Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-10-26-Speech-2-096"
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"en.19991026.3.2-096"2
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"Mr President, today our Parliament has the President of the European Central Bank as its guest, that is to say the president of the first institution to which the nations of Europe, by who knows what perturbation, have decided, eleven of them at least, to confer to give sovereign power.
Thus, Mr Duisenberg, even though today’s poor attendance does not seem to back up my statement, you are nonetheless the successor to the emperors and popes who, since the time of Charlemagne, have dreamt of unifying our continent by faith or by force. No doubt you will even have more power or influence, in the final analysis, than they ever did, even if it is to be a less flamboyant form of power, since at the end of this millennium which seems to set money up as the ultimate universal value, you are poised to hold both temporal power and spiritual power within the European Union.
Confronted with this – I do not know how to describe it exactly – this “Bank State” or this “Holy Bank”, the Vice-President of which, Mr Noyer, recently explained to us ingratiatingly, but in English, how responsible it felt for the long term whilst governments, on the other hand, gave in to short term whims because they were subject to the vagaries of universal suffrage. Confronted, then, with the omnipotence of this Bank, the excellent report by our fellow Member, Mr Huhne, calls for greater transparency, without however daring to go as far as demanding of you what might pass for exhibitionism, that is to say, ceasing to maintain anonymity regarding decisions.
We can only approve these excellent resolutions, while being aware that there is even more talk of transparency when democracy is being relinquished or sidelined. Let us recall, for that matter, that transparency comes from the Russian
. That is why, Mr Duisenberg, I believe that today’s meeting, and particularly the ridiculous opposition force which Parliament is attempting to exert in relation to the considerable power which has been entrusted to you, can only worry anyone who attaches importance to national sovereignty, which is just one way for nations to keep control of their own fate. I only hope that, aware of the power which has been granted you, you will be able to exercise this power with all the wisdom one could hope for."@en1
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