funds unused would be morally wrong. Russia started this war. Russia must stand up for the consequences of its actions. But we should also not act rashly when using the funds. I would rather imagine that we take this money as security, as a guarantee,

Madam President, Madam President of the Commission, ladies and gentlemen! The Commission's new work programme has a very ambitious title: “Europe’s moment of independence”. But we also have to live up to this title. We are in a period of economic uncertainty, and that is why we now need a programme that focuses on growth, competitiveness and investment. If you say that Europe should once again bec

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Our tax rules date back to a time when economic activity had to be attached to factory halls, warehouses, office buildings. Today, however, values are created in data streams, on platforms, in digital business models, and this must of course also be reflected in our tax law. We need a modern definition of the tax permanent establishment, which can no longer cons

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, Europe is at a crossroads. The Draghi report clearly shows: If we want to secure our competitiveness, our innovative strength, our prosperity, then we need significantly more investment in Europe. The capital is there. European households save above average in international comparison. But this money is mostly unproductive in bank accoun

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, The European Investment Bank has been a reliable partner in the implementation of the European Union's policy objectives for decades. Their role has grown steadily in recent years. Today, the EIB is no longer just a traditional support bank for infrastructure projects, but a strategic actor that finances an ever wider range of European priorities – the transitio

Madam President, Three hours of flight delays are annoying, and if you follow the airlines' recommendations that you have to be at the airport two hours before departure, you may have spent up to five hours at the airport without really getting closer to your destination. But it gets even more annoying if you don't even get compensation for it. European passenger rights are a role model worldwide.

Madam President, Mr Executive Vice-President, ladies and gentlemen! The report on the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility paints a very sobering picture. A large number of milestones remain incomplete, delays are accumulating, the promised transparency is missing, and the economic added value is unclear. The European Court of Auditors’ special reports have again and again reveal

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen! The Digital Single Market is under pressure. Recent enforcement actions against large tech companies, such as the proceedings against Apple and Meta in the context of the Digital Markets ActThey clearly show that our rules are working, but they also show that they are urgently needed. Digital markets follow different logics

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, Europe is facing major challenges. High investments must be made in defence, in digitization, for climate protection. At the same time, we have geopolitical tensions that are weighing on our economy, and public coffers are largely empty. That's why the activation of private capital is becoming more and more important, and I th