Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-02-08-Speech-1-144"
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"en.20100208.15.1-144"2
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"The closure of the Opel plant in Antwerp is a disaster, not only for the workers and the supply companies, but also because a development is clearly perceptible whereby all forms of industrial production in Flanders and elsewhere in Europe are being cut back.
The Commission is to investigate whether State aid, if this is forthcoming, complies with strict conditions. Yet it should be possible to grant temporary State aid to a company such as Opel Antwerp provided such aid is channelled towards a conversion to more innovative production. Obviously, the aim cannot be to keep whole industrial sectors alive artificially for ever more, but we must bear in mind that Opel Antwerp is a profitable plant with highly skilled workers, high productivity levels and modern equipment.
I refuse to believe, therefore, that we are dealing with a kind of industrial dinosaur that is doomed to extinction in the very near future. In this debate, we have heard renewed pleas for another big rush ahead. Some say that Europe should take on even more powers, on the assumption that more Europe automatically produces a better Europe. Yet it would be good if the EU were to take a flexible yet consistent position within the framework of its current powers, for example, by ensuring that the rules apply as much to Germany as they do to Flanders, that the larger Member States do not get away with more than the smaller ones.
I should like to conclude by addressing a few words to the representatives of the Belgian parties in office. You are partly responsible for making Belgium one of the most expensive countries in Europe for industrial production. You have ensured, by dint of an oppressive tax burden, that Flemish workers cost significantly more than their counterparts in other countries and that, at the same time, they have less to show for it – this is also a factor – and it is time you gave this some more thought."@en1
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