Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-03-01-Speech-3-142"
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"en.20000301.8.3-142"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, firstly I must thank this House for its serious and detailed work. There is no doubt that the hearings of experts and the debates in committee have provided us with additional high-quality information. There is also no doubt that, throughout the debate this afternoon, we have heard differing opinions about the possible policies. However, I believe that there are also some elements of consensus. We all agree that the current economic conjuncture is good. We also agree about trying to further and benefit from this situation in order to improve conditions and about aiming for a definite improvement in employment. I will briefly comment on these issues before concentrating on the last point which I regard as the essential issue in today’s debate.
Yesterday, as some of you have noted, the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs referred to the improvement in the economic situation in Europe. We currently believe that this improvement, which we highlighted in the perspectives in November, may lead to even better results than initially forecast. Employment is growing at a good rate. Despite yesterday’s figures, we certainly consider that the fact that inflation was around 2% in December shows that this is an issue which must be pursued. However, the rate of underlying inflation demonstrates that the inflationist tendencies are due to certain very specific elements such as the rise in oil prices and exchange rate developments.
When we submitted our report, we referred to the risks posed by growth. We basically highlighted the possibility of encountering difficulties in terms of growth in the USA, and therefore in other parts of the world, and of a sudden rise in inflation. This latter issue may be particularly significant if it causes cost-push inflation. This is why we are continuing to talk about the need for a wages policy compatible with the definitions of inflation which we want to establish.
Parliament’s analysis has highlighted another issue which is the development of risk in the stock markets. The Commission regards this as significant although we do not believe that this is the basic problem. Anyway, we currently have some excellent opportunities to do more. We all agree that, after a decade of very weak growth and intolerable unemployment, certain action must be taken. We need public and private investment. Our levels of research and development are too low compared with our competitors and our low level of employment reflects, among other factors, the imbalances in our labour market. Our aim must therefore be to make this reactivation of the economy long-lasting with strong growth and job creation. The latter element continues to be the Commission’s fundamental objective, as we indicated in the Prodi document submitted for your debate at the Lisbon Summit, in that we are aiming for full employment in the medium term.
What policy should we use to achieve these objectives? In our opinion, the Union’s economy is reactivating but we still have idle production capacity, not only in terms of physical capital but also new sources of jobs. The policy mix to be applied should specifically allow this capacity to be fully absorbed. We must define a macro-economic policy which aids growth. This is not an expansionist policy in the sense of growth for growth’s sake. It is simply a budgetary policy which can be coherent with price stability but which also allows us to have an appropriate monetary policy which contributes to growth. This policy mix will undoubtedly be good for investment and will lead to growth. The EU’s potential for growth must pay particular attention to certain factors, on most of which I believe we agree with Parliament’s analysis. Firstly, private investment must be assisted. The Union must help to promote the spirit of enterprise and to generate employment in this way, but without forgetting public investment. This has been the major victim in recent years and any improvements in public finances must lead to improvements in public investment. However, this must be carried out with respect for our tax consolidation commitments. Our main support in the future must be for research and development and human capital. These are two of the principal challenges for the Lisbon Summit. It is essential that we tackle these challenges with quantified objectives and specific definitions. This will ultimately allow us to achieve our goal of clear improvements in productivity, thus enabling our society to grow, together with a rise in employment which will go some way towards making up the ground lost in recent years. This is the policy which the Commission has defended and will continue to defend in Lisbon."@en1
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