kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
there are four hundred and fifty zero successions per year which have an international background.
at any rate even if we decide on this without the participation of the uk and ireland they will of course always have the possibility of opting in later.
that is what we should do in order to allow citizens to exercise their right to free movement.
the future regulation which is now on the table already constitutes a fair compromise which the uk and ireland should be able to accept because there are substantial benefits in it for their citizens.
i think it is very important that notaries in all the participating member states will be informed and will inform their clients about the new possibilities available to them.
i am sure this is one of the points we can put on the table during the european year of citizens in order to show that yes we care for citizens.
i absolutely agree with the rapporteur that the text which has been under discussion for such a long time has been very much improved thanks to the arduous work of the rapporteur and the committee.
i am very much aware that succession is a delicate sensitive area which is intrinsically linked to national policies on family protection and judicial systems and that there are considerable differences between the national laws but fortunately we have had a wonderful rapporteur mr lechner.
this is not just for a few people because around ten of the total number of successions in the eu involve an international dimension.
i think mr lechner with this action you have left a stamp on the european parliament and i think we can all thank you for the work you have done in the interests of the citizens of europe.
mr president believe me i am very glad to see that this proposal is on the agenda of this plenary sitting because citizens have been waiting for a long time for too long.
the resolution which is for adoption tomorrow maintains the main policy objectives set for the commission namely that successions will be governed by one single law that of the country of habitual residence of the deceased.
people will be able to plan their succession in advance by choosing the law of their country of nationality wherever they move in the european union and there will be free movement of court decisions and of authentic instruments in europe.
the value is about eur one hundred and twenty billion so this regulation provides a unique opportunity to show that europe is taking action to make life easer for citizens in difficult human and legal situations.
the cherry on the cake is of course the european certificate of succession which will enable people to prove their status as heirs and exercise their rights throughout the eu.
he is going to be missed.
can i start off by saying first of all my very sincere thanks to our colleague mr lechner for the tremendous amount of hard work that he has put into this dossier over a period of about two years or so?
this was one of the issues i wanted to discuss with him.
i note that there remain concerns within delegations in the council regarding other aspects of the regulation such as the provisions relating to administration.
three one of the uk population comes from another eu member state and i consider that the failure to resolve the issue of clawback is a fundamental flaw in the final regulation as it will close off its benefits to a huge number of citizens from other member states who happen to be living in the uk and ireland and conversely the large numbers of expat uk
can i also express my real disappointment at the decision in the council whereby the uk and ireland found themselves in a position where they did not feel they were able to opt into this regulation?
practices vary widely across the european union in this area and we must consider whether the final article agreed between parliament and council will meet the needs of citizens and practitioners from all member states.
i thank him for everything he has done in making sure that he has made his contribution and i wish him well for whatever he chooses to do after he leaves us.
for instance more than fifteen of successions that have been carried out in the united kingdom had a cross border element.
the danger is that it will lead to an eu law of property ownership.
an eu certificate of succession is a short step away from a european probate registry and the introduction of an eu property tax.
now i doubt that many people in england realise that we are debating the eu's intention to take control of inheritance law.
the one good thing i can say about this is that the british government has exercised its opt out.
anyway some meps might like to consider the wisdom of handing yet more control to the eu in this area and vote with meps from the uk independence party against it.
there will be differences because countries are located differently geographically;
i was very happy about the eurema scheme in malta.
therefore we will always have to be prepared for some sort of solidarity mechanism or some sort of assistance.
we could identify that and mobilise a whole range of tools to alleviate the pressure.
there are histories in different member states; there is the reputation issue;
i think we could achieve the same goals by setting up this forum with the commission together with easo and other experts giving regular reports convening the forum and identifying where the needs are the biggest and hopefully member states could pledge the places in order to help and show solidarity. we have set aside specific lump sums for that in order to provide also the economic possibilities for solidarity and together with the experience the know how and the best practices which we have gained from eurema i think this could be almost as good as a permanent legislative
it was very difficult to get member states to pledge places very difficult and as you saw only fourteen people have been relocated through that scheme. when as i told you we discussed with the ministers the possibility of setting up a scheme such as you are asking for a legislative permanent scheme only a couple of member states were in favour but a vast majority were totally against. there is not the political climate today to make it possible to propose such a scheme.
but again there will always be some sort of mechanism.
of course in the medium term this will mean that we can distribute the responsibility a little better in the european union and that we can help more people. however there will always be differences between the member states.
it will take some time before it works in all member states but it will mean that all member states will have the possibility of receiving asylum seekers in a fair transparent and humane way.
as the commissioner very honestly said we cannot have such a scheme if the council sets its face against a permanent legislative solution.
we are here today with the oral question for the simple reason that the member states are not providing the solidarity which we in this house wish to see.
we now all have to work to see whether these kinds of solutions are something we can work with when the member states will not help us by coming up with a permanent legislative proposal.
however today it is clear that economic and political enlargement of europe is not enough to have europe truly integrated as a community of values'. we need a new wave of enlargement that of europe's conscience.
the new eu survey of water quality in ireland indicates that almost two thirds of people say water quality is a serious problem while half consider that the quality has deteriorated since.
fifty so ageing issues are not just something that are of interest to people in here but are of interest to people right outside amongst our constituents.
can i please underpin the comments already made by a few colleagues about the importance of intergroups?
i am co president of the intergroup on ageing and as you may be aware over fifty of voters this year for the very first time will be over fifty as opposed to under.
i would plead with you mr president to use the qualities of clarity and fairness which are the hallmarks of your presidency to make sure that the work of intergroups can be facilitated and not hindered from here on. have we got your promise please?
despite the valuable work of intergroups they have been marginalised over the last year and effectively they are being shut down by in house parliamentary rules that refuse intergroups meeting rooms and slots in the schedule of the strasbourg sitting.
parliament will be much poorer for their extinction and the people of europe will not be as well served.
in intergroups meps can unite across the political divide to deal with particular issues.
for example the oldest intergroup the one on disabilities vets legislation that goes through this parliament to be sure that it is disability friendly and educates other parliamentarians about disability issues.
i think we need to sort this out quite urgently before the next term because otherwise intergroups will be a thing of the past;
mr president it is more than a month since you visited gaza but the latest figures from the israeli government show that nothing has changed still no materials for reconstruction are being allowed through the checkpoints;
no material for schools no material for industry.
perhaps this would be a good time for this parliament to try and influence opinion by hosting an exhibition of the t shirts to which reference has been made by another member clothing produced to the design of soldiers such as the sniper from the givati brigade whose design incorporates a pregnant palestinian woman and the slogan one shot two kills'.
there are other reports in israeli newspapers of other designs that are more racist more extreme more vile.
such an exhibition might encourage members to question whether or not we should be continuing with the eu israel association agreement in the present circumstances.
last week the issue was discussed by ministers under the irish presidency.
lending taxpayers' money without judging solely upon their economic viability is folly of the first order.
and let me remind you that the eib lent almost eur eighty billion last year in order that the eu can broaden and deepen its control.
the second proposal is to increase the budget for external lending.
and astonishingly the committee on budgetary control stated that the soundness of funded projects should not be assessed only in terms of economic relevance confirming both the political nature of the eib and that the eu does not have a grip on the realities of the market.
well neither is justifiable given the eib's performance to date.
i think it is a question of credibility also of the financial institutions that we do not forget what we subscribed to in new york two years ago and in paris one and a half years ago. the eib is in the vanguard in this respect among the financial institutions.
i think we can be better on cohesion in the next couple of years.
madam president this was such a wide spectrum of interventions and opinions and issues that i certainly cannot respond to each and every one of them in the very limited time so i promise to every member of the european parliament who has posed a question or made a remark that we will come back individually to those issues which i cannot
i agree with that as well.
we have lots of experience with microcredit outside the european union and i think it is gaining in importance within it as well. i have heard well that you encourage us to take more risk.
there is one big issue that has been the focus of the discussions in washington last weekend and that is climate change and sustainability and i can tell you that the wind is not necessarily getting any more favourable to these issues.
finally i know that questions of accountability are always of utmost importance and so are questions of transparency.
i think a couple of issues are really of key importance for me now because i heard the words focus' and coordination' again and again and i can report to you that in the context of the economic resilience initiative for the southern neighbourhood and the western balkans in connection then with the external investment plan of the european union and the g twenty initiative on africa
second point i thank you very much for your remarks on the external activities of the european investment bank.
but we are also the biggest multilateral borrower in the world because we refinance by going to the capital markets for eur seventy one hundred billion per year through the sale of eib bonds so we have an accumulated debt also of more than eur half a trillion and that means we have to be very serious when we talk about sustainability.
one malta bulgaria cyprus croatia poland slovakia finland portugal spain greece italy lithuania these are the first countries on that list and i think that reflects the needs and the fact that probably roughly three times as much per capita goes into a country like spain and that in comparison to my own country shows that the european union and the european investment bank are aware of our special responsibilities vis vis those countries which are either relatively new in the union or are in difficulties and spain is a wonderful example where the eib could make a substantial contribution
so investments per gdp estonia;
however i want to get away from the impression that comes back in reports and questions again and again that we so to speak favour the old big strong member states of the european to the detriment of the small ones. i shall read out the eib's two thousand and sixteen signatures as a percentage of gdp and i shall just mention the list in the order of magnitude
it is very evident that more and better coordination is absolutely urgent if we do not want to confuse our partners in the political and economic world.
it is only roughly ten of what we are doing but it is gaining importance because it becomes more and more evident that the european union is sometimes serving its interests best if it looks beyond its own borders and takes activities outside the union and the eu bank is ready to support that. i believe in the future there will be more.
that is a principle that goes beyond economics of course but also when it comes to the principle of economic viability and the concentration of social and environmental standards which we observe closely.
this is a cultural issue for a bank which invests but it must not be overlooked that this bank is capital market based.
i fully share that.
to a thorough improvement of the situation and we are proud of that.
there is one big issue within the european union that we have to address and we will address it now with the new york regulation for efsi ii and that is cohesion.
i think it has been a mistake in the original legislation and you have something to do with that legislation by the way for efsi because the combination of the esif and efsi was very difficult in the old regulation and with the new one that is now on your desks i think this will get better.
it is necessary for the eib to systematically pay attention to mid and longterm effects when defining investment actions and its funding decisions and to investing in projects of systematic importance in the long term.
should act so as not to complicate the criteria and the rules.
madam president commissioner president hoyer we are discussing the report on the annual report of the eib for two thousand and fifteen and let me say from the outset that this has been another successful year for the european investment bank. in my opinion the bank has been particularly successful and efficient in two areas.
the second area is microfinance which indeed with limited funds has been able to sustain a large number of jobs in the european union. the focus of our report here in this discussion is how to increase investment because investment is something which is very much needed in europe.
however i would invite you to consider whether enough practical steps have been taken to better manage cohesion objectives because it is not only a question of better reporting but of very carefully looking into the way of actually interacting with the commission if you like to devise the proper policy responses.
regarding cohesion i have received information which recognises that the thirty horizontal goal for cohesion investments has not been reached over the past two years.
one issue that you mentioned at the beginning of your intervention this morning president hoyer has to do with the continuing significant differences as to regional gaps having to do with the investment gap and this clearly is a central challenge for the union as such
so we come to the subject of cohesion and i have raised this issue in previous partsessions.
since we face the existential over arching challenge of increasing divergences.
in this regard i would like to express my appreciation for the information which you mentioned also coming from the bank on issues raised in previous sessions.
substantive ongoing relationship with parliament.
makes the point that there should be a revision of the makeup of the vicepresidents because they come from only some of the member states.
in this regard i would like to draw attention to two paragraphs in mr ali's report paragraphs seventy five and. seventy six one deals with the concerns of the european ombudsman about the shortcomings in mechanisms to prevent possible conflicts of interest in the eib and the other
in two thousand and sixteen it was lower but we know that two big gas pipeline projects are pending to the value of eur three billion.
if we then look at the lending of the eib there is still a lot of fossil fuel lending in two thousand and thirteen at the level of eur two billion;
if we want to achieve zero emissions by halftime this century then any investment in fossil fuel infrastructure should be considered very very very carefully.
that is big expenditure and the issue is that investments in those infrastructures are there for decades.
it is not a transition;
i suggested that an in specie distribution of some of the bank's uk loan book into a uk sovereign fund might be an idea.
the eib is propping up economies which are structurally unsound as a result of their membership of the euro in greece the eib has invested ten of greek gdp but worse this report suggests the eib should call for even more capital and demand even more from the british taxpayer.
the existing contingent joint and several liabilities run to the order of some eur five hundred billion.
that's a worrying sum when one considers the political motivations behind it.
talking of innovative instruments and in view of the forthcoming parliamentary reports on efsi implementation and efsi.
i sometimes still read statistics from the very first beginning of the efsi implementation which show a different direction but nowadays it can be clearly said that efsi projects are particularly where efsi projects are needed most and we are very proud of that.
the external lending mandate of the ecb;
this facility will enable greek banks to provide trade and export finance services to greek smes and mid cap companies at a time when no commercial lines with private banks are available. through this facility the eib acts as a secure bridge between international and domestic banks supporting trade and export finance and therefore having a direct concrete impact on the business of
i can assure you that we put very strong emphasis on being a leading financial institution when it comes to issues such as due diligence compliance good governance transparency and accountability.
consequently we vest our hopes in the ongoing revision of the financial regulation and fifteen sectoral legislative acts the so called omnibus' which aims inter alia at simplifying and streamlining the implementation of financial instruments and budgetary guarantees.
over four zero smes are to benefit from enhanced access to finance thanks to efsi support and we have already approved twenty two investment platforms most of them being the result of a very fruitful cooperation with national promotional banks.
eu. the central role we play in efsi does not mean that we retreat from the rest of the world.
let me therefore conclude by assuring you that the eib stands ready to live up to its institutional responsibilities both operationally and in terms of reporting and we welcome our regular exchange with this parliament on our activities and their impact on the ground.
i am particularly proud that the eu bank continues to be the world leader in climate related finance as well as of the effect our financing has on young people.
they are only selected if they would not have been financed by the eib group in the same period or to the same extent without efsi support as specified in the efsi regulation.
we are very grateful for the open and cooperative attitude of parliament on this issue especially for ensuring that sufficient resources are attributed to this instrument which will allow the eu bank to continue its global level activities on behalf of the union.
in preparation for this plenary debate we also sent a state of play on the recommendations tabled in the previous report to the rapporteur mr pirinski the respective committee secretariats and the meps who were closely involved in the drafting process.
i am firmly convinced that this calls for a further use of financial instruments.
as a matter of fact it has changed our dna.
in recent years the world has become more integrated and more challenging than ever before.
the reports we are discussing today suggests that this oversight consists of a more structured exchange and although in principle i have no objection to discussing the idea i believe we must discuss how future arrangements might work.
i am aware that additionality as we have just heard is central to efsi and that we need to do more to communicate and demonstrate it better based on concrete examples of projects.
the eib's external lending mandate is indisputably the most effective and efficient eu financing instrument and a powerful multiplier of eu external action.
efsi has been a success so far.
there were also numerous hearings with other members of the bank's management committee and services.
two weeks ago we activated the trade fund facility.
in relation to the eib's economic resilience initiative which comes on top of our normal lending to africa and the neighbouring countries a brief reference to let you know is that this is already there on the ground and is delivering results.
i strongly support what commissioner moscovici has just said about the need to continue our engaged work in the fight against youth unemployment.
i insist on the wording the real economy' because this is where we work.
in addition public funding and traditional instruments such as grants will not be able to solve all the existing and new challenges europe faces.
two thousand and fifteen investment is recovering in the european union but large differences in regional and sectoral investment performance remain and we need additional initiatives and projects in order to address this investment gap.
sound public and private long term investments as well as the acknowledgment of the bank's important role outside the european union.
taking into consideration the current political and economic climate it is unlikely that in the future we will have more or even the same amount of resources available not only to support investment but in fact for eu priorities in general.
but issues raised in the reports are also relevant for the future so if you agree i will not limit myself only to.
we must therefore find intelligent ways to maximise the efficiency and effectiveness of available public resources namely by crowding in private investors and making full use of the capacity of financial institutions consequently leveraging public money and making more funds available for the real economy.
two zero i would like to take the opportunity to mention efsi and how it can finance investment trigger growth and the creation of jobs.
allow me to give you another concrete example where our innovative and financing products make an impact in this case in a country hit by the financial crisis.
overlaps should be avoided and coordination should be demonstrated.