Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-02-24-Speech-3-040"
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"en.20100224.13.3-040"2
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"Mr President, I would like to thank Mr Verhofstadt for reminding us all of the failure of left-wing economic policies in the United Kingdom. We are very grateful for the advice and I hope my colleagues and I will be able to remedy that in the forthcoming general election.
Even before the recent crisis, the economies of Europe were losing ground to our major rivals and competitors. Our growth level was less, our unemployment higher, our relative trading position was in decline and our share of global output falling. We had launched the Lisbon Strategy, but without enough conviction or commitment; unsurprisingly, it has not succeeded. Europe 2020 must not go the same way. I am very pleased that my group was among the first to submit proposals to help with its progress.
We now need to set a new course for our economies. We must recognise that governments do not create productive jobs or raise living standards. Only competitive business and successful entrepreneurs can do that. Our Member States and the institutions of the European Union then need to support them by reducing the burdens they face. We cannot expect to have dynamic economies if we make even greater demands on those who are generating growth and jobs by imposing heavy tax regimes and bureaucratic regulations. We need to encourage more research and development, improved higher education and better vocational training, as President Barroso has just emphasised. The internal market needs to be reinvigorated and extended to new fields.
The stakes could not be higher. For almost three centuries, the strongest economic powers in the world have also been those with the most liberal and the most democratic constitutions; the cause of freedom and economic prosperity have marched together. We are now entering a new era. By the end of this century, considerable economic power may have shifted to states with undemocratic governments. That authoritarian capitalism may not evolve gently into the democratic and responsible capitalism we enjoy today in Europe and the West.
We hope those states will liberalise. We will offer them friendly encouragement to do so, but we know the risks. It is in the interests of our citizens that the 2020 programme succeeds in stimulating the creation of good jobs and rising living standards, and it is in the interests of the free world that the 2020 programme points the way to a stronger economic future for all our citizens."@en1
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