Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-09-16-Speech-3-009"
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"Mr President, it is a great pleasure for me to be here today representing the Swedish Presidency. The Presidency and the Commission will jointly represent the EU at the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh on 24-25 September. We will hold an informal European Council in Brussels tomorrow to prepare the EU’s common position. As you will all be aware, the global financial crisis has necessitated unprecedented global measures:
The Financial Stability Board has been asked to report to the Pittsburgh Summit regarding its work on developing principles for bonus systems. I hope that this report will contain specific strategies that can be implemented in practice and which guarantee the introduction by financial institutions of sensible, responsible remuneration and bonus structures. Moreover, I hope that we can agree to continue to provide the necessary stimulus to our economies as long as it is needed, but it is also important that we undertake to remove the measures when they are no longer required so that we can return to balanced public finances when the recovery comes.
We have only just begun to reflect on these exit strategies. Their form and coordination, and how they are implemented, will be a highly important component if we are to achieve a balanced, long-term economic recovery. Employment is another major challenge. We need to carefully design the measures required, while at the same time maintaining a good balance between financial and structural policy. I am sure that we will also repeat the need to maintain a stand against protectionism and to ensure fair play on the global markets. This will require significant coordination of financial regulation and supervision, but also as regards the removal of extraordinary measures taken to support the financial sector. Extensive work will continue to be required both at national and EU level.
Discussions concerning reform of financial institutions will continue tomorrow and in Pittsburgh, but also during the rest of the year. We want them to be strong, with sufficient resources, the right mandate, with political guidance and management structures that correctly reflect their composition. These matters are complex and interlinked, but we must get to grips with them as a matter of urgency so that the financial institutions can do this work which is becoming increasingly important.
Finally, I would like to say that naturally there is a great need for political decisiveness if we are to make progress in the discussions ahead of the climate summit in Copenhagen. This is a very high priority for the Swedish Presidency. We want to ensure that the right incentives are in place for everyone to take action to limit global warming and to adapt economic strategies so as to favour climate-friendly development.
Our goal is for the Pittsburgh Summit to make progress on guidelines for financing global climate measures. I cannot promise that we will achieve everything we want to, because these issues are highly complex, but we promise that the Presidency will assert and defend the EU’s views in a responsible manner. In this spirit I look forward to fruitful discussions with the Heads of State or Government tomorrow evening and the real results that the world is expecting from Pittsburgh next week.
Firstly, rapid and forceful financial and monetary policy measures to support the financial sector and the real economy. Secondly, coordination of global efforts and development of the role of the G20 as a forum for such coordination, including for measures concerning regulation of the financial markets. The financial and monetary policy measures that were able to be taken quickly were entirely necessary to get us through the worst of the crisis.
The overall support to the EU economy this year and next year is estimated at 5% of GDP. The central banks have responded to the crisis by keeping interest rates close to zero. Today we are cautiously optimistic that the worst is behind us as far as the acute problems of the financial sector are concerned, but the economic situation remains unstable and there is a considerable risk of further setbacks. We are very aware that rising unemployment will be a very dominant issue in the time ahead. The situation remains uncertain, but it could have been much worse.
Coordination and cooperation at international level will be incredibly important if we are to ensure a broad recovery and to set the tone for a return to long-term, sustainable growth based on a firm foundation. The G20 has played, and will continue to play, a central part in this. The G20 will also work with the international financial institutions of the IMF and the World Bank to guarantee that they have sufficient resources and a well-functioning internal organisation so as to be able to support economic growth and ensure financial stability throughout the world.
The G20 process has had the following significant results:
Firstly, that we have a common analysis of the problems that have affected our economies. That may not sound like great progress, but a shared view of the financial sector and the real economic problems that lie behind the crisis is essential for effective countermeasures.
Secondly, we have made real progress with a number of specific measures that we agreed on in London at the spring summit. These include a comprehensive stimulus package for our economies and a strengthening of cooperation on the supervision and regulation of the financial markets. Furthermore, we have ensured that the International Monetary Fund has sufficient resources to meet demand for borrowing. We have also undertaken to improve the ability of the international financial institutions to give warning in good time should similar problems arise in the future.
Much remains to be done, but we have made clear progress that has been driven forward by coordinated international commitments. I feel that we in the EU, along with the other members of the G20, have made great progress on a number of central issues that are crucial if we are to provide a strategic response to the economic and financial crisis. Our coordinated EU strategy means that Europe is leading the debate, rather than following it. It is our solutions that are being noted when global solutions are drawn up. That is why the Presidency is inviting the Heads of State or Government to a dinner tomorrow evening. The aim is to build further on the successful work of the informal Ecofin lunch and the meeting of G20 finance ministers in London, so that we will be well prepared on arrival in Pittsburgh.
I expect the meeting tomorrow and the summit in Pittsburgh to continue to result in progress on the main issues that I have mentioned, but also in a few other areas besides. One issue that has been raised in strong terms by a number of European finance ministers is the question of the part played by bonus systems in financial stability. EU finance ministers are unanimous that we should lead demands for effective global standards to ensure that such bonus systems do not have destabilising effects and that the bonus payments are reasonable in relation to performance. This is an important part of the overall initiative to ensure greater transparency and better supervision of the financial sector and it is crucial if we are to be able to secure future stability."@en1
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