Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-06-23-Speech-3-056"
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"Mr President, some of the people who asked me these questions are no longer here. Anyway, I will respond.
I want to pay tribute to the working paper of Alain Lamassoure that has been presented to the Committee on Budgets this week, on how to finance Europe 2020 in times of crisis. I believe in the ideas that have been put forward. How we can decide on what could be spent at European level and what can be spent at national level is indeed something for Parliament, working also with the other institutions. On behalf of the Commission, I want to tell you that we are committed to working with you in that area.
Another point made by Mr Cashman, who is no longer here, was on MDGs. I fully share everything he said on this; the need to keep the momentum on this matter. Especially now, where there is every constraint on the budgets of our Member States, it would be difficult to be sure about their commitment. From that point of view, the conclusions of the Council are good. It is a point that is made in the letter that I, along with President Van Rompuy, addressed to the G20 colleagues; taking into consideration the commitments made by our Member States, we are reaffirming on behalf of the European Union that the European Union remains committed to support the achievement of the MDGs globally by 2015. We believe that this is possible if all partners demonstrate firm commitment. So that is a point that we are going to bring to the G20 and G8 outreach meetings this weekend in Canada.
Some of you also asked about stress testing. I think it was a very positive announcement, a positive signal ahead of the G20 summit in Toronto, an important step to restore confidence in Europe’s banks and Europe’s economic prospects. The details of the commitment made at the European Council last week, including the exact scope of the exercise, are currently being discussed by all relevant stakeholders, in particular, by the Committee of European Banking Supervisors, the respective national supervisors and the respective Ministers of Finance. The ultimate decision on this issue will be taken in the next few days. We are, as a Commission, playing an important part in this process; we need to advocate an approach that would ensure having as representative a sample as possible, while taking into account the timeframe set for the publication of the results in the second half of July. There is a delicate balance to be struck.
I also believe that the result should ideally take into account the most recent development in sovereign debt markets. The credibility of the exercise will be considerably enhanced if it properly addresses the recent pressures in sovereign debt markets. I understand the Committee of European Banking Supervisors has been considering this issue with the participation of all parties concerned, including the Commission. The ultimate decision in this regard will be taken in the next few days.
Finally, some of you mentioned the issue of the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Just yesterday, I had a meeting with the CEO of BP to be sure that they are taking all the necessary measures and that they are drawing all the lessons from that ecological catastrophe. In fact, I think that not only that company but, generally speaking, the industry, have to draw lessons from it. They gave me assurances that they are taking all the necessary steps to ensure that their operations, particularly those in and around the European Union, are undertaken with the safety of citizens and the environment as a corporate priority.
We are currently reviewing applicable EU legislation. In fact, we had been working on this before this crisis; at meetings with the Baltic States, some of our partners, for instance Finland, raised the issue of the possible consequences of this kind of ecological catastrophe in the Baltics and what could we do. We are already working on this. I believe that a hasty or premature regulatory response to events in the Gulf should be avoided. In fact, no regulatory regime can give a 100% guarantee of safety. Much depends on the attitude and practices of the industry itself.
However, the Commission will not hesitate to propose changes in Europe if the current analysis, namely the investigation in the Gulf of Mexico, reveals weaknesses. We are intensifying our contacts and dialogues with national authorities and regulators. Furthermore, Commissioner Oettinger, in cooperation with Commissioners Georgieva and Potočnik, established contacts with all of the industry in early May for a meeting that they are holding this week.
We have been also coordinating through the MIC assistance in response operations; Member States and the European Maritime Safety Agency have responded promptly. This was an example of initiatives that the Commission is taking.
I am coming now to the last point made by Mario Mauro, I want to reassure him and the Parliament that, of course, the Commission will take all its initiatives in the spirit of good cooperation with all the other institutions. As I said before and in another meeting, yes, the Commission is the economic government of Europe in matters that have been transferred from national Member States to the European Union but, of course, we need to work in cooperation with all the institutions. The European Council has also an extremely important role to play. That is in the treaty and we are cooperating there. The President of the Commission attends the European Council as, of course, does the European Parliament. So I think it is in this spirit of partnership that we can indeed make our project go forward and I really want to thank those Members of the European Parliament who show this extraordinary patience – this is the kind of resilience that we need for our economy as well.
First of all, regarding the role of the European Parliament in the Europe 2020 strategy. That has been a concern of many of you, including Corien Wortmann-Kool who has been a very important leader in this Parliament regarding the rights of Parliament in establishing this strategy. I think the European Parliament has a key role to play. It is our common responsibility to be successful in exiting the crisis and returning to growth. Our Member States must do much better on the delivery of structural reforms and fiscal consolidation than they have done over the last decade.
The European Parliament will have to play a key role as colegislator in adopting legislation put forward to implement the flagship initiatives. The Commission has recently adopted the first flagship initiative for a digital agenda; six more flagship initiatives will follow before the end of 2010. It is a very intensive programme. These flagships will entail a set of legislative proposals and the Commission is counting on the European Parliament’s support to deal with flagships and proposed legislation in a rapid and coherent fashion. I am looking for a commitment from the European Parliament to fast-track the adoption of those initiatives.
Secondly, I believe the European Parliament should play a much more active role than it did under the Lisbon Strategy in defining and monitoring the Europe 2020 strategy. This calls for taking timely, proactive, common positions. The European Parliament could also play a role in mobilising national parliaments. I think there is now room for shifting this dialogue away from general discussions on Europe 2020 – the kind of general discussion held in the first phase and which I have been participating in for some time – and move towards much more specific issues, such as the five core themes of the strategy: employment policies, R&D innovation, energy efficiency, education and fighting poverty, and monitoring national performance.
National parliaments must become key actors in monitoring their government’s performance and commitments to the proper implementation of their national Europe 2020 strategies, targets and European Union recommendations. This is a very important point.
I know that some of you are not happy. I would also have preferred a higher level of ambition in terms of the monitoring of the strategy. In fact, there are considerable improvements, and I would like to ask you not to underestimate the potential of these improvements. The fact that there will now be national reform programmes and specific national targets makes it possible to monitor, in a concrete manner, not only what is being done generally by Europe but what each country is doing in all those matters. This can be done, and should be done – if I can express an opinion – by the European Parliament, with the other institutions of course.
The first point on this priority is poverty – also because of this year being the year on poverty. I like what some of you have said, namely Mr Méndez de Vigo and others, that we should take advantage of this year being the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion, to launch some active policies.
It was not easy to get the target agreed at European level; some expressed doubts in terms of subsidiarity. At the end, it was possible to get some kind of commitment and so I think we should already make that a visible action now this year, because the social reality of Europe is in a state of emergency.
Coming back to Europe 2020, Parliament, as a budgetary authority, will have to play its role in the definition of the next Multiannual Financial Framework. Budget priorities must reflect Europe 2020 priorities. We will present our budget review in September. I think that will be the moment to engage in a broad discussion about the future of our financial perspectives, namely some of the ideas that have also been suggested in the preliminary discussions with the Parliament."@en1
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