Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-06-22-Speech-3-176-000"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20110622.16.3-176-000"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
".
Mr President, you will not find many members in this room who disagree with the need to drag down debt and deficits to reasonable levels in the years ahead. My group certainly takes the view that we need to do that.
This is not about political confrontation between fiscally virtuous or fiscally irresponsible Members in this House. The division between you and us and between progressives and conservatives here in the House is about how we return to sound public finances, at what economic and social cost, at what cost for the future ability of Europe to compete in a global market. You stick to the idea, Commissioner, that there is no alternative to your austerity-only agenda. We think that this is very wrong. In our view, your approach and that of the right-wing majority in the Council pose the biggest threat to the very future of the European idea because they are destroying the notion of belonging to a community, the notions of solidarity and cohesion.
The vast majority of the millions who have lost their jobs during this crisis are unemployed still today. What message does the Council and Commission have for them? Or for the millions whose jobs are in jeopardy or who are living in poverty? What message for the hundreds of millions of people who are suffering as a result of cutbacks in public provision, in healthcare, in education? What message for them? What message from the Council this week? Well, I expect nothing quite frankly, nothing.
This week’s Council will not produce a single ray of hope for hardworking people, for the unemployed or the young people who are hurting so much. They have been unfairly and severely hit by the crisis that was not of their making and now they will be hit again to repair the damage they did not cause.
Your political and economic agenda is totally unacceptable to us on this side of the House. Throughout the legislative process, we have suggested sensible and balanced amendments to the Commission’s proposals, we have proposed firmly connecting national reform and stability and growth programmes using the first as a solid vehicle for the necessary promotion of public investment We made proposals to maintain sensible levels of productive public investment and we have proposed making the new rules clearly anti-cyclical. I could go on, but the reality is that today’s economic and social agenda has been hijacked by the right. There is not even space for moderate political approaches, let alone more progressive ones.
And please, Commissioner Rehn, do not tell me that these policies I am denouncing are being pursued by socialist governments. You know, at a time when even the strongest economies in Europe need to bow to the demands of an irresponsible and increasingly dangerous financial sector, that no Member State can change this agenda alone.
In the end, I wonder who will benefit from the decisions that will be made this week. It seems to me that the only people who will benefit are those who have caused the whole mess in the first place, the financial sector, and I think that is a disgrace."@en1
|
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata | |
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples