Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-11-16-Speech-3-069-000"
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"en.20111116.5.3-069-000"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I am somewhat surprised at this debate. After all, I am someone who has come before Parliament willingly and I am dealing with the matter entrusted to me. Since my task this morning is to talk about governance – or
or
whatever you want to call it – then that is the dry subject matter with which I must grapple. Consequently, I do not like it when know-it-alls then stand up and say that I should get to the point. If I am asked to speak about a particular matter – albeit rather rudely and very late in the day – then that is what I will talk about. I, too, would much rather talk about the things that these wise guys have allowed themselves to talk about, but they are not on the agenda.
Many of you talk about Europe and the European Parliament, but give arguments that are quite clearly motivated by domestic politics. Some are in favour of Chancellor Merkel, others are against her. Funnily enough, the former are in the CDU and the latter are in the SPD. It is exactly the same with President Sarkozy. Is this a European Parliament, or is it an extension of domestic parliamentary debate? If so, do not force the President of the Euro Group to take part in such a debate; it has nothing to do with the matter in hand.
A few months ago, I spoke in favour of Eurobonds in an article in the Financial Times – because I always use British newspapers if I want to get across a message in Europe. I have not given up on this idea, but others did not want them. Listening to the groups here, in each group there are those in favour of Eurobonds and others who are less keen. One might expect the national governments in Europe to advance only national viewpoints, but very often that is also what happens in this House. I would therefore ask you to hold back on the collective damnation that is regularly rained down on the governments here.
I am in favour of Eurobonds, and I do not like it when this idea is permanently subjected to so much character assassination as to be unrecognisable – as has been done by some of my colleagues in Germany. It does not, after all, represent the absolute communitarisation of all the debt; it is an instrument of solidarity with conditions attached. That is what Eurobonds are. One day we will come back to this instrument. As Head of the Euro Group, however, I am not authorised even to say that here. Yet since everyone here is saying what they think, I am allowed to say what I think sometimes too.
I believe we should incorporate as much flexibility as possible into the recast of the framework agreement on the European Financial Stability Facility, because the financial markets cannot comprehend our insistence on unanimous opinions that are set in stone and never change even after debate. So long as we have the principle of unanimity we will not be flexible or able to react. We complain that the financial markets are much faster than the democracies – although that is no reason to abolish democracy. If we want to react quickly, then we need to drop these unanimity clauses. Not everyone in the Euro Group shares this opinion, however. I am in favour of the financial transaction tax, but not all the euro governments are in favour of this tax. We therefore have to consider how we organise these debates in future.
In this debate precisely 84 questions have been put which have nothing to do with the actual subject of the debate. If I am invited here to talk about governance, then I wish to speak about governance. I would far rather spend time on the other matters, because they are infinitely more important. I then get five minutes in which to answer 84 questions. It may be parliamentary procedure, but it is pointless and there is nothing smart about it."@en1
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