Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-05-15-Speech-2-014"
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"en.20010515.2.2-014"2
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"Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, Mr von Wogau’s report contains a very positive assessment of the prospects for the European economy, given the somewhat uncertain prospects for the global economy as a whole at present. The rapporteur and the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs have taken the usual care in drafting this report and I should like to thank Mr von Wogau for his efforts.
The Commission recommendation for 2001 was drafted when the rest of the world was going through a particularly difficult patch. We have seen a recurrence of monetary crisis in the developed countries, such as Argentina and Turkey. We have seen the technological bubble in the new economy burst in the United States. This has not been without a knock-on effect in Europe, in that numerous companies in the United States have cut back or shut up shop in Europe in an effort to reduce overheads. Generally speaking, the problems in the global economy have seriously reduced the prospects for the European economy, to 2.8% for 2001 and 2.9% for 2002, according to the Commission’s latest figures.
The main questions for the European economy, for the European institutions and for the Member States remain the same, despite the change in the international environment. The questions are whether economic policy innovations and methodology are sufficiently well designed to protect the economy of Europe from external disruption and give the European economy the chance to embark on the high road to sustained and stable economic development in the medium and long term.
There can be no doubt that permanently high rates of growth are vital; they are the
if we are to reduce what are still unacceptably high rates of unemployment and boost European competitiveness. The unemployment situation is not unrelated to the question of competitiveness; they are connected because an economy without full employment cannot be called a competitive economy because it is wasting a large part of its potential.
How can we achieve a higher rate of growth? The report tells us that we can only rely on monetary stability, a prudent budget and logical wage demands which take account of price stability. Most of the committee believes that mobilising the market will only increase investments in what are exclusively market tools.
That is why the report calls on the Member States to speed up the structural reforms of capital market, product and labour markets and expresses its regret that there is no timetable for liberalising the energy and gas markets in Europe. I should like to add here that, if and when this liberalisation comes about, the Member States must heed the lessons learned from the upheavals in the United States. Privatising major sectors is no easy task.
The report also calls for greater efforts to complete the internal market. Of course greater effort is needed to complete the internal market, especially the internal market in financial services, because we certainly need a much more dynamic stock exchange in Europe. However, none of this alone will trigger a high rate of growth in the European economy. Structural reforms are needed; we must not neglect public investment, which has been neglected in the past, and we must do this by stimulating public investment, because we are lagging way behind.
My job was to present Parliament with the report on the economic guidelines for 2001. I have warned that, although the crisis in the American economy could endanger us, we are now taking this crisis seriously and, if we are to avoid succumbing to upheavals in the international economy, it would be illogical to neglect any weapon; most importantly, it would be illogical to neglect the weapon of public investment."@en1
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