Speeches

Good morning to all of you. I declare the sitting open. We will now move to the first item on our agenda: Council and Commission statements on the rule of law crisis in Poland and the primacy of European Union law (2021/2935(RSP)).

Madam President, Commissioner, the truth is that, after years of words and compromises, the Banking Union remains an unfinished story today. Admittedly, the progress made has already enabled the financial system to respond better to this crisis than to the previous one, with a new European Central Bank supervisory system, the new regulatory framework and measures to control non-performing loans. It is also certain that the Agreement on the Reform of the European Stability Mechanism, signed during the Portuguese Presidency, will allow the Single Resolution Fund to finally be operational in 2022 and contribute to the stability of the financial system. But it is precisely because there has been this risk reduction that it is time for greater risk sharing, creating the European Deposit Insurance Scheme, which is an essential pillar of the Banking Union. That is why this Parliament once again sends a clear message to the Commission and to the governments in the Council: Don't leave to tomorrow what you can and should do today. It is time to complete the Banking Union and establish the European Deposit Insurance Scheme.

Mr President, after Trump's dark years in the White House, Joe Biden's new Democratic administration represents a new hope for multilateralism and the relaunch of the transatlantic relationship. It is true that some have come here to say that nothing essential has changed, but for this we must ignore the positive signs: the summit between the European Union and the United States, during the Portuguese Presidency, with the clear reaffirmation of the Transatlantic Partnership and commitments to NATO, which is not - neither for them nor for us - incompatible with the valorisation of the Indo-Pacific, the return of the United States to the Paris Agreement and the suspension of the trade war around the Boeing and Airbus disputes. But it is true that there were also contradictory signs: the lack of coordination with allies in the withdrawal from Afghanistan and this strange selective agreement with the UK and Australia for security in the Indo-Pacific and the arms business. What is important now is to take concrete steps to strengthen the trust that has been lost. End tariffs on steel and aluminium for good. Take advantage of the recent initiative of a Transatlantic Trade and Technology Cooperation Forum to jointly lead the challenges of the digital transition, and work together to tackle forced labour and child labour in trade agreements, and pave the way to relaunch negotiations for a major trade agreement between the European Union and the United States. This should be the ambition of our agenda with the United States of America.

We now come to the first item on the agenda: The report by Mr Picula - The future of EU-US relations (2021/2038(INI)) (A9-0250/2021). I would like to inform the Honourable Members that in all debates of this part-session there will be no catch-the-eye procedures or blue card questions. In addition, as in recent part-sessions, remote interventions are planned from the European Parliament Liaison Offices in the Member States.

The next item on the agenda is: the report by Mr Agius Saliba - Protection of persons with disabilities through petitions: Lessons learned (2020/2209(INI)) (A9-0261/2021).

And with these speeches by our rapporteurs this debate is closed. The vote on this report on domestic violence will take place tomorrow. Written declarations (Rule 171)

The next item is the joint debate on natural disasters in Europe, determined by the oral question to the Commission on natural disasters during the summer of 2021 (O-000059/2021 - B9-0035/2021) (2021/2867(RSP)) and the Commission statement on the impacts of natural disasters in Europe due to climate change (2021/2876(RSP)). I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Commissioner Ferreira on behalf of all.

The next item is the second voting session. Files will be voted as indicated on the agenda. Voting will be open from 13.45 to 15.00. The vote shall be taken in accordance with the same procedure as in previous voting sessions. All votes shall be taken by roll call. I declare the second voting session open. You can vote until 3 p.m. The results of the second voting session will be announced at 4.30 p.m. Discussions will continue with the Commission statement on plans and actions to accelerate the transition to innovation without the use of animals in research, regulatory testing and education. (The sitting adjourned at 13.49)

The debate is closed. According to the agenda, discussions will continue at 20.30 with Council and Commission statements on the 70th anniversary of the Geneva Convention (2021/2779(RSP)). (The sitting adjourned at 8 p.m.)

Before we proceed with the debates, I must announce the start of today's second voting session. We will vote on the files as indicated on the agenda. Voting will be open from 19.30 to 20.45. The vote shall be taken by the same procedure as in previous voting sessions and all votes shall be taken by roll call. I hereby declare the second voting session open. Members will be able to vote until 8:45 p.m. The results of this second voting session will be announced tomorrow at 9 a.m.

Mr President, Mr Vice-President of the European Commission, Mr President of the European Investment Bank, you are very welcome in this House. I would like to start by thanking all the political groups, the shadow rapporteurs and the Committee on Budgets for their input in the preparation of this report on the financial activities of the EIB in 2020. Everyone's constructive attitude has greatly benefited this report on the European Investment Bank. With this report, Parliament fulfils its function of carrying out democratic scrutiny of the activity of the European Investment Bank, the public bank of the European Union, the only international financial institution wholly owned by the Member States of the European Union, which must therefore align the investments it finances with the political priorities and values of the European Union, paying particular attention to projects of public interest. But Parliament wants much more than these annual reports and a few one-off hearings with the administration of the European Investment Bank. We insisted on the need for an interinstitutional agreement between the European Investment Bank and the European Parliament that would structure this democratic scrutiny, ensure regular hearings, but also ensure access to information and written question and answer procedures. If necessary, we can prepare an interim memorandum of cooperation to at least organise the terms of the regular dialogue between our institutions. This report, as the title indicates, focuses on the year 2020. We all know that 2020 was a very special and very difficult year, but this year has confirmed the decisive role of the European Investment Bank. Parliament welcomed the emergency funding and economic recovery support provided by the European Investment Bank. First of all, the initial EUR 40 billion that provided more credit and liquidity for small and medium-sized enterprises, in addition to moratoria, and the EUR 25 billion from the new European Guarantee Fund, which is important above all for small and medium-sized enterprises, but also for the health sector, in particular for vaccine production. Equally important was the EIB’s more than €5 billion dedicated to COVID-19-related support outside the European Union, including participation in Covax for a more equitable distribution of vaccines. We in this Parliament call for the European Guarantee Fund to remain operational beyond 2021 and for the European Investment Bank to consider incentives to stimulate the acceleration of projects and credit lines already approved. There is, we know, a chronic investment gap in the European economy that is exacerbated by the crisis and the growth of inequalities. It is therefore necessary to ensure a good link between the EIB and the other European financial instruments and to ensure the appropriate additionality of the projects financed. However, it is also necessary to take care of the geographical balance of funding and to ensure stronger support for regions that are less attractive for investment and less favoured by the derogation from the rules on state aid throughout this crisis. Naturally, after the Green Deal and the ambitious targets for the decarbonisation of the European economy, the climate and environment investment gap would have to be given a new priority in the EIB strategy. To be fair, this was already a task undertaken by the European Investment Bank. The new roadmap 2021-2025 only reinforces the ambition of the European Investment Bank and is something we welcome, as well as the alignment of EIB financing with the Paris Agreement already in 2023. All this will have important implications for credit to the transport sector, the energy sector and industrial policy. We also need to value the social sector, investments in education, vocational training, the health sector and even the housing sector. We must not forget the already very important role of the EIB in supporting development cooperation, which we must strengthen in the framework of Global Europe, where the European Investment Bank will have an important role to play. In this report, therefore, the European Parliament once again advocates strengthening the capital of the European Investment Bank so that it can live up to its missions and challenges. Finally, we want the European Investment Bank to take its transparency policies further, to fine-tune its rules on conflicts of interest, to pursue a zero-tolerance policy on harassment in the workplace and to structure dialogue with staff representatives. All this will help the European Investment Bank to better live up to its tasks and ambitions. The European Parliament welcomes the work done by the European Investment Bank and hopes that it will increasingly respond to the European Union's political priorities and citizens' expectations.