Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-05-05-Speech-3-399"
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"en.20100505.73.3-399"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, we in Europe are going through a particularly difficult period with the serious crisis in Greece, its consequences for the citizens and, as you pointed out, tragic and dramatic consequences, with the debts that are piling up in most of our Member States, and with a European response that does not always live up to our hopes, but which at least exists.
The time has now come for Europeans to learn lessons from these events and to call for radical reforms of European governance. Reforms that will ensure that our Member States stop taking decisions on their own, without consulting their partners – with whom they do, after all, share a currency, values and, hence, a common destiny – about their budgetary priorities, their fiscal priorities and their social priorities. Reforms of people’s mentalities, so that our parties, our ministers, our national colleagues stop systematically denigrating the decisions taken in Europe, when they themselves have been party to those decisions.
Can we in fact continue any longer to call for solidarity from our partners when we face difficulties and totally ignore them when things return to normal? Can we continue any longer to call for substantial aid from our partners without being able to guarantee absolute transparency in the presentation of public accounts? Lastly, can we continue any longer to be surprised that questions keep being asked when we call for solidarity among peoples of whom some work 35 hours and retire before the age of 60, and others work 48 hours and retire at the age of 67? I do not think so. On the contrary, I believe that the time has come to ask the real questions and to provide the real answers to those questions.
These answers are not, for the most part, national, but European in the world in which we live. These answers are not about courting popular opinion, but about being responsible and sensible. These answers are our responsibility; we must provide them without hesitation, or else they will be imposed on us more quickly than we think. Not only will our peoples be able to accuse us – and rightly so – of having failed to do our duty, of having failed to tell them the truth, but they will also have to put up with decisions that are even more painful than the ones that have to be taken today. We must call very explicitly for an economic Europe, a social Europe and a fiscal Europe, something which requires very practical measures on the part of our governments, on both the right and the left.
Will this argument be heard by the Council? Will we be able to ensure that it is heard loud and clear? I put the question to Mr Verhofstadt, who has some experience of this Council. Does he think it is possible to enter into discussions, together, within the Council? Will this argument be taken up by the Commission? I hope so, and I strongly urge you, Mr Barroso, to take it up: I ask you, as guardian of the Treaties, to ensure that the decisions that we take are well and truly applied by the Member States. I note, with regard to the Services Directive, for example, that this is far from being the case. This is a lost opportunity, in terms of growth, which we will no longer be able to allow.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am not an idealist. I do not consider myself naive, but I do believe that the moment of truth has arrived for Europe, and I propose that we rise to these challenges with courage, with a sense of responsibility, just as Europe’s founding fathers, those founding fathers of Europe who had no hesitation in taking courageous and visionary decisions – Schuman, De Gasperi, Adenauer and the others – did 60 years ago. We must follow their example: they did not wait; they did not hold a referendum. They seized their political courage with both hands to respond to the crucial issues that arose.
Ladies and gentlemen, the crisis that we are going through may be a good thing if we have the courage to take the right measures, but it may be very serious if we avoid the necessary reforms. We urgently need economic and social governance; we urgently need an adaptation of the rules on taxation. Lastly, we need to guard against creating an artificial gap between the Member States of Europe and the others. European solidarity applies to every one of the 27 countries. I call on you, Members of the Council, to see Europe as it really is. I call on you to carry out studies on what will happen to us if, tomorrow, France and other countries encounter the same difficulties as Greece. What will become of our euro? What will we be able to do for our European citizens?
Thank you for your attention. We share this responsibility jointly, and time will not stand still for us."@en1
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