Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-07-07-Speech-3-032"
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"en.20100707.6.3-032"2
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"Mr President, I promised myself that I would not react to Mr Farage’s provocations, but I must all the same mention Talleyrand, that great man who thought that everything that was excessive should be despised. That being said, hello, Prime Minister, hello, Mr President, welcome to our Parliament, welcome to your Parliament.
Irrespective of whether it holds the Presidency of the Union, Belgium has always had great European and Community ambitions. The two go hand in hand almost unanimously here, as Mr Schulz and others have reminded us today. This was the case even in 2001, during our previous Presidency – the main architects of which, Guy Verhofstadt and Louis Michel, are, incidentally, in this Chamber – when we presided over the Laeken Declaration, when we presided over the Convention, which ultimately laid the foundations for the Treaty of Lisbon. This score was written back in December 2009, and it is now up to you, Mr Leterme, to interpret it as the conductor. Moreover, I would say that, in the last six months, this melody has hit the wrong note in some key areas. On this institutional point, the important thing for you is to fine-tune the melody so that this triumvirate can learn to work together better and to cooperate effectively with the Member States.
Clearly, Europe’s whole credibility rests on its being effective, and the example, the counterexample I should say – the most symbolic thing – was the wrong note hit in Copenhagen. It is no longer an option for 10 or almost 10 of us to go to Cancún. Europe needs one voice, one position and, this time, quantified objectives. This is another debate, I know, but it is essential, and, furthermore, you have brought it up.
Apart from that, the figures and the priorities have been imposed by the crisis: financial regulation, economic governance, a return to growth, which leads me to the debate on the financial perspective, the means for our action, for the recovery and for growth.
I would like to say, Mr Leterme – and I will conclude with this – that the Belgians are not waiting for the Commission’s proposal in order to show their ambition and firmness with regard to principles. Growth cannot be achieved through savings alone. It would be tragic, suicidal even, if the crisis were used as an excuse for turning off the tap still further. An ambitious Europe – and these were your first words, Mr President – is a Europe in which, in this case too, imagination reigns supreme."@en1
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