Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-11-24-Speech-3-025"
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"en.20101124.4.3-025"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, it is rather difficult to speak in this highly-charged atmosphere. It is also to some extent a demonstration of the situation in which the European Union could find itself if we do not once again formulate European policy in a more careful and more resolute way. My view, Mr Schulz, is that the problem is not the small changes to the treaty that Germany wants and needs – because the financial crisis is not a natural disaster. Rather, the problem is that, in this crisis, the European Council, and in particular the representatives of the large countries in the European Council, are no longer in a position to ensure that a positive spark from the Brussels meeting spreads out into society within the Member States of the European Union. I find it truly bizarre how quickly this pro-European spirit has been lost. I also find it bizarre that Germany of all countries, which benefited so much from solidarity in our distant and more recent common past, is no longer able to lead us away from a debate that is today characterised by egotism and small-mindedness and towards a discussion of why it is right that the Member States in Europe have linked their fate so closely with one another and why the Council and you too, Mr Van Rompuy, no longer succeed in explaining to citizens, whose uncertainty Mr Daul described so well, why it will only be possible to overcome this crisis if we work together rather than competing against one another. The complete absence of this spirit is one of our problems.
The second is that there has been no honest political statement about the fact that we are not rescuing all the Greeks or all the Irish people, we are rescuing the banks in each case, and that Ireland is not only an Irish crisis, it is also a German crisis and a British crisis, even if this is a message you may not necessarily want to hear. I believe that this honesty will provide the basis for persuading citizens to actually support what is decided in Brussels during these times of crisis.
My third point is that I think Mr Verhofstadt is absolutely right. Economic governance is what needs to take shape now. We all know that. No matter how often the Council or the Commission declare that they want to take the necessary steps as soon as possible, alarm bells ring with me, because it is precisely this lack of a pro-European spirit of solidarity that will mean that these necessary and logical steps for integration will not be taken. It is one thing to talk now about tax dumping in Ireland. Something needs to change here. How this is to be done is another question. When, and within what timeframe, is yet another one. Overall, however, the Member States need to coordinate their tax policies, otherwise things will not continue to go well in the European Union.
There is one discussion that we should take seriously because it has also been given prominence: the involvement of creditors, the restructuring of debt, including among those who were the direct cause of the crisis. I have to tell you, it is extremely difficult for me to judge what is right and what is wrong in this regard. We know that the countdown has begun for Spain and Portugal. We know that it is only a matter of time until they will also be looking for solidarity and crisis management. I do not know whether we would be doing ourselves a favour if we now involve the creditors or whether it would not now be better in fact to say that we want this economic governance, we want strict regulation of the banking sector, we want the financial transaction tax or capital levies for those who are profiting from the crisis. This is something that we need to weigh up together. There is absolutely no point in acting as if no decision needs to be made here. Thank you for your attention."@en1
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