Speeches

Mr President, dear colleagues, dear Commissioner, for months, we’ve been saying to people that the rising cost of energy was something limited and temporary. But it’s not been like that. And, let’s face it, it will not be like this in the future. Governments had to intervene massively to support families and businesses and will have to do that again in the future. But it’s not going to be sustainable in the long term, we know that. So what does it mean? It means that this will affect the competitiveness of our businesses, will affect the single market and bring about fragmentation and will also have spill-overs that will aggravate and accelerate a possible recession all over the European Union. So we need to intervene very quickly, urgently, on two fronts: one, provide a genuine European instrument to provide support to those countries that don’t have the fiscal space, and also to restore the single market. And then we need an incisive intervention on the energy market – yes, the joint procurement. But we need something more ambitious on the gas price, decoupling gas from energy prices. If we’re not ambitious now, we will regret it when it will be too late.

Madam President, the reality around us, from the Russian aggression to the turbulence on the energy market, confirmed the genuine need for the Recovery Fund. Many of the decisions that we took during the negotiations, from the inception of the European instrument to avoid internal market fragmentation to fostering the renewables in the energy mix, were forward-looking, and the Parliament largely contributed to it. So I think this is something we need to learn from what we’ve done and be happy about it, but we also believe that further action is needed. Fiscal capacity at the European level is currently missing. That’s something that would allow us to cope with external shocks like the Russian aggression, for example. REPowerEU represents a very good opportunity, absolutely. It’s an opportunity to drastically accelerate our energy transition and increase Europe’s energy independence. But its swift deployment is possible thanks to previous decisions taken in terms of budget and own resources. What would happen if we had new crises coming up? We wouldn’t have new tools. We wouldn’t have resources. That’s why I think we need to move forward. We need to complete our economic and monetary union, because when we are united and look forward, we are capable of great things. But we just need the tools.

Madam President, when the Commission opened the 2022 Semester cycle last autumn, war in Europe was not even in our worst nightmares. On the contrary, there were many hopes that the Union could leave behind the difficult months of the COVID pandemic and start to face more decisively the digital, environmental and social challenges. When we started to draft this report, we thought – and we still believe – that the Semester is the right tool with which to coordinate all these efforts in order to maximise their effects at Union level. When the Semester cycle started, the economic situation we faced was quite positive and expectations were good, although we still started to notice that were some elements that could have jeopardised the strength of the recovery in 2022. First of all, we had problems of labour shortages that have involved many service sectors in the reopening phase, that in the coming months could have affected other sectors, like logistics, transport and activities related to information technologies. Second, we were still dealing with COVID. We were still dealing with the new variants, we were afraid of new waves, and there were low rates of vaccination in some parts of the world and of Europe as well. Last but not least, we started to observe a sharp rise in energy prices and, for this reason, also of the inflation rate. The succession of these elements could of course have led to some slowdown, but with an adequate policy mix and a full coordination of monetary and fiscal policy action, both at the European and national level, we were optimistic and positive that we could preserve the good prospects for 2022. And then the war. The war has drastically changed this scenario. The tough but necessary sanctions against Putin’s regime are the right response to his barbaric attack on Ukraine, but we know they will have an important impact on our economies. We are, of course, willing to shoulder these costs. We will. We have to. But we have to be ready. We have to prepare. If the situation in Ukraine does not improve, we could have considerable consequences on the availability of some goods and above all, of course, energy products. This will result in an increase not only of energy prices, but also of the prices of other important commodities that will affect various sectors like agriculture, food industries and others. In this regard, I see three possible risks that we have to be aware of and prepare to address. The first relates to the ability of the downstream market to absorb price increases. The risk that I see is that this could lead to a slowdown in aggregated demand, delaying the time of recovery or slowing it down compared to what we expected before. The second factor is the possible effect on wage dynamics, which could occur, of course, if the shock were to extend over a longer period of time. This will also have an impact on inflation. The third factor is that a prolonged energy crisis and, in particular, a possible asymmetric effect in energy costs for the Union would also lead to a loss of competitiveness for European industry and also to divergences in the single market. On top of that, a prolonged phase of tension on energy prices would have consequences not only on inflation, as we have seen in the past months, but also on industry costs by influencing the investment decisions of manufacturing companies. Therefore the risk is that we could see a phase of investment postponements or rescheduling. This is possible despite the high level of current demand. So against this complex and worrisome background, I really think that all policy tools should be used to manage this delicate phase and to do it in the most appropriate, incisive way. First, EU institutions will have to empower EU governments to rise to these epochal challenges. This is why I welcome the European Commission’s willingness to adapt its fiscal guidance for 2023 to the new realities. This is not the time to go back to fiscal rules that were meant for completely different moments. They are not adequate to face the challenge that we have ahead and we need to support Member States in keeping people safe and confident for the future. But second we also need to put in place an EU response, EU tools, as we did for COVID. We usually say that we have to learn from past mistakes, but sometimes we also have to learn from what worked, from past success. If we look back at how we managed the COVID crisis, if we look back at what worked, the key factors that explain the EU success in managing the consequences of the COVID crisis were putting in place the right policy mix, balancing monetary policy, fiscal policies and effective coordination in the policy actions of Member States, and the introduction of new European tools that were adequate to the challenge that we faced, tools that made us stronger, more united, and that allowed us to go back to a pre-crisis level of growth much faster than anybody would have thought. So let us approach this new phase with the same spirit, and I’m sure we can make it.

Madam President, 20 years is an important anniversary for anyone, but I think that if we look back at all that the euro has been through, well, then we realise how special this anniversary is. At first, the introduction of the single currency in Europe seemed like a risky bet. Many feared it was too early. Others thought that there were other priorities. There was some fear about it. And later, after the financial crisis, many thought that the euro was at risk and that a restoration of national currencies was upcoming. Well, it turned out quite differently, and not only is the euro still here, but it’s stronger than ever. Other Member States have decided to adopt it, and others will soon be able to do so. The truth is that the euro has been the key element of the last 20 years of the Union. It has complemented the single market. It has made it easier to trade and travel and live across different countries in the European Union. It has boosted European value chains, strengthening our economies. It has been the prerequisite for preserving the European monetary sovereignty in a globalised world. It has represented the cornerstone of a peaceful Union and a global actor after the end of the Cold War and German reunification. Without the euro, I’m quite sure we would be telling quite different stories. The success of the euro is not a matter of chance. Its strength, its value and its very existence has constantly been guaranteed and preserved by the European Central Bank. Over the past 20 years, the ECB has been the true guardian of the Union’s currency, and I’m confident that it will continue to play its role even in the coming years of big innovations and changes. We’ve heard about some of those. But the euro’s success was also the result of a strong political will. The euro was the best investment that we could have made to ensure a stable environment for the new generations. This awareness was the fundamental element that allowed us to overcome even the most difficult moments, and we’ve heard just a few minutes ago about some of those moments. The euro has definitely brought to us many successes, but we have to also to acknowledge and to recognise that it has not delivered all the gains that it could have delivered in all the Member States and to all the European citizens. And this is partly due to some national issues and partly the result of the fact that the Economic and Monetary Union is still incomplete – as Commissioner Gentiloni just reminded us. So, the way ahead, therefore, is to identify the changes that are necessary to make our monetary union work for the benefit of everybody. The experience of the euro shows that even the riskiest bets, if supported by political will, can be successful and can mark a great leap forward in the history of our Union.

Madam President, we are really at a crucial stage in the Recovery and Resilience Facility as we are moving from the planning to the implementation. And this is an unprecedented challenge, which will have important consequences for the future. First, a successful implementation will mark another leap forward in the integration process of the European Union, and will show even to the most sceptical ones, what it means a united and strong Europe. Second, the national plans will help not only to support the recovery, but also to accelerate the green transition, the digital transition and the competitiveness of our Union. And third, let’s not forget that it will help us building a better and fair Europe. Commissioner Gentiloni, yesterday in the RRF dialogue, reminded us and today as well that of all the plans that have been approved, EUR 127 billion are dedicated to social policies. This is a huge chunk of the financial envelope, and it’s crucial to improve the lives of the European citizens, to build the kind of Europe – closer to the citizens – that we are here for.

Madam President, after five years of deadlock in the Council, we finally managed to seal a deal on the public country-by-country reporting, which is a crucial transparency tool. Thanks to the work of this Parliament, big multinationals will be obliged to publicly disclose where they make profits and where they pay their taxes. The agreement also includes the obligation for companies to publish how many full-time employees they have, their turnover and taxes paid, as well as all the profits and losses they have in each country they operate in – in the European Union and in tax havens. Thanks to this transparency, citizens will know which companies are freeriding and which are contributing their fair share to society. This is part of a bigger effort that we are leading towards creating a more just and fair society. Along with the international tax agreement, a new wave of tax justice is now on the agenda of the European debate and of the international one, and we will keep pushing and step-by-step we will build a better Union.

Mr President, the first thing I want to express today is a great sense of achievement. One hundred and thirty-six countries have finally reached an agreement to end the deleterious race to the bottom caused by deregulated international fiscal competition. This agreement will help us fight fiscal elusion, fiscal dumping and will provide new resources to many countries that can be used to address social inequalities and to support economic recovery. Someone says it’s not enough. Yes, many of us would have loved to see a more ambitious agreement. But now we have two choices. We can keep complaining and despise the agreement, or we can acknowledge the enormous effort made, and we can push for a rapid and effective implementation of the agreement in the European Union as soon as possible. We choose this latter option and we call on all the parties involved at the Commission, the Council and every Member State to take a step forward and to facilitate such fast and strict implementation. Now, more than ever, we need more tax justice. Let’s get started.