Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-12-15-Speech-3-081"
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"en.20101215.5.3-081"2
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"Madam President, honourable members, let me first thank you for a very substantive and responsible debate on the European response to the current crisis. Indeed this latest stage of the financial crisis is proving increasingly systemic in nature, which calls for an equally systemic response from the European Union.
Moreover, in response to Mr Karas, it is also an essential stepping stone for completing the Economic and Monetary Union by finally complementing the strong monetary union with a true and functional economic union. It is indeed high time for the ‘E’ in the EMU to be infused with life through the creation of a real and effective economic union as the final step in European economic policy integration.
Madam President, I would still like to make a couple of comments in Finnish because of the speech by Mr Soini. Perhaps he has now managed to get back here, as he left this meeting a short while ago. We have been able to, and should, approach Mr Soini’s speeches with a sense of humour, but, as in recent times he has gained a certain amount of support, they obviously need to start to be taken seriously.
First of all, I do not believe that belittling the Greeks in the manner that Mr Soini did is very useful, or even professionally appropriate. Greece is at present introducing important, actually epochmaking reforms, which deserve our respect and not our contempt.
I think that Mr Soini should recall the old Finnish saying that teaches us to be aware of our own situation, while respecting others. That is a far better way to build a peaceful Europe based on cooperation.
Secondly, I do not think it professional either to compare the European Union with the Soviet Union, as Mr Soini did. Someone with no sense of humour might even think it was insulting. Freedom, democracy and the rule of law were not the Soviet Union’s trademarks, but they are the basic values of the European Union, which the Finns have defended throughout history, Mr Soini. The powers of comprehension on the part of the Finns should not be underestimated either, not even those of the supporters of the True Finns Party. The people certainly know that the EU is not the Soviet Union.
Therefore Europe’s policy response must be comprehensive, consistent and determined. It will necessarily have to combine broader measures applying to the entire European Union with specific measures taken by the Member States.
What should be done? In the Commission’s view we have five avenues of action. Firstly, we need a determined, collective effort to deliver on the agreed budgetary commitments. Every Member State should stick to its fiscal targets. The best defence against contagion is the ring-fencing of our budgetary positions. For instance, Spain and Portugal are taking very convincing decisions to this effect now.
Secondly, we need to advance the next round of bank stress tests and do them in an even more comprehensive and rigorous manner than last time by using the new European architecture of financial regulation and supervision which will enter into force as of January next year.
Thirdly, we need effective financial backstops, and that is why in May the Union created the European Financial Stability Mechanism and facility for a temporary three-year lifespan. Soon the permanent European stabilisation mechanism will be set up, to take effect as of mid-2013.
To go further and deeper, several initiatives on eurobonds have been floated recently. As a concept, the Eurobond is a broad church that covers a wide range of possible applications. The current focus of policy-making is, rightly and reasonably, on making the existing European Financial Stability Facility more effective and agile, to help us in the immediate response to the current stage of the crisis.
But certainly we have to continue analytical discussions on such rational alternatives that can help Europe to overcome the systemic crisis by improving the functioning of the bond markets, by facilitating fiscal consolidation through more reasonable borrowing costs, by providing a basis for enhanced budgetary coordination among Member States and by reinforcing the incentives for fiscal prudence in the Member States.
The fourth element of the comprehensive response has to be structural measures, as outlined in the strategy for Europe 2020. These are indeed necessary for increasing our potential growth and for creating sustainable employment. We must make the most of our single market, especially in services and energy, make the tax and benefits systems more conducive to employment growth, make more focused investment in knowledge and innovation and simplify our regulatory environment.
Fifthly, an essential element of our systemic response, which is very much in your hands, honourable Members, is the rapid and ambitious adoption of the legislative package on reinforced economic governance which the Commission proposed in September. I am glad that Parliament and the Council have agreed to finalise this package by next summer. This is a matter of the credibility of the economic and monetary union of the European Union as a whole. It is also a most effective crisis prevention mechanism, as it reinforces long and short-term confidence in the European economy, as well as confidence in the immediate future."@en1
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