At the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday 10 September, MEPs approved by 407 votes to 161 with 97 abstentions the own-initiative report by Aurore Lalucq (S&D, French) on the investment needed to make the EU competitive, along the lines of the measures recommended by Mario Draghi in September 2024 (see EUROPE 13704/16).
“The Draghi report painted a bleak picture of our continent’s economic situation. The European Parliament has chosen to respond with this report, which sets out a path towards greater financial independence for the EU, in order to halt its economic and political decline”, said Ms Lalucq after the vote.
EPP amendment. MEPs voted in favour of an amendment on securitisation requested by a number of Christian Democrat MEPs from the EPP group.
A sentence stating that the European Parliament “rejects any proposal that would use securitisation to weaken the EU's macro-prudential framework” has been replaced by more general wording, suggesting that proposals to revive this financial practice should not “hinder [the EU's] financial stability”. The amended text also refers to the proposal to revise the legislative framework presented by the European Commission on 17 June (see EUROPE 13661/26).
“Enthusiasm has faded”, laments the S&D group. In a press release, the Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament (S&D) urged the European Commission and EU Member States to stop “dragging feet on Draghi’s call for massive investments”.
“When we talk about productivity or so-called ‘competitiveness’, the European Commission should have no higher priority than completing the single market, developing the new Saving and Investment strategy, and deepening the integration of capital markets”, insisted MEP Jonás Fernández (Spanish).
See Ms Lalucq’s report: https://aeur.eu/f/icq; and the amendment adopted: https://aeur.eu/f/icp (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)