Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-12-16-Speech-2-221"
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"en.20081216.31.2-221"2
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"Mr President, Mr Le Maire, Mr Borloo, in recent months the EU has very much proved its worth. That is to your credit, to the credit of the French Presidency.
I would have liked to have thanked President Sarkozy personally for taking the uncomfortable step of telling the German Chancellor clearly what he thought of the German Government’s lethargy. Other European countries are taking action to prevent the crisis, but Germany is waiting until the crisis is upon us or until the next Bundestag elections. Germany is the largest economy in the EU and that is why it is a good thing that the EU partners have reminded the German Government of its responsibility. President Sarkozy has just repeated that reminder here.
If the EU had not existed, we would have had to invent it at the latest as a result of the financial crisis. None of the EU countries acting alone would have been or are in a position to combat the crisis. The euro is also an important stabilising force. It has once again become clear how important the common market is for prosperity and stability in Europe. However, we must not use the financial crisis as an excuse for putting at risk what we have jointly achieved. Therefore, the independence of the European Central Bank should be non-negotiable. We must not allow a return to protectionism. A renewal of the isolationist policy or a subsidy race between the Member States would also have catastrophic consequences for our citizens.
In addition, the EU regulations on competition and state aid must on no account be watered down. This also applies to the Stability Pact with the Maastricht criteria. We must preserve these achievements. However, the EU must take joint, concerted and decisive action to prevent the worst from happening. This is an opportunity for Europe, and President Sarkozy has made use of it. He has shown our citizens what Europe can do and given Europe a human face. I would like to thank him warmly for this."@en1
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