Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-03-11-Speech-2-251"
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"en.20030311.10.2-251"2
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"Mr President, Mr García-Margallo y Marfil calls a spade a spade. He stated that the European Union does not have an economic policy. He has contributed to a good debate and I thank him for this.
In considering causes and solutions, the notion of inflexibility and structural reform are often bandied about. We are forever asking the Commission, the ECB and the experts what they mean. I have been struck by the imprecise and inconsistent nature of the responses. At a remarkable conference, Mr Adair Turner, the Director-General of the CBI, said that we must be careful about dismantling the Welfare State and that the agenda for liberalisation in Europe, although useful, represents only a partial response to present challenges. Clearly, the problem of pensions will not be resolved unless there is a large increase in employment rates in Europe. It is essential to mobilise all human potential. A great deal of work will have to go into reforming the labour markets, especially as regards training and qualifications. We must, however, remember that this involves reorganisation and there will be a price to pay.
We must consider why there is a lack of productive public and private investment. One of the reasons relates to the flow of capital, much of which ends up in the United States. Though the financial market might have stimulated global investment over the last decade, I think it is a fallacy to believe that the market itself will initiate a new round of investments in Europe. It does not provide for local development or for the development of SMEs and infrastructure. The European Union should be able to finance effective networks of services of general interest and develop policies on productive enterprises.
We do not only have a supply problem; we also underestimate the problem of demand. Hundreds of billions in paying off goodwill are putting a serious strain on business and are hampering recovery. Far from fearing inflation, the European Central Bank should amend its target and reduce its real rates below zero. Furthermore, even if some Member States have not known how to reform their public finances or been unable to do so in time, the seriousness of the present climate justifies taking measures to support activity, including waiving the 3% rule as a temporary measure.
There are two more points I would like to make. I believe war against Iraq is not just madness, but economic folly too. It will increase public deficits pointlessly in both the United States and Europe, when we want to reduce them. As one of our experts said, the United States is skating on very thin ice. The future growth of that country will require us to make even greater demands on our capital reserves. This is yet another contradiction. Europe cannot therefore just tag along with the United States. Europe must devise a policy of her own. We in Europe have our backs against the wall. The Convention, however, is silent. As for the calls for economic government, they bring to mind a scene from the film
. In it a military unit is engulfed in fog, everyone is stumbling around and a soldier is heard calling for his captain."@en1
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"Shoulder Arms"1
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