Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-01-19-Speech-3-050-000"
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"en.20110119.5.3-050-000"2
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"Mr President, Prime Minister Orbán, Mr Barroso, ladies and gentlemen, rarely will the Presidency of the Council of Ministers have had to face so many challenges: the challenge of the euro, which we must stabilise, the challenge of employment, which is experiencing stronger growth and therefore a more efficient economy, the challenge of energy independence and food security, while prices for raw materials are rising alarmingly. I have no doubt that the Hungarian Presidency will be able to deal with these challenges, alongside the Commission, the Council and Parliament.
I also hope that the Hungarian Presidency – I thought that the Group of the Greens were going to be silent, but I can hear them talking; it is not right, people should be quiet all the way through – will back the Commission in its assistance to Tunisia, which is going through a crucial time and must be supported as it moves towards change.
Mr Orbán, you know that to succeed in your mandate and help Europe through its current difficult phase, you need the confidence of Parliament. In December, when we were in a difficult position with regard to the Council, you had the courage to sign the first-rate letters for us which really helped Parliament to approve its budget. Thank you, already, for what you did in December!
Even before January, you included the political groups when defining your priorities, and naturally chose Mrs Győri, one of our very fine former colleagues, as Minister for EU Affairs. These are all positive signs which, I have no doubt, will be accompanied by a perfect balance between the reforms you are undertaking and the European values that every one of us here defends.
Mr Orbán, you have won the confidence of your electorate in Hungary. Your party, Fiatal Demokraták Szövetsége (FIDESZ), is based on an idea, on an ideal, on a value: that of liberty and democracy. Since your election, you have, with the Hungarian Parliament, undertaken a whole series of reforms which your people have called for by democratically giving you a large majority.
Today, one of those reforms – the one concerning the media – is the subject of legal scrutiny by the European Commission, guardian of the Treaties. You yourself stated last week – and I thank you for doing so – during your talks with Mr Barroso, and since then, that were this law incompatible with European law, you would submit it to your parliament for the necessary changes. I have complete faith in your word. For my part, I, like you, have confidence in the European Commission, which plays its role as guardian of the Treaties, and I also have confidence that you will respect the letter and the spirit of the European rules.
Prime Minister Orbán, we have known each other for a long time and I consider you a very great European. For my part, I have no reason to doubt that you will do what you have said with regard to the media law and to the other priorities faced by your Presidency.
I now come to those priorities, beginning with the first: the stability of Europe. Perhaps it is a good thing that the two presidencies of the Council that will follow one another in 2011 will be assumed by countries that do not belong to the euro area but which wish to join it in the very near future.
Indeed, both Hungary and Poland are both entitled to join it. They therefore have a stake in ensuring the stability of this currency. I repeat: the only effective way of ending the speculative attacks against the euro and of strengthening the fundamentals of the European economy is to restore order to our public finances. This involves stronger coordination of fiscal and social policies in our countries, as is quite rightly provided for by the new budgetary period for the European Semester. It also depends on greater flexibility in our employment market and greater productivity.
Like the Hungarian Presidency of the Council, the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) firmly believes that the future of 500 million Europeans depends on a stronger, more united and more coherent Europe. It depends on having more of a Europe and certainly not less of a Europe.
Mr Orbán, we need European economic governance. We need more communitarianism and I am sure that you will work towards this.
President-in-Office of the Council, you have defined the setting up of a common energy policy as one of your main priorities. I think you are right. Mr Buzek, our President, has also, quite rightly, made it one of the strengths of his Presidency. I agree with you on this point, but I also want to warn you about the terribly worrying consequences that may result from the increase in the prices of all kinds of raw materials which has been particularly sharp over the last few months. We have already seen the social implications in several Mediterranean countries of such a price rise in basic foodstuffs, especially for the poorest countries. I hope that Europe will take this problem seriously and deal forcefully with speculators."@en1
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