Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-03-24-Speech-3-029"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20100324.12.3-029"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, I believe that the conclusion that all of us – the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats), the Greens, Socialists, Liberals and all the other groups, except the Euro-sceptic groups, which are perhaps pleased with what is happening right now in Europe – can draw is that greater clarity is required within the European Council.
The battle has been raging for weeks now outside the European institutions on the question of what should be done to help Greece and the euro area. We have never seen this before: for weeks now, instead of decisions being taken, there has been quarrelling over the measures that should be taken, and anything and everything is being said.
I shall go further, Mr President. I have a feeling that, in four days, certain Members of the Council have done more damage to the European project than all the Euro-sceptics put together have done in four years. That is my feeling today.
The only way to change and to stop that is to take a firm decision on the basis of a Commission proposal. I am pleased that Mr Barroso has announced today that he is going to propose a solution to the Council, a solution – and I echo what Mr Daul said – which must be European and Community-based, and which is not about requesting what has already been requested for months now, namely that money be taken from taxpayers’ pockets and given to Greece. It is not about that. It is, in fact, about the need to have a European instrument that will enable the interest rates on Greece’s government bonds to be reduced. The best way of doing this is not to make just one country – Greece – issue these government bonds, but to issue them at European level, since Europe has liquidity and credibility.
There are two elements that count in terms of knowing what the interest rate is: liquidity and credibility. Europe has the necessary credibility and liquidity, and it is on this basis that it will be possible to bring down Greece’s interest rates without a single euro of taxpayers’ money going to Greece. That is absolutely necessary, Mr President, because today the spread – that is the gap between the German rate, which today stands at 3.05%, and the Greek rate, which is 6.5% at present – is 350 basis points. The only way of resolving that is really to take the necessary step of introducing this European instrument.
A second reason to explain this requirement is that the efforts that the Greeks are going to make – must make, are obliged to make – must serve a purpose. For, if a European solution is not chosen, if these interest rates cannot be reduced, all the efforts that the Greeks are going to make will ultimately go to the capital markets. That is what will happen if a firm decision is not taken during this Council. The Greeks are going to make efforts, are going to make savings, and who is going to benefit? The speculators, the capital markets and so on, as they are going to have much higher interest rates.
That is why Europe must intervene. Europe must intervene to ensure that Greece’s consolidation measures are worthwhile. They are necessary, but they must also be worthwhile. That is why we support, and why the whole of Parliament must now support, the proposal that the Commission is going to make, and we must hope that the Members of the Council will keep quiet and approve. That is what we must hope for."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata | |
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples