Activities of Olle SCHMIDT related to 2010/2105(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Innovative financing at a global and European level (debate)
Amendments (37)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 a (new)
Citation 1 a (new)
- having regard to the European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet's statement of 1 October 2010 that a financial transaction tax only could work if implemented globally,
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the unprecedented global financial and economic crisis in 2007 revealed significant dysfunctions in the regulatory and supervisory framework of the global financial system, which can be described as the combination of unregulated financial markets, overly complex products and non-transparent jurisdictions, whereas Europe needs more transparent and efficient financial markets,
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
A a. whereas free markets are the foundation of wealth creation worldwide and whereas market economy and free trade create wealth and lifts people out of poverty,
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
B a. whereas it is necessary to strike a balance between the need to take steps that help preserve financial stability and the need to maintain bank's ability to provide credit to the economy,
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
C a. whereas the financial crisis has provided examples of unfortunate features of the international capital market, the fact remains that the world is dependent for its continued economic development on the ability of businesses, governments and individuals to borrow and lend to one another, whereas focus should be upon effective supervision and use of better technology,
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas in the EU in particular the cost of the bail-outs has triggeredworsen a subsequent fiscal and debt crisis that has placed a burden on public budgets and severely endangered job creation and welfare state provision,
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas short-termism and speculation on the financial markets against European government bonds were important aggravating factors in the eurozone sovereign deficit crisis in 2009-2010 and have exposed the close links between the inefficiencies of the financial sector and the problems in guaranteeing the sustainability of public finances, whereas the financial crisis highlighted structural weaknesses in certain EU Member States and notes that the problem of some Member States in financing their debt on the markets can be attributed to inadequate governance,
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Takes note of the work carried out so far by the Commission, but deplores its obvious reluctance to make concrete proposals and its failure to respond to the call made by Parliament in its resolution of March 2010 for a feasibility study on an EU-based FTT; and stresses the need of the comprehensive impact assessment announced by the Commission, calls for the result of the impact assessment and possible concrete proposals by summer 2011, as announced in the Commission communication on Taxation of the Financial Sector;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Emphasises that an increase in the rates and the scope of existing taxation tools and further cuts in public expenditure can be neither a sufficient nor a sustainable solution to address the main challenges ahead at European and global level; stresses, however, that the main focus when addressing these challenges should be on creating means to strengthen the European competitiveness and economical growth rather than only discussing new systems of financing;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Stresses that a well functioning single market is the EU's most valuable tool in a global and competitive world and the main drivers of European growth; stresses that focus should be on strengthening the internal market and on finding ways to spend national and European resources more intelligently by taking a holistic vision of budget reform, covering both expediture and the revenue side of the budget; recalls that spending needs to be delivered in a way which is designed to bring results and new financial instruments for budget delivery must be smart, integrated and flexible;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2 b. Emphasises that removing the remaining barriers within the Internal Market is the best way to promote real growth policies that deliver; notes that studies show that as much as EUR 200 to 300 billion could be saved annually if all barriers to the four freedoms were removed;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 c (new)
Paragraph 2 c (new)
2 c. Stresses the importance of the relaunch of the Single Market and underlines that EU must draw up and effectively implement common rules on the Single Market to enable the Internal Market to serve as relay for structural growth; stresses that efforts must focus on the driving force of the European economy: Europe's 20 million businesses, especially the small and medium-sized ones run by entrepreneurs and other creative spirits;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 d (new)
Paragraph 2 d (new)
2 d. Emphasise that the European Union has a huge asset in its scale and this asset must be used to the full by exploiting the potential of the single market and by using funds from the EU budget to bring added value to how the public sector stimulate the drivers of growth;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 e (new)
Paragraph 2 e (new)
2 e. Stresses that the Commission should adopt a common Strategic Framework, outlining a comprehensive investment strategy translating the targets and objectives of Europe 2020 into investment priorities, indentifying investments needs in relating to headline targets and flagship projects and reforms needed to maximise the impact investment supported by cohesion policy;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 f (new)
Paragraph 2 f (new)
2 f. Calls for a fundamental reform of the CAP with the ambition to reduce the agriculture percentage of the total EU budget, stresses the need for a focus on research and development in the new strategy and to use new resources partly from the old CAP budget to fulfil this goal; calls for the cohesion funds to be more targeted towards the poorest European regions;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 g (new)
Paragraph 2 g (new)
2 g. Emphasises that the EU budget should be further used to leverage investment; stresses that the norm for projects with long-term commercial potential should be that EU funds are used in partnership with the private banking sectors, particular via the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD);
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Considers that reducing tax fraud levels would help to reduce public deficits without increasing taxes; stresses that the European Union should focus on reforming the new VAT strategy in a single market-friendly way, work on the elimination of tax barriers within the single market, modernise e-invoicing rules, update rules on crossborder relief and work towards a common definition on a corporate tax bases;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3 b. Stresses that, as a first step, the question regarding for what end the revenues raised by a global FTT should be used need to be solved; stresses that, due to its global nature, the revenue raised by a global FTT should be used to provide financing for global policy goals such as development and poverty reduction in developing countries and the fight against climate change;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Considers that the introduction of an global FTT could help to tackle the growing and highly damagingto some extent negative trading patterns in financial markets, such as short-termism and automated HFT, and curb speculation; stresses that an FTT would thustresses that a global FTT may improve market efficiency, reduce excessive price volatility and create incentives for the financial sector to make long-term investments with added value for the real economy;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Emphasises the revenue potential of a global low-rate FTT, which could, with its large tax base, yield nearly €200 billion per year at EU level and $650 billion at global level; considers that this would constitute a substantial contribution by the financial sector to the cost of the crisis and to public finance sustainability;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Points out that some EU Member States have already introduced similar types of transaction taxes with no apparent negative impact, stresses that other EU Member States, such as for example Sweden, have experienced strong negative impacts, including massive delocalization of financial activities;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Stresses that within the centralised European market central clearing and settlement services make an EU FTT technically feasible, cheap in administrative terms and simple to implement; recalls, however, that it must be borne in mind that the financial industry is a global and interconnected one, stresses need to be taken competitive inconveniences and risks of relocation of a EU FTT into account, since it would undermine the European economy and the ability to generate revenue;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. DeploreRecalls the recent Commission Communication, which comes down against the introduction of an EU FTT not on the basis of comprehensive, evidence- based research, but on that of the general argument of th, due to feasible competitive disadvantage for the EU economy;
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Stresses that an EU global FTT should have the broadest base possible so as to guarantee a level playing field in the financial markets and not drive transactions to less transparent vehicles; considers, therefore, that all spot and derivatives transactions traded on markets as well as Over-The-Counter (OTC) derivatives should be covnsidered;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Welcomes, in that context, the recent Commission proposals on OTC derivatives and short selling which impose explicit central clearing and trading repository requirements on all OTC derivatives transactions, thus making the implementation of this broad-based EU FTT fully feasible;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Emphasises, however, that since they are based on balance-sheet positions bank levies cannot take on the role of curbing financial speculation and further regulating shadow banking; stresses, therefore, that bank levies cannot replace or be regarded as an alternative to an FTTe importance of financial supervisory mechanisms and transparency in order enhance the resilience and stability of the financial system;
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Notes the IMF proposal for a Financial Activities Tax (FAT), as endorsed in the recent Commission communication; stresses that an FAT is a solely revenue- oriented tax tool and therefore has no dircould deal with the current VAT exemption of the financial sect or iandirect potential to restore market balance or to curb speculation in financial transactions; emphasises, moreover, that even if they are given the broadest possible scope FATs offer lower revenue potential than FTTs; believes, therefore, that an FAT can only be a complement to an FTT raise substantail revenues, calls on the Commission to conduct an impact assessment to further examine this option, and to present the results by summer 2011, at the latest;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Is aware of different options for the management of the additional revenues generated by the taxation of the financial sector at both national and European level; is convinced that in order to safeguard the European added value of the aforementioned innovative financing tools a substantial part of those revenues should be allocated to the EU budget to finance EU projects and policies, recalls that the Commission considers that there is a greater potential for a Financial Activity Tax at EU-level;
Amendment 147 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Fully supports Eurobonds as a common debt management instrument based on mutual pooling of parts of sovereign debt to safeguard low interest rates;U project bonds, calls on the Commission to move forward with an in-depth impact assessment regarding the feasibility of European project bonds;
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Supports the idea of issuing common European project bonds to finance Europe's significant infrastructure needs and structural projects in the framework of the EU 2020 agenda, EU project bonds would secure the investment required and give sufficient confidence to allow major investment project to attract the support needed;
Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Stresses that both tools have a strong double dividend, providing major incentives to shift towards carbon-free and sustainable and renewable energy sources, on the one hand, and significant additional revenue, on the other; recalls, however, that the main motive for introducing a carbon tax is to change behaviour and production structures, since the expected revenue shall decline when production patters shift to sustainable and renewable energy sources;
Amendment 179 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Believes that a European carbon-added tax along the lines of VAT imposed on every product within the internal market would be the least distortive and fairest tool; suggests as an alternative a Border Taxation Adjustment negotiated within the WTO framework to provide for the imposition of carbon tariffs on non-EU products imported into the internal marketcalls for the EU to raise the issue of a global carbon tax in order to rule out competitive disadvantages for the internal market and to strengthen the fight towards carbon-free and sustainable and renewable energy production;
Amendment 182 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)
Paragraph 27 a (new)
27 a. Calls for a re-affirmation of the pledging of 0,7% of Member States' GNI to development aid; deplores that while all EU Member States have accepted this 0.7% target for spending, only Sweden, Luxembourg, Denmark and the Netherlands reached or exceeded this goal in 2008;
Amendment 191 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 a (new)
Paragraph 28 a (new)
28 a. Calls for a change in EU agriculture policies to enable developing countries to compete with their agriculture products on the European market and on their own markets in a fair way; recalls that the EU development aid goal should be to strengthen its partner countries' possibility to create own resources;
Amendment 192 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 b (new)
Paragraph 28 b (new)
28 b. Stresses that effective, high quality developemtn aid delivery needs a particular effort in terms of donor cordination and governance arrangements; believes that tackling the problem of fragmentation in European development aid, causing inefficiencies with both financial and political consequences, would bring efficiency gains estimated up to € 6 billion a year for Member States and additionally facilitate the work of partner country administrations;
Amendment 194 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the European Parliament Policy Challenges Committee, the Commission, the European Council, the EIB, the ECB and the IMF.