Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-02-01-Speech-3-019-000"
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"en.20120201.12.3-019-000"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, on Monday, 25 Member States faced their responsibilities by agreeing to sign the fiscal treaty.
They decided to fight against the poor budget management which has left us without the necessary room for manoeuvre to stimulate growth and employment. They showed their ability to find European solutions to European problems, even though two Member States decided that they would rather go it alone, which they will live to regret.
I have, at this stage, three wishes. The first is that this treaty be ratified as quickly as possible, the second is that it be applied as quickly as possible and the third is that this agreement be fully integrated into EU law, as Parliament has called for.
Ladies and gentlemen, the economic crisis has forced us to rethink our bad habits. It has forced us to respect the rules of balanced budgets, which are obvious, yet so difficult to apply.
We must reduce national deficits, which also often cover up regional and local deficits. However, while the decision on this treaty is the correct decision and a positive one, the decision on growth leaves me rather disappointed. This is because combating deficits and stimulating growth are two sides of the same coin. One without the other will not help Europeans to escape from the difficulties they are facing, particularly the unemployed.
There are two ways of boosting growth: one is artificial and has no future, the other is structural and therefore sustainable. The first is to kick-start the economy through spending. That is what we have been doing for years and look where it has brought us. Never mind the fact that, today, spending is actually limited, as the time has come to repay our debts, and not to borrow.
The second method, the one recommended by the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats), is to make our economy more competitive. This could already be done, Mr Barroso, by finally completing the internal market. All the laws, all the texts were adopted long ago. The problem, once again, is that they have not been applied. I therefore call on the Commission to let us know as soon as possible which countries are not applying these rules and to fulfil its role as guardian of the Treaties by placing restrictions on those which do not apply them – perhaps even France, my friend, as I make no exceptions. All Europeans should know which States are playing the internal market game, and which States are slowing it down or standing in its way.
Increasing our competitiveness could also be achieved by reducing the charges that weigh heavily on entrepreneurs and by reducing the considerable discrepancies in charges between our countries, which harm competitiveness. This could also be done by getting as good a return as possible from European Funds that have been allocated to the States but have not yet been used. The time has come to make the best use of this – considerable – surplus by investing it in common projects to create growth and employment.
Finally, growth and job creation can be encouraged by turning public funds, which are not bringing in investments, towards research and innovation, or towards training. With a quarter of young people looking for a job, we must offer them the chance to acquire strong skills and to redirect them anywhere in the EU."@en1
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