Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-11-17-Speech-1-091"
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"en.20081117.21.1-091"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, Mr Juncker. I share the view that the common currency has been a great European success. For several years we have had low prices and low levels of inflation, we have had low interest rates, we have had transparency of prices among countries, we have had macroeconomic stability – and this is a particular success for those countries which previously had problems with inflation and their budget deficit. I share the view that this is a success.
I would like to comment on what my Polish fellow Member said a few minutes earlier, when he said that we have growing unemployment and a financial crisis in the Euro Zone. Unfortunately he has left the Chamber now, but had he stayed, he might have heard a few words of wisdom. Because he ignores the fact that without the euro, Europe would be in a much worse situation than it currently is. This is particularly evident if we look at the situation of countries such as Iceland or Hungary, which are now facing huge economic difficulties. Had they been part of the Euro Zone, their situation would be far better.
I would like to say that the long-term success of any currency will be decided by real factors, it will be decided by long-term economic development, and this is lacking in Europe. We should note that in the past weeks the US dollar has strengthened against the euro, evidence that even in an economic crisis investors, or at least the majority of them, believe that the dollar is a safe haven for their investments. That is why we need to create a basis for long-term growth in Europe, which will strengthen the European currency. But this requires reform, it requires economic momentum, and it requires higher rates of productivity.
The second point is that I believe that we should review the nominal convergence criteria, and we should ensure that we adapt the criteria to the new conditions, in particular the inflationary criteria and the method of calculating the benchmark, so that they will enable those new Member State economies that are very dynamic to join the Euro Zone."@en1
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