Debate contributions by Marco FALCONE

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, for us people, the European Investment Bank cannot just be a technical machine, it must be a political engine for European development. That is why we have worked on this report, which we greet with great favour, giving impetus to so many concrete proposals, born from the confrontation with the territories. We wanted to focus on access to credit, strengthening measures such as loans to local financial intermediaries and support for microfinance, which are essential to support small and medium-sized enterprises and households. We then obtained recognition of the value of investments in island and peripheral areas, often penalized in terms of infrastructure and development. Finally, we welcome the focus on tackling youth unemployment and the brain drain, priorities for building a future without emptying territories. Only then can it truly be the European development bank.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the Banking Union is one of Europe's strategic objectives: It serves to increase competitiveness, to improve access to credit, to increase investment, to offer more and better services at lower costs. Unfortunately, the delay in this process has resulted in a significant handicap compared to the international challenges with the well-equipped competitor: The United States and China in the first place. Today, also in the light of geopolitical changes, we have the concrete opportunity to build a more integrated, stable, resilient and effective banking system without delay. That is why the Commission can now proceed with full banking integration that gives strength to businesses, support to households, opportunities for new development projects. We need simple, clear and uniform rules across Europe. But we also need the creation of the third pillar: the European Deposit Insurance Scheme. We must not, among other things, neglect the system of small cooperative banks, which represent a strategic structure for the territory. This is the challenge, this is our commitment.

Madam President, Mr Vice-President of the Commission, ladies and gentlemen, with the report on competition policies that we are going to vote on tomorrow, Europe is preparing to face new challenges in the international context, placing competitiveness, innovation and growth as the basis for its political action. On the one hand, this is our horizon, but on the other, the new agenda must be marked by the objective of bringing the European Union closer to the real challenges of its citizens, especially those who are most disadvantaged. I am referring to the citizens of the most peripheral areas, of island regions: islands, inland areas, marginal territories must be the living part of the European project. For this reason, we in the European People's Party and Forza Italia wanted State aid to be finally and strategically recognised as an essential tool for reducing the gap with regard to the most disadvantaged areas. We do not need assistance but interventions to rebalance situations of objective disadvantage. This was the commitment made and we try to keep it.

We in the European People's Party look at a very pragmatic approach. Of course, the ecological transition becomes the beacon for us, but at the same time we believe that a serious investment program must be calibrated to the needs of the territory. We must not exceed in one sense, but not in another. Certainly, interventions in agriculture, technological interventions and, if we want, even a serious investment plan, especially in water supply pipelines and, if we want, supply, can certainly represent a solution. I say this for Sicily – I come from Sicily – where water is not lacking, but infrastructure is lacking. So, thank you for your input.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, at a time when a large part of the continent is facing winter, it might seem out of context to talk about desertification and water scarcity. And yet, this should be the attitude we should all have here in Europe: Take care of this huge challenge, this huge emergency, in time, before it's too late. This is what those who arrive here in Strasbourg from one of the two most important islands in the Mediterranean, Sicily, tell you and represent two of the most important islands – together with Sicily, including Sardinia – both of which are highly at risk. It is imagined that more than 50% of the territory of the two regions, even within the next thirty years, could be at risk of desertification. Of course, climate change is a decisive factor. Unfortunately, however, the fight against desertification cannot be entrusted only to measures linked in some way to the Green Deal. On the contrary, this great container could become a place where everything is lost, and already the European Court of Auditors, in 2018, had called on the European Union to have a complete vision and to put in place planning programs. That is why we of the European People's Party are for the defense of the territory, certainly, and we believe that the islands must be looked at with great attention. How? Through a serious investment programme and, if we want, infrastructure, not just energy transition. Europe must have the courage to launch a major plan of structural appropriations to combat the advance of the desert.

(IT) Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the need to strengthen the competitiveness of the countries of the Union is becoming more and more widespread at the present time. This was also said by President Mario Draghi, who was heard a few days ago in this House. In this sense, it is worth remembering that the European Commission and Parliament must, however, look at a strategic role for Europe's cities and regions. They must do this, however, by looking at the importance of local government, in the spirit and harmony of a coherent, harmonious development that can restore balance in sustainable, balanced and socially homogeneous growth. But in this sense we can achieve this only if we leave no one behind and I refer to a policy that must look to the islands, to the affirmation of the principle of insularity, that is, of those 20 million Europeans who live in the islands, with the difficulties, the inconveniences, the connections that are put to the test compared to the rest of our continent. That is why we, in these five years, must strengthen local policy and therefore the development of our regions, taking into account what must be a cohesion policy to which our Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union refers with Article 174.