Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-10-03-Speech-3-313"
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"en.20011003.9.3-313"2
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".
Mr President, before I give my comments as rapporteur, I would like to make an objection and ask you to refer it to the Conference of Presidents. In my view, it is absurd to have this debate now, when we had the debate on the Stability Pact this afternoon, and in the meantime, the Conference of Presidents thought it would be worthwhile to find time for a debate on television without frontiers. This does not help to make our work more coherent.
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the report we are about to debate has come at a crucial moment. On 21 September 2001, the European Council acknowledged the importance of the subjects we discuss and assisted us by requesting, for the first time, that the Commission prepare a recommendation on the economic situation of the euro area following the events of 11 September.
Some people might believe that it has been easier to organise economic policy coordination during a period of growth. This was not intentional, even though there have been many fortunate coincidences, such as tax cuts in various Member States, which we can now welcome.
Today, however, we are faced with genuine external shocks, even though the consequences of the slowdown in the United States were already challenging us on the basis of our growth, economic policy coordination is becoming even more difficult, and even more necessary, because, at the other end of the spectrum, European policy now amounts to monetary policy and also because Mr Duisenberg, in the wake of the events of 11 September, made a commitment with his US counterpart to coordinate economic areas.
As the changeover to euro notes and coins draws near, we must make economic and monetary union manage on its own two feet. This is what we invited the Commission to do with its communication, which we welcome. A great deal has already been done and there is still a great deal to do. Member States must conduct their policy in a responsible and autonomous manner. Coordination, however, must help to make this policy as consistent as possible and mutually beneficial. This is what the changeover to the euro represents.
The report that I am commending to Parliament echoes the Commission communication and indicates a number of options, which we believe are essential. First of all, this coordination depends on the Eurogroup and its president, who, we must be able to believe, speaks on behalf of the whole group. Next, the Commission must have an essential role but it cannot approach this as if it were one of its, say, conventional areas of competence. In some ways, this role is more political, in which the Commission must display its ability to make innovative proposals, to develop medium-term prospects. And the European Parliament must be the public forum for debate on economic policy coordination.
In order to achieve this, three courses of action are needed. First of all, we need indicators, harmonised statistics and barometers for the euro area. An economic policy for the euro area is impossible unless we have good instruments to navigate by. I am also aware that some Member States are having a debate on the cost-effectiveness of the indicators. We are clearly in favour of spending a small amount of money so that the indicators can be more effective.
In our view, the second crucial point is the exchange of information, on which Eurogroup members have made a start. We believe it is essential to go further, to take advantage of everything that could enable peer evaluation, with the option of asking the Commission to carry out an assessment of the impact of measures proposed by a Member State as part of its budgetary, fiscal or structural policy.
Lastly, Mr President, we must improve the quality and the coherence of all aspects of the debate. Economic policy coordination in the national parliaments must be integrated. This means integrating the broad economic policy guidelines into the debate on national budgets. It also means that a national debate must be based on the stability programmes. This also means that before we discuss the broad economic policy guidelines in the European Parliament, we want to hear the views of our colleagues in the national parliaments. I shall conclude, Mr President, by saying that this also means we hope to see the President of the Eurogroup come before the relevant parliamentary committee as often as is necessary."@en1
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