Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-11-17-Speech-1-058"
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"en.20081117.21.1-058"2
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"Mr President, Mr President of the Eurogroup, Commissioner, I believe that this is an important moment, and the theme that we are going to debate today greatly affects Europeans as a whole.
On enlargement, this crisis is re-opening the conditions of the debate, but I believe that we need to remain rigorous. Reform prior to entry into the Euro Zone is easier than reform after entry into the Euro Zone, even though this is extremely demanding. Commissioner, you made this a key point of your report: the idea that the differences that have emerged in the operation of the Euro Zone are a cause for concern. They are greater than we first thought.
Therefore, we, the European Parliament, call on you to provide the European Union with tools enabling it to observe the quality of public spending in order to see how the Member States react, and to ensure that this is not just a debate on thresholds, one that allows only a general debate and not a debate on the quality of public spending, which is the responsibility of the ministers for economic affairs and finance.
In the road map that you are proposing to us, we also believe, Commissioner, that you need to address the Member States today to ask them to review their plans. Their national reform plans do not take account, at present, of the latest forecasts that you have put on the table.
If we are to take the joint economic policy coordination exercise seriously, these plans now need to be reviewed on the basis of the growth forecasts that you have put on the table and that have been backed up and confirmed by the IMF and the OECD.
Lastly, of the proposals that we are formulating, I would draw your attention to the issues at stake in terms of the external representation of the Euro Zone. For too long we have adopted a passive attitude. The euro protected us. However, in addition to protecting us, it now has to enable us to be a player with a strong voice on the international stage, so that we are not just the floating link in a debate between the other major monetary powers. We are a major monetary power, we must accept the consequences of this in full, and this is also a matter for a consistent, concerted debate within the Council of Ministers.
We, the European Parliament, are more than willing to play our part in this exercise, as you know.
I believe, and everyone is convinced of it today, that the euro is our greatest capital, our best investment. It is now time to assess matters, but through an assessment in a crisis period we clearly need to find the means to get things moving again. What kind of situation would we be in without the euro? Without the euro, Iceland would today be more or less like Ireland, or, rather, Ireland would resemble Iceland.
We have re-opened the debates in this crisis because everyone has realised just how central the euro was to our ability to withstand events not just in ordinary times, but also in times of crisis.
Commissioner, I should like to thank you for your sense of anticipation, for when, in May 2008, in this House, you put this document on the table, no one realised just how useful and necessary it would be, or how it would underpin vital work aimed at looking ahead to the future and at being able to tackle the crisis facing us on the basis of this solid foundation that is the euro.
However, I am fully aware that, in your discussion with the ministers for economic affairs and finance, they suddenly had their minds on other matters, they suddenly had their minds on matters to which they were not paying attention: those of the financial markets. You must remind them that, if they want in the future to emerge from the crisis situation we are in, they will not get away without doing two things.
They will have to balance Economic and Monetary Union. We have seen it done to manage the crisis on the financial markets. We are seeing it being done today to manage the crisis in the real economy with which we are faced. Monetary policy can do a great deal, by injecting liquidity to help the markets operate, and by lowering rates to try to revive investment. But that is all! After that, it is up to the governments to take action to save the banks, to drive out toxic products, and, in the future, to revive economic activity within the European Union.
It is therefore time that the ministers for economic affairs and finance used the Treaty, which tells them to regard their economic policy as a policy of common interest. On this basis, Commissioner, relaunch the debate at Ecofin, demand this road map that you have suggested to them, and realign yourself with us on the basis of the proposals, of our proposals, that you will have endorsed so that, in future, the euro really serves growth and employment.
With regard to monetary policy, of course, we respect the independence of the Central Bank, but we also respect the Treaty as a whole, and Article 105, beyond price stability, stipulates that the Central Bank must pursue the Union’s other objectives. Need I point this out? Need I say that, tomorrow, we may open a new debate, as well? Is it not necessary, this is not in our report, but will it not be necessary to open a debate on the inclusion of a financial market stability objective in the monetary policy objectives? I put the question to you.
Clearly, we will not make progress with the operation of Economic and Monetary Union if we do take greater account of the relationship between the real economy and the financial markets. We are paying the price today for having forgotten this."@en1
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