Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-02-09-Speech-2-238"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20100209.13.2-238"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Madam President, I think that we have had a very broad debate, with great awareness of and concern for the economic situation. It has also been a very constructive debate, with a series of points on which we can agree in terms of assessing the situation.
Firstly, I think that there has been a general confidence in the euro area during the debate. The euro area will undoubtedly emerge strengthened by these sudden movements in the markets, which cannot be explained by the situation of the real economy. As pointed out by Mr Karas, Mr Sánchez Presedo and Mr Goebbels, who talked about what is meant by what someone described as the protective shield in the euro area, we are convinced that if the euro area had not existed, the crisis would have affected European countries much more.
Furthermore, we do not believe that the Stability and Growth Pact is in crisis. The proof of this is the detailed procedure referred to by Commissioner Almunia for supervising the programme implemented by the Greek Government.
The problems in the euro area will be resolved within the euro area, whose mechanisms are equipped to do so, in a situation in which, as I said in my previous speech, Europe is clearly coming out of the recession and is emerging from the most serious crisis that we have seen for nearly a century. It is doing so in a relatively short period of time, which demonstrates the economic strength of the European Union, and also that the governments acted immediately when something happened that had the potential to cause the international financial system to collapse. Naturally, this immediate intervention had to result in deficits. There are currently 21 European Union countries that have been in this situation, which is the logical consequence of the essential intervention because, amongst other things, as I said before, in Europe there are social protection systems that mean that the most vulnerable people have to receive help from the public coffers.
Mr Canfin asked me what proposals the Spanish Presidency has in this respect. There have been short-term interventions by the governments, which I have mentioned. A strategy is emerging for bringing us out of this situation, but obviously, in order to bring us out of the crisis in the medium term, the Spanish Presidency of the Council is clearly proposing economic union. It is proposing that there should not only be monetary union, but that economic union should also have an important place in the European Union, which is, furthermore, what the Treaty of Lisbon states.
Article 5 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union states this very clearly: ‘The Member States shall coordinate their economic policies.’ ‘The Union shall take measures to ensure coordination of the employment policies.’ ‘The Union may take initiatives to ensure coordination of […] social policies.’
This is stated in the Treaty of Lisbon, and I am therefore very much in agreement with moving towards harmonisation. For example, Mrs Wortmann-Kool, Mr Feio and Mr Papanikolaou referred to this in their speeches. Mr Bullmann mentioned the need for socio-political coordination, as did Mrs Podimata. Likewise, there was the position of Mr Canfin of the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance, and of Mr Pallone and Mr Gauzès, who talked about the need for regulation of the financial markets. Mr Verhofstadt talked about the need for internal cohesion in the Union. All this is what we could call economic union, internal economic cohesion in the Union.
This is what we need to aim for, with clear political leadership of the Union, which is already taking place. We need to think about the fact that the day after tomorrow – just as the Spanish Presidency of the Union has begun, incidentally – the informal European Council is going to meet to take the reins of the situation politically speaking. I am sure that it will also send a strong European message to the public and to economic and social players, a pro-European message, a message of European unity, of confidence in the European governments, including the Greek Government, and of confidence in our opportunities.
This is an important European Council meeting, which is being held now in order to focus our efforts on a strategy for growth and job creation, which we call Europe 2020. I am convinced that the initial foundations for this strategy are going to be laid at this immediate, very early Council meeting, which means that we want to act immediately and with political leadership in the European Union in this time of need."@en1
|
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples