Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-07-04-Speech-1-105"
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"en.20050704.17.1-105"2
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"Mr President, I welcome the Commission and Mr Trichet. I shall confine my remarks to the Maaten report.
That the euro may suffer from a popularity deficit in some countries in the eurozone should come as no surprise. There are two main reasons for this, neither of which has anything to do with the lack of a communication strategy. First, the perception that the introduction of the euro has resulted in increasing inflation in Member States has done serious damage to its image, even though, according to official figures, only 0.2% of the increase is attributable to the euro. However, this macroeconomic average disguises large price increases in a long list of everyday items such as coffee, vegetables, bread, hairdressing and parking meters, largely due to opportunistic marking up or rounding-off during the changeover period.
Second, our citizens’ attitudes to the euro reflects the economic situations in their own countries and their insecurity about their futures, pensions, jobs for their children and many other issues. Whilst the euro can help promote economic growth, it cannot do that on its own without sensible fiscal policies and sound economic management in each Member State.
We urgently need to focus on economic reform, especially in countries with unacceptably high unemployment and abysmal growth rates, in order to deliver on the Lisbon promises and not just come out with the same old Lisbon rhetoric. The new President-in-Office, Tony Blair, in his speech to the European Parliament – and what a marvellous production that was; obviously the diplomats had got at him, or it, since the summit – rightly focused on this as a priority and on the illiberal so-called European social model, which protects the privileged and does nothing to create jobs and investment or increase economic growth. Any PR or information campaigns will be an uphill struggle, a waste of money and time, unless they are in the context of sound economic management. The euro will just continue to be the scapegoat for Member States’ own failures.
When it comes to the Stability and Growth Pact on which EMU was founded, I trust that, under the revised and hopefully robust pact, the lack of even-handedness in chastising errant Member States will be a thing of the past. The credibility of our single currency and its public image and acceptance depend on all Member States adhering fully to it and the rules being applied evenly under the Stability Pact.
It is no coincidence that the euro has been fully accepted in my own country, Ireland. It is true that we had a very successful changeover programme but, more importantly, we have 4% unemployment, less than half the EU average, and our economic growth is approaching 6%, three times the EU average. We are very willing to help new Member States with their changeover preparations. We already have twinning arrangements in place with Cyprus and Malta.
In conclusion, the EMU and the euro are a most successful pan-European project for trade, travel and price transparency, and overnight the euro has become an international reserve currency. The euro can be the icing on the cake of sound economic management, but no amount of propaganda or spin can ever sell it on its own."@en1
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