Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-05-19-Speech-3-079"
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"en.20100519.3.3-079"2
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"Mr President, we can really say that the European Union is facing a situation that is similar to others in its painful history that have been resolved favourably. Europe is at a crossroads, just as it was after the Second World War, which resulted in the birth of what was not then known as the European Union. It is what happened when the Berlin wall fell, when Europe was reunified, when there was, incidentally, a crisis in the European monetary system. The response was to move forward and adopt a new treaty. That is what we have done at the start of this century with the Treaty of Lisbon, and that is the only way out of a difficult situation such as the one that we are in.
Finally, I also believe that we must speed up the debate or the decision, which I think must be raised at the G20, on a tax on international financial transactions.
I would ask Parliament to support these very significant and very important points, which would be a step forwards towards what is being described as the economic governance or government of the Union, so that a decision can be made on it as soon as possible. We cannot wait much longer for this.
I believe that unity in the EU has never been as essential as it is now, and I am not just talking about unity between the EU Member States, but also between the institutions. Parliament is a European institution, the Commission is a European institution and the Council is also a European institution. The institutions need to work together at this time so that the move towards government of the Union and resolving the fundamental problems that have emerged can be consolidated. Let this be an expression of our commitment to beginning a new political phase in the EU that is beneficial to citizens, who are expecting us to do so. Do not expect anything else; expect us to do precisely that.
The other alternatives, of course, are clearly populism or protectionism, and they are not an option. The clear choice is to move towards a Europe that resolves its shortcomings, which were demonstrated when this extremely serious crisis arose, the like of which those of us here in this House have never known.
Therefore, the way to respond to the situation of deregulated markets; a lack of competitiveness in the production system, which is having serious effects, with a social impact in terms of unemployment; the deficit problem, with 20 countries out of the 27 having begun excessive debt proceedings; and to an obvious lack of economic governance in the European Union, is not with less Europe but with more Europe. That is the way to respond to this situation right now.
It should be said that there has been a reaction, that the European Union has reacted, and I refer to the previous speeches made by Commissioner Rehn and by me, in which we set out how the European Union has reacted. At the moment, however, times are moving even faster, and I think that we need to be quicker in our response, which must help to resolve the fundamental problems that still exist in the European Union and have been put to the test as a result of this crisis.
I therefore want to propose that the European Union institutions and, of course, Parliament, cooperate on what I believe are the five aspects on which we need to move more quickly. We need to speed up, round off or complete the task that was planned and begun in the correct way.
The first aspect is solidarity. We need to deepen solidarity in the euro area, which is why the aid to Greece was so right and why the decision was so right to create this EUR 750 million fund – for a three-year period, so it is not yet completely permanent – to prevent possible difficult situations with public accounts or imbalances in public accounts. I think that this is a fundamental element, and that it was right for the Council to propose it and adopt it on 9 May. Alongside this there has been the action of the European Central Bank, which is intervening even now, buying debt from the Member States through the channels permitted by the Treaty of Lisbon.
Secondly, just today, Parliament has been examining a financial supervision package. We have, to some extent, had a foretaste of this with the adoption of the regulation of hedge funds in the Economic and Financial Affairs (Ecofin) Council yesterday. Therefore we can do it, of course we can do it. This regulation has been produced, but we need to conclude the negotiations between the Council and Parliament on the whole financial supervision package as soon as possible. This package also, incidentally, regulates the rating agencies, because – in relation to one of the suggestions or questions put forward by Members – the rating agencies are going to be subject to supervision by the European authority.
Thirdly, we need to commit to competitiveness. It is therefore very important for the 2020 strategy to be adopted and launched in the European Council in June, and that it quantifies the targets, including on poverty and social inclusion, which have not yet been quantified. It should be a strategy that establishes its own governance, and that governance should be much more demanding than the practically inexistent governance of the Treaty of Lisbon, as Mr Verhofstadt was saying earlier. It should also use positive incentives to ensure that the targets are reached, such as using European funds or the Structural Funds.
The fourth important element is the package on the coordination of economic policies presented by Commissioner Rehn on 12 May, which was examined yesterday in the Ecofin Council. It is absolutely essential that we comply with the Treaty of Lisbon when it states in Article 5 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) that the Member States are obliged – not that it is better or desirable, they are obliged – to coordinate their economic policies and employment policies, and may also coordinate their social policies. Along these lines, we think that the implementation of Article 136 of the TFEU, established by this Commission proposal, is very important, and we also need to speed up putting it into practice."@en1
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