Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-09-27-Speech-2-487-000"
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"en.20110927.29.2-487-000"2
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"Mr President, my long friendship with Mr Schulz has encouraged him to describe me as both perpetrator and victim in his speech in my support to this House. Accordingly, I find myself in a mood that may well match his permanent state of mind.
I have some reservations about the way we manage the euro area. I am aware of the weaknesses – including the weaknesses in my own administration and tenure of office – and I certainly believe that we need urgent reform and revision here.
Chancellor Merkel and President Sarkozy have proposed appointing the President of the European Council, Mr Van Rompuy, as President of the euro formation within the European Council, and I concur with this proposal because I believe that we already have sufficient dividing lines between the 17 euro countries and the 27 Member States of the European Union. Anyone who can head up a group of 27 countries can certainly lead 17 of these 27 Member States without a huge readjustment.
However, I would not be happy to back a development that would see the Heads of State or Government take over command in such a way that the specific Council formations, such as this informal Eurogroup, would no longer be able to fulfil their functions. I know from experience that it takes several hours’ work each day to perform this task properly. A lot of time needs to be spent meeting with the Member States and listening to their positions in order to do some sort of justice to this task.
I would not like to see the finance ministers, who meet every month, slowing down in their decision making. You will tell me that that cannot happen, but I can assure you that we could be even slower than we already are. We cannot have a situation where, whenever something goes wrong and a reaction is needed, we always get hung up on the conclusions of the European Council – which are, in any case, always very differently understood by those drafting the conclusions and those interpreting them – or that we might not be prepared to make a decision because the next planned European Council meeting is to be in euro formation or because we have to refer the matter back to the Heads of State or Government.
We should make decisions on a faster, more thorough and more efficient basis. That is why we need a consensus between the President of the European Council and the President of the Eurogroup. This condition is met at present."@en1
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