Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-04-07-Speech-3-016"
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"en.20100407.4.3-016"2
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"Mr President, I would like to start by thanking Mr Van Rompuy for the eagerness of his communication with Parliament, which is a good sign of his personal commitment. What you actually had to tell Parliament – which relates to decisions taken by the Council, not by you personally – is deeply disappointing for us. Let us look, primarily, at Greece. If you look at the comments in the media, for example in the
it is quite rightly being said that, while Greece does now have the strict conditions of the IMF, it does not have the latter’s good credit. That is down to the Council. Mr Bini Smaghi – thus someone from the European Central Bank, in any case – says that from his point of view, it is more democratic to solve problems through closer collaboration in Europe than through a technocratic body such as the IMF.
If you look at the market, you will see that it has reacted. I do accept that its reaction in relation to the euro was somewhat more positive, but in relation to Greece things have not got better, they have got worse. The message that has come from the Council is not a positive one. The Council is always keen to delay issues and discussions and proposals. It is like being on the Titanic – the ship hits the iceberg and then people say, ‘OK, let us set up a task force to consider how we can prevent collisions like this in future’, or ‘let us have an intensive discussion about next week’s menu’ just after the disaster has taken place. That is not a solution. The Council must find solutions. It is not your fault, it is the fault of the Heads of State or Government, who are not prepared to get to work on these solutions and who are not prepared to seize upon new ideas – like those, for example, that have been put on the table by Europe’s social democrats – that are based on both pillars, which is to say on stability, but also on solidarity. Of course, solidarity does not simply start when something has gone wrong – real friends warn each other in good time when something is going wrong. It is therefore also unfair to treat Greece in this way now, after having stood by and watched it for years, actually well aware that something was wrong, and to say now, after the event, ‘You cannot count on our solidarity now’. That is why the outcome of the Council in relation to Greece is completely unsatisfactory.
The situation with Europe 2020 is similar. The Commission’s proposals had their downsides, but they also had their positive sides. We were not exactly thrilled, because we felt that several elements were missing. What does the Council then do to Europe 2020? It tears several parts from it. You have just mentioned five points, but the context – the idea that Europe 2020 will mean that the economic issues, the social issues, the environmental issues will also be dealt with – is getting lost, or at least we see a risk of that happening.
When I hear – the Vice-President confirmed this – that some Heads of State or Government are asking ‘Are we supposed be working on poverty? Are we supposed to be fighting poverty?’ – is it not grotesque that poverty and inequality are rising in Europe today? Then there are Heads of State or Government who say ‘This is not a matter for us’. How, in that case, can you face the citizens, if social justice, specifically, is not dealt with as a key subject? I therefore agree with you and the Vice-President of the Commission that we need to insist that the fight against poverty – whatever the criteria – and reducing poverty must remain our goals. That is really important to us in the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament.
Mr Van Rompuy, you mentioned that this was your first formal European Council meeting. You will have a second European Council in June. I wish you every success for that European Council. It will not be easy, given that certain elections are taking place, associated with which is a very real fear that perhaps parties will be coming into power that are even less inclined towards close cooperation in Europe. I wish you all the best, though, and I hope that the Heads of State or Government do not leave you hanging as they did at your first formal European Council. Whenever you need help and support, come to this House – in particular, come to the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament. We will give you hope again that Europe can still be a good thing!"@en1
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