Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-04-05-Speech-2-010-000"
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"en.20110405.3.2-010-000"2
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"Mr President, President of the European Council, President of the Commission, ladies and gentleman, the last European Council has set our countries on the right track. By increasing the capacity of the Solidarity Fund and deciding to make it permanent, the 27 have once again demonstrated their commitment to the euro and the importance they place on solidarity between the more financially stable countries and those facing temporary difficulties.
At the same time, the decision to seal a euro pact between eurozone countries, and further afield, is indicative of the political will of European leaders to draw lessons from the financial crisis.
The fact that we share a currency forces us to be more coherent in our economic and social choices. The time when countries could set an atypical rate of taxation or specific social rules without first consulting their partners is long gone. The reason for this is simple: all countries should benefit from the solidarity of their eurozone partners.
Yet our people will only accept this solidarity if they think that everyone is putting the same effort into managing public funds. In this respect, the euro pact is a major step forwards towards the convergence of our economies. My group strongly supports it, but demands – and I shall continue to demand – that it is implemented in the context of the Community method, under the auspices of the Commission, Mr President. You are taking the right steps, you have done some good work, but more needs to be done within this Community method under the auspices of the Commission. That is how we will build Europe. Ladies and gentlemen, you know how stubborn I can be and I will repeat it as many times as necessary here so that no one forgets.
Europe sets itself apart from the rest of the world with its model of the social market economy, a model which our fellow citizens are quite rightly proud of and which is based on the principle of solidarity, but one which is difficult to preserve in the face of globalisation. The question is knowing how to ensure its future is sustainable by striking a happy medium between the nanny state favoured by socialists, which we have seen almost bankrupt us, and that of excessive liberalism, the dangers of which we have seen with the financial crisis.
Three things are needed to achieve this. Firstly, all our countries need to reduce their deficit; secondly, they need to adopt comparable budgetary, fiscal and social rules; and, thirdly, they need to invest together in innovation to boost growth, which to date is clearly inadequate. Indeed, we can only preserve and strengthen our model if we invest in growth sectors: green energy, nanotechnologies, biotechnologies, and so on. Given our limited financial room for manoeuvre, the best way to meet the growth challenge and achieve economies of scale is to pool our skills as well as our capital. Without massive investment in innovation, without a genuine European plan, we are denying ourselves the ability to keep up with our competitors.
Ladies and gentlemen, while our Heads of State or Government were meeting, 10 days ago, the Fukushima power station continued to be an issue of global concern and the insurgents in Libya were looking to Europe for strong action. On these two matters, our countries and the European Union have shown a great sense of responsibility.
We have in fact offered Japan our nuclear expertise in what is an extremely difficult and worrying situation for that country, and also for the international community at large. There will no doubt be a pre-Fukushima and a post-Fukushima. Although unfortunately not there yet, my group wants the post-Fukushima to be a period of reflection and action, firstly to ensure that the rules governing nuclear safety are significantly tightened and, secondly, to further our efforts in the field of green energy. I agree with your approach to Côte d'Ivoire, Mr President.
Turning lastly to the Mediterranean, I welcome the European Council’s repeated call for Colonel Gaddafi to relinquish power, allowing for a new page in this country’s history. What I want is for all our countries to come together and discuss a neighbourhood policy as ambitious and successful for the South as the one they were able to make in the 1990s for the East."@en1
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