Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-05-19-Speech-3-013"
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"en.20100519.3.3-013"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, my Group has once again decided to take a positive approach to the financial stabilisation mechanism which was agreed at the weekend of crisis talks in Brussels almost two weeks ago.
We are combining our support with a clear commitment to a more united economic and financial policy. This is nothing new for my group. It has been a tradition for us for many years. However, along with this commitment, Mr Rehn and Mr López Garrido, we want to see a serious decision being made not to continue simply combating the symptoms of the crisis, but instead to tackle the overall challenge that it represents.
As we see it, we have been trying to cure the symptoms since 2008. We have been attempting to save the banks since 2008, when Lehman Brothers went bankrupt. I would like to say once again that we must be honest with the citizens of Europe. The euro was not stabilised during the weekend before last. Instead, once again, a large number of German and French banks were rescued. The share prices demonstrated very clearly what had happened. However, we must get out of this cycle of rescuing the banks, which has cost us billions upon billions. We no longer know where the money is coming from and we are only daring to take tiny steps towards state regulation of the financial markets, going by the agreement in the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin).
The central aspect of what we are calling for today is that the state must return to the financial markets and take a very determined approach. It must no longer be kept in check by the banks and speculators which everyone is complaining about. It is true that the banks are a vital part of the system, but there must be something very rotten in this system if our states can repeatedly be brought to the brink of disaster and the political system allows this to happen.
I would like to summarise the situation very briefly. We must now make clear decisions on certain issues. There are indications that some of the EU Member States are moving in the right direction, but we believe that there should be a ban on toxic assets and short selling throughout the EU, that hedge funds should be kept under very tight control, and that we must stop talking about introducing a tax on financial transactions and actually do something about it. We need this tax, among other things, in order to refinance what we are doing with public money. The participation of banks and speculators must no longer be merely a matter for soapbox speeches. We can genuinely guarantee their involvement by introducing the tax.
A second issue which is of great concern to me is the future of a coordinated budget policy in the European Union, in other words, budgetary discipline. I am very familiar with this term in a German context. However, I propose that, against the background of crisis management and the vote on the Europe 2020 strategy, we should once again come to an agreement on what we actually want, on how the Member States and how Europe should be presenting themselves to our citizens in five or ten years with regard to the responsibility of the state. Should the European strategy be used as a battering ram against the social responsibility of the state? I would very much like to know how you see all of this: nurseries, schools, universities, libraries, care for the elderly, hospitals, museums and theatres.
A week ago, my colleague, Mr Cohn-Bendit, said that Greece needed more time to put a reconstruction plan in place. I am familiar with the disastrous financial situation of many Member States and I believe that some of them need time to decide what should be done. As I have said, using a battering ram against the social security system would definitely be the worst thing that the European Union could do at this point. However, that does not prevent us from looking carefully at our budget policy in order to ensure that the different generations receive equal treatment. As Greens, we have supported budgets of this kind in Germany time and time again.
I would like to make one final point. If we were to give up on our climate policy and sustainable development now, as some people have indicated, we would really be implementing the devil’s plan. We must not neglect innovation in industry and business, a climate friendly approach to production and the organisation of public transport. We must safeguard jobs by means of innovation, future viability and sustainability, but this does cost money. The introduction of new taxes is a taboo subject. However, I am convinced that we will only emerge from this crisis if we can break down the taboo of state intervention, the role of the state and the need for intelligent taxes."@en1
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