Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-10-03-Speech-3-323"
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"en.20011003.9.3-323"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I would like first to thank my friend, Karla Peijs, for her excellent report, in which she aptly describes the vital importance structural reform measures have for the prosperity of our societies. Rarely does one see such excellent reports. I wish to focus on two matters.
The public finances of a State in the euro area are no longer the private affairs of that State. Any budgetary imbalances in an individual State, particularly a large one, may have an impact on the stability of the entire euro area. For this reason, recent attempts to water down measures to reform state economies are worrying. Many governments in recent years have relaxed their budgetary efforts, relying mainly on cyclical receipts, such as the proceeds from mobile telecommunications system auctions. The consolidation process is still far from being complete, however. The future objective is for a ‘close to balance’ or ‘in surplus’ budgetary position. Member States must honour the commitments of the stability and convergence programmes unconditionally.
It will take perseverance and determination to balance public finances. It will make us susceptible to populist criticisms of thinking of the economy like an accountant or balancing the economy one-sidedly. Nevertheless, this is what we have to focus on. Politicians have to take a few blows after all, but our economy will not be able to take a left hook.
Secondly, the rise in public expenditure in the last few decades has caused the governments of several of the Member States to increase taxation and social welfare contributions, which were already at an unendurably high level in Europe. Simultaneously, the potential for economic growth has been weakening throughout this period. That Last Mohican of orthodox communism, my colleague Mrs Bordes, could also stop talking about class war in this, the third millennium, and admit that the contribution of each and every European to the economy is important. For that reason, work must be financially motivating and the benefits of different social welfare schemes at such a level that they safeguard the basic necessities of a normal, decent life, but provide an incentive for becoming active in all situations. Only in this way can we achieve the ambitious aims of Lisbon."@en1
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