- “Thank you, Madam President, for being with us once again. We always appreciate having exchanges with you at the risk of surprising you. I'm going to talk about the digital euro, which is an important file. It's of vital importance given the geopolitical context that we face. I welcome the fact. That are. Parliament at its last plenary, adopted two amendments which provide massive support for an ambitious digital euro and which will hopefully guide and steer the Parliament's team during negotiations so that they can fight their corner. Now, currently, I think the sector, after expressing reticence, has now been won round and understands the importance of this and that they want to support the process. But I do believe. That when it comes to the technical and operational modalities and the concern that has been expressed there, we do need to get to work on this. For example, the private sector believes that existing Infrastructure and standards should be used to the extent possible, whereby the ECB seems to take the view that we should also be developing new standards and infrastructure to ensure interoperability of the system. Given that that's the case, could you tell us what is missing among the infrastructure and standards that currently exist, and how can we make optimal use of existing infrastructure to have an optimal digital euro? I would also like to ask you about the distribution of the digital euro by possible non euro stakeholders through wallets. Apple pay for example. Would you put a brake on that type of development possibility so that we can have sovereignty of European payments? Thank you.”
Digital euro
- “Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you both. Thank you to both of you for being here and your explanations. And thank you for your frankness and your cautioning, which really should push us to convey this and how important this issue is to those concerned. I know we have the means to do it, but it is our duty to do it. Let me just speak to the following points that now, some of which have been tackled by our colleagues, we might get some more some more clarification if we can. Firstly, I'd like to hear how you assess the new TVA VAT package that the European Council adopted last December to fight against VAT fraud in the digital era. New rules as to how to e-invoice and declaration, uh, in real time. Do you think these rules are a step in the right direction? Secondly, and we mentioned this, what problems do you have with cooperation with Member States? What problems do you encounter? Coordinating with the 27 member states is absolutely a decisive factor. How can the Parliament help you to solve these problems? If you have them and you're deploying? The fight against cross-border organized crime is not a priority at the European level, and that VAT fraud is not a not a priority. Do you have some explanation as to why this might not be a priority? Thank you very much.”
VAT harmonisation
- “Thank you very much, Madam President and Madam Commissioner. I'd like to thank our rapporteur for this report, which analyzes the situation but also provides suggestions for how to achieve the Savings and Investments union. The draft report goes even further and sets out the urgent measures that should be taken. These three reports have been approved in theory but were often slow to take action. There are lots of believers and very few of those who actually practice what they preach. I'm glad that the Commission has published a proposal to change the rules on securitisation. I'd like to encourage my colleagues to be ambitious in our work, and to create an extra lever to create conditions for financing the economy for SMEs and European households. Thank you.”
European Banking Union
- “Merci.Thank you, chair. And thank you, president, for being here today and for your insights. I would like to stress how important this digital project is. Our group shares the strategic ambition to put in place the digital euro. And also given the the way the international situation is developing. Stablecoins of course, should exist and they should be regulated to protect European investors. Or speculators of course, have their own way of calling them. Now of course. The three advantages that you mentioned. I would add that there is an added guarantee of value for investors. So we have to be patient in this Parliament. We are looking forward to working on this. But there are also concerns that perhaps exaggerated at times what we should address them. I recently saw a study. By European banking associations, and they expressed their concern about the cost of putting in place the European or the euro, the digital euro. And this was a quite a significant cost according to this association. Is that surprising to you? Do you think that is in line with the assessments carried out by the European Central Bank? And if that is not the case, why is there a difference in terms of these assessments? Thank you.”
Digital euro
- “Thank you very much. Glad to have you here this afternoon, Madame. So glad to have you here to hear about the ten years of the SSM. And you've made significant progress, and I hope that it will continue to be a strong pillar of the European banking system in the years to come. Now, there are some concerns expressed by European banks, and one that we often hear from them is that standards are complex and they want simplification. Of course, you can have simplification and organized, well organized rules. So this is an issue in terms of competitiveness. But I think we should help banks so that they can focus on risk management in an effective way rather than them spending their energy ticking boxes on a sheet. So I wonder how you look at this issue within the SSM finding the right balance between relevant rules and regulations, while at the same time not having an excessive amount of red tape created for banks.”
Overall simplification of regulation in the EU
- “Thank you. Chairman. My thanks also to our rapporteur for his work on this file. The report tackles issues that we agree are vitally important. Firstly, simplification. It can never be done to the detriment of proper scrutiny. The report offers a clear warning against informal generalisation of financing with no link to costs. We also underscore the importance of traceability, access to data, and the key role played by Parliament as a budgetary authority and discharge authority. We agree that the R. Should be fully integrated into the whole architecture of the next MFF, so that we do not rehash past mistakes. Our priority for this file will be reflected in our amendments. We want to protect the scrutiny role of Parliament. As a budgetary authority, we need to look at traceability and integrity of funds. We need transparency on final beneficiaries and effective access to data for the European Parliament, for the European Court of Auditors. Olaf and the eppo. We would like to underscore the importance of modern and interoperable auditing systems in member states. We would like to see a harmonised progress on, uh, these systems in member states, uh, ensure performance based indicators. We need a credible anti-fraud measures so that we can pre-empt and detect fraud and ensure effective recovery of any misused funds so that those funds can be reallocated, as they should be within the European Union budget. Thank you.”
Accounting and auditing of EU budget
- “Thank you very much. Thank you very much. This lucid report confirms the diagnosis in the Draghi report, namely, that the complexity of our tax rules are a clear brake on competitiveness of European business. We need to set this straight and the proposed Directives on taxation of revenue streams. Benefit is a step towards a fairer, more integrated, more effective approach without questioning the sovereignty of Member States. But we need to give our businesses the means to compete on an equal footing in the global markets and avoid taxation competition between member states, which only benefits our opponents. The simplification and harmonisation of taxes can and must become a lever for a union for saving and investment. Thank you.”
EU competences on taxation
- “Thank you chair, and many thanks to our guests for being here tonight. We all agree this is a complex file, multi-dimensional and very passionate. And of course we need many aspects reassurance, limits, safeguards and so on. But it seems to me sometimes that there is a still a confusion, a voluntary or not, between the two possible main use cases of digital euro. First, as you said, to provide a digital alternative to cash as public money. And second, to bolster a pan-European payment solution With the help of digital euro infrastructure and far from any speculation. And I think those two use cases, as you said, and you explained why very clearly, in my view, are both necessary and I do I do share this view. And if we agree on this, and I hope we can agree on this, even if we will have to work on many, many aspects and many, many details. I don't think we should wait, because if we need ten years to put the digital euro into in place, I think the private alternatives such as stablecoins, they want to wait. So my question would be maybe to you, Mr. Cipollone. We had many discussions before and thank you again. Um, how what is your assessment of how long would the ECB need to make the digital euro a functioning CBDC? Once a political agreement is reached between the co-legislators? And can you explain the maybe the steps that will take place once the legislative framework is is confirmed? Merci.”
Digital euro
- “I will be entering amendments to ensure that there are lower risk weights for the most safe and simple activities. The rapporteur's position is very clear that we need to improve the supervision of cross-border securitisations, and that Parliament needs to ensure that there is the simplest and most effective supervision for possible. The idea of a lead supervisor would provide this clarity and effectiveness. I support the position of the rapporteur to return to the current situation on delegating responsibility for due diligence. Those who carry out do due diligence are responsible for their work. As the Commission is suggesting that this responsibility is to be transferred to the investors. The risk is that we are. Going to reduce rather than expand the scale of the securitization market in Europe. As for the administrative sanctions, we do need to think carefully about this part of the text so that we get the right balance. We need to incentivise respect for the rules and avoid duplication of sanctions that are already found in sectoral legislation. We also need to ensure that sanctions are not disproportionate, so that they do not dissuade other investors from investing in a market that we want to see develop. I'm sure that I will go into more detail in the ongoing negotiations, and I think that this is a very encouraging project. Thank you very much.”
Financial regulation
- “Merci, madame. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Colleagues. Well, this is the first real technical text on realising our savings and investment union. So it's important that we, uh, work very carefully on it. I'd like to thank the commission for the proposal. I'd like to thank the rapporteur for his draft report. These are two documents which provides us with a solid base to work upon, and we share the overall approach to the subject and the philosophy that underlies it. I would agree with colleagues on the analysis of the Draghi and letter reports. They state very clearly that securitisation is an important tool for further developing the capital markets in Europe, and that is the spirit in which we are entering into into these negotiations. We need to ensure that capital requirements are proportionate to the underlying securities that are being securitized. As has already been said, we also need to ensure that financial stability is not endangered. So I would like to welcome the rapporteur's proposals in that light. He fine tunes the risk weightings that are applicable to Securitisations. I think we can go further to ensure that the capital requirements are entirely proportionate to the risks of the different types of securitisation out there. Following that logic, we support the proposal from the Commission to create a new category of securitisations, which are resilient securitisations. They have stronger guarantees behind them and they should benefit from more advantageous treatment.”
Financial regulation
- “We feel that this is an interesting step. We'll need to take a closer look at that if we decide to take that forward after a transition period. A number of conditions would have to be met for that to happen. Particularly, we would need to see an impact assessment and alignment with international standards. I do have some reservations on the broadening of the scope. This is something others have mentioned. Broadening that to companies with a turnover of over 40 million. I think that that would require perhaps a little bit more reflection in many of our texts. We're dropping that threshold. Then we realize the threshold is too low. So I would like us to handle that with a lot of care in how we decide to take it forward. Similarly, a harmonized text base could lead to increased complication in terms of the red tape. So we need to make sure that we have measures in place that take account of the specificity of how member states tax companies. Now, having said all of this, let me thank our rapporteur once again. I'm sure that together we'll be able to achieve a balanced position. We all share the aim ultimately behind this text.”
EU competences on taxation
- “Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Thank you very much, Commissioner, for being here today, for this exchange of views on the delegated act. Now, I support the general logic of the text, but I do have some questions I'd like to ask you for some further information. Thank you for being here to respond to these questions. First of all, in this delegated act, you have a different a different option for non-material activities when it comes to reporting. And I don't really want to have a new category created under the guise of simplification. Could you perhaps give me some reassurance on that point? And secondly, the omnibus changes the taxonomy via the CSR. And we support that ambition to ensure for more consistency between all of these texts. However, I would like to know about the impact of these changes on other legislative texts, especially those on the green bonds. Thank you. I'd like some reassurance on that point as well. Thank you.”
Green Taxonomy
- “Thank you, Chair, and thank you to everyone for this very informative hearing. Maybe two questions from my side, the first one for anyone who wishes to respond and maybe also to everyone in this case.
I was quite surprised when we started to work on the package to learn that no one, not the Commission and no one else, can say how many private securitizations actually happen in Europe. Therefore, the Commission proposes for private securitizations to be registered at repositories.
In my mind, it would of course be essential to ensure sufficient market confidentiality and make sure that this information is a tool for supervisors. I would like to have your assessment of the value added or the disadvantages of this change, especially given that the costs of this registration do not seem very high.
But I would like your assessment of this and maybe a more specific question for AFME. Thank you for your presentation. I would like to come back to the issue of a significant risk transfer. From your perspective, what are the potential benefits and risks if this reform were to increase the use of SRT by European banks? Thank you.”
Financial regulation
- “(15:37:34 – 15:39:19): On behalf of our shareholder reporter Ludovi Todor, a few words. The amendments we have tabled build on the key areas already reflected in the reporters' initial position. Our goal is to go further to deliver a clearer, more robust proposal that guarantees both data protection and operational efficiency by design. First, we are calling for the initial flow of information between Eurofisk and the EPO and OLAF to be strictly limited to what is necessary. Second, armaments introduced preventive mechanisms to guard against untargeted searches and the automatic attribution of access to an ongoing investigation or prosecution. Alongside this, we are requiring comprehensive ex post access logs. But most importantly, we envisage these safeguards to be built into the commission's technical implementation from the outset. Third and finally, we address the question of resources. The EPO and OLAF must receive adequate additional funding to implement these new responsibilities. We believe this amendment strike the right balance and we look forward to further work. Thank you. Thank you. Rasmus Andreessen is not here. Okay. So I give the floor back to the rapporteur. I don't have anything to add on behalf of the rapporteur, mister Hachi Bandela. Thank you.”
Privacy & law enforcement
- “Thank you, Madam President, for being with us once again. We always appreciate having exchanges with you at the risk of surprising you. I'm going to talk about the digital euro, which is an important file. It's of vital importance given the geopolitical context that we face. I welcome the fact. That are. Parliament at its last plenary, adopted two amendments which provide massive support for an ambitious digital euro and which will hopefully guide and steer the Parliament's team during negotiations so that they can fight their corner. Now, currently, I think the sector, after expressing reticence, has now been won round and understands the importance of this and that they want to support the process. But I do believe. That when it comes to the technical and operational modalities and the concern that has been expressed there, we do need to get to work on this. For example, the private sector believes that existing Infrastructure and standards should be used to the extent possible, whereby the ECB seems to take the view that we should also be developing new standards and infrastructure to ensure interoperability of the system. Given that that's the case, could you tell us what is missing among the infrastructure and standards that currently exist, and how can we make optimal use of existing infrastructure to have an optimal digital euro? I would also like to ask you about the distribution of the digital euro by possible non euro stakeholders through wallets. Apple pay for example. Would you put a brake on that type of development possibility so that we can have sovereignty of European payments? Thank you.”
Digital euro
- “Thank you very much, Madam Chair. My group Supports the proposal. We feel it's going in the right direction when it comes to taxing multinationals. This is a good step forward to deepen the single market, and we feel that this works well with regard to our approach to multinationals. Setting out a common base would be a first step to simplify bureaucracy for companies and bureaucracy. And I feel that we must have two priorities when it comes to setting out the Parliament's position. We need to reduce the cost of compliance for businesses working across several member states, and we must ensure that the member states are involved when it comes to setting out the right foundations to ensure that tax avoidance is avoided. And I'd like to thank the rapporteur for her work. This is a good basis on which to begin working. And as I have said on other occasions, we must work together, keeping a close eye on what the OECD has had to say when it comes to tax regimes around the world, we must ensure that we're working to simplify. And since that first draft report in 2023, certainly a great deal of progress has been made, particularly when it comes to enhancing pillar 2.2 of the OECD. As to the taxable base, the rapporteur has included a new formula for the distribution.”
EU competences on taxation
- “Thank you very much. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you. President. Now, I'm not going to use any acronyms in my speech. I hope you're okay with that. The difficulty will be to answer your question without acronyms. Anyway, I'm sure a man who can take on significant challenges, says Mrs.. Mr. Boyer. Now, I'd like to talk about our concern, and it's not the concern of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee only. It's about what kind of reaction we should have when our rivals engage in deregulation, sometimes on a very large scale. And that puts our banks at a huge competitive disadvantage in a in a dangerous fashion. So how can we strike a balance between the stability of the system that we all feel extremely strongly about and the stability of our banks, our competitiveness of our banks? Let me give you an example. There's an ECB working group focusing on simplification. You referred to it in fact, and it is working on proposals to streamline the regulatory framework in Europe, especially when it comes to M to MRL. That's more or less 28% of weighted risk while outside the EU, these same assets. We're talking about 22% of the cases in the US. There are less requirements there in the US. They're actually known as Tlac. I'm sorry I said I wasn't going to mention acronyms, but there you go. Tlac. So I'd like to know what your view is in general, but also what your opinion is of this particular case. Thank you very much and sorry.”
Financial regulation
- “Thank you, Madam Chair. Commissioner. President Lagarde, the digital euro was decisive before decided before the, um, election of President Trump. Now, it's vital all the member states and all EU citizens now have this Possibility of a payment system. And the digital world is growing and the ECB has a proposal we can discuss. The Commission and the council are working on it with the general approach at the council. But we colleagues have to act on this. This is a complex, multi-dimensional subject that we need to address at the vote on Johann's report. Excellent report. There are two amendments where we can take a strong position on this subject and to start negotiations based on a positive vote for a ambitious digital euro. So I call on everyone to vote in favour of those two amendments. Thank you very much.”
Digital euro
- “Thank you chair. Thank you. Rapporteur. Colleagues. We agree with the general thrust of this report. It's an excellent document. Good basis for our work. Our agencies have been called upon to do more and more tasks, and they need to have suitable resources. There are notes here in terms of weaknesses, particularly in terms of procurement, internal controls and budgetary planning. And as others have said, cyber security issues should be treated as a cross-cutting priority for all of our agencies. We agree with many points in the report and we attach particular importance to some of them. For instance, if there is a justification for a budgetary carry over, that's one thing. But if there is a structural problem, that is another. If there is a delay and ensuring that there is adequate financing, particularly if an agency is to be given an enlarged mandate, it is to be given additional tasks, then of course, it should be given the additional means necessary to carry them out. Cost transparency should an agency have several sources of funding? And as I said, stepping up our cyber security and governance requirements, particularly for sensitive agencies, we need our agencies to be credible, robust and operational. And that's the spirit of our amendments. Thanks.”
Discharge of EU institutions and agencies
- “And thank you for for being with us this evening. Thank you. And thank you also for having undertaken all these efforts to simplify the requirements for companies within the framework of their taxonomy reporting and to have listened to their concerns. Allow me, please, to underline here that I do see these changes as positive simplification efforts. I remain committed to the value added that this reporting brings and the journey which companies will take. For example, the green asset ratio of many companies will hopefully improve over time. That is what this reporting aims to help us to measure, and taxonomy allows companies to become more sustainable from a range of starting points. It is not intended to be an exclusive club for the already highly sustainable in my opinion. I had a question about one of my primary concerns in the draft delegated act about the threshold of 10% exemption for reporting of non-material activities. During discussions discussion with stakeholders. There were a range of interpretations as to whether this threshold is cumulative or not. I would like to thank you for the clarified text in the proposed delegated act, that this is a cumulative threshold, and to what extent do you believe that it risks invalidating the taxonomy reporting framework? And could this be a 10% greenwashing waiver? Thank you.”
Green Taxonomy
- “Thank you, Madam President, for being with us once again. We always appreciate having exchanges with you at the risk of surprising you. I'm going to talk about the digital euro, which is an important file. It's of vital importance given the geopolitical context that we face. I welcome the fact. That are. Parliament at its last plenary, adopted two amendments which provide massive support for an ambitious digital euro and which will hopefully guide and steer the Parliament's team during negotiations so that they can fight their corner. Now, currently, I think the sector, after expressing reticence, has now been won round and understands the importance of this and that they want to support the process. But I do believe. That when it comes to the technical and operational modalities and the concern that has been expressed there, we do need to get to work on this. For example, the private sector believes that existing Infrastructure and standards should be used to the extent possible, whereby the ECB seems to take the view that we should also be developing new standards and infrastructure to ensure interoperability of the system. Given that that's the case, could you tell us what is missing among the infrastructure and standards that currently exist, and how can we make optimal use of existing infrastructure to have an optimal digital euro? I would also like to ask you about the distribution of the digital euro by possible non euro stakeholders through wallets. Apple pay for example. Would you put a brake on that type of development possibility so that we can have sovereignty of European payments? Thank you.”
Digital euro
- “(15:22:10 – 15:26:06): 6 minutes, madam chair. Thank you. That is tremendous. I've already had an opportunity to present this draft opinion within our committee. So just allow me to briefly touch upon its main features in light of the amendments that were proposed by various political groups whom I would like to thank. This draft opinion is fully inscribed in the commission's process of simplification, and this is an ambition which I support wholeheartedly. My objective, however, was to strike an apt balance between, on the 1 hand, increased flexibility, which is desired, and on the other, the need to preserve solid assurances regarding transparency, responsibility, and democratic control. So in this light, I wanted to significantly beef up the monitoring requirements, requirements regarding reporting and evaluation as well. In particular, I propose that we reintroduce a complete evaluation framework with systematic introduction of the results and bring them to the European Parliament so that we can maintain political and democratic control in actual fact. And particular attention was devoted to the taxation and statistic aspects of the program with a view to clarify and consolidate them and reassert their priority.
Now regarding the amendments, I'm very pleased to see that there is a great deal of agreement between the various political groups. Many feel, reflected in my opinion, and there is shared support. And I especially welcome the desire to strengthen the program in the area of digital transformation in the single market as well as developing administrative capabilities at the tax authorities. I'm also very pleased at the agreement, which seems to be taking shape regarding strengthening, monitoring, evaluation requirements, in particular, through adopting work programs through implementing acts. And I welcome the proposals that aim to ensure that the committee assisting the commission meet to in order to address the various program objectives and involve the stakeholders as much as possible. Similarly, the objective of better identifying priorities is something that meets with wide support. And in this sense, I would like to include several proposals by my colleagues, in particular, those that wish to improve transparency and allocation of resources and monitoring of progress achieved.
Simplification must remain the guiding light of our work. And in that sense, I fully support the initiatives that intend to strengthen the interoperability of our digital systems in order to avoid any overlap in reporting obligations. We're already working on a compromise proposal, which I hope will meet with wide support. I think that the priority today is meets with wide support, and I rely on you, dear colleagues, to continue the work in the spirit in which it began. Thank you very much. Madam Angelique. Thank you, rapporteur. Angelika Witzing is not here. She will be represented by mister Godsing for p p EBP. Sorry.”
Accounting and auditing of EU budget
- “Indeed, chair. Thank you. And indeed on behalf of Anouk, who became last night for the first time, the proud mom of a beautiful son. So for our group, as you know, improving the access to finance for our companies is a key priority. This mandate. And Anouk would like to stress three main priorities. First, we need to complete the Capital Markets Union. Only then can we unlock cross-border investment and strengthen SME financing. Without integrated markets, our businesses remain stuck in fragmentation and face higher capital costs. Second, we must genuinely cut red tape. Talking about 1 in 1 out is not enough. It must work in practice. Entrepreneurs consistently report that excessive reporting and administrative burdens hold them back. We therefore call for an ambitious simplification agenda with a strong SME and start up perspective and third priority. Europe needs to be a place where innovators stay and scale up, not where they feel forced to relocate abroad. That means making EU funding easier to access, ensuring fair competition and creating a predictable environment where private and public investment go hand in hand. Thank you.”
Overall simplification of regulation in the EU
- “Thank you very much, chair. And thank you to our rapporteur for this work that has been carried out. Now, when it comes to the financial sector and to all sectors, I think in the EU we have a weighty and fragmented tax system with overlapping of divergent national tax systems and for the financial system sector and for all sectors, we should have one objective in mind. That objective should be to have a tax environment that is simpler, more consistent and more predictable for all of the economic players. By favoring financial and tax integration throughout the EU and supporting investment. I therefore support the ambition for simplification and harmonisation that has been put forth. Forth. Forth by our rapporteur and the fact that he focuses on consumers retail banking, that pay the price that is generated by the current tax system as it stands when it comes to. That the rapporteur underscores the fact that the exemption that applies to financial services currently creates a huge economic distortion. The ways forward in the report could lay a solid foundation, therefore, for discussion on the subject matter. Moreover, we should keep in mind that the financial sector is a cornerstone of the European economy, and any measure that would have an impact on it would have a repercussion, repercussions on the real economy and our competitiveness. That is why I have reservations when it comes to sectoral taxes, specifically when it comes to temporary withdrawals on windfall profits that would potentially have a negative impact on the resilience of financial institutions and reduce their ability to be able to rally savings and finance investment. Specifically, when we have the. When we most need it. I should like to thank our rapporteur yet again, and I would look forward to working with him and our discussions on this subject, with this priority of strengthening the capacity of our financial system to support in a sustainable way European economic growth without creating an additional tax burden that would be counterproductive. Thank you.”
Taxation of windfall profits
- “Thank you very much, chair. And thank you to our rapporteur for this work that has been carried out. Now, when it comes to the financial sector and to all sectors, I think in the EU we have a weighty and fragmented tax system with overlapping of divergent national tax systems and for the financial system sector and for all sectors, we should have one objective in mind. That objective should be to have a tax environment that is simpler, more consistent and more predictable for all of the economic players. By favoring financial and tax integration throughout the EU and supporting investment. I therefore support the ambition for simplification and harmonisation that has been put forth. Forth. Forth by our rapporteur and the fact that he focuses on consumers retail banking, that pay the price that is generated by the current tax system as it stands when it comes to. That the rapporteur underscores the fact that the exemption that applies to financial services currently creates a huge economic distortion. The ways forward in the report could lay a solid foundation, therefore, for discussion on the subject matter. Moreover, we should keep in mind that the financial sector is a cornerstone of the European economy, and any measure that would have an impact on it would have a repercussion, repercussions on the real economy and our competitiveness. That is why I have reservations when it comes to sectoral taxes, specifically when it comes to temporary withdrawals on windfall profits that would potentially have a negative impact on the resilience of financial institutions and reduce their ability to be able to rally savings and finance investment. Specifically, when we have the. When we most need it. I should like to thank our rapporteur yet again, and I would look forward to working with him and our discussions on this subject, with this priority of strengthening the capacity of our financial system to support in a sustainable way European economic growth without creating an additional tax burden that would be counterproductive. Thank you.”
EU competences on taxation
- “Thank you. Chair. Is it a good day? Well, I'm very happy that we finally have a draft report that we can work on. I would like to thank the rapporteur for the work he's done. And his report says that in lots of respects, we do not share the same view or the same approach to this dossier. Yay! So I think that confirms that, as we've heard, there's going to be a lot of work that will have to be done before we achieve a result. And no one will be surprised to hear me say that there are two conditions to ensure this create this. And the Europe. The digital Europe has to strengthen the strategic autonomy of the eurozone and the EU. We need a pan-European sovereign payment system. We can no longer be dependent on third country payment systems for cross-border payments within Europe. This public solution is compatible with the potential European private solutions. And secondly, the digital euro has to preserve the role of the of currency within an increasingly digitalised world. I mean, you refer to that when you talk about digitalized CAS. This shouldn't only be private currency in the future, but some form of public currency available for the public. These are two fundamental objectives. They're not universally supported but largely supported. And I don't think your report fully meets those requirements. I don't think a fully offline digital euro is the right solution. We should be able to provide a European solution for all member states. The larger and smaller member states, regardless of whether they have national payment systems, we don't want to leave anyone behind, and particularly not any European citizen.”
Digital euro
- “Thank you, chair, and many thanks to you for the insightful study and for the comprehensive presentation. I think basically the challenges of the taxation of the financial sector are a good example, a good example of the challenges we face on the taxation issues as a whole. Fragmentation in tax rates, tax bases and objectives. High compliance costs and barriers to cross-border activities. And in the financial sector, for example, the clarification could enhance tax neutrality, reduce distortion between member states, and increase transparency for consumers. I would have two questions, maybe, maybe more general, to help us clarify our approach of the of the file, please. First, we all know the complexity of tax harmonization. It is a challenge for decades. What is your assessment of a step by step approach instead of a big bang? That is very. That will probably never occur. And if you could. Agree with this step by step approach, what could be, in your view, the first small step we could accomplish to improve the current situation? And second, in the current geopolitical context, we know that fiscal competition inside the EU is only a profitable to our competitors outside the EU. So I think we should also, especially in the financial sector, we should reflect on a worldwide solution to avoid the discrepancies and lack of competitiveness of our European businesses. I think we should keep this in mind at every stage of our work. Of course I am. I do not underestimate the challenges, but I would like to have your view on that as well. Merci.”
EU competences on taxation