Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-01-13-Speech-2-032"
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"en.20090113.5.2-032"2
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"Mr President, the euro is the successful outcome of a vision and political will, and not the product of the market. It demonstrates the best that Europe can achieve when everyone joins forces.
I also want, of course, on this occasion to salute and thank on our behalf, on our children’s behalf and on everyone else’s behalf, the founding fathers and the architects of this success: Pierre Werner, who is with us, Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, President Giscard d’Estaing, the President of the European Commission Jacques Delors, Chancellor Helmut Kohl, President François Mitterrand, Baron Alexandre Lamfalussy, Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, Philippe Maystadt and everyone else whom I have not mentioned. I would also, however, like to pay tribute to the actions of your predecessors, Mr President, the actions of my predecessors, Karl von Wogau, who is still with us, and of Christa Randzio-Plath, who is also with us today. The actions of this Parliament played a crucial role in that, at the time of the transition to the euro, we were not only concerned about the transfer of accounts in the banks but also about our citizens, so that they could adapt to, get used to and adopt this new currency which was going to be theirs. I also believe that this action by our institution must be recalled and given credit.
I am also pleased that this ceremony can take place here, in the European Parliament, the home of democracy for all Europe’s citizens. After all, the euro is first and foremost the concern of us all, and then of the banks. It is certainly the concern of Europeans, as they are happy to tell us. Some governments are loath to provide Europe with symbols. However, Europeans themselves have adopted the euro as a symbol of belonging to the European Union.
Of course, we are not all using the euro. There were 11 of us to start with, and now there are 16. We are expecting others to join us. However, I do get the feeling that this crisis is tempting some countries to reconsider whether they should belong to the euro area or not. I think that this is the best proof of our success. Europe makes progress, as is so often the case, by demonstrating its efficiency and on this occasion to mark its 10th anniversary, we can clearly see that the assessment of the euro is largely a positive one. Some countries which were hesitant could now knock on the door of the euro area. We can only encourage them to do this under the terms of the Treaty, which have never been revised and which are useful terms allowing Europe to progress in economic and monetary matters on the basis of the two pillars of consolidation and enlargement.
However, an anniversary is also a time for looking to the future. The euro, which has been enriched by these last 10 years, must now open up new areas for development, not that we have not dealt with these at all, but simply because they are still work in progress ahead of us.
On the subject of economic cooperation, Jean-Claude Juncker described the crisis that we are going through. It is not a normal situation. In this current crisis we all know that, if we had made progress in the Economic Union as quickly as we have in the Monetary Union, we would be even better off today. Let us learn then the lessons from this. It is not normal for us to focus on the budget deficit balances and not on the quality of public spending. Governments must learn to talk together about their economic policies. It is not normal for Member States to borrow at such different rates of interest when they have the same currency and the same rate of interest set by the European Central Bank.
The same applies when it comes to supervising the financial markets. President Giscard d’Estaing mentioned Article 105(6), which is our common platform, allowing us to make progress. I think that one of the lessons from this crisis is that it actually shows that the European Central Bank will need to have a supervisory role. We do not want to disconnect the supervision of the financial markets from macroprudential supervision. However, to achieve this, we will also need, as political leaders, to think about achieving a balance. If the European Central Bank sees its responsibilities strengthened, it will have to be indicated how the institutional balance on the whole needs to be established in the future.
I would like to make one final remark on the international role of the euro. I agree that we must not demand the exorbitant privilege of being the reserve currency. However, it is not normal either for us to have taken 10 years to create the euro and then, 10 years after the transition to the euro, we are still passive in the international arena and the strong voice of the euro is not being heard more clearly in the process of restoring some balance to the global monetary system.
Finally, I believe that the euro is much more than just a currency. This is why it is a major issue for this Parliament. It is a tool at the service of our citizens who are going through the deepest crisis in years. We must then use this wonderful creation, this symbol of Europe to help our citizens come through this crisis in the best conditions possible."@en1
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