8.ª legislatura Tunne KELAM

I voted in favour of this report.
I have been advocating an end to the practice of changing the clock twice a year for a long time. This practice was established in the US 101 years ago to maximise the light period of the day. 21st century workers no longer follow natural light cycles of the day, making this old habit redundant.
For many people changing the clocks brings severe psychological suffering, causing sleeping troubles, constant tiredness and distress for several days, or even weeks. Not to mention the practical nuisance of changing the clocks: even if most of our devices are digital and change the time automatically, we still need to check whether we are in the real time and not the old time.
Therefore, I very much welcome the adoption of this report and an early end to changing the clocks, namely on 1 April 2021, when the directive will enter into force. A coordination mechanism will be established with the aim of ensuring a harmonised and coordinated approach to time arrangements throughout the Union

I voted in favour of this report.
This report not only serves to significantly step up the EU’s fight against financial crimes, tax evasion and tax avoidance, but it looks self-critically at how the EU Member States could improve their efforts.
Bringing corruption under control should be one of our main concerns. Corruption, money laundering and tax evasion do not only hamper European economic coherence, they also pose a threat to our societies, our security. The bloody Russian money being white-washed through European banks, or oligarchs purchasing EU passports, and insufficient exchange between national tax authorities is paralysing thorough investigations.
I am glad that the report calls to phase out all ‘Golden Visa/Passport’ schemes. For a European financial police within the framework of Europol with own investigatory capacities, this clearly presumes extended and deepened cooperation and exchange between national tax authorities and respective law authorities.
I do also think we should name and shame the Member States. Their practices harm us all, and this has to stop.
I am also in favour of creating a concrete ECON subcommittee to continue this very important work of the current TAXE, TAX2, PANA and TAX3 committees. This is also showing European citizens that we take corruption seriously and we do aim to fight it to the bone.

. ‒ I voted in favour of the CEF regulation. I am especially pleased that Parliament approved the funding for the defence purposes, namely military mobility. Providing funds that would enable upgrading existing and constructing new transport links to ensure that they meet military requirements is crucial for the EU’s credibility in defending its citizens and territory.
Another crucial aspect that the vote changed concerns transferring from the Cohesion Fund to the CEF which will help to realise EU added-value major infrastructure projects that Member States alone would not undertake from their normal Structural Funds. Using the Cohesion Fund transfer through the CEF by means of direct management by the Commission will guarantee the better use of EU funds, making sure that the funds are given to the best and most mature projects.
To further guarantee the realisation of the TEN-T network by 2030 and finalise the major EU added-value cross-border projects and missing links, the Cohesion Fund transfer should be distributed based on the certain degree of competitiveness as proposed by the Commission and reintroduced by Amendment 2. This competitive approach is further helping with good management of EU funds.