Speeches

Madam President, dear colleagues, the cross-border cooperation mechanism is a voluntary system that facilitates collaboration between neighbouring European land regions by applying the most advantageous laws when it comes to implementing a project. This proposal is intended to help remove the legal and administrative barriers faced by many of the more than 2 million cross-border workers and, of course, to increase the gross domestic product of these regions, including cross-border regions. All studies show that they could be 8.7% richer than they are today. Citizens, businesses, public authorities in border regions face specific difficulties, in particular as regards health services, labour market regulation, taxes, business development, as well as obstacles linked to differences in administrative cultures and national legal frameworks. Madam Minister, I also count very much on the Belgian Presidency. You know very well, for example, that there are no language barriers between Belgium and France. But although there are investments and there are European funds, the fact that there is different legislation makes it much harder to implement these projects. I am very sorry that this proposal that I put forward as European Commissioner in 2018, here in the European Parliament, has been so much delayed. I also want to stress that cross-border cooperation can also bring peace between regions where there are conflict zones. That is why I thank all of you, and especially rapporteur Gozi, for accepting the amendments by which neighbouring states, such as the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Serbia, will also be able to implement the mechanism on a voluntary basis. I therefore welcome the Commission's proposal and, of course, we respectfully call on the Council to stop prolonging this subject and to start the necessary trilogues for the file, which is so important. Because, we know very well, 30% of the population of the European Union lives in these cross-border areas.

Mr President, Commissioner, the Republic of Moldova has strongly expressed its desire to belong to the European family, being firm in the face of hybrid attacks from Russia, coping with multiple crises and welcoming with open arms the largest number of Ukrainian refugees in proportion to the number of inhabitants, just as my grandparents, when my mother was two years old, were welcomed with open arms by Romania, along with another 400 000 citizens who left Bessarabia between 1940 and 1944. I was in Chisinau last week and I want to assure you that the Republic of Moldova is ready to start accession negotiations immediately, at the beginning of next year. I believe that it is necessary for the Republic of Moldova to be able to benefit from the pre-accession financial instruments. I believe that the Commission's positive report is very important, as is the debates in the Council to start negotiations by the end of this year. I believe that it is time to rise to the moment of history, not to miss the right of these citizens to live where they want and where they belong: in the European Union.

Mr President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, internal land border regions make up 40% of the territory of the European Union, home to around 30% of European citizens. As has been said, we note with sadness that it is precisely these regions that have lower economic results than other regions within the same Member State. Citizens, businesses and public authorities in border regions face specific difficulties, in particular related to health services, labour market regulation, taxes, business development, as well as obstacles linked to differences in administrative cultures and national legal frameworks. If cross-border legal and administrative barriers were removed, gross domestic product in border regions could increase by almost 3% of EU GDP. Border regions would thus be 8.7% richer than they are today. Of course, it is important that Member States establish cross-border coordination points at national level and define their tasks and competences. At the same time, the European Commission should set up a coordination point at European Union level, and I have proposed that Member States can also apply the mechanism to external borders on a voluntary basis, for all parties involved, so that neighbouring states such as the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, Serbia can implement this voluntary basic mechanism. Commissioner, I want to thank you for your continuity, for mentioning both the 2017 Communication and the mechanism that I had the honour to present to the European Parliament as Commissioner for Regional Policy in 2018, and I hope that the European Council will also vote in favour of this legislative proposal, which will reduce cross-border obstacles. As far as you are concerned, I just want to congratulate you on your efforts to leave no region behind.

Madam President, dear Commissioner thank you for the moving words that you have expressed here today and I would like also to share our and your solidarity with the people of Ukraine. Thank you very much for what you are doing for our countries. I am from Romania. So thank you once again. Coming back to the report, Mr Vice-President, the report that we are discussing today clearly outlines that the European Investment Bank is of great importance for the European Parliament as it is the biggest lending arm of the European Union. The EIB is the biggest creditor in the world and it plays a special importance in over—passing the tumultuous days we live in – here I am referring to the different crises that we are facing, meaning COVID measures, the war in Ukraine and the global energy crisis. I welcome the new EIB cohesion report. You know that I was Commissioner for Cohesion Policy, so cohesion is very important for me. The Cohesion Orientation 2021-2027 is very important, it’s an effort in terms of a continuation of all the aid within the Member States to funds, projects and beneficiaries located in the EIB cohesion priority regions identified as less—developed regions and transition regions. I also welcome the InvestEU programme, which will provide the European Union with crucial long-term funding by leveraging substantial private and public funds in support of sustainable recovery. Moreover, by implementing 75% of InvestEU, the EIB Group’s goal is to generate new investments mainly for sustainable infrastructure, research, innovation, digitalisation, SMEs, access to finance, social investments and skills. However, I suggest to continue to enhance transparency.

Madam President, I would like to thank you all for this very fruitful debate. As we can see, the war in Ukraine, this tragedy is dominating our life and also our debates. As President Hoyer put it, what we are doing today is our testament for the future, and of course, it is our duty to do our part as a Member of the European Parliament, as a member of the Commission or as members of the EIB, as the main investment arm of European Union. I very much appreciated the emphasis in the report, Madam Commissioner, on the word ‘coordination’, and I think it is very crucial for our success in the future. And also thank you for defending cohesion policy, because now everybody is taking from that. I would like to thank you all for the contribution. I know that despite all the challenges you took this duty to be an important pillar for the reconstruction in Ukraine. And I really think that it will be a very hard and important task. I wish you success on focusing on the main priorities such as climate change, environment and innovation, skills, infrastructure, small and medium—sized enterprises, cohesion, of course, and development.

Madam President, Vice—President, President Hoyer, representatives of the EIB, colleagues, the report that we are discussing today clearly outlines that the European Investment Bank (EIB) is of great importance for the European Parliament, as it is the lending arm of the European Union. The EIB is the biggest creditor in the world, and it plays a special importance in our passing the tumultuous times in which we live, and here I am referring to the COVID—19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. The very foundation of Europe is based on solidarity between people. And today, more than ever, this solidarity must be shown by helping Ukrainian citizens who are suffering from the war. And I would like to mention that alongside the EU’s support, the EIB provided additional aid of 4 billion to improve housing, health, education and access to jobs for Ukrainian refugees. Of course, we all hope that the war will end soon and that peace will be established on our continent. Today we are discussing the report on 2020, which was a very difficult year for all of us. I would like to show my appreciation that the EIB Group remained operational to carry out its activities despite the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. I welcome the efforts made by the EIB to overcome the global health crisis, to respond to the economic effects of COVID-19, because the health of our citizens is our priority. The EIB had made available funds for investments in the healthcare sector, which amounted 5.2 billion, of which 175 million were distributed in the research, and also supported countries outside the European Union, which I think is very important. I would like also to underpin the support provided to the small and medium—sized enterprises, and also together with the European Investment Fund, you have launched the Skills & Education Guarantee Pilot to stimulate investments in education, training and skills. I think education is very important, and this initiative is well suited to address the upcoming needs for the labour market, giving special attention to the digital and green transition. I note that in 2020, 34% of all EIB signatures within the Member States were for projects and beneficiaries located in the EIB cohesion priority regions, identified as less-developed regions and transitioning regions. Of course, as former Commissioner for European Regional Policy, I am grateful to the EIB for its support to cohesion. We are also aware that the economic consequences of the COVID—19 pandemic have deepened the differences between the Member States. We should assure that the most affected regions and countries can adjust to the new circumstances so that no one is left behind. The coming years will be decisive in preventing severe impacts of climate change. And, of course, here I have to mention that in 2020 alone, the Bank invested a EUR 24 billion in climate action, confirming its position as being the largest multilateral financer of climate action. As there is always room for improvement, I emphasise the need for even more integrity, transparency and accountability and reinforced mechanisms to fight fraud and corruption. I am convinced that the EIB will continue to carry out the project assessment in respect of technical, financial and economic-based indicators, making the projects’ qualities a decisive factor in deciding whether or not to grant financing. I note that, concerning gender equality, the border is still 29.5% of management positions now taken by women. But this, I think, it’s the responsibility of the Member States because they are the ones who nominate the Vice—President in the Board of EIB. At the end, I would like to congratulate President Hoyer for creating EIB Development Branch, and I believe that this can increase the positive impact that the EIB has outside of the European Union. This will help even more the countries with small and medium revenue to create sustainable growth, promote human rights, reduce poverty and inequality and improve human life. I believe the Branch will be in charge of many very important investments that will have a major positive impact on the life of the people.

Madam President, Commissioner Hahn, President Lehne, thank you for your clarifications. As the person responsible for joint undertakings, I would like to underline the importance of this public—private partnership in implementing specific aspects of European Union policy by engaging strategic industry partners across borders and business sectors and consolidating European research. Today, we have seen more than ever how important are the joint undertakings when we speak about health, clean energy and economic recovery. The COVID—19 pandemic of course had a deep impact on our social and professional lives, and unfortunately these effects were felt by the JU’s employees as well. I therefore ask the joint undertakings to take these aspects into account and go further by being more concerned with the well-being of every employee and ensure a balanced working environment. It is also time to take a step forward and to inform potential beneficiaries in a transparent manner about the joint undertakings’ intention.

Mr President, dear colleagues, the European Union Solidarity Fund is, in fact, living proof that the European Union is already a very concrete presence in the lives of all citizens. Whether we are talking about earthquakes in Italy, fires in Greece and Portugal or floods in Romania, this fund has shown that solidarity between European countries is essential, especially in times of crisis. To give an overview, a few concrete figures would be useful: Between 2002 and 2020, the Solidarity Fund mobilised more than €6.5 billion for interventions in 96 natural disaster situations in 23 Member States and one accession country. The highest number of applications was submitted for flood damage, at around 60%, followed by earthquakes, but unfortunately the Solidarity Fund was not designed at the time of its launch as an emergency instrument and therefore, over time, more and more Member States requested that procedures be conducted much faster. That is why, in this report, we called for the Fund to become more flexible and efficient in providing rapid financial assistance to states affected by natural disasters. There is a need to simplify the procedures for obtaining financial support, to reduce the time for allocating the amounts, in parallel with a more rigorous control over the destination of the money. At this time, the time elapsed from a disaster to the payment of those amounts is about one year. That is why I believe, dear colleagues, that, given the crisis that we are going through, it is to be welcomed that this fund has also been extended to emergency situations in countries that concern health crises. The introduction of expenditure related to this COVID crisis has led to the doubling of expenditure from the Solidarity Fund, which in July alone was estimated at more than €3 billion. So we always have to think about simplification, but also about control. Let us not forget, for example, that in emergencies such as these, public procurement is an area vulnerable to fraud, corruption and irregularities, which is why the report also highlights the need to make control systems more efficient. In view of all the above, the European Commission must, in our view, propose much more effective proactive solutions, in particular, continue its work towards the simplified use of the Solidarity Fund. In order to ensure that the Solidarity Fund achieves the purpose for which it was designed from the outset, it is necessary, in my view, to revise it. On this occasion, I express my sympathy to all European citizens and their families who have been affected by natural phenomena or by the health crisis we are now experiencing.

Mr President, dear colleagues, indeed, internal land border regions make up 40% of the territory of the European Union, which is home to about 30% of European citizens. We note with sadness, however, that it is precisely these regions that are economically performing worse than other regions within a Member State, and that citizens, businesses and public authorities in border regions face specific difficulties related to health services, labour market regulation, taxes, business development, as well as obstacles related to differences in administrative cultures and national legal frameworks. From this point of view, Interreg was a real success, not only from an economic point of view, but also helped to heal some wounds that unfortunately exist on the territory of the European Union. During my mandate as European Commissioner for Regional Policy, I have always been concerned about border regions and, on a proposal from the Luxembourg Presidency together with colleagues from DG Regio, I presented in 2017 the communication entitled ‘Boosting growth and cohesion in the border regions of the European Union’. I then highlighted in the European Parliament how the European Union and the Member States can reduce the complexity, duration and costs of cross-border interactions, promoting the sharing of services along the internal border. Then, in 2018, the Commission published the legislative proposal on the Cross-Border Cooperation Mechanism. I am sincerely concerned about the Council's decision to stop the codecision process, citing problems that, both personally, but I have seen that the legal services of the European Parliament also consider to be irrelevant legal problems, especially given that the studies carried out show that this legislative proposal could resolve up to 50% of the existing cross-border obstacles. If legal and administrative barriers were removed, gross domestic product in border regions could increase by around 3% of European Union GDP or 8.7% of total GDP produced in land border regions. So in other words, removing legal and administrative barriers would allow border regions to be 8.7% richer than they are today. Moreover, the existing obstacles cause a loss of around 6 million jobs in these regions and also affect cross-border workers. I therefore call on the Council to return to the debate on the cross-border cooperation mechanism and to vote in favour of this legislative proposal which will reduce obstacles and improve people's lives.