Debate contributions by Jussi SARAMO

Madam President, the capital markets union – channel savings into investments – plays an important role in the Draghi report. Indeed, Europe needs investment to revive its economy, accelerate the green transition and reduce dangerous dependencies. The capital market union plan, however, includes elements that are insufficient at best and potentially dangerous at worst. Analysis suggests that financial markets could, in the very best case, cover only a third of the EU's essential investment needs. Moreover, the plan aims to revive some of the very same instruments that were at the heart of the great financial crisis of 2007-2008. The capital markets union is a poor substitute for a proper fiscal policy and stronger public investment. Instead of offering endless incentives to asset managers, the EU must rethink its fiscal rules and build a true fiscal firepower to address the investment crisis.

Madam President, China has shown with raw materials that we are dangerously dependent on it. But China is also dependent on us. When Trump's United States openly attacks both the EU and China, it would be tempting to leave the United States to fight with itself. However, China shows every day that it cannot be trusted, by supporting Putin's Russia to kill the people of its neighbouring countries. Nor must we turn a blind eye to China's shocking human rights violations, for example in Xinjiang. Since our destinies are intertwined in many ways, China cannot and should not be isolated. However, all strategic dependencies must be broken and the support for killing must end. The EU must also look in the mirror. To be credible in the world stage, Europe itself must also stop supporting the genocide in Palestine. Now we are considered hypocrites, and for a good reason.

Mr President, a few US companies know everything about us as a result of our use of mobile phones and payment transactions. As a result, the US administration also knows everything about us, more than our own administrations, perhaps more than ourselves. Do we really want to give this power outside Europe? It is also about the economy – for every purchase I make, an American card duopoly collects a slice from the pockets of European companies and ultimately from European people. It seems absurd that, in this situation, politicians who market themselves as patriotic oppose the attempt to restore control to a central bank common to the peoples of Europe, under democratic control. The digital euro is not about replacing cash with digital money. It is about replacing a few big companies' digital currencies with a European democratic alternative.

Mr President, the atrocities in Israel have not been about self-defence. Here, too, ears are closed not only to the cry for help of the Palestinians, but also to the speeches of the Israeli leaders themselves. It has always been about the extermination of the Palestinians, ethnic cleansing. It has been seen not only in speeches but also in deeds for decades: occupation and oppression. By obstructing peace, even by supporting Hamas, the creation of a Palestinian state is prevented. Thousands of children are being murdered. Palestinian journalists are killed, foreigners are prevented from reporting. But the West repeats Israel's right to defend itself. How can you sleep at night? In the 1940s, many people said they didn't know. But now the same explanation does not go through. Pictures of EU leaders shaking hands and smiling at a genocidal man will go down in history. It is not enough to freeze the Association Agreement. We need an embargo. We need a final rejection of double standards and a consistent defense of humanity.

Mr President, Europe is lagging behind China in the green transition, in the technologies of the future. We are lagging behind in digital services. In an increasingly global context, strategic dependencies are dangerous. We must not be dependent on authoritarian leaders in China, the United States or the oil nations. The RRF has helped Europe move into the future, but unfortunately we do not know much about the results. We can only assume. Unfortunately, we can also assume that some of the money has been misused. But the real problem is if the EU's only tool is to push new money into the economy. It may also be necessary at times, but unlike the United States and China, our hands are otherwise tied. In the U.S. IRA, money was also raised back by taxing companies. This is essential for inflation and public finances. Instead of debt, we also need our own resources, for example, from digital taxes. We also need to close down tax havens, including within the EU. Only ambition and cooperation can overcome the EU's constraints. It requires passing those staring at the rear-view mirror. We simply cannot afford to shake off the green transition and return to Russian addiction, as the far right here wants. When drought, heat, floods and storms make living and farming unbearable in parts of Europe, we have a duty to act, including towards future generations.

Mr President, Commissioner, authoritarian leaders in China, the United States and Russia are increasingly pursuing their own interests. They want a weak and fragmented Europe. We must be determined and build a fair and common internal market. A common market can only be fair and workable if it strengthens the protection of workers and the environment through common rules. At the same time, when we are sworn in here to reduce the volume of regulation, we should make the remaining regulation even more effective. Replace quantity with quality. If we start competing with China and the United States on the basis of workers' rights and the destruction of the environment, we will surely lose. The Letta report is right that common rules on capital or energy markets can enable investment and fair competition, but the report goes wrong in that turning the telecommunications market into a cartel for a few giant companies would improve our competitiveness. For example, the success of digital services in the United States has happened in spite of expensive mobile services, not because of them.

Mr President, my own youth in the 1990s was marked by mass unemployment caused by the banking crisis. The parents of many of my friends were permanently excluded from society when ordinary people paid for mistakes made by politicians and banks. In the financial crisis that spread from the United States in 2007, the greed of bankers was paid by ordinary people around the world. The promise was "never again". The banking union works. Supervision and regulation have prevented major financial crises. It is therefore confusing to see how the right, in the name of the competitiveness of banks, is trying to shoot holes in the supervisory system. This report, too, seeks to water down the international Basel III standards. Increasing bank profits will not revive the economy. Moreover, bank dividends have increased as a result of the increase in key ECB interest rates. We need to focus on long-term and responsible job creation in the real economy, not on greed and the rapid gains in the financial economy that are the source of new crises.

Madam President, the most important thing is to stand with the Moldovan people consistently. Moldovans have been trying to balance and survive between the EU and Russia, to sell their products wherever they can. But the truth is that Russia wants to preserve the frozen conflicts it has created. Putin is not afraid that NATO would want to attack by coming close to Russia's borders. He has moved his troops from the NATO borders into Ukraine. And Putin is not concerned about the safety of the Russian-speaking minority in Moldova. He's bombing Russian speakers in Ukraine. But Putin is afraid of democracy and successful states near the Russian borders. He wants their neighbours to be poor and miserable. Now, when the US is leaving Moldova, Russia still wants to suppress Moldova. Moldova needs us now more than ever. We must stand up and take responsibility for this facility and more broadly.

Mr President, my country, Finland, is a good example of how destructive cooperation between conservatives and the far right is. In 2022, employment reached record levels, businesses were entering a historically high level of green industry investment and the public deficit was eliminated to 0.2%. That was the best result since the financial crisis. The right-wing coalition, which started in 2023, together with the far-right, has focused on cutting the welfare state, increasing inequality, and the childish cultural war and wooke copied from the United States. Finland has fallen to the tails of Europe. Unemployment is rising sharply and with it the national debt. The public deficit is close to 5%. People are being fomented against each other. From the United States, Elon Musk and his partners are using social media to support the break-up of Finland and Europe. Now is the time for all the constructive forces to defend democracy, to defend the European welfare model, to defend ordinary people. It also ensures competitiveness.

Dear President, for every purchase I make, a slice goes to the American cartel. Most card purchases, including those made by mobile phone, are made via Visa and Mastercard. There is no real competition, even though a private monopoly or a cartel is the worst way to organize the obligatory things. Why do European entrepreneurs have to pay part of their sales to a US duopoly that dictates prices? At the same time, Trump threatens us with tariffs, tax evasion, even a military attack. The basic systems of society cannot be under the threat of an unpredictable state hybrid war. The interests of ordinary European consumers and small businesspeople must now take precedence over the interests of banks and US superpower policy. A digital euro, if done right, would increase Europe's independence by improving the sustainability of our payment system and restoring the public option to pay. I am against giving up cash, but if and when merchants, banks and markets drive down cash, we must continue to have a form of public money in the future. In addition to consumers, the digital euro would particularly benefit merchants, whose bargaining power vis-à-vis paying agents would be improved through additional options. If done correctly, the digital euro would also free ordinary low-income people from compulsory banking. There seems to be no political will for this yet, but in the future the digital euro could be much, much more than the Conservatives have been prepared for. This year's report Unfortunately, there is a lack of action by the European Central Bank beyond the digital euro. It does not take sufficient account of the fact that the interest rate set by the central bank is still too high for many euro area Member States, such as my own country, Finland. The report is also disappointing in terms of climate action and the green transition. It even requires the ECB to hold back efforts to combat climate change. A modern central bank must have objectives other than price stability. Central banks can – and must – support employment and the transition towards a sustainable economy.

Mr President, last year was again the hottest on record. Drought, floods and storms killed people both in the US and EU, not to mention poor countries. A true leader would do his best for his own people, nature and humanity. Trump does the opposite. He withdraws from the Paris climate agreement, he adds drilling and exports for gas and oil. He threatens to impose tariffs on EU products. He demands that we buy weapons from the US for hundreds of billions, even though the majority of our defence spending already goes to the US. The techno‑oligarchs who fund Trump demand that we accept brainwashing on their platforms. The extreme right in this parliament is destroying Europe from within to support Trump, Musk and Putin. We must not surrender! We have to become independent. Let's move away from dirty fuels. Let's stop supporting the US arms industry and let us take care of our own economy, human rights and democracy!

I would like to know how much oil and gas does Germany have? Because you want to support Trump, who is fighting against Europe, who is threatening us with tariffs, against German labour, against German products. Why are you supporting Trump, who is threatening Greenland, part of Denmark? Why are you supporting Trump, who is definitely against us, against just normal European people and European democracy?

The killing, as we know, did not start with the Hamas terrorist attack. Do you know how many Palestinians Israel killed each year before the Hamas attack? Do you know how many unjustly detained, kidnapped ordinary civilians, children, are held hostage by Israel? Do you know that the far-right leading Israel has never accepted the one-state model, with democratic human rights for all, or the two-state model? Netanyahu has always done everything in his power to prevent peace and the human rights of Palestinians, including by supporting Hamas. Did you know this?

Mr President, Europe is the leading superpower in the quality of people's lives, although there is still room for improvement in the rights of workers, for example. Europe has also taken action on biodiversity loss and climate change against – far too little – yet showing the way for the rest of the world. But as the Draghi report shows, we are falling from the pace of China and the United States. China and the United States have protected their own economies, as Europe has believed the markets would deal with the problems. Indeed, the solutions of the right-wing European leadership to the loss of competitiveness are tragic. Instead of taking the future into our own hands, we do the opposite and intend to reduce regulation. When there is only a hammer in the toolbox, all the challenges look like nails. In addition, the fifth column of the far right has intensified within Europe. The extreme right wants to halt the green transition and throw itself entirely at the mercy of living nations for selling gas and oil. Europe must become independent. Putin, Xi or Trump should not become vassals.

Thank you for the question. It seems that we have had big problems with the interpretation today, because I haven't heard this, what you are saying. Nobody – at least what I heard – wants to get rid of social media. People just want it to be fair and open and democratic. And if there are problems and brainwashing, then we are against it. And I have to say that I don't want to blame the interpretation, I guess you have been doing a good job, but maybe the problem is elsewhere.

Thank you for the question. We know that in many countries, people are better prepared against fake news, against brainwashing, than in some others. I am not the one who says in which country people are best prepared, but I know that brainwashing always works. That's the reason they are doing it. That's the reason China is doing it. That's the reason they are doing it in the United States and in many other countries, also in the European Union. What we need is that everybody knows that what he or she is reading from social media is not biased, that it's open and fair to everyone, and not like you are just getting the messages that are trying to disrupt democracy.

Mr President, Tiktok is a problem, but, of course, fake news and election interference are not limited to that. Elon Musk helped Donald Trump become president by changing X's actions. Tweets in support of Trump were boosted in the run-up to the election, and Trump rewarded Musk for his position in his administration. Open social media strengthens democracy, but encrypted algorithms have prioritised the messages of anti-democratic trolls. Hate speech silences and fake news intimidates people. The most important platforms for democracy must not be tools for brainwashing the richest and most authoritarian leaders in the world. The EU must ensure that disinformation and hate speech do not override genuine debate. We politicians need to lead by example. Today I would like to send my greetings to Elon Musk from the European Parliament. Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye! Today I'm going to stop using X, like so many others.

Madam President, Orwell was mentioned here before, and I think, 'what if the popular media are in the hands of the oligarchs, superrich or authoritarian leaders?' As we know, the algorithms in X and TikTok are not open. Do you think that these algorithms should be open, so that everybody can know if they are brainwashed or not? Because we know that X, TikTok, maybe some others, are brainwashing us.

Madam President, I want to thank President Lula for his leadership and priorities. We really need effective taxation of the super-rich to pay the education mentioned here. We need measures to alleviate poverty. We need a ceasefire in Gaza. We need to reform the United Nations Security Council. All things the world needs desperately. Things that the EU and the West have not been interested in or even been against. The world sees our double standards when we support the genocide in Palestine. The world knows we demand things from the poorer countries that we are not ready to do ourselves. There was also huge disappointment; support for Ukraine looks to be weakening. And failure to demand transition away from fossil fuels, although people are dying because of climate change in Valencia, Bosnia, Poland, Czechia, not to mention poor countries. We need to wake. We need to unite with Brazil and all the countries wanting to build a better world.

I've been quite shocked by what you said and by what the previous colleagues from your group were saying. Today we are here speaking about violence against women. All kinds of violence against women in all kinds of groups. But from your group, there was even more hatred against all the women before, and now you are talking like it is a thing that is happening for the immigrants. And I want to know what you are doing to help these people you are talking about and all the other women who are suffering from violence because you are only using this to build more hate.

Mr President, Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine has already been going on for a thousand days next week. That's a thousand days too much. The European Union must stand by Ukraine against Putin’s reign of terror – and words alone will not suffice. We must do everything possible to prevent Putin from building up his war bankroll with European money. This initiative is also very welcome. Europe's support for Ukraine must be strengthened, especially now after the US elections, but at the same time the most important thing is to involve the rest of the world. Europe is seen as a double standard because, as we have heard in our recent debate, people from different countries have not been of equal value to us. Only by consistently condemning all wars of aggression, genocide and occupation in both Ukraine and Palestine will we be able to involve the Global South and the rest of the world in these joint efforts.

Mr President, I've been personally organising peace demonstrations against antisemitism of right‑wing activists for years. Also, your party has a Nazi history, so you have been hating Jews before you change to hating people with Islam, with the Muslims. But we have had lots of Jews in the demonstrations against the genocide going on in Gaza. And I want to ask you, do you think it's right that you are saying that these antisemites and Jews and Muslims and everybody, it's the same group? Do you think that a Jew can be an antisemite?

Mr President, many people think that the European Union is nothing more than bureaucracy. No one wants unnecessary bureaucracy. But even less do Europeans want our common funds to be misused. And often it is the bureaucracy that protects us from corruption and crime. But less can be more. For example, if deposit banks and investment banks were separated, one important measure could replace thousands of detailed rules. But as long as the EU is not prepared to reject the demands of the great capital of lobbyists and the richest of all, politicians will be forced to try to protect citizens and democratic society with the means we have at our disposal. Instead of populism, we need to look at the root causes. Then bureaucracy can and must be reduced in a sustainable way. I also hope that this debate will be a little more specific and that we will talk about concrete issues and not on such a general level.

Mr President, I speak in Hungarian, i.e. in Finnish. I love Hungary. I have been there countless times since I was 12 years old when I visited the city of Tata with our school class. I still know the Hungarian national anthem, and I've toured almost every city in Hungary. But year after year, I have become more saddened by the situation in Hungary when I see Hungarians losing faith in the future. More and more hope and joy have been replaced by gloom and nationalist suspicion. Viktor Orbán, who spoke here today, has brought down the rule of law during his reign. At the same time, he has channelled the common EU funds of the Hungarians and all of us into the pockets of those around him, and he has invented scapegoats for other countries, his own minorities and refugees. Orbán uses the same right-wing playbook that is used here, as does Putin, for example. It is no wonder that, even today, he wanted to stop the green transition here and return to dependence on oil-rich fuels. That's not how real patriots work. We need to put an end to this. The rule of law and democracy are non-negotiable.