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Universal access to quality education and training significantly boosts the personal development prospects of citizens. In the context of the Pandemic, digital education is a key enabler of research and innovation, fostering economic growth and social cohesion. The Digital Education Action Plan is an important step towards a holistic education and digital skills strategy. This crisis has proven that the use of distance and online learning is essential to ensure the continuity of education and training provision. However, the shift to online learning has aggravated some existing disparities, thus leaving disadvantaged and vulnerable learners behind. I supported this Report as it urges the deployment of the necessary infrastructure universally, making it accessible to more, particularly disadvantaged, learners. It also calls for morer funding to achieve this and calls on the Commission and the Member States to put in place inclusive measures that ensure all population groups can fully reap the benefits of the digital transition regardless of their socio-economic background or age. I believe that digital education is crucial to unlock the potential of the European markets, potentially turning savers into investors, promoting innovation and contributing to strengthening Europe’s position as a global competitor in the digital market.

. – Strengthening the potential of banks to continue lending is vital for companies, especially SMEs to absorb the severe economic impact from the pandemic and to support the recovery. Securitisation can contribute to this as it enhances the functioning of financial markets, performing as a channel that helps to diversify funding sources and to allocate risks widely within the financial system in the Union. With that purpose, this Regulation will increase the potential of the EU regulatory framework on Securitisation by adopting new rules that will allow to better differentiate simple, transparent, and standardised products from complex, opaque and risky instruments. New provisions will require the compliance with transparency and disclosure standards, such as the provision of loan-level data. This will lower barriers to the securitisation process and subsequently improve liquidity and market depth, making securitisations more attractive, especially for non-bank investors. Therefore, I voted for this Regulation as it will improve efficiencies in the financial system by setting a more risk-sensitive prudential framework that will benefit both businesses and citizens through, for example, less expensive loans, credit cards or mortgages.