Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-10-26-Speech-3-008-000"
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"en.20111026.3.3-008-000"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, we live in a time of crisis – not only economic crisis but also a crisis of confidence. This crisis of confidence affects all citizens, but especially the youngest, who as a result find it harder to summon the courage and desire to build their own futures.
The European Union has set a challenge to tackle this crisis, which is also a challenge for the EU itself: the great Europe 2020 strategy must genuinely combat this lack of confidence and help us back onto the path towards a better future and a better life.
That is precisely why Parliament has put funding for this strategy at the heart of the budget for 2012, starting with its very top priority: higher employment, better employment and quality employment in a Europe that focuses on innovation and research. Hence, we in this Parliament have asked and are asking for greater resources for three key programmes, which are the true engines behind the 2020 strategy: the Lifelong Learning Programme, the Seventh Framework Programme and the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP).
Today, therefore, what we need is consistency, to follow up on our intentions, to send out a positive message and hence start really building this future. Not funding a strategy to combat the crisis because we are in a crisis would be a gloomy message that would be hard to justify. Right now, our citizens are expecting us to act consistently and with sincerity. However, they are not the only ones watching us: this year the markets are also particularly attentive to our decisions and our ability to take the necessary decisions – in the right ways and in the right timeframes – in order to get back on track.
Sending out positive messages is therefore a particularly sensitive issue. In this respect, it would not only be great to produce a budget that makes a genuine start on putting the 2020 strategy in place, but it would also be really important for us to do so in an atmosphere of major institutional collaboration. Parliament decided to place huge trust in the estimates of the Commission precisely in order to send out a positive message. The Commission is undoubtedly working as well as is feasible at this difficult time, which is why Parliament deemed its estimates on payment requirements to be reliable.
There is another emergency: the institutional frameworks of many Mediterranean countries are currently undergoing change. Europe cannot remain removed from this process; we cannot stand in the wings but instead we must take a central role in international politics. We therefore need to react to the crisis and assume renewed leadership on the international stage.
We request the use of the Flexibility Instrument for these two fundamental objectives. It will therefore be important to overcome these two challenges, instil confidence, prove our credibility and prove our reliability to citizens and the other institutions that are watching us. That is not all though, for I believe that this year there is yet another real challenge ahead: doing it in a transparent way. Indeed, our budget reading is not tactical or a negotiating tool: it is exactly the budget that this Parliament believes is essential for 2012, because I think this year it is also important to find a common position quickly and in good time, in order to communicate the essence, the ability and the image of a Europe that knows how to galvanise itself at the right time."@en1
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