Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-01-18-Speech-2-070-000"
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"en.20110118.6.2-070-000"2
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"Mr President, Mr Leterme, ladies and gentlemen, with efficiency and focus, with pragmatism and Community spirit, the Union made important advances during the Belgian Presidency, which deserve our admiration and our recognition.
We are, fortunately, moving towards self-assertion. I would therefore like to congratulate the Belgian Presidency most sincerely. The agreement obtained at the ECOFIN Council on 17 September resulted in the establishment of new cycles of economic governance, known as the European Semester. The first step was taken last week with the presentation of the annual growth review prepared by the European Commission, in which we make very clear that the three priorities we need to focus our efforts on are reinforcing macro-economic stability – in particular, through rigorous fiscal consolidation – structural reform and job-creating growth.
We also achieved notable successes in financial supervision, in particular, by adopting a new European architecture of financial supervision, which came into existence on 1 January 2011 with the establishment of the European Systemic Risk Board and of three new financial supervisory authorities covering the markets, the banks and insurance, respectively.
In those six months, we were also able to obtain agreements on the management of speculative funds and other alternative investment funds as well as on the rating agencies. For our citizens, austerity measures are not a vague concept but the harsh reality of their daily lives. There are, across Europe, many worries and concerns, but there are also, across Europe, high expectations that the reforms, postponed for far too long, will finally be completed, that the European dimension will be an integral part of the solution, and that Europe will defend its projects, its values and its interests in the world.
It is therefore important to spread the word as widely as possible about what the Union is doing to restore growth that is sustainable and able to create jobs and to build a European society that is fairer and more environmentally friendly.
I would also like to point to some other achievements, in particular, with regard to foreign policy and external relations. One such achievement is the free trade agreement signed with South Korea on 6 October, which is, quite simply, the most ambitious commercial agreement ever concluded by the European Union, and which must remain a benchmark for our future bilateral commercial agreements.
Contrary to the expectations of some pessimists, Cancún also managed to show some progress towards multilateralism in the fight against climate change. Cancún also demonstrated the importance of cooperation between the Presidency and the Commission to enable Europe to speak with a coherent and audible voice on the international scene.
As regards practical results, I should also like to commend the agreement finally reached during the Belgian Presidency in the field of transport on the Eurovignette dossier. This is very important for our citizens.
I would also like to pay tribute to the Belgian Presidency for the exemplary way in which it enabled the major innovations of the Treaty of Lisbon to be respected and implemented. It used all its negotiating skills to brilliant effect during a difficult discussion on the 2011 budget of the European Union under the new budgetary rules of the Treaty. It was an illustration of the European spirit and of its culture of compromise at its finest. The Commission is proud of the contribution it made to this outcome.
Tomorrow, in fulfilment of my commitments to Parliament, I will have an initial meeting with the President of the European Parliament, Mr Buzek, and Prime Minister Orbán, who holds the rotating Presidency of the Council, to discuss the next steps to be taken in budgetary matters.
2010 was an often difficult and, at times, extremely demanding year. Ultimately, however, it was very productive. It was under the Presidency of two countries, Belgium, but also Spain, that European integration was able to move decisively forward. I see in it the strength of our Union and the proper functioning of our institutions. It is now up to the third country in the troika, Hungary, to maintain this momentum.
On behalf of the European Commission, I would like to offer my heartfelt congratulations to the Prime Minister, Mr Leterme, his entire government team, the administration, and all the Belgians who gave their very best to ensure the success of this Presidency.
The important decisions that we have taken over the past year are proof that all of us, Parliament, Council, Commission, Member States, know what we have to do to ensure a stable and prosperous future for Europe. If we know what we have to do, we have to do it now. We have said that we have the will to do it; we must now show that we are indeed capable of honouring our political commitments without diluting them, without weakening and without allowing ourselves to be fooled by tentative signs of recovery.
We need to consolidate our actions, to show that they are not a reaction to the pressure of the crisis in the markets, but rather the strong reaffirmation of our will to live together in this Union for peace, solidarity and freedom.
It was a fine and great Presidency at a delicate and challenging time for the future of the European Union. Rarely had the challenges been so important and the difficulties so crucial to overcome. Throughout those long months of sound and fury – if you will forgive the expression – the Belgian Presidency held firm to the course of European politics. Its action was always embedded in the fundamental sense of the existence of the European Union, the solidarity of everyone in the general European interest. Its action also enabled us to chart the best way forward to achieve our primary objectives: stability and the relaunch of job-creating growth.
They were months during which Europe was still living to the frenetic rhythm of developments in the financial crisis and in sovereign debt. All eyes were on the future of the euro area and on our determination to defend it. When we say that we will do everything possible to defend the stability of the euro area as a whole, these must not be empty words. It is nothing more and nothing less than the expression of our firm political will to defend our common destiny. The future of the euro area and the future of the European Union are two sides of the same coin. We want this future to be stable and prosperous for ourselves and for future generations. That has always been, and remains, the meaning of European integration and of the Community spirit.
The fundamental reforms to which we have committed ourselves show that we are fully aware of the challenge facing the European Union. We must adapt to the new political, economic and strategic realities of a rapidly changing globalised world. We must achieve this adaptation while reaffirming our values, defending our interests and enhancing our credibility and influence on the international scene.
The basic decisions we have taken on strengthening European economic governance and tackling our macro-economic imbalances are at the heart of this progress. They are not an option but an imperative. I hope that, during this six-month period, the European Parliament and the Council will adopt the proposals on economic governance.
Fundamentally, the question is not who among the different political stakeholders in Europe emerges a winner or a loser, but whether each of us is prepared to cooperate in full respect of our mutual prerogatives. In essence, the question is whether the European Union as a whole emerges a winner or a loser. The answer is clear: if we do not strengthen our economic governance, we will all be losers, both in the euro area and throughout the European Union.
If we do not strengthen our economic governance, we will lose the battle for stability, growth and employment in Europe. If we do not strengthen our economic governance, the strong links of today may become the weak links of tomorrow. And if we do not strengthen our economic governance, we will lose our credibility on the international scene.
While issues of governance and macro-economic imbalance are also global issues and are discussed, notably at the G20, how could we remain credible and influential with our international partners if we were not even capable of resolving them at EU level? I say this weighing all my words carefully: essentially, it is an existential question for the European Union. We act and we assert ourselves as a Union, or we fail to act and allow ourselves to be marginalised. What is really at issue is our collective destiny."@en1
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