Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-04-05-Speech-2-384-000"
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"en.20110405.19.2-384-000"2
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"Madam President, EU leaders are living in a bubble of illusion and self-delusion. The best example of that happened this morning. Leaders of EU institutions were saying that the financial crisis is largely behind us. Nothing could be further from the truth. As Wolfgang Münchau wrote yesterday in the Financial Times, Europe is facing a stark choice between default and bailout. Both imply the absorption of a huge loss. The only difference between the two is how the loss gets distributed. In the case of a default, German, French, British, Italian and Spanish banks will suffer and the taxpayers of those countries will share the cost with Greek, Irish and Portuguese taxpayers. In the case of a bailout, the total burden will be put on the back of Greek, Irish and – soon – Portuguese citizens.
It is in this context that I say that the proposal to increase the budget of Parliament by 2.3% is still too high and unacceptable. Let us go back to the drawing board and reduce it to 1%, as suggested by Commissioner Janusz Lewandowski. To show an increase well below inflation would earn some badly needed legitimacy for Parliament in the eyes of European citizens. Not only the increase, but also the structure can be modified.
There are many ways to save money for the European taxpayer. As Helga Trüpel has already said, we do not need to travel business class within the European Union. An amendment jointly tabled by the Greens, the United Left and the ECR proposes to reduce travel costs significantly by using flexible economy class tickets for flights under four hours in length. We do not need a shiny, glitzy fleet of black Mercedes-Benz cars here in Strasbourg. Use the tram. We do not need the House of European History, as Europe is losing competitiveness and geopolitical weight. It will be a museum anyway.
There is huge scope for savings on energy costs. Our offices have no temperature control or individually adjustable heating and air conditioning. We waste a tremendous amount of energy every year. There is large scope for savings on security and IT services. In both cases, we need far better service for much less money. We should review and revise our health insurance costs as well. There is no need to have access to such an extraordinarily generous range of health care services. Budgeting is about setting priorities, both positive and negative. There is no shortage of positive ones, but responsible and prudent budgeting requires both, especially in times of crisis."@en1
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