What Ralf spoke about.

Mr President! Ladies and Gentlemen! I was somewhat surprised that, despite a continuous absence from the negotiations, the Left in particular has now objected to this negotiating mandate and we must therefore now also vote on it again and talk about it. So if you miss your plane, we're not to blame. At the same time, of course, I am pleased to see Mr Schirdewan live. We have found a majority in th

Madam President, I would like to thank my colleagues for their participation in this important debate. Although many areas of the Banking Union are characterised by very different partisan policies – as was also noted in the discussion – but above all by national interests, I think we have nevertheless managed to present an ambitious report. The report now forms the basis for the discussion around

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner! We have negotiated a very balanced and at the same time ambitious annual report, which has also recognised the signs of the times and offers meaningful solutions. While the 2022 and 2023 annual reports focused very much on the war in Ukraine and Russia’s ongoing aggression, we have again focused more on the very core elements of the Banking Unio

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen! The EU is at a turning point in history. Our actions for the coming years will certainly be decisive for the economic future of the coming decades and the preservation of our prosperity. We must therefore draw the right conclusions from Letta's and Draghi's reports. Three points, I think, are crucial for promoting European competitivenes

Mr President! If 70% of savings are in savings accounts, we have a lot of untapped potential that could benefit our citizens and our economy. Private savings should go to innovative European companies, especially SMEs, small and medium-sized enterprises, which are the backbone of our economy. A better securitisation market or a European savings product could help deepen capital markets. That is wh

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen! Dealing with Russia has played a central role in the negotiations on the new Anti-Money Laundering Regulation. In order to make it a little harder for the Russian oligarchs to launder money in the EU and circumvent sanctions, many adjustments were made. Among other things, increased due diligence requirements and an asset register for luxury cars, yachts and air

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen! The report of the Federal Criminal Police Office in Germany published in September shows that the economic damage from organised crime in Germany has more than doubled – EUR 2.7 billion for 2023. Cybercrime alone has caused €1.7 billion in damage. 70% of criminal organisations are active in more than three Member States. We have been working very successfully

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased that, after almost three years of negotiations, we can finally vote today on this money laundering package. I would like to express my sincere thanks to all my colleagues for the good cooperation. A very big praise to the Belgian Presidency of the Council, which ensured that we were finally able to negotiate the final package. We have created an amb

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen. Hate speech and hate crime are unfortunately becoming an increasing social problem and a threat to our rule of law. We must protect young people and marginalised groups in particular from all forms of hatred. There must also be no categorization. In particular, the Internet must not be a legally free space. We must fight hatred or cyberbullying with all the f

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, The European economy is under pressure. Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, as well as other geopolitical shifts, are challenging us. It is therefore right that the Commission should react and specifically analyse the strategic dependencies in areas such as raw materials, energy and technology. It is also good that it has been recognised that we need to

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Yes, inflation, high energy prices, supply chain difficulties are putting us all under pressure, putting our companies under pressure above all else. And targeted measures in tax policy are or should also be levers for securing liquidity, jobs and also investments. For the future business location, modernization and simplification of corporate taxes are there

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. The events in Cyprus show that it is really high time that we finally adopt and create a single set of rules and frameworks in the Union with the new regulation. But it has also become clear that we need to put more emphasis on the actual priorities. While we are currently negotiating between the European Parliament and the Council which merchandise dealers or f

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner! Yes, the digitalisation of the visa process is overdue, and that is why we certainly find it very, very good – many colleagues – that we are setting the right course for this digital future here in Parliament this week. The digital visa procedure will facilitate the application procedures for non-European travellers, relieve the administrative b

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, We have a very high investment need to meet the climate targets of the Paris Agreement and the European Green Deal. However, to finance the transition to a more sustainable economy, we need private capital. With state investments alone, we cannot meet this enormous investment need. For this, it is important to bring enough investors to the capital market and to

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! It was only in July 2022 that the ECB raised its key interest rates for the first time, certainly initiating a long overdue interest rate turnaround. Under pressure of record inflation of 10%, ten further interest rate steps followed. In Germany they say: Better late than never. Now we have finally arrived at a point where monetary policy is having

Madam President, Commissioner! It is completely clear: If we want to meet our ambitious CO2 reduction targets, passenger and freight transport must also play its part and become less polluting. In order for the sector to achieve this goal, we as politicians must create the right and, above all, technology-neutral framework conditions. In concrete terms, this means that we must enable the developme

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Unfortunately, the results in the fight against money laundering are quite manageable. Although the damage to the treasuries has accumulated to several billion euros, the EU does not yet have a single strategy to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. The Directive has been revised five times. On a regular basis, there have been infringement proceeding

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, In my hometown, in my home state of Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany, the storm raged in July in the Eifel, on the Moselle, and the Ahr Valley was worst affected. We have 133 dead. Three people are still missing. In the Ahr Valley, 62 bridges, 40 schools, 55 kindergartens and five hospitals were destroyed. More than 3,000 companies have been affected by the disas

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, The EIB has made a significant contribution to stabilisation through its 2020 support programme. 420,000 small and medium-sized enterprises were supported. This has supported and secured 4 million jobs, including in the SME sector. Jobs have been secured, crisis-stricken sectors have been boosted accordingly, and the most severe economic impact has been mitigate