Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-04-04-Speech-2-300"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20060404.23.2-300"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:translated text |
".
Mr President, the Commission’s obligation is to ensure compliance with the Treaties and it goes without saying that on previous occasions, when the eurozone was created, or when the twelfth member of the eurozone joined, the Commission and the Council of the time, with the opinion of the European Parliament, took account of the obligation to ensure compliance with the Treaties.
Myself as Commissioner, and the Commission, headed by Mr Barroso, are naturally not going to fail in our obligation to apply the Treaties and ensure compliance with them. The economic criteria, including that of inflation, are stipulated in a protocol annexed to the Treaty and of a legal value identical to that of the provisions and articles of the Treaty. We cannot therefore ignore them or amend them.
It is true that an academic discussion is under way on a correct definition of the criteria, but the procedure for changing the Treaties will consist of an Intergovernmental Conference and a process of ratification when the time seems right and when there is a sufficient majority to do so. It is not for the Commission to change the Treaties and it has the obligation to apply them.
It is true that there is asymmetry, because compliance with the criteria is required in order to enter the eurozone, but then, once a country is a member, it can fail to comply with the criteria; once a country is a member of the eurozone, it can have more inflation, more debt or more deficit. In the case of deficit and debt, there are rules relating to budgetary discipline – Article 104 of the Treaty – and the Stability and Growth Pact but, in the case of inflation, those rules do not exist, but there are some rules that are probably tougher than legal rules in application of the Treaty: the rules of the market. There are currently countries in the eurozone that are suffering considerably because they are not able to moderate the evolution of their inflation or their unit labour costs.
I believe that we must also take account of the harsh reality of how the markets judge those who do not comply with certain rules, quite apart from the Commission’s obligation to ensure compliance with the rules of the Treaty."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples