Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-05-11-Speech-3-565-000"
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"en.20110511.35.3-565-000"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, given that it will shortly be one year since the Greek reform programme was agreed, and the fact that the programme for Portugal was announced just yesterday, I think that it is important for us to evaluate where we stand today, what has been done correctly, and where we made mistakes and missed the mark. One year on, therefore, in addition to Greece, another two countries in the euro area, Ireland and Portugal, have taken recourse to the support mechanism, as they are unable to secure the necessary financing on the markets. The peculiarities and different problems of each country are reflected, without doubt, in the different reform programmes which, nonetheless, are underpinned by a basic philosophy: the absolute emphasis on rapid budgetary reform.
However, in the case of Greece, Commissioner, despite what has been achieved, as you have repeatedly emphasised, with the 7-point reduction in the primary deficit and a 5% reduction in the overall deficit, the fact that the recession was deeper than forecast in 2010 has resulted in less revenue for the State. So this is a first data point for evaluation, provided that we agree that the target of the programmes is to overcome the budgetary and economic crisis and not to create a culture of punishment leading to euro-scepticism in Europe. The second data point for evaluation is that, despite the efforts being made, the markets are not responding. However, the decisions by the European Union have not only failed to convince the markets; in some cases, they have exacerbated the situation, such as the famous Deauville decision on the involvement of private individuals in the permanent support mechanism to be created in 2013. The conclusion is that any success the budgetary reform programmes may have risks being wiped out by the fear which the markets and rating agencies are still stirring up, even today. We have reached the point over the past few days, with scenarios about restructuring and even bankruptcy and/or the exit of a country from the euro area still doing the rounds, that we are debating things which we would have considered inconceivable until just recently.
Commissioner, knowing your attachment to Europe, I believe that you will agree with me that the solutions we are debating today, the way in which we shall manage this crisis, will no doubt be a major chapter in European history. Today, we are creating the conditions in which the epilogue will be written. I believe and hope that we all feel that these are historic times and that the epilogue will not be written in black colours for the future of the European Union and EMU, but will mark a brave and decisive step which will make Europe more cohesive, more united and even stronger."@en1
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