Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-03-24-Speech-4-042-000"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20110324.5.4-042-000"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
".
Madam President, Mr Lewandowski, ladies and gentlemen, we in the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance are also of the opinion that when budgets are tight and there is a need for austerity policies we must respond, because we have to reduce levels of debt in the Member States. This is not the case on a European level, because fortunately we are not allowed to get into debt. However, the politically clever solution involves not only reducing debt but also achieving a balance, so that it is possible to invest in projects for the future in order not to put the national economy further at risk. Reaching this balance must be one of the guidelines for the European budget in 2012. In addition, we have made commitments in recent years in the European budget which come out of the structural funds and which will have to be financed next year and in the years that follow.
I think we should take Mrs Balzani’s approach very seriously. It involves focusing on the most important areas of the EU 2020 Strategy, which determines where Europe is going. We are calling for more funding at a European level to allow us to combat climate change, to switch more quickly to renewable energy sources and to support education and research. We must continue to focus on these issues and we must not put this at risk.
I also think that the European Semester mechanism is being used correctly to ensure that the Member States and the European budget, in other words a total of 28 budgets, commit to the targets in the EU 2020 Strategy. Where do we need to spend more money? On the basis of what we hope will be democratic change in the Arab countries, we Europeans have an interest in supporting civil society, democratic structures and the move to parliamentary democracy in these states and, therefore, we need flexible funding to promote democracy throughout the world in our own well-understood interests.
As a Member of the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance, I would like to ask specifically where we can make savings, in particular in the light of recent events in Japan. In my group we are of the opinion that we can save money on the ITER nuclear fusion reactor. We do not know what to do with the nuclear waste from this project. Why are we spending so much money on launching this project, when we should be redirecting the Euratom funding to enable us to move away from nuclear power and introduce renewable energy sources much more quickly? When we look at the United Nations and at climate policy, we all know that we need to change the way we generate energy. The 2012 European budget must also make a contribution in this area. I hope that we will have the power to make qualitative changes of this kind in the next multiannual financial framework."@en1
|
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples