Debate contributions by Ralf SEEKATZ

Madam President, I would like to thank my colleagues for their participation in this important debate. Although many areas of the Banking Union are characterised by very different partisan policies – as was also noted in the discussion – but above all by national interests, I think we have nevertheless managed to present an ambitious report. The report now forms the basis for the discussion around the Banking Union for the coming years. The Union is at a turning point at which the economic future of the coming decades will be decided. The Letta and Draghi reports stress that the EU needs a realignment in order to compete with the US or China. Against this background, the Banking Union is certainly a crucial cornerstone for our competitiveness. Only a strong Banking Union will allow the EU to raise the necessary capital to make the European economy safe and sustainable.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner! We have negotiated a very balanced and at the same time ambitious annual report, which has also recognised the signs of the times and offers meaningful solutions. While the 2022 and 2023 annual reports focused very much on the war in Ukraine and Russia’s ongoing aggression, we have again focused more on the very core elements of the Banking Union and the EU’s current priorities in this legislature. It is a strong signal that in the Economic Committee a broad majority in the democratic centre voted in favour of my report. I would therefore like to thank the shadow rapporteurs and their teams once again for their good and trusting cooperation. It was a hard piece of work, after all, the first annual report of a new legislature is always the most labour-intensive. The fact that a very pragmatic approach was adopted across the parties in the negotiations also makes me very confident about the upcoming challenges in this legislature. A strong banking sector is crucial for the economic growth and financing of small and medium-sized enterprises. We have learned the right lessons from the financial crisis and have achieved a lot since the financial crisis: We have achieved better supervisory mechanisms, better resolution mechanisms and a high standard in the area of deposit insurance. We have created a new money laundering authority and closed regulatory gaps in the fight against money laundering. Great progress in key legislation has made the banking sector more resilient. Now we are focusing on competitiveness without losing sight of the resilience of our banks. Currently, EU banks are struggling with lower profitability than US banks due to too many prudential hurdles and a full Banking Union. It is therefore extremely important to improve the profitability of EU banks, as it allows banks to give households better and easier access to affordable credit. Only if our banking systems are also internationally competitive will more capital be available to finance key European objectives, including the digital transition, strategic autonomy and improving our defence capabilities, for which we will need a lot of money. An important point that was particularly close to my heart is the sufficient consideration of our national banking structures with their many small savings banks and cooperative banks. Our national institutional protection systems should be complemented and strengthened by European legislation, but not replaced.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen! The EU is at a turning point in history. Our actions for the coming years will certainly be decisive for the economic future of the coming decades and the preservation of our prosperity. We must therefore draw the right conclusions from Letta's and Draghi's reports. Three points, I think, are crucial for promoting European competitiveness: on the one hand, reducing bureaucracy, strengthening the European single market and, of course, boosting our economic growth. But we certainly do not achieve change only by distributing billion-dollar funding programmes. To believe the structural problems we can fight with money from the watering can, that will certainly not work. We need practical laws. We also need fewer laws and, above all, a reduction in bureaucracy.

Mr President! If 70% of savings are in savings accounts, we have a lot of untapped potential that could benefit our citizens and our economy. Private savings should go to innovative European companies, especially SMEs, small and medium-sized enterprises, which are the backbone of our economy. A better securitisation market or a European savings product could help deepen capital markets. That is why we also need the retail investment strategy. Nur wenn Anleger auch Vertrauen in die Kapitalmärkte haben, können wir das dringend notwendige Kapital für unseren erheblichen Investitionsbedarf auch erschließen. It is not good that the Commission is considering withdrawing the retail investment strategy, although we are on the right track. The SIU is an important step. We need more incentives, and we need a plan if we want to remain competitive internationally.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen! Dealing with Russia has played a central role in the negotiations on the new Anti-Money Laundering Regulation. In order to make it a little harder for the Russian oligarchs to launder money in the EU and circumvent sanctions, many adjustments were made. Among other things, increased due diligence requirements and an asset register for luxury cars, yachts and aircraft were introduced for very wealthy private individuals. Now, however, action must also be taken consistently. Instead of creating bureaucratic hurdles, it could be much easier to blacklist Russia. In any case, it is important to avoid excessive bureaucracy. In order to uphold international standards, the Commission follows the FATF’s recommendations when identifying high-risk third countries – but there, of course, Russia’s allies continue to block blacklisting. Even if, for objective reasons, there is much to be said for Russia's inclusion in this famous list, this is of course prevented by these states for political reasons. The EU Commission should therefore no longer wait for the long overdue decision of the FATF, but take the matter into its own hands and blacklist Russia.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen! The report of the Federal Criminal Police Office in Germany published in September shows that the economic damage from organised crime in Germany has more than doubled – EUR 2.7 billion for 2023. Cybercrime alone has caused €1.7 billion in damage. 70% of criminal organisations are active in more than three Member States. We have been working very successfully on an anti-money laundering framework over the last two years, which will greatly improve cross-border cooperation and hopefully gradually close the loopholes. This will make it more difficult to circulate money from criminal activity in the future. With Europol, Eurojust and, of course, the European Public Prosecutor's Office, we have the right tools to continue to fight crime in this context and to put an end to it. This may sometimes seem like a drop in the ocean due to the current figures, but we certainly need a long breath. Only through coordinated European cooperation and the optimisation of processes through digitalisation can we effectively combat organised crime accordingly. Processes also need to be further optimised within the Member States. The more fragmented the organization, the easier we make it for organized crime. The police authorities of the individual countries must therefore cooperate more intensively and much better. The exchange of information must be optimised, and data protection – which I think is also particularly important – must not become the protection of perpetrators in the fight against crime. We all know that crime doesn't stop at borders, and that's why: We need more cooperation.