Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-01-18-Speech-3-081-000"
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"Mr President of the European Parliament, Mr President of the European Commission, leaders of the political groups, Honourable Members of this House, thank you very much for your remarks. It has been a real pleasure to take part in this lively debate that we have had today.
That brings me to the discussion about growth and employment. Many have touched upon that – Mr Swoboda, Ms Harms, Mr Søndergaard, Ms Turunen, Mr Bendtsen, Mr Johansson and many other speakers. Let me state very clearly that the European economies must consolidate. They need to do that and, for that reason, the Danish Presidency and Denmark will support the fiscal compact.
But let me also be very clear that it is not enough to focus on consolidation alone. We have to give a push in the right direction to growth and employment. Young people all across Europe are expecting that from us. We need to create European jobs now. I agree with the speakers who have suggested we go back to one of the biggest successes that the European Union have had over the years: the single market. It is the internal market that has created growth and employment. That is why we want to finalise the work of the single market.
Therefore the President of the European Council and I have agreed not to forget the issue of growth and employment. That is why we have agreed that at our meeting on 30 January 2012 we will emphasise this point and make sure that, not only do we discuss consolidation, but we also discuss growth and employment. This is what we want to do.
Many of you have mentioned the Energy Efficiency Directive. Mr Turmes mentioned this as rapporteur and I appreciate that. I can only repeat and stress to you that, if we want to see clear results on the green agenda, we must make haste. This is an opportunity. We have a European Parliament that wants to do that and we have a Presidency that wants to focus on that. Let us make it happen over the next six months. We can only do that if we all cooperate.
Many of you have addressed the question of European unity and the Community method: Mr Daul, Mr Rohde and others. Let me be clear, what sets Europe apart is our commitment to solidarity with each other, to our unity as a union, but also to our commitment to the Community method.
I know that if citizens across Europe are listening to this debate, they will look at us and ask what is this Community method? What do they mean by the Community method? I will state today that it is still worth defending because what the Community method really means is that Europe is no longer ruled by the strongest, but that Europe is now ruled by law and democracy. Friends, that is worth defending.
It is worth defending not only for the smaller Member States but for all of us. The Community method and European unity must be an overarching goal for our endeavour. With your help, dear former colleagues, friends, honourable Members of the European Parliament, let us make it happen, let us work together and let us produce some tangible, real results for our European citizens. I am convinced that we can do that. If we do, we will also create a path out of the European crisis to a more prosperous future.
What I take away from the debate today is a clear conviction that, yes, not all of us agree – I will come back to that – but also a solid and robust confirmation that we have support for the Danish Presidency programme and I thank you for that. We will do everything we can to live up to this support.
Many topics have been raised. Time is limited, but allow me to address a few of the issues that you have raised. Mr Barroso and Mr Daul raised the question of the MFF. We will be very serious in dealing with this during the Danish Presidency. I can assure you that it will be a top priority for the Danish Presidency to get as far as we can in terms of the Multiannual Financial Framework. We will do that with the purpose of modernising our financial perspective and in such a way that we can use our common resources to create new jobs and new growth.
In this context let me also make a remark on the financial transaction tax, which has been raised by Mr Callanan and others. I want to raise this to avoid any misunderstandings. The Danish Presidency will handle this dossier in a loyal and professional manner and as an honest broker. I am tempted also to draw attention to the wider agenda of the Financial Regulation, which we will intend to strengthen in our Presidency.
Many have raised the question of Hungary, namely Mr Verhofstadt, Ms Harms and Mr Moraes. As everyone knows, there is a debate on Hungary taking place in the plenary later this afternoon. Let me be brief: the Commission plays a vital role as a guardian of our Treaties. They have found grounds for initiating an infringement procedure on at least three counts against Hungary. We must, of course, take that very seriously.
We are in full support of the way the Commission has handled this crisis. They have used what everyone is talking about today, the rules that we have, the Treaties and – let us be clear – the Community method. We are behind the Commission in this. All Member States are under the obligation to abide by our laws. That is an integral part of the way we do things in the Union.
Many have addressed the debt crisis. The downgrading of a number of European Member States underlines the need for European answers in this crisis but, before everyone decides that this is a crisis of Europe, I would like to remind this House that the reason why we have a debt crisis in the European Union is because Member States have not watched their own budgets. This is at the core of why we have a problem. We need to focus on European solutions, but let us not forget that the reason why we have an economic crisis is because the Member States did not abide by our rules.
This takes me to the downgrading of some of the Member States. Mr Verhofstadt referred to the wording and quoted, I believe, Standard and Poor’s. I have also noted what Standard and Poor’s are saying, because they were specifically referring to the lack of growth and employment perspectives in the European Member States when they downgraded the countries. What they said was not said by a Social Democrat or the European Left. Standard and Poor’s said that austerity also has to be followed up by growth initiatives."@en1
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