What Johan spoke about.

12 Jun

2023

NL Speech

Competition policy - annual report 2022 (debate)

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Mr President, one of the greatest achievements of the EU is the internal market, which is based on the principle of free competition. The single market has brought growth and prosperity. However, some seem to turn their backs on this success formula. Governments should be given more freedom to grant state aid to companies. This not only favours large Member States with deep pockets, but also exace…

10 May

2023

NL Speech

Impact of the interest rate increase decided by the ECB on households and workers (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, I have a message for the friends on the left of the political spectrum who criticise the ECB's interest rate policy as harsh and antisocial. That message is that the ECB should have acted even more decisively and quickly, because inflation is the most unjust and discriminatory tax there is. It affects the least well-off in our society the hardest. People and families wh…

9 May

2023

NL Speech

Revision of the Stability and Growth Pact (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the current budgetary rules are simple and clear. Government debt should not exceed, or should not exceed, 60 % of GDP and budget deficits should be limited to 3 %. Thirty years after the adoption of these principles, the average debt ratio in the EU is 85% and the average budget deficit is 3.6%. In the Eurozone, these figures are even higher. And …

8 May

2023

NL Speech

Impact on the 2024 EU budget of increasing European Union Recovery Instrument borrowing costs - Own resources: a new start for EU finances, a new start for Europe (debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, on the current debate, I would first like to emphasise that the repayment of the recovery plan is independent of the repayment capacity. Member States have implemented sufficient guarantees through the Own Resources Decision to ensure the repayment of the one-off loan operation. I think it is appropriate to emphasize this. Furthermore, it is true t…

8 May

2023

NL Speech

Impact on the 2024 EU budget of increasing European Union Recovery Instrument borrowing costs - Own resources: a new start for EU finances, a new start for Europe (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the present report, which I have accompanied as rapporteur, asks for a small introduction. As you know, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its socio-economic consequences, the EU launched a recovery plan in 2020 with the aim of structurally assisting Member States to jointly emerge stronger from this challenge. To finance this recovery plan, …

19 Apr

2023

NL Speech

Digital euro (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, trust is the most important asset in the financial world. It comes on foot and it goes, as they say, on horseback. In this sense, the euro, together with other classic coins, has been challenged and hunted by the so-called cryptocurrencies over the past ten years. That crypto craze in itself stemmed directly from the unconventional, say, irresponsi…

17 Apr

2023

NL Speech

Revision of the EU Emissions Trading System - Monitoring, reporting and verification of greenhouse gas emissions from maritime transport - Carbon border adjustment mechanism - Social Climate Fund - Revision of the EU Emissions Trading System for aviation (debate)

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Mr President, the aim of the Fit for 55 package is to: Endorse and achieve a sustainable transition. This transition is possible and necessary. However, the way in which we want to achieve the goal makes us reluctant. The level of ambition is very high in the transition phase, offering citizens and businesses insufficient time and comfort to take steps together. A package of this size requires sup…

15 Mar

2023

EN Speech

Failure of the Silicon Valley Bank and the implications for financial stability in Europe (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, the bankruptcies of Silicon Valley Bank, Silvergate and Signature Bank were accidents waiting to happen. Two lessons should be drawn from this experience. First, central banks should stay the course and withstand pressure to deviate from their present policy trajectory, not only to fight inflation, but also to contain excessively speculative behaviour. Should central…

14 Mar

2023

NL Speech

European Semester for economic policy coordination 2023 - European Semester for economic policy coordination: Employment and social priorities for 2023 (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the European Semester is the cycle that must align the economic and fiscal policies of the Member States. Sustaining prosperity and growth and safeguarding our competitiveness are the objectives. That challenge is now also sharpened by the famous American Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), with its long train of subsidies. The European response to this…

15 Feb

2023

NL Speech

European Central Bank - annual report 2022 (debate)

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Mr President, the ECB has only recently recognised the structural nature of the inflation problem, which was already visible in the course of the first quarter of last year. Fortunately, the initial hesitation has given way to the necessary measures in the field of interest rate increases and balance sheet reduction. However, we are far from there. General inflation is falling, but underlying infl…

13 Feb

2023

NL Speech

REPowerEU chapters in recovery and resilience plans (debate)

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Mr President, our dependence on cheap energy from Russia has become an expensive geopolitical lesson. We must move towards a strategic vision for the future that will last in the long term. Further electrification and increased use of hydrogen will pose additional challenges for us. In my opinion, a sustainable transition without a prominent role for nuclear energy is doomed to fail. We'll have to…

18 Jan

2023

NL Speech

Protection of the EU’s financial interests - combating fraud - annual report 2021 (debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the report we are discussing today makes several references to the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the recovery fund of over EUR 720 billion, of which almost half are grants. That is actually outside the regular budget and is therefore also difficult to control. We should expect new funding channels to be made as fraud-proof as possible from the outset. Unfort…

18 Jan

2023

NL Speech

Control of the financial activities of the European Investment Bank - annual report 2021 (debate)

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Mr President, Vice-President, Commissioner, colleagues, we all agree on the need to work on sustainable investments for the benefit of climate and the environment, and the EIB does so in a sound way. But that should not be the only priority. The EIB’s strategic investments, whether climate-related or not, should also continue to monitor and boost the level of our prosperity in society. Moreover, t…

23 Nov

2022

NL Speech

Amending Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2093 of 17 December 2020 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027 - Amending Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 as regards the establishment of a diversified funding strategy as a general borrowing method - 'Macro-Financial Assistance+' instrument for providing support to Ukraine for 2023 (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the European Union must do all it can to support Ukraine and its citizens. We owe that to them and to ourselves for the sake of our common values and norms. Although I do not have the slightest doubt about the allocation of these funds, I would nevertheless like to advocate that proper monitoring of the effective use of these funds should not be ov…

22 Nov

2022

EN Speech

Question Time (Commission) - Future legislative reform of the Economic Governance Framework in times of social and economic crisis

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Do the Commissioners think that they have sufficient instruments at their disposal to intervene to hurt countries that do not live up to what has been agreed upon, in terms of deficits as well as in terms of structural reforms?…

22 Nov

2022

NL Speech

Question Time (Commission) - Future legislative reform of the Economic Governance Framework in times of social and economic crisis

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Budgetary discipline is still important. Some seem to have forgotten that a bit in the past period, but it remains important. The budgetary situation of most countries in the debt evolution is such that fiscal discipline alone will no longer be sufficient to correct and control these situations. This requires economic growth, sustained economic growth and natural economic growth, which in turn nec…

22 Nov

2022

NL Speech

2023 budgetary procedure: joint text (debate)

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Mr President, Minister, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, in my introductory speech I already mentioned the role that Parliament should play in the preparation of the budget. This is not only about correctly applying the powers of the European institutions, but also about ensuring the quality of expenditure. In addition, sufficient attention should be paid to detecting and correcting fraud, impr…

22 Nov

2022

NL Speech

2023 budgetary procedure: joint text (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the outcome of the 2023 budget conciliation resulted in a number of reorientations and savings, as well as a number of important and necessary reinforcements. For example, additional funds were mobilised to support Ukrainian society: 290 million in total through various programmes. Everyone will agree that Ukrainian society and its citizens are in …

9 Nov

2022

NL Speech

REPowerEU chapters in recovery and resilience plans (debate)

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Mr President, it goes without saying that a well-functioning European energy market is crucial for both citizens and businesses. Recently, it became clear to everyone in our part of the world that energy security and energy independence are essential, strategically invaluable and necessary for our free way of life. REPowerEU should help reduce our energy dependency without taboos in the short term…

19 Oct

2022

NL Speech

Presentation of the Court of Auditors' annual report 2021 (debate)

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Mr President, Mr President, Commissioner, we are facing important budgetary discussions. However, the presentation of the budget must not be limited to allocating expenditure, but must also ensure the quality of that expenditure. Both because of the pandemic and because of Mr Putin’s insane war, we are confronted with budgetary instruments that are outside the regular EU budget. I agree with the n…

18 Oct

2022

NL Speech

General budget of the European Union for the financial year 2023 - all sections (debate)

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Mr President, Minister, Commissioner, colleagues, the next budgetary year is certainly a key year. This is due to the challenges facing the Union. They are well known: the war in Ukraine, the consequences of COVID, geopolitical relations, energy, et cetera, et cetera. But 2023 is also a key year because it is a pivotal year in our multi-year financial planning. Next year will be the last year with…

18 Oct

2022

NL Speech

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

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Mr President, Commissioners, ladies and gentlemen, we have ended up in the danger triangle that I warned about before the summer. Climate, energy supply and purchasing power are the three corners of that triangle. Instead of losing our time with semantic discussions about inefficient price caps anyway, there is an urgent need to develop a framework that offers certainty in the longer term and in w…

13 Sep

2022

NL Speech

Presentation by the Council of its position on the draft general budget - 2023 financial year (debate)

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Mr President, Minister, Commissioner, colleagues, the rapporteurs both addressed the different strands. I therefore take the liberty of looking at things a little more broadly, but at least I agree with the disappointment that exists at the fact that the Council has failed to respond to the great challenges that are facing us today and are already among us. Conducting policy in times of crisis req…

5 Jul

2022

NL Speech

Objection pursuant to Rule 111(3): Amending the Taxonomy Climate Delegated Act and the Taxonomy Disclosures Delegated Act (debate)

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Mr President! Due to the geopolitical context, we face three major challenges more than ever: first and foremost to control electricity and energy prices; ensuring a stable energy supply; Ensuring a sustainable energy transition. Nuclear energy can play a decisive role in each of these three challenges. In the energy transition, some have radically turned their backs on nuclear energy, with the re…

5 Jul

2022

NL Speech

EU initiatives to address the rising cost of living, including the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights (debate)

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Mr President, policy must be pursued today within what I call a danger triangle: climate, energy, purchasing power. The choices made in each of these three policy areas clearly have an impact on the other two measures taken in the fight against climate change. They have an effect on energy supply and will affect, probably even affect, the purchasing power of citizens. But it is equally true that e…