Speeches

Madam President, dear colleagues, dear Commissioner, dear Council, since 2020, the richest 1% have captured almost two thirds of all new wealth. Two thirds! That is nearly twice as much money as the bottom 99% of the world’s population. Some might think that this is only a problem for the US and it is not a European one. Well, they could not be more wrong. Wealth concentration in Europe is high, extremely high. The top 1% holds over 30% of total wealth, while the poorest half owns less than 5%. This is deeply unfair. And guess what, those at the top are mostly men, and those at the bottom are mostly women. Wealth taxation is thus also a gender issue. Over the last decades, the super rich have been protected by the dominant belief that taxing them would be detrimental for our economy. But taxing on capital has been shrinking over the last years, and wealth taxes have almost disappeared. Estimations vary, but a wealth tax in Europe could raise between EUR 200 billion and EUR 1 trillion. This is massive and it has the potential to save our planet, to educate our children and to care for our elderly. So is this proposal for a tax out of envy of people and companies that have made a fortune, who have invested cleverly or have used the capital markets to further gain profits? No, not at all. This is a matter of justice. It’s a matter of fairness. It’s a matter of showing solidarity and responsibility towards our common goods, our nature, our detrimental effects, as climate change is already harming a million people. So I call on you, Commissioner Gentiloni, to bring this forward for the G20 meeting and find a way for a European wealth tax.

Madam President, I think it is clear to all of us that even though the Banking Union is important, it might not be as interesting as, for example, the Nature Restoration Law. But I’m very happy to see the Commissioner and the Chair and greet them, because the last year has further shown the value of the Banking Union, while also calling for our collective efforts to continue in building a framework that fosters trust, transparency and accountability in the banking sector. Therefore I am also a proud rapporteur of the annual report on the Banking Union, which this year seems especially relevant, with two elements giving flavour to the report. First of all, the failure of three US banks reminded us of how important it is to implement a sound prudential framework, and the EP report stresses that the EU should fairly, timely and comprehensively implement the internationally agreed standards. The recent political agreement reached with the Council will allow for this timely implementation. The management of these failures also demonstrates the need to have a robust deposit insurance framework that fosters depositors’ confidence to avoid bank runs. Secondly, the Commission published its proposal to revise the EU crisis management framework for banks, and everyone agrees that the EU resolution framework contains some loopholes that we need to fix. The management of Credit Suisse’s failure also demonstrates the importance of having a credible resolution framework. Fifteen years after the great financial crisis, it is time to put an end to the ‘too big to fail’ issue. Obviously resolution aspects and deposit insurances go hand in hand, and I do hope that the co-legislators will now be able to agree on a comprehensive and coherent reform of the EU framework. I am particularly proud that Parliament reiterates its commitment to complete the Banking Union against this background, and I would like in this context to also thank all the shadow rapporteurs for their constructive contribution and for the smooth work to draft the report that I hope will be voted with a broad majority. This year’s annual report also considers the economic and social impact of the Russian aggression on Ukraine and calls on competent authorities to carefully monitor ongoing developments. The report also acknowledges the decreasing trends of non-performing loans in bank balance sheets, while stressing that risk reduction in bank balance sheets should continue. So far, the progressive withdrawal of the public support measures adopted during the pandemic, as well as the rising interest rates environment, have not led to an increase of non-performing loans in bank balance sheets. However, our report stresses that we should continue to closely monitor the situation and continue the progress made in the reduction of risks in the balance sheets. The report also acknowledges the banking sector’s role in financing the green transition. There is a clear recognition by Parliament that climate change poses a threat to financial stability and it is now time that the financial and prudential framework fully embeds this reality. Our report also deplores the lack of gender balance in top management positions, both in banks and in EU financial institutions. Gender—balanced boards are not only a matter of social justice: numerous studies have shown that the gender balance on boards and the workforce brings both societal and economic returns. All in all, I truly believe that we have achieved an ambitious report which advocates for the deepening of our economic integration and the completion of the Banking Union. And finally, I will switch into Danish. For til sidst vil jeg gerne appellere til mit eget land, Danmark, om at tiltræde bankunionen og dermed slutte flere års nøleri. Ved at tiltræde bankunionen vil Danmark både styrke sin egen finansielle stabilitet og det europæiske samarbejde inden for den finansielle sektor. Et dansk medlemskab vil også give os langt mere indflydelse på EU-lovgivning, der påvirker den danske finanssektor. Fordelene ved et dansk medlemskab af bankunionen er veldokumenteret. Så er det bare om at komme i gang.

Mr President, I thank Samira again for her tireless efforts to fight for women, and all kinds of women. And thank you very much, colleagues, for all of your remarks. I’m extremely happy that we are finally voting on this agreement and that we move forward with this important piece of legislation. I envision a future where employees are valued for their work regardless of their gender. A future where employees know their rights and they are not afraid to exercise them, because they know that they are protected by European law. The future is here. We have achieved that and we finally have patented tools to combat pay discrimination, gender-income inequalities and to empower workers. So I look forward to the vote and I’m going to celebrate as well. And I hope that this whole House is.

Mr President, dear Commissioner, dear Council and dear colleagues, today we are here voting on a historical and essential piece of legislation. We are here because we stand against pay discrimination. We stand against power abuses and because equal pay for equal work should not only be a founding principle in our Treaties, but also a fact on the ground. We are here because we care. We want to make a change. We want to push for gender equality, workers’ rights and social progress. We want a future where there is inclusion and diversity. Today we are here to vote on the best-known tool for closing the gender pay gap, to combat gender pay inequalities and pay discrimination. The Pay Transparency Directive is a huge achievement for gender equality and it will help close the current persistent gender pay gap in the European Union of 14%. Pay transparency has the value of work at its centre because employees should be valued for their work regardless of their gender. With this vote, we abolish pay secrecy contracts. We strengthen workers’ rights and workers’ individual right to information. And we ask employers to report and to fix their pay gaps. Furthermore, we ensure that all employers have pay structures in place, ensuring that the Treaty-based concept of equal pay for equal work is actually enforced. With this vote, we empower workers and we strengthen the role of social partners. This vote also marks the first time in history that our non-binary friends are recognised in legislation and the first time that we take into account intersectional discrimination as an aggravating factor. And this is a historical moment not only because having these tools and mechanisms are a huge achievement, but also because this sends a message to the world. It shows that this is what legislation can look like when you have two young feminists leading the policies. And for that, I would like to deeply thank my colleague Samira for the hard work and incredible cooperation in the past two years. You are truly an inspiring politician and it has been amazing working alongside you and your team. On behalf of Samira and I, I would also like to give a special thanks to all the shadow rapporteurs and all the teams for your constant fight for gender equality. I would like to thank the Commission as well for putting forward this legislation and supporting us in getting it over the finish line. Lastly, a special thanks should go to the Czech Presidency. Without you and without this Presidency, we would not have been able to vote on this important file today. I cannot fully express my gratitude towards the Czech Presidency, but I would like to underline that I am extremely grateful that your Presidency and your team chose to take on this file and really walk the extra mile to make this a reality. And coming from Denmark, it’s also very nice to see that it is once again proven that smaller countries can have a huge impact on European law-making. Lastly, I would also like to thank our amazing teams – Asta, Julia, Claire, Hoba, Myrthe and Blanca – and the contribution and expertise of NGOs and social partners that participated in and worked on this file. Your work was, and is, extremely essential and valuable. With today’s vote, we will be one step closer in ensuring that there are no more glass ceilings and no more pay discrimination. Today we give more rights for workers and we ensure the concept of equal pay for equal work.

Mr President, today’s vote is about gender equality. It is that simple. It was about gender equality when the FEMM and the EMPL Committees voted in favour with a big majority and it is about gender equality today. Since then, some have argued that the pay transparency directive is unnecessary because we have almost succeeded in closing the gender pay gap. But honestly, we are tired of women being put into this category of people who have almost the same rights as men, who have almost the same opportunities, who have almost the same pay. What is this almost? Almost is unfair, outdated, and is just not enough. So, colleagues, now is your chance. Now is your chance to vote with us to achieve change. European women need your votes today and we as co—rapporteurs hope that we can stand united as a Parliament when we will vote in favour of gender equality.

Mr President, we’ve heard it all before. We’ve had this debate before. LuxLeaks, the Panama Papers, Pandora Papers, Paradise Papers, and so on. And now Suisse Secrets. I wonder how many scandals do we need to take this crime seriously. We learned from all those leaks that we have in the recent years that not only Switzerland but several EU countries have actively helped Russian oligarchs to launder money, avoid taxes and hide their wealth. Luckily, the EU showed that we are ready to take actions against Russia with economic sanctions as we have done with the oligarch freezing assets actions. And I call on us now to use this situation as a wakeup call and make sure that we are as ambitious as possible with the anti—money-laundering package. This means banning golden visas, ensuring transparency on beneficial ownership and proper exchange of tax information, and making sure that Member States transpose and enforce existing anti—money-laundering rules. And it also includes a proper risk of high—risk countries. So I hope and I count on all the EU institutions to take up the task.

Mr. President! Tårnhøj rent with too small rooms. Another friend who goes down with anxiety, depression or stress. Unfortunately, the job went to someone with more experience. Does that sound familiar? It does that for me and for my peers who live in this world every single day. The pandemic has deprived us of some of the most valuable years of our lives. A whole high school time, a study start, an after school year at home on the couch in front of the computer. Europe's young people are struggling with long-term unemployment and difficulty gaining a foothold in the labour market because they are the first to be fired and the last to be hired. At the same time, we are a generation of young people with historically poor mental health. Loneliness, depression, stress and anxiety are growing folk diseases. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the future of Europe! If we're not going to create a generation lockdown, we're going to have to get out of the chair. We need to create labour markets that provide stable, quality jobs. We must make sure that we put mental and physical suffering on an equal footing, so that you do not stand alone if you break psychologically. For two years, the world’s young people have put their lives at risk – or at risk – to fight the pandemic. At least now we can make sure they have a future. I hope you'll join us.