Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-07-21-Speech-3-059"
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"en.20040721.2.3-059"2
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"Mr President, the Dutch Government is calling for priority to be given to economic growth and to the fight against terrorism. It embraces the now outmoded illusions of the Lisbon Summit in 2000, which assumed that before 2010, Europe would be able to beat the United States and Japan in a competitive battle by making things as bad here as they already are over there. It has meanwhile transpired that the resources for education for the benefit of the expected knowledge economy are insufficient. The drawbacks of Lisbon may have become more visible by now, but the much touted benefits have not. The same is true of the Stability Pact. Without acting contrary to democracy, the 3% standard is becoming increasingly unfeasible. The Netherlands is increasingly being seen as the Goody Two-Shoes of the European Union and NATO due to its requirement of stricter compliance with the Stability Pact, its contracting-out of public transport to international companies, its introduction of longer working hours, Commissioner Bolkestein’s pressure for a service directive and its continuing military involvement in the American protectorate of Iraq, which is drawing the terrorist threat closer to Europe. I sometimes hear other Member States remark that it would be good if the Netherlands left the European Union, because that country has become the motor behind the lamentable aspiration for restricting public expenditure and disposing of public provisions. That aspiration involves exchanging hallmarks of European civilisation for America’s tough and ruthless system. If Mr Balkenende wants to transform the whole of Europe in this way, he will bring about major social conflict, because public opinion is heading in a different direction. Although the Lisbon Summit has decided to dispose of public services, this Parliament subsequently decided, at my proposal and by a large majority, to dispense with this requirement concerning public transport. Instead of striving for unbridled economic growth at the expense of social security, public services and the environment, it is preferable to keep taxes to an adequate level and seek a redistribution of national and European income for the benefit of the weakest and of useful community tasks, and also for the benefit of integrating immigrants and removing poverty and despair in the world, which are still providing a continuous breeding ground for terrorism."@en1
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