Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-10-21-Speech-2-060"
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"en.20081021.7.2-060"2
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"Mr President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, ladies and gentlemen, last week’s European Council was the climax of work of unprecedented intensity to tackle the economic crisis in Europe. It ruled out the risk of measures taken on an ad hoc, uncoordinated basis, in order to arrive at a common position aimed at restoring the stability of Europe’s financial system. I should like to pay tribute to President Sarkozy, whose dynamism and invaluable determination made it possible to give the necessary impetus to the action of the 27 around common objectives and principles.
Our first priority was to play our part, as the Commission, in the rescue of financial institutions in difficulty. In doing this we were able to count on the excellent cooperation we have had with Member States and with the ECB.
Our next step was to come forward with a package of precise, targeted measures to address specific shortcomings on capital requirements, deposit guarantees or accountancy rules. Speed has been essential, and we have responded by accelerating our work. In the same vein, I was grateful for the rapidity with which this Parliament was able to conclude its consideration of the changes in accountancy rules. I know that you fully appreciate that the other proposals on the table deserve the same urgency.
We also have to look at what other proposals will be needed to update and fill in the gaps of today’s regulatory regime.
We will have the credit rating agencies proposal next month. We will come with an initiative on executive pay, based on a review of our 2004 recommendation. We will look at regulating derivatives. We will work constructively with the European Parliament on the follow-up to your recent resolutions and will look at the implications for the 2009 Commission work programme. No area of financial markets will be absent from this review.
One important input for future action will be the results of the high-level group I have set up under Jacques de Larosière to look at cross-border financial supervision in Europe. I am happy to announce to you today the composition of this group. It will be composed of Leszek Balcerowicz, Otmar Issing, Rainer Masera, Callum McCarthy, Lars Nyberg, José Pérez Fernández and Ono Ruding. I am asking this group to present first results in time for the spring European Council, and I will be discussing this afternoon with your Conference of Presidents how to make sure that Parliament is plugged into this work.
But as I said earlier, we will also have to promote the reform of the global financial system. The last months have shown that the Bretton Woods institutions have not kept up with the pace of integration of global financial markets.
European Union-United States cooperation will be essential: as you know, the European Union and the United States account for almost 80% of wholesale financial markets. This cooperation is important not only to get us out of this crisis but, even more, to avoid another one. In this respect, the discussions President Sarkozy and I had with President Bush last weekend were a major step forward.
But it is not enough. We have to get other major players on board. I will be going to China later this week where, together with President Sarkozy, I will raise this issue with the Chinese President and Prime Minister and with other Asian partners at the ASEAN Summit. We need a critical mass of players involved.
The goal should be to devise a system of global financial governance adapted to the challenges of the 21st century in terms of efficiency, transparency and representation.
Europe is leading the way. This is something we can collectively be proud of, and I want to work with this Parliament to make a forceful European contribution to this international debate.
I am also proud of the contribution made by the Commission, which – as President Sarkozy said – has always worked hand in hand with the French Presidency and, furthermore, has always stressed that only a European response could have an impact at the required level.
But there is also what we usually call the real economy, and we all know that, day by day, the evidence that we are facing a serious economic slowdown is building. The impact is being felt on jobs, household incomes and on the order books of businesses, large and small.
One thing must be clear: there is no national road out of this crisis – our economies are too intertwined. We will swim or sink together. We must not give in to the siren calls for protection; we must not turn our backs on globalisation or put our single market at risk. This will remain the motor of growth in the European Union.
Neither can we go on with business as usual. Europe’s economy needs a boost to recover, to continue to grow, to provide employment. First, inside Europe. We will have to redouble our efforts to address long-term issues and to be in better shape to tackle the challenges ahead, making Europe a knowledge economy, investing more in research and development and innovation. The revised Stability and Growth Pact leaves sufficient flexibility for Member States’ budget policies to react to the current exceptional circumstances and to promote growth and jobs.
But we also need to look beyond our borders. Trade has been key to European growth over recent years. Now is the time to be proactive about market access, to make the case that trade barriers will help nobody. I hope we have all learned the lesson that protectionism only makes recovery harder.
European industry needs support. SMEs need to be free to concentrate on their markets. That is why, for example, we recently proposed that our smallest business should be exempt from excessive burdens in terms of accounting rules and statistical reporting.
Large manufacturing needs help, too. I want to be sure that we are using European programmes like our competitiveness and innovation programme and the research framework programme to best effect. We need to reinforce the synergies between our Lisbon Strategy for growth and jobs and our climate and energy agenda.
Promoting investment in low-carbon technologies and energy efficiency measures will, at the same time, support our competitiveness, our energy security and our climate change agenda. The European Investment Bank will be a valuable partner in this endeavour.
Europe’s citizens need support, too, especially the more vulnerable. It is critically important that, at a time of rising unemployment, we maintain investment in training, we develop new skills and prepare people to take advantage when opportunities return. Advancing on our Social Agenda for Access Opportunities and Solidarity is more important than ever. We shall review the role the Globalisation Adjustment Fund can play.
In all these areas we need to be intelligent about how we act. We need to get the most out of every step we take. Smart action means hitting two targets with one shot. For instance, helping the construction industry, yes, but doing this by promoting an energy-efficient housing stock. Using state aid where necessary, yes, but in line with the guidelines directing state aid towards environmental support and research and development. Helping key industries like cars – why not? – but preparing them for tomorrow’s markets of clean cars. Smart support: this is what our industry needs, and not protectionism. This I want to underline very clearly.
Our Lisbon Strategy packaged in December will be the opportunity to bring these different strands together. There is no magic bullet to turn around the European Union economy. What we have to do is take every option, explore every potential way in which European Union policy can help Member States to seize every opportunity to put Europe on the road to growth. That is our task in the coming weeks. That is what we are preparing, and this is a task I want to tackle together with the European Parliament.
This impetus that we observed at the European Council and that has moreover enabled us to adopt a very important pact on immigration, must also guide us when it comes to managing the European agenda ahead of the European Council in December.
We are indeed living at a historic time, the kind of occasion where the crisis calls into question all certainties, and minds are more open to change. These are very special moments, and they do not happen every day. We have to understand that it is really one of those moments where there is some higher plasticity and then, when we can make a real change, these are moments when we know that today’s decisions will have a decisive impact on tomorrow’s reality. Change is what we need now. Change not to go back to the solutions of the past, but to find the solutions of the future, the solutions of the 21st century of the globalised world.
Today, Europe can propose the principles and rules that will shape a new global order. We have an opportunity to come forward with proposals based on European values, based on open societies and open economies. As I said this weekend at Camp David, open societies need the rule of law and democracy. Open economies also need rules – the rules of transparency, sensible regulation and sensible supervision.
Europe shows its true colours in times of crisis. In Georgia, Europe was able to stop a war. In the financial crisis, Europe is leading the way towards a global solution. In the next few weeks we must show that we are able to continue to lead in the fight against climate change and to build an energy policy for the future, because we owe it to our citizens, our economies and our partners around the world, as well as to future generations of Europeans.
We need, in particular, to develop a road map for the Treaty of Lisbon in order to prepare properly for the 2009 elections.
With regard to the ‘energy and climate change’ package, a very big effort will be required to sign an agreement by the end of the year. The Commission will work closely with the Presidency to find solutions that address the concerns of all the Member States. We are counting on Parliament’s continued support to reach an agreement.
However, I should like to focus my speech today on what has to be our immediate, primary concern: the European economy. We need to work on three things: firstly, undertaking immediate actions at European level to overcome the financial crisis; secondly, reforming the international financial system; and thirdly, strengthening what is referred to as ‘the real economy’ in order to minimise the consequences of the financial crisis and to create the conditions for a resurgence of growth and employment.
I truly believe that Europe is in a position, through the choices it makes, to make its presence felt in the international response to the crisis. The Camp David Summit last weekend gave a strong indication of what Europe is capable of achieving when it is united. Let us be clear, this was not the obvious outcome. A month or two ago, it was impossible to have the US President alongside us. Now, however, we have succeeded in having our US partners alongside us, and I believe that we have created the conditions for a fundamental reform of the global financial system.
We are indeed living in an unprecedented time, one that requires a similarly unprecedented level of coordination. For this international response we require a genuinely European response. Europe must shape the international response to international problems. The rule of globalisation is precisely respect for the principle of openness and interdependence. Instead of suffering globalisation, Europe must shape it with its values, and also protect its interests. I am pleased and proud to have observed that, during this crisis, Europe has demonstrated that it was equal to these challenges.
Mr President, let me give you some more detail about our response to this crisis."@en1
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