Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-09-08-Speech-3-032"
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"en.20100908.3.3-032"2
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"Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I should first like to thank you and to thank all the speakers who have expressed their approval of the agreement on financial supervision. As many people have said, this has been a joint effort by Parliament – particularly by its rapporteurs – the Commission and the Council.
Of course, the idea is to move towards macro-economic convergence and budget consolidation, but I should like to remind you that the pact which binds us in budgetary matters is a Stability and Growth Pact, and that the debate on growth, employment and the social and environmental policies to be conducted in Europe will not be overlooked either.
This entire budgetary debate is not simply a debate about restoring equilibrium in our various States. It is about seeing which aspect of our budgets will enable us to move not only towards equilibrium but also towards growth, job creation, the development of social policies and active participation – and I stress the word ‘active’ – in the fight against climate change.
We are going to try and do all this. The Belgian Presidency is obviously ready to make progress on these various issues and, as I said just now, we will be doing that once again this afternoon with regard to investment funds.
As I said a moment ago, we are at the start of a process and, in order to demonstrate that this supervision really represents added value and perhaps the first lesson learned from the financial crisis, we must first make sure that the individuals who will be in charge of this supervision are chosen as objectively as possible – and I believe that the procedures adopted are along these lines – and then, if we want, as many people in this Chamber have requested, to move towards supervision that is increasingly European in scope, we must demonstrate the effectiveness of that supervision in the various areas. We will be able to progress even further simply by demonstrating the effectiveness of European-level supervision. I repeat, however: establishing this new architecture is probably the first and most important lesson learned from the financial crisis. It is now up to us to make it work as well as possible and to strengthen, I repeat, step by step, the truly European character of this new supervision.
The second comment I wish to make – Mr Gauzès alluded to it a moment ago – is that, this afternoon, we will once again be working in a trialogue; we will be discussing investment funds further. I believe that everyone needs to take action and agree to the same process which we have just successfully carried out in the area of financial supervision. It is true that there are still some hold-ups within the Council, and debates are taking place within your Chamber on certain aspects relating to the changes to investment funds, but this is an issue on which progress must be made.
I believe that, together with Commissioner Barnier, we really want to set a tight deadline for the entry into force of new texts. With regard to investment funds – we will try to make progress starting from this afternoon – we must adopt the same approach and try to establish a framework that is a European framework and which actually protects citizens and consumers with regard to certain products and activities that are developed in Europe.
I should just like to say that, in order to assess how the work is progressing in the area of regulation and supervision, Commissioner Barnier has announced the intention, during the informal ECOFIN Council meeting, to compare, in a way, what is happening on both sides of the Atlantic. I should like to confirm to you that I intend to invite the chair of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, during this informal ECOFIN meeting, to address this issue and to debate the progress of the work, which involves not only the Council and the Commission but also Parliament. At the end of this month, we will therefore have an opportunity to discuss this issue with Parliament also. It is important to acknowledge the changes that we too are making, on this side of the Atlantic.
The third element I wish to discuss is the taxation of financial transactions – since I do not want to examine the resolution funds again; Commissioner Barnier will, as he has announced, present some specific proposals over the next few weeks. With regard to the taxation of financial transactions, it was almost 10 years ago that I tried, during the previous Belgian Presidency of the Council, to simply raise the issue for debate. We were unable to debate it. There was virtual unanimity amongst the Belgians on this issue. It was the only issue on which unanimity was obtained. This time, the debate has really taken off. I am aware that a number of forceful requests have been made for concrete proposals to be presented on rates, the tax base and the use of receipts. We should perhaps first allow ideas to evolve in a few Member States so that we can really start a debate on practical arrangements.
What we are not going to do, as part of our preparations for the G20, is to refer this issue back to the G20. Rather, we are going to try and identify a number of partners – and they do exist – with which we can move in the same direction. However, I would stress that this debate is going to be actively pursued. It has already been developed at this ECOFIN. We will resume it at the end of the month at the informal ECOFIN meeting, and I should really like us to be able to make progress, including on the allocation of resources.
Let us make no mistake: the aim is not to solve crises through the use of this tax. The aim is perhaps, as many have indicated, to combat speculation. It is also to release funds, and we are already using them three or four times over: firstly, to fight climate change, secondly, for development aid, and thirdly, to fill the holes in the budgets. This debate will not be easy, and I acknowledge that we are a long way from reaching an agreement on this issue.
I should like to finish, Madam President, with budgetary consolidation. Let us make no mistake: the European Semester is just one stage. There will be others, and we will be discussing sanctions. The policy just adopted entails debating these mechanisms for the Member States of the euro area to begin with, perhaps, and then seeing how we can extend them, in accordance with the current provisions in the treaties, to Member States that are not in the euro area."@en1
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