Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-07-04-Speech-4-198"
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"en.20020704.10.4-198"2
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"Mr President, we should in fact have addressed the Argentina crisis last January, when it was at its crucial point, but the changeover of duties prevented this.
The Argentine situation has improved since December, but we are still faced with tremendous difficulties. A few days ago some incidents took place, in which two people were killed and dozens wounded. Yesterday, the President of the Argentine Republic, Mr Duhalde, announced that the elections would be brought forward to May instead of October.
In any event, when we address the problem of Argentina in these institutions, we should refrain from lecturing. Naturally, I do not think either Parliament or the institutions of the European Union as a whole are in a position to lecture. In particular, it is difficult to do so in the case of a country like Argentina, which has been the prize pupil of the International Monetary Fund and which we have often praised for following this type of policy. The pupil, however, was not as good as it appeared: there has been an excessive accumulation of public debt, uncontrolled public spending and now, as a result, the financial system has collapsed.
I think it is difficult to recommend doctrinaire solutions. On the one hand, I do not think that going back to old recipes of replacing imports, or old recipes of dependency theories, solves anything. They might satisfy us intellectually, but they do not solve anything. Of course, it is equally untrue that the solutions devised at Davos, the solutions of the gospel of neoliberalism, have led the country towards a solution.
I think we need to look for a far more pragmatic solution. There are countries in Latin America which, albeit with difficulty, are overcoming these problems. The best example of this is Chile, but Brazil, under Fernando Enrique Cardoso, also seems to be coping under difficult circumstances. The most important thing is for the European institutions to instigate aid to Argentina, which is a democratic country, with freedom of the press, a high level of culture and excellent economic, commercial, political etc. relations with our Union. We should consider similar aid to that given to Turkey. In Turkey’s case it is possible that this aid may have influenced its role as a strategic country in the Middle East. Argentina may not be in a strategic area, but if we do not help Argentina, there is a danger that the rest of Latin America might follow in its footsteps.
From my point of view and that of the Group of the Party of European Socialists, therefore, the important thing now is not to provide solutions or recommendations, but to ensure that the European institutions and our Governments take action to support this economy and this country which, given the close relationship it has with us, deserves our backing."@en1
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