Speeches

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the ruling obliging Apple to return EUR 13 billion to Ireland is a victory for tax justice and invites us to reflect on the kind of Europe we want to live in: not in a Europe of privileges for multinationals, but in a Europe where everyone contributes equally to paying taxes. The current economic model is deeply unfair and needs to be rethought through new fiscal and tax policies. We must put an end to the impunity of the giants, we must have the courage to face the multinationals of technology and finance and build a tax system that does not bend to their interests, following three priorities: tax harmonization among member countries, with a common tax on capital, the fight against tax avoidance and evasion, with a real list of tax havens, and the reduction of bureaucracy for companies. And let me add that we have many doubts that these proposals can be considered by the new Commissioner for Taxation, whose name appeared in the Pandora Papers because he owned investments through shell companies in a tax haven of the Virgin Islands. We call for this delegation to be withdrawn. The burden of taxation cannot fall on the shoulders of workers and small and medium-sized enterprises. The time for exemptions for multinationals and multimillionaires must end.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, the Draghi report - it would also have been very courteous for President Draghi to be here among the representatives of the European people to discuss - has the merit of opening a reflection on the future of Europe, but it offers inadequate answers, which do not change the framework of macroeconomic policies and the quality of development. The proposal of 800 billion euros of investment, if financed by common debt, revives the excellent experience of the Next Generation EU, but how can it be achieved in a context of fiscal policies dominated by austerity? The Stability Pact worked well only when it was suspended, but already this year the Pact imposes about EUR 100 billion of expenditure reduction on Member States and EUR 13 billion less expenditure on Italy, my country. The report is not complete. There is a lack of analysis of today's work, the function of trade unions, the problems of poverty and inequality arising from financial capitalism, and the great tax disparity that guarantees multinationals tax advantages and avoidance. There is no reference to the consequences of the impact of artificial intelligence on work: Without a minimum income, we will have millions more poor people. Finally, how can we relaunch the European economy with war Eurobonds? We believe in a more integrated, social and solidarity-based Europe...

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, we have discovered in Italy in recent days that politicians must also respect humanitarian law and respect the laws. What Mr Salvini did when he was in the position of Deputy Prime Minister in Italy, Minister of Transport, was beyond the law, especially beyond humanitarian law. He kidnapped men, women and children, leaving them in despair, in sickness, in total despair in the middle of the sea. This is not correct behaviour and humanitarian law must be respected: to save men, women and children in the sea, first of all.