Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-11-22-Speech-1-064"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20101122.13.1-064"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Madam President, honourable Members, first of all, I wish to thank you for a very responsible debate.
Mrs Jaakonsaari said that the European Union has always developed through a series of crises. That is largely true, and that is also the case this time, in the short term, while we have to be like the fire brigade and put out the fires that now blaze and threaten financial stability in Europe. At present, we are working mainly in Ireland to safeguard the stability of the European economy. At the same time, we are trying to build a longerterm European architecture that will actually strengthen economic union and reinforce monetary union, which is already sturdy at the moment, by means of robust and genuine economic union, which, in other words, means the implementation of the original objective for economic and monetary union.
Both are important tasks, and we cannot afford to neglect either. Instead, we have to be like the fire brigade the whole time, putting out the forest fires and, at the same time, building a new European architecture for better regulation of the financial markets and for economic union to function more successfully.
Ireland is in difficulties. Mrs Jaakonsaari is well aware that we in Finland have a saying that translates roughly as ‘Help a man when he is in trouble, not when he is not’: this also applies just as well to women, of course. It is now very important that we all keep a cool head and try and support Ireland while it is in difficulties. This is not just for Ireland itself but also for European economic stability, so that we do not allow the first green shoots of recovery to be harmed by this situation. It is important that we make it possible for the European economy to grow sustainably and for us to be better capable of ensuring employment. This is the very issue: sustainable growth in the European economy, and employment.
I want to thank you for the substance of the debate and indeed, I agree with Mr Gauzès that yes, we need to explain better why we are doing what we are doing, and we have to reassure our citizens. These are tough and confusing times. They are prone to nervousness and misinformation, and therefore we all need to do our share in communicating properly on the challenges. Here the European Parliament and all of you, as citizens’ representatives, have a key role to play.
It is not about finding someone to blame: it is about strengthening the European construction that has protected European citizens from much worse consequences. Any talk of deconstruction of the European project is irresponsible. All the Member States would have been in a much more difficult situation without the European Union and its protective shield. The euro is, and continues to be, the cornerstone of the European Union; it is not only a technical monetary arrangement, it is indeed the core political project of the European Union. Therefore, it is indeed essential that we do our best, do our utmost, to protect and reinforce this European construction.
I want to conclude by saying that Mrs Goulard made a very important point when she referred to the original objective of those who created the Economic and Monetary Union: to have a very strong political dimension, in fact, a political union. President Trichet is better placed to testify on that than me because he was there then, but I would tend to agree, and that is why in our legislative package, which is now in your hands and in the hands of the Council, we want to supplement the strong monetary union by finally creating a genuine and strong economic union. To my mind, it is indeed now high time in the EMU to fill the ‘E’ with life, and that is what the legislative package on reinforcing economic governance in the end is about.
Madam President, as you well know, I am ready to meet with the Irish MEPs to discuss issues related to Ireland, but – no matter how important and difficult the situation in Ireland is at the moment – this debate is about the ECB and Parliament’s report on the ECB.
There have been so many questions during this discussion concerning Ireland that it is simply not possible to respond to all of them. As I said, I am ready to meet with the Irish MEPs and I hope I can meet with all of you tomorrow so that we can discuss this more precisely."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
"(in response to Mr De Rossa, who had spoken with the microphone off.)"1
|
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples