What Luděk spoke about.

24

Apr

2024

EN Speech

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The sixth Anti-Money Laundering Directive - Anti-Money Laundering Regulation - Establishing the Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (joint debate - Anti-money laundering)

Mr President, there is not so much to add. This was a great demonstration of unity of Parliament over this topic. This was not just unity of those who spoke here, but also we worked very well as the team. Obviously we haven’t agreed on anything, but we easily find the consensus. I wish that this is more often in this House in the future. Let me just say one more thanks to all the rapporteurs that …

24

Apr

2024

EN Speech

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The sixth Anti-Money Laundering Directive - Anti-Money Laundering Regulation - Establishing the Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (joint debate - Anti-money laundering)

Mr President, I guess this long speaking time is reflecting the hundreds of hours we spent on the anti-money-laundering file. But I hope I will not use all the four minutes. Let me start by saying that that money laundering, financing of terrorism is a very serious crime. This is something that is at the end of the criminal behaviour, but at the same time, ease with which money can be laundered is…

23

Apr

2024

EN Speech

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The use of Russian frozen assets to support Ukraine’s victory and reconstruction (debate)

Madam President, at the beginning let me share – and most of the colleagues share – dissatisfaction with the approach of the Council and Commission. Continuing the support for Ukraine is a must for us. This war is also about our security and about our values. In this context, it is really hard for me to understand the hesitation about money of the Russian state deposited in European banks or finan…

23

Apr

2024

EN Speech

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Conclusions of the recent European Council meetings, in particular on a new European Competitiveness deal and the EU strategic agenda 2024-2029 (debate)

Madam President, the importance of this topic is growing every day. I’m glad that, symbolically, we are discussing the topic at the last Plenary. Recognising the issue is not enough; we must start to solve it, and very quickly. Let me make four suggestions, before the report of Mario Draghi will probably be more detailed and more descriptive. The first: make the single market better, work better. …

12

Mar

2024

EN Speech

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Council and Commission statements - Preparation of the European Council meeting of 21 and 22 March 2024 (debate)

Mr President, the topics of this Council are closely linked to our security, especially in the broad sense. Support of Ukraine, and more sanctions in Russia, Belarus or the countries supporting Russian war, are a must today for us. Promoting the ability of EU defence by necessary investments on the Member States’ level, and the better cooperation, is another dimension of this issue. Today, as the …

28

Feb

2024

EN Speech

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Regaining our competitive edge - a prosperous EU in a fragmented global economy (topical debate)

Mr President, our global economy is changing very quickly. The main drivers are employment of new technologies, increased competitiveness of Asian economies, a decline in global trade as well as decarbonisation. This is completely changing level playing field for the factories. We did well in setting the policies, setting the predictable rules and the targets, but so far, we failed to support the …

22

Nov

2023

EN Speech

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Cyprus Confidential - need to curb enablers of sanctions-evasion and money-laundering rules in the EU (debate)

Mr President, when explaining what is our work on ML reviews, I am always saying that an ML system is only as strong as the weakest points. Unfortunately, we have too many weak points in Europe. Dealing with the financial sanctions, this is the same exercise as anti-money laundering. We need to track the flows and understand who owns what. So it is not surprising that we have seen such a failure o…

20

Nov

2023

EN Speech

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Framework of measures for strengthening Europe’s net-zero technology products manufacturing ecosystem (Net Zero Industry Act) (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ECON has only very limited responsibility in this file, and we focus our work on avoiding fragmentation of the market, keeping the level playing field and promoting the financial tools apart of subsidies. Nevertheless, this file has very far-reaching economic consequences. Transformation of the economy to low emission and sustainable use of resources requires a lot o…

18

Oct

2023

EN Speech

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Preparation of the European Council meeting of 26-27 October 2023 (debate)

Mr President, let me just comment a little bit on the programme of Presidency presented here. First, obviously there must be discussion on the brutal attack on Israel and we must speak with one voice, not only against Hamas terrorism, but also make a plan for days to come. On Ukraine, it was rightly said that support must continue: winter is coming and this is important to speed up humanitarian su…

13

Sep

2023

EN Speech

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State of the Union (debate)

Madam President, in my comments I want to focus on the economy. It took a big part of your speech – a very good speech – and I guess this is a big, if not central, issue. We are not facing a problem of high unemployment; we are facing different problems, with low income and big uncertainty. And this must be addressed. I guess it’s fair to say that the European economy is lagging behind the best in…

12

Jul

2023

EN Speech

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Putting the European economy at the service of the middle class (debate)

Mr President, dear colleagues, just a few minutes ago we talked about SMEs being backbone of the economy, and we still have to say that the middle class should be backbone of our society. But these days, the middle class is under pressure, under economic pressure and under risk. High fiscal deficit, high debt: this all increases the risk that the middle class will be taxed more. Changes in the eco…

12

Jul

2023

EN Speech

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Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 29-30 June 2023, in particular the recent developments in the war against Ukraine and in Russia (debate)

Mr President, dear colleagues, I guess the case for clear and strong support of Ukraine is absolutely obvious. Those who say different are wrong and they are putting our security and the security of the world in jeopardy. So that I am pleased to see that the Council wants to react and extend the support for Ukraine as needed. I appreciate also the note in the Council conclusion about strengthening…

14

Jun

2023

EN Speech

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Make Europe the place to invest (debate)

Madam President, I firmly believe that competitiveness, growth and investments must go back to the top of our agenda. We have good stories to tell, but not only good ones. Starting with the good: during COVID, we proved that we have top world-class research and we are able to deliver. On a climate front, we created, I guess, the most transparent framework for decarbonisation of the economy that sh…

14

Jun

2023

EN Speech

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Preparation of the European Council meeting of 29-30 June 2023, in particular in the light of recent steps towards concluding the Migration Pact (debate)

Mr President, dear colleagues, first on migration: I highly value the ability of the ministers to find the agreement on solidarity that is respecting the will of as many Member States as possible. I guess this is a good result, but obviously it is not the end. We still have to work on this issue. We have to work on the return policy. We have to work on making sure that people that can stay quickly…

9

May

2023

EN Speech

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Revision of the Stability and Growth Pact (debate)

Mr President, some countries, in budget policy, even under current complicated rules, are doing well; some are not. Without any doubt, their people will pay the price because the consolidation of excessive debt is expensive. Fiscal rules can easily spill over and can affect the economy of all the EU. So, as a consequence, we should avoid countries getting into fiscal crisis. The Commission proposa…

18

Apr

2023

EN Speech

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The need for a coherent strategy for EU-China Relations (debate)

Mr President, opening statement of High Representative and Commission President sum up well where is our relationship with China. It’s not easy listening and nice one. We have unbalanced economic relationship. We are depending on China raw materials, technologies and products. There are concerns about security, especially in the case of Taiwan, and in the world of global politics, especially after…

15

Mar

2023

EN Speech

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Conclusions of the Special European Council meeting of 9 February and preparation of the European Council meeting of 23-24 March 2023 (debate)

Madam President, I am grateful that we are talking about the economy after some time because it is a very important topic, so let me make two takes. The first, I don’t believe that the economy should be run by subsidies or by state aid. This should be used very carefully and we are in stage that we are considering we should not forget that the driving force should be competition and competitivenes…

14

Dec

2022

EN Speech

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Tackle the cost of living crisis: increase pay, tax profits, stop speculation (topical debate)

Madam President, dear colleagues, dear guests, let me contribute to this debate by adding some economic points that I consider important. So, first and foremost, high inflation is evil. It increases the cost. It reduces the value of savings. We should support ECB and national central banks in getting inflation under control. Fiscal policy should not undermine this support. Second, fiscal policy sh…

19

Oct

2022

EN Speech

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Preparation of the European Council meeting of 20-21 October 2022 (debate)

Madam President, let me start on Ukraine. I fully share the statements of the Commission President: acts of Russia are acts of terror. Our reaction must be to show more commitment to all fronts to the fight of Ukrainians. At the same time, I believe it’s time to formalise more our plans on how to support Ukraine reconstruction. We can go farther. We can appoint people, set up the structure and sta…

18

Oct

2022

EN Speech

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Keep the bills down: social and economic consequences of the war in Ukraine and the introduction of a windfall tax (debate)

Mr President, dear colleagues, inflation is a big threat. When putting together fiscal support for the economy we should have in mind that if it leads to fiscal expansion, this inflation will be more difficult or more costly. And the highest cost for inflation is always paid by the people. So that’s why redirecting of existing money and using new resources like windfall tax is a must. The second: …

5

Oct

2022

EN Speech

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Russia’s escalation of its war of aggression against Ukraine (debate)

Mr President, dear colleagues, dear guests, it was great to see such a strong sense of unity here of all, except of a very, very few. I guess it’s clear what should be our reaction to escalation of the situation and increase of the risks. First, this is political support, at least as strong as was shown today, this morning. The second, economic support, I mean, economic sanctions and as well, obvi…

6

Jul

2022

CS Speech

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Presentation of the programme of activities of the Czech Presidency (continuation of debate)

Madam President, Mr Vice-President, Prime Minister, from my point of view, your speech was an excellent start to the Czech Presidency and I hope that this will continue. I very much appreciate your call for the creation and maintenance of unity and the search for compromise, because that is what the European Union stands for, as we know. I very much appreciate the references to Václav Havel both f…

23

Jun

2022

EN Speech

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National vetoes to undermine the global tax deal (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, guests, dear colleagues, the OECD agreement was a great success. It was a political success that was concluded by the underwriting of the agreement. Now we are turning this political success into economic success. And here I firmly believe that whether we implement or not implement agreement is decisive for the future of this very, very important agreement. And this is …

7

Jun

2022

EN Speech

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Revision of the EU Emissions Trading System - Social Climate Fund - Carbon border adjustment mechanism - Revision of the EU Emissions Trading System for aviation - Notification under the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) (joint debate – Fit for 55 (part 1))

Madam President, dear Vice—President, dear colleagues, the EU effort to protect the environment and climate has already lasted for decades. Increasing climate risks, global agreements on one hand, and technological improvement of development on the other hand, requires urgently speeding up our effort. I guess this is entirely logical and this is right. So from the Green Deal, we have got to climat…

18

May

2022

EN Speech

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Minimum level of taxation for multinational groups (debate)

Madam President, what we are debating today is, I believe, badly needed progress on the global level to address tax avoidance, tax evasion and unfair tax competition. In my view, it is a great success that more than 100 countries have signed up to this agreement. My dear colleague Ms Lalucq said that this is an historical agreement, and I tend to agree. As is clear, this is not an EU proposal, it …