Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-02-15-Speech-4-230"
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"en.20010215.11.4-230"2
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"Madam President, I do not take the same approach as my colleague, Mrs Doyle. The Irish Government's response to the European Commission and to Ecofin has been arrogant and reckless. Reckless, because it has needlessly damaged the standing of Ireland in the Union and because it feeds xenophobia in Ireland by putting in doubt the possibility of the Nice Treaty being ratified. Reckless, because it feeds Eurosceptism in the UK and Denmark and it cannot be in the long-term interests of either Europe or Ireland for either Denmark, the UK or indeed Sweden to remain outside the eurozone.
I deplore the stance taken by the Irish Government. I believe that its position is being driven by the growing Eurosceptism in the two minority government parties. For example the Deputy Prime Minister, Ms Mary Harney, recently indicated her preference for the American economic model rather than the European social model, stating we are closer to Boston than Berlin. I do not agree, however, with the MEP from the PPE-DE, Mr Werner Langen, who is quoted in the
newspaper today as saying that Ireland should be further penalised by the withdrawal of cohesion funds. Such a step would be a gross overreaction as well as being illegal.
I would call again on the Irish Government to accept the Ecofin decision and to sit down with the Commission to discuss how it can best be implemented. I would also call on the Minister for Finance to accept the long-standing invitation from the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee of this Parliament to come and talk to us and explain the Irish position in detail, so that we can understand it and learn from it.
In the Irish Parliament this week, the Minister for Finance outlined five main points on which he claimed he was at odds with the Commission and Ecofin. He claimed that the Commission recommendation and the Ecofin decision are unreasonable, unwarranted and a misreading of the Irish economy. He stated that the Irish tax cuts made over the past three years have been contractionary, not inflationary. He said that the Irish budgets have not been procyclical as measured by the Commission's own calculations. He stated that the Commission methodology overstates fiscal loosening this year because it does not take into account once-off factors such as a shorter fiscal year in 2001 and he stated that an opinion would have been a more appropriate step than a reprimand. The Commissioner has dealt to some extent with some aspects of that case. I would like to hear Commissioner Solbes address this House today in detail on those points so that we can have some clarity as to the issues that are actually in dispute between the Irish Government and the European Union."@en1
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"Irish Independent"1
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