Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-02-27-Speech-3-109"
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".
Thank you, Mr President. On behalf of the Presidency, I would firstly like to thank all the parliamentary groups for their speeches and I will try to be as concise as possible, bearing in mind that there have been many references which have overlapped or coincided.
Many of the objectives which you have raised, such as environmental, social, health, educational and quality of life objectives, require economies whose potential grows, and I must remind the European Parliament that, over the last ten years, the European economy as a whole has only grown by over 3% in one year and by less than 3% in the other years. An economy in these circumstances has to be content with a structural unemployment rate of close to 9 or 10% and I am convinced that not a single parliamentary group present believes that to be a good policy, either in economic or social terms.
I believe that the introduction of the euro has demonstrated that European citizens want more Europe and want economic reforms, and – while Mr Barón is present, since he urged me to also congratulate the Commission on the introduction of the euro – I congratulate the Commission, all the central banks, the governments and all the people who have contributed to the introduction of the euro in Europe, and above all the citizens.
Various speakers have also mentioned the problems of sustainable development, and I believe that they are perfectly compatible with economic development and furthermore that is the clear definition of the type of economic policy we want in Europe.
I would like to point out that the Barcelona Council, in line with the recommendations of the Gothenburg Council, is going to take account of the third dimension of structural reform, that is, the dimension which includes sustainable development and that, following the Laeken European Council, we now have environmental indicators which are going to lead to the first report, which was made public in January 2002, just a month ago, on 17 January, and on 5 March, next week, the Ecofin Council will analyse that report in order to take it finally to the Barcelona European Council which will also allow us to reach agreements establishing the European position, with a view to the Johannesburg Summit on sustainable development.
I perfectly understand the demand from the parliamentary groups and Members that environmental issues must be at the forefront in terms of structural reform, and in this respect I would like once again to stress that the Barcelona Summit is going to bear these issues in mind, not in a generic way, but in accordance with the environmental indicators approved by the Laeken Council.
The candidate countries have been mentioned. The candidate countries are going to be in Barcelona, and they are going to be there to talk about their structural reforms, and therefore, in an informal but effective way, they are going to be able to participate in the debate on the liberalisation of markets in Europe and the increase in growth capacity and I believe that is a good demonstration of the will – not just of the Spanish Presidency, but of all the countries of the European Union and this Parliament – for the candidate countries to participate effectively in the debates on the establishment of European policies, even before the accession process is complete.
The issues relating to small and medium-sized businesses have also been mentioned; I would like to confirm that we are not talking about generic declarations, that the informal meeting last weekend in Aranjuez, in Spain, is going to bring proposals to the Barcelona Council so that the countries make reductions in timetables, reductions in administrative costs and use new technologies intensively in order to achieve this, and that, furthermore, the Commission, before the end of the Spanish Presidency, will make a series of recommendations on certain issues which are essential to small and medium-sized businesses such as the transfer of ownership of family businesses, which over the next ten years may make up approximately 30 to 40% of property transfers within European companies.
Issues such as Basilea II, which has been mentioned by the parliamentary groups and by some Members, are going to be analysed during the Spanish Presidency in the informal Ecofin in Oviedo, where we will hold a debate on the new rules which are going to affect the financial sector as a result of the Basilea agreements, known as Basilea II, on how they may affect the funding of all companies and, in particular, small companies.
It has been rightly pointed out that the labour market is not just a question of flexibility. This is undoubtedly the case, and the public authorities have a role to play on issues such as the defence of workers’ rights, the defence of the creation of active and passive social policies which respond to the needs of workers, the creation of training systems and positive discrimination policies in favour of specific groups such as women or women with young children.
What is absolutely clear, however, is that the best kind of social and labour policy is one that can generate stable and quality employment, and which accepts the idea that on the one hand we have a policy of social protection and on the other we try to give the European citizens the incentive to work rather than receive benefits. That is being used today as an instrument in all the countries of the European Union, and I believe that the benchmarking procedure is useful for analysing questions relating to direct public spending incentives for people to leave behind unemployment benefit and join the labour market with salaries which do not clearly benefit from the fiscal reductions which are taking place in our countries; with formulae which give people receiving unemployment benefit the incentive to accept job offers and with formulae which reconcile training with the needs of companies, as well as extending working life within our labour markets.
I would firstly like to address those who have noted any kind of defect in the excessive deficit procedures, that is to say, the procedures for monitoring the governments’ stability plans.
Finally, Mr President, I would like to refer to the need, which has also been raised by some speakers, for specific timetables to be established in Barcelona. There is no doubt that the Barcelona Council intends to set quantifiable objectives which allow the States to make commitments which the public understands and accepts.
I believe that, by reconciling political positions, which are not necessarily similar, no issues which are clearly sensitive, such as the provision of essential services, in which public authorities undoubtedly have a role to play in terms of guaranteeing the concept of public service, and the concept of quality, I also believe that we can establish processes which create genuine European internal markets which put the European economy in a position to compete with other world economies, now that we have taken the gigantic step, in terms of the construction of Europe, of introducing the euro.
I would like to insist that the Eurogroup and the Ecofin Council have had absolutely no hesitation in confirming the validity of the stability pact and that, with regard to the implementation of the early warning procedure in Article 99, by the Commission, the Council believes that the declarations and specific commitments made by two countries in relation to their compliance in the short term, that is, during this year, and in the medium term, from now until 2004, with the objectives of their stability plans and the stability pact in general, with a balance or almost a balance, in 2004, were commitments which met the needs stemming from our stability commitments.
In this regard, I believe that the Commission has acknowledged that, independently of procedural factors, the efforts and commitments made by both countries are clear and thorough from the point of view of the macroeconomic stability of the European Union and the eurozone in particular.
I would also like to stress that, in Barcelona, from the point of view of competition and liberalisation, the Spanish government, and therefore the Presidency, is going to promote political agreements which represent considerable progress towards the liberalisation of markets, bearing in mind that we are talking about services which in many respects are essential to society, and that they must therefore be accompanied by levels of quality and security of supply, which must not be reduced.
I believe that economic experience does not indicate there are any cases where competition in the market economy has led to the countries involved having worse services than those which do not have competition, but quite the opposite. Nevertheless, efficiency in the allocation of resources, and therefore prices for consumers, can be extraordinarily beneficial. Spain is a good example of this. Spanish family consumers, that is, domestic consumers, have made a saving since 1996 of EUR 2 400 million as a result of the liberalisation of the electricity market, and the same has been true in relation to telecommunications and other markets.
To continue with the same example, I would highlight the effort that Spanish society has made in relation to the modernisation of the labour market, which has reduced the unemployment rate in Spain from 23% in 1995 to 12% in 2002, and that during the current Spanish legislature, that is, by 2004, that rate will be 9%, which is around the European average.
Therefore, liberalisation and competition do not pose a risk for the citizens, but quite the opposite. There is a considerable saving in the cost of public services and a considerable increase in employment, and it is unquestionably the responsibility of the public authorities, the regulators, to guarantee such factors as the quality of service and sufficient supply. I believe that experience, not only in Spain but in many countries of the Union, confirms this.
What is beyond doubt, ladies and gentlemen, is that we are now fortunately at the end of a recession which has been very intense and relatively rapid, as the President of the Federal Reserve, Mr Greenspan, has assured us this afternoon; and what Europe needs is capacity for economic growth."@en1
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