What Markus spoke about.

21

Jan

2025

DE Answer

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Geopolitical and economic implications for the transatlantic relations under the new Trump administration (debate)

Dear Mr. Colleague, we have to deal with one question very fundamentally: What connects us here at the European level? They are shared historical and cultural experiences, as I would define them, and that is what we should focus on. We will not be successful if we divide against each other, but we will only be successful if we work together. I look forward to your initiatives.…

21

Jan

2025

DE Speech

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Geopolitical and economic implications for the transatlantic relations under the new Trump administration (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. Yesterday, the new US administration came into office, and if Donald Trump makes only a fraction of his announcements true, then the wind for Europe will very quickly become much harsher. Trump has promised to cut taxes, cut bureaucracy, deregulate. This should not mean that we are now in a downward competition. But we must be clear that this measure will signif…

18

Dec

2024

DE Speech

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Restoring the EU’s competitive edge – the need for an impact assessment on the Green Deal policies (topical debate)

Mr President! Commissioner! Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen! The European Union has set itself a very ambitious goal to decarbonise the economy, summarised under the Green Deal. The promise, which has always been formulated by the Greens, that Europe will thus be the pioneer of the Clean techwould become an economy; also the German chancellor, who philosophised that we would get growth …

26

Nov

2024

DE Speech

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The Autumn 2024 Economic Forecast: a gradual rebound in an adverse environment (debate)

13

Nov

2024

DE Speech

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Fight against money laundering and terrorist financing: listing Russia as a high-risk third country in the EU (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner! The listing of a country as a high-risk country in the field of money laundering leads to a warning to financial market participants that there is a high risk of money laundering in transactions in that country and therefore additional due diligence requirements must be applied. With Russia, the situation is clear and as clear as it could possibly be. The country is wag…

23

Oct

2024

DE Speech

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U-turn on EU bureaucracy: the need to axe unnecessary burdens and reporting to unleash competitiveness and innovation (topical debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen! When you talk to companies, big or small, and ask about the big problems they are facing, the answer is always the same: The biggest problem for competitiveness is excessive bureaucracy. This ranges from unnecessarily long approval processes and reporting obligations, which have been completely out of control, to regulations t…

9

Oct

2024

DE Speech

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Ensuring sustainable, decent and affordable housing in Europe - encouraging investment, private property and public housing programmes (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen! The Commission President has made the creation of affordable housing one of her political priorities. And that's absolutely right. The availability of affordable housing in many Member States is a huge problem. I think we all agree: Living should not be a luxury. However, we should also be aware that the issue of housing is no…

19

Sep

2024

DE Speech

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The historic CJEU ruling on the Apple state aid case and its consequences (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen! The European Commission has tried a lot in recent years, also with our support, to deal with tax dumping in Europe by means of competition law. The European Commission has more than once brought a bloody nose to the European Court of Justice, which has also raised fundamental doubts about the thoroughness with which the Commis…

17

Sep

2024

DE Speech

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The future of European competitiveness (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen! With the Draghi report, the issue of competitiveness has finally returned to where it really belongs – here in the European Parliament and, of course, on the agenda of the Heads of State or Government. Indeed, we must set ourselves ambitious goals if we want to be a competitive economic area, if we want to become one and if…

24

Apr

2024

DE 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, ladies and gentlemen. The European Union has a long-standing problem of money laundering and, in particular, of combating it. There are estimates that the volume includes up to three-digit billions. And we shouldn't fool ourselves: Money laundering always has something to do with organized crime. So if we want to guarantee security in Europe, fight organised crime, we must also fight…

24

Apr

2024

DE Speech

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Amending Directive 2013/36/EU as regards supervisory powers, sanctions, third-country branches, and environmental, social and governance risks - Amending Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 as regards requirements for credit risk, credit valuation adjustment risk, operational risk, market risk and the output floor (joint debate - Banking Union)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, A banking union based on 120 banks in the first pillar, namely on the issue of centralised supervision, which is based on a few hundred banks in the second pillar, namely the Single Resolution Mechanism, and at the same time should be based on all 8 000 banks in the case of a deposit guarantee, which is not right. There is sti…

23

Apr

2024

DE Speech

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Effective coordination of economic policies and multilateral budgetary surveillance - Speeding up and clarifying the implementation of the excessive deficit procedure – amending Regulation - Requirements for budgetary frameworks of the Member States – amending Directive (joint debate – Economic governance)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. I have listened to the debate with great interest, but I am somewhat surprised that those who have been begging this morning for us to work together here as Democrats in Europe want to evade the approval of the fiscal rules. And dear Greens, I can only say quite clearly: Anyone who ultimately votes against a stable currency with the right-wing radicals here will…

23

Apr

2024

DE Speech

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Effective coordination of economic policies and multilateral budgetary surveillance - Speeding up and clarifying the implementation of the excessive deficit procedure – amending Regulation - Requirements for budgetary frameworks of the Member States – amending Directive (joint debate – Economic governance)

Madam President, Commissioners, ladies and gentlemen! Having a common currency inevitably means that all those who work together in this monetary union must take joint responsibility for the stability of this currency. This, of course, includes, first and foremost, responsible fiscal policy, and that is precisely the idea behind the Stability and Growth Pact. If we take stock of the previous rules…

23

Apr

2024

DE 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, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, The topic of competitiveness has finally arrived where it belongs, namely at the top of the agenda of the Heads of State and Government. The European Union had once set itself the goal in the Lisbon Strategy to – and I quote: “to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world”. We are far from …

14

Mar

2024

DE Speech

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Deterioration of living conditions in the EU (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, First of all, a heartfelt thank you to the left of this House for allowing us to address the issue of worsening living conditions in the European Union today. This is a good opportunity to talk about the reasons why economic development in Europe is so bad. I say it quite frankly, this is the fault of those who have request…

13

Mar

2024

DE Speech

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European Semester for economic policy coordination 2024 – European Semester for economic policy coordination: employment and social priorities for 2024 (joint debate – European Semester)

Mr President, Commissioners, President-in-Office of the Council, ladies and gentlemen! The European Semester is the key instrument for economic policy coordination. The European economy is in a difficult waterway. Growth prospects are weak, public debt in the Member States is high and investment needs are high. Effective coordination of European economic policy is therefore more urgent than ever. …

5

Feb

2024

DE Speech

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Union-wide effect of certain driving disqualifications (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, The dossier we are discussing today is part of the road safety package, and I think it is unfortunate that we are not discussing and voting the directive on the Union-wide effect of certain decisions on driving disqualifications together with the driving licence directive. Because it would have made sense to deal with the pack…

5

Feb

2024

DE Speech

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Instant payments in euro (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen! Everyone knows the situation: You make a transfer, the money is immediately debited from your own account, but it takes at least one, usually two days, until the money has also arrived at the recipient. And if the weekend is in between, if a holiday is in between, it will take even longer. In the 21st century, there is actu…

12

Dec

2023

DE Speech

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European Economic Security Strategy (debate)

Mr President, Mr High Representative, Executive Vice-President, ladies and gentlemen! The COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine have shown us very impressively how vulnerable our supply chains are and where there are strategic dependencies with third countries. That is why it is fundamentally right to strengthen the resilience of our supply chains, secure access to criti…

22

Nov

2023

DE Speech

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Reducing regulatory burden to unleash entrepreneurship and competitiveness (topical debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, Minister, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen! The European Commission has just published a new economic forecast last week, which has been quite bleak. The Commission has itself given a significant title to this autumn forecast: “A modest recovery after a difficult year”. I believe that this is a good summary of our economic situation in this European Union. …

13

Sep

2023

DE Speech

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SME Relief Package (debate)

Mr President! The fact that I have finally dealt with the question of how to relieve small and medium-sized enterprises in the last year of the European Commission's term of office is highly welcome, and it is long overdue. The headlines proclaimed by the Commission may sound as if the Commission had finally heard the signs of the times. But if you look at the proposals in detail, it quickly becom…

13

Jul

2023

DE Speech

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Recommendations of the Commission on public country by country reporting transposition (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, I am a little surprised by the debate we have, because we should actually say thank you to the Commission for thinking about the uniform implementation of European law in the Member States. I do not praise the Commission often, but I have to do it today. Yes, that's what it's all about. They have worked out very clearly why it…

12

Jul

2023

DE Speech

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Tax the rich (topical debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, In view of today's debate on taxing the rich, I would like to clear up two myths. Firstly: The Member States of the European Union do not have a revenue problem. And secondly: There is also no reason for an even more progressive tax system. Total tax revenue has risen steadily over the last decade. On average, tax revenue i…

14

Jun

2023

DE Speech

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Make Europe the place to invest (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, President-in-Office of the Council, ladies and gentlemen! Europe has a lot ahead of it in the next few years. We need companies that are willing to invest. Because we have to say goodbye to a credo here in the house: Public authorities will not alone be able to generate the large volume of investment that is necessary. States can provide start-up financing, they can …

12

Jun

2023

DE Speech

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Competition policy - annual report 2022 (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, The European Commission, as the supreme guardian of competition law, has made an astonishing U-turn in recent months. While the Commission's work to ensure a level playing field in the internal market has so far been characterised by a healthy scepticism against excessive subsidies and subsidies, this now seems to have become …