Peter Boehringer
Bank Regulation
German Bundestag, March 21, 2019,
Plenarprotokoll 19/89, pp. 10642-10643
[Peter Boehringer is an
Alternative für Deutschland Bundestag member from the southern German state of
Bavaria. He is a businessman, investor and author and is currently chairman of
the Bundestag budget committee. He here presents an AfD motion calling for an
expanded right of inquiry by the Bundestag into the doings of the European
Central Bank (EZB). The Target-2 program is part of the euro rescue regime
designed to narrow the spread between German bond yields and those of other members
of the euro zone and whereby the Germans are in effect required to pay for some
of their own exports.]
Herr President. Worthy colleagues.
The motion today presented for an increased
right of inquiry in the Bundestag should properly be a self-starter. Since the
EU institutions exercise ever more power, they must be subject to more
appropriate control. Especially the EZB exercises enormous power. It creates
and moves about gigantic sums, far greater than the German state budget, and
thereby in fact conducts an economic policy even though this is still
characterized as monetary policy. Only a few examples to verify the enormous
influence of the EZB and which quite clearly yield a need for control by us as
the parliament of the largest EU nation of liability:
The EU’s purchase since only 2015 of over 2.5
trillion euros of government bonds, which is in fact an enormous public
financing beyond the official public budget.
Soon, yet more hidden bank and public
financing in the form of long-term credit for the TLTRO-III program announced
for this year of over 1 trillion euros.
The 1.3 trillion default-endangered euros of
the EZB’s Target requirements pertaining to the southern European nations. A default
would be hundreds of billions for Germany.
The planned collectivization of our bank and
savings investment in the sum of over 3 trillion euros.
And naturally the unnatural zero or indeed
negative interest rate policy of the EZB which leads to immense damage for the
savers and the banks. Not coincidentally, we must yesterday hold here an hour
of debate on the emergency merger of the Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank.
Etc., etc.
It is gigantic sums which the EZB has as its
disposal. The German federal budget presented yesterday has on the other hand
only 360 billion euros. And, yes, there is already since 2014 an EZB inquiry
instrument, the so-called bank union inquiry right. It is simply dumb that that
was so weakly drawn up that it as yet could almost never be successfully used.
Patrick
Schneider (CDU/CSU): Rubbish!
In 2018, it was for the first time tried. The
result was the EZB’s most impudent platitudes. The concerned colleagues at that
time openly characterized the answer as farce.
Yet nothing could be done about it. The legal
basis was simply no longer granted. It is as before super difficult to approach
the EZB. Besides, central banks are customarily not independent. Governments
guarantee their existence and, in turn, the central banks purchase the
governments’ paper. Thus is managed in fact a state financing. Thus the EZB
from 2016 to 2018 purchased almost 100 percent of the Italian new net
indebtedness. In many countries the EZB holds over 30 percent of all bonds.
That cries out for parliamentary control since the German citizen is liable for
these amounts, out of which credit based on nothing will be created.
The governments will never exercise a
restrictive control over their central banks. The parliament must have thereon
a right of inquiry, since the EZB policy substantially shrinks the management
scope of future German Bundestags. The presented motion will transfer our right
of inquiry, as yet insufficiently laid down in decrees and [European] Union
law, to the Bundestag’s orders of business. This house can thereby provide
itself with the possibility of publicly debating the mega-decisions of the EZB
which far transcend national budgetary issues.
Today’s motion, on the other hand, does not
deal with the Bundesbank. Why? The Bundesbank since 1999 is only a sub-branch
of the EZB. The risks will be imposed on the taxpayer by the EZB. Besides, the
Bundesbank management frequently and voluntarily comes to this house. An
example: Last week in the audit committee we had a quite good and quite
thorough hearing on Target 2 with the responsible economist and the responsible
manager. It is funny that it was only the AfD delegation that made use of it.
All the other parties and delegations were absent – all. That is so. It was an
official hearing of our committee. There are now three possibilities: First,
the colleagues already know everything about Target 2. Based on the substance,
I hold that to be improbable. Second, they do not understand the importance of
Target 2.
Jürgen
Braun (AfD): Or have no interest!
Patrick
Schneider (CDU/CSU): Are you still speaking on today’s theme?
That would be improbable or flippant. Third,
they accept the Target 2 risks as an Act of God. We of the AfD do not and deem
one who ignores to be irresponsible.
As always, the Bundesbank is present at these
debates. The EZB does not do that. Therefore, vote for the change of the orders
of business. A codification of the right of inquiry pertaining to the EZB is
necessary and in our German interest.
Many thanks.
[Translated by Todd Martin]
