Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-04-07-Speech-3-023"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20100407.4.3-023"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I will be fairly brief. There are some basic truths of which I must remind you. The first truth – and I have heard it now and again here, but not enough for my liking – is that the problems we have to address first appeared in a country with budgetary irregularities. These must be corrected. Steps must be taken to prevent them ever occurring again.
We will, therefore, think about all of that. In that respect too we must, as I have just said, learn every possible lesson as regards coordination, supervision, and certain new mechanisms that must be put in place. I have heard here in this House several ideas that are altogether valid and respectable, which we must study.
Just because I am not discussing their content, it does not mean that I have forgotten them or that the task force will forget them. I am keen on quite a few of the ideas that are circulating and that have emerged here this afternoon. We will discuss them openly in the task force. As I have just said, we will ascertain how we can work with Parliament in the period during which the task force is operational.
As regards the 2020 strategy, ladies and gentlemen, I believe that the European Commission has really grasped the essence of our European social model. There are economic objectives, environmental objectives and social objectives. The excellent concept of a socially and environmentally corrected market economy is, therefore, one of our objectives, our targets.
We have decided on the five targets, amongst which is social inclusion; it is a competence of the European Union under the Treaty. We have decided on social inclusion and, amongst other things, the fight against poverty. I assure you that, when we discussed the five objectives on Friday morning, they were not called into question, and we will also come here in June with the quantifiable and quantified objectives for the five of them. I ask those who are impatient to be patient a little while longer – until June – but we will indeed reach the goal that we have outlined.
I personally, and President Barroso – I say this out of kindness – even more so than I, have fought to include these five objectives in the European Union’s programme and to keep them there. There have been disagreements of course, but I believe that we have convinced our colleagues – in the Ecofin Council, which I attended, in the General Affairs Council and in the European Council – that this balance between the social, the economic and the environmental should be maintained in the approach to the 2020 strategy. If it has not already been refined, I can assure you that it will be in June.
There is also the whole problem of financial regulation, of which some people have rightly reminded us. There is a tendency to forget very quickly. However, we must continue to work on it. Parliament has a major role to play in terms of financial regulation. However, at the G20 we reached agreement on an entire programme, because there are some measures that can only be decided at global level. In this regard, I hope – and we will do everything to make this possible – that the EU’s voice, a strong and united voice, will be heard.
The G20 worked hard at the start of the crisis. It is necessary to work hard following a recession. The crisis is still not quite over, but the recession is over. However, as I said in my introductory address, it is far harder to reach agreements when things are going a little better than when we are in the midst of the storm, surrounded by problems.
The G20, aided by its creator, the European Union, therefore has a very important programme in June in Toronto and, in the second half of the year, in South Korea.
I really think then that we have had a European Council that has avoided the worst – and that is sometimes an objective in politics too – and which has laid the foundations for a solidarity mechanism. I repeat that Greece has made great budgetary efforts, is not asking for anything today and has declared itself in agreement with this mechanism.
We have decided on an economic strategy with five objectives; not sixty, but five. We will implement them at national level. In June all the Member States have to present their plans for the coming years. We will assess the situation. I really think that we have laid the foundations for future action.
We must, therefore, start with the basics: budgetary orthodoxy. That is why we created the Stability and Growth Pact in the past. Some people are arguing for sanctions, penalties and a show of toughness. However, we had this Stability and Growth Pact, but I would point out that it was of no help to certain countries.
The task force is, let us say, the embodiment of wisdom. How can all that be improvised? To those who are impatient, I say that by the end of the year, and we do not have long to go, we have only nine months – but a great deal can be achieved in nine months, would you not agree? – we will try to have completed the ambitious task of doing everything we can to prevent the crisis that we have experienced from ever happening again.
The Greek Government has taken some measures, some courageous measures that I applaud. They were laid down in the informal Council statement of 11 February. We asked Greece to take some measures. It has taken them; it has shouldered its responsibilities. Now they must be carried out, and I fully understand the delicacy and difficulty of the circumstances under which the Greek Government must proceed. Nevertheless, they must be carried out.
The Greek Government is convinced that the famous spreads will narrow only if the results of this entire policy of budgetary discipline are visible. It is convinced of that. The basic truth, therefore, is that we must start by tackling the very root of the problems in order to solve them; in other words, the budgetary problems of one country and of other countries.
Secondly, the Greek Government has shown itself to be in complete agreement with the conclusions of the European Council. We can force people to be happy, but they were in agreement. I witnessed their agreement before, during and after the meeting. Thirdly, they have not yet asked for financial support. They repeated that again yesterday. These are the three basic truths of which I am keen to remind you.
Next – and it is Mrs Wortmann-Kool who requested this – we will, along with the President of Parliament and others, ascertain how we can work with Parliament during the period in which the task force is operational.
Regarding the task force, I agree with those who say that it must be ambitious. I do not take examples from the past. History never repeats itself and certainly not in the same way. This important task force must be very ambitious. We must learn every lesson there is to learn from the crisis that we have experienced. We must draw every consequence there is to draw from it.
We must be far more preventative. We must be very preventative not just in budgetary terms, but also with regard to the economic policy implemented. This is not in order to take the place of national governments in implementing economic policy: in the final analysis, of course, they are the ones that are ultimately responsible! However, we can be preventative in a way that does not endanger the single currency – the euro – or the common market, the internal market. Let us not endanger them! That responsibility is incumbent on the EU. To each, their own responsibility. We must, therefore, also be more preventative in economic terms.
I am keen to remind you – it was not mentioned during the speeches – that the problem of competitiveness is a fundamental one. We have more than just budgetary problems: underlying the budgetary problems, there are economic ones. We must tackle them because, if we do not, we will – I repeat – endanger the common market."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata | |
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples