Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-02-02-Speech-3-043-000"
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"en.20110202.14.3-043-000"2
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"Mr President, Mrs Győri, Mr Barroso, ladies and gentlemen, what will the European public take away from the meeting of its leaders this Friday in Brussels? Will it understand that European responses to European challenges – the euro, energy, research and innovation and employment – are being sought in good faith? Or rather that, once again, we are surrendering to the sorry spectacle of division and power struggles? What headlines will the major newspapers run? What will people be talking about on Saturday in blogs and on Facebook when they refer to the European Council’s decisions? About the timidity of Europe when faced with the situation of Mediterranean countries which long to have their rights respected, or, on the contrary, about its leadership? Europe’s duty in this regard is quite clear: it must harness all its resources and all its diplomatic skills to aid the transition and the organisation of democratic and open elections.
Ladies and gentlemen, as far as the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) is concerned, the solution to our problems lies in having more Europe, not less. The solution does not lie in more so-called national victories, but in more common victories and more coordinated responses. The solution does not lie in a lax attitude towards applying our common rules, but in greater discipline. The solution, ladies and gentlemen, does not lie in greater divergences between our budgets, our labour laws and our taxation rates, but in greater convergence.
As far as the PPE Group is concerned, there is but one lesson to be learnt from this crisis, which is that, without a common vision and without shared resources, our countries will sink into sluggish growth and plunge into social crisis. If there is just one lesson to be learnt from this crisis, it is that, by thinking, working and investing as Europeans, our countries will emerge from the difficult patch they are going through and will be forever stronger for it.
What else will make us react as one if not the difficulties that we have just experienced? Together with the European Commission, the majority of my colleagues in this House and, I am sure, the majority of the 500 million Europeans, I put the following question to the European Council: when are we going to act and react more as one?
As for the euro, I now know that that our governments will hold fast and will not allow speculators to destroy 60 years of European integration. I now call on them to concentrate on the consolidation of the Financial Stabilisation Mechanism, as this is essential. I call on them in particular to strengthen their budgetary discipline and to keep up their efforts to reduce public debt. European governance is the
of the success of our common project. My group supports it as much as it supports the euro, that is to say, totally.
The solution to our problems, as I said at the beginning of my speech, is to have more Europe, not less. While this is true in the cases of employment and the economy, it is also true for energy, a topic which the Council will also cover on Friday. Having more Europe means, first and foremost, fully implementing the laws that already exist in relation to the internal energy market. It can never be emphasised enough that making this market fully operational will make us more competitive, will ensure the security of our supplies and will guarantee a substantial increase in renewable energy production.
Having more Europe also means encouraging our States to meet the challenge of increasing their energy efficiency by 20% between now and 2020. They were the ones that set themselves this objective. We must ensure that they reach it, or else we shall have to raise the standards they have to meet to do so. Finally, having more Europe in the field of energy means investing more. The Commission estimates that it will cost EUR 1 billion to reach the required infrastructure level. We expect ambitious decisions from the European Council in order to achieve this. Europe needs secure, clean energy just as much as it needs a research and development policy and a policy for promoting industrial innovation. Here too, the solution lies in having more Europe and paying more attention to small and medium-sized enterprises. The solution lies in reducing bureaucracy to a minimum and finally reaching an agreement on a European patent. In the area of innovation, too, we expect common solutions from our leaders, not parochial squabbles.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is time to move on from our knee-jerk reactions of the past. Promoting our differences is all well and good, but making them mutually complementary is even better. Taking individual initiatives can be useful, but playing as a team is the way to win the match. Harbouring national ambitions is perfectly legitimate, but understanding that the game is won at international level by playing as a team is the way to guarantee a future for the people of Europe."@en1
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