Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-02-01-Speech-3-067-000"
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"en.20120201.12.3-067-000"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, as I said in my introduction, the growth and employment policy is a policy with various levels. There is the short term, there is the long term, there is the economic aspect, there is the aspect relating purely to employment policy, there is what we can do at Member State level and there is what we can do at EU level.
We can give incentives to national governments and parliaments. We can encourage them. We can ask them to make commitments. We can even sanction them, to some extent. All of this is provided for in the European semester. However, the bulk of the work must be done by the national governments and parliaments, otherwise we cannot explain the difference between Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and some other European regions in terms of unemployment rates. For example, the rate for young people can be quite low, around 8%, while in other cases it is close to 50%. There are huge discrepancies due to the policies implemented in the past.
What we will do now is encourage the national governments and Member States to follow the good example of countries such as Austria, through financial incentives and other means. The Commission’s recommendations will be very important and the conclusions we reached in the European Council are along these lines. I will not play them down as much as some others have done. Therefore there is this economic aspect and this social aspect and of course, as I have just mentioned, there is what can be done at EU level and what can be done at Member State level.
With regard to the treaty, ladies and gentlemen, when I compare all that was said about it before it was concluded with what is being said now, I believe that we have worked well. We have done some good work with the help of many people – including and even especially within this Parliament. We have worked hard to integrate this intergovernmental treaty into the philosophy of the EU Treaties. We must make an effort – this will be a job for our successors; at least, it will be for mine – to integrate this treaty into the Treaty itself as such, in a few years’ time. We have also ensured that there is more consistency within the European Union. At one time, some people had the impression that we were moving towards a two-speed Europe. We have reached an agreement with 25 States. Unfortunately, not 27, but 25: this means that there are eight countries outside the euro area which have shown solidarity with those using the single currency. We have reached an agreement so that those who do not belong to the euro area, but who ratify the treaty, can participate at key moments in the deliberations at euro area summits and of course be involved in all the subjects dealt with in agreements under the treaty.
We have thereby safeguarded the greatest possible consistency for the EU. Once again, when I compare what was said before the negotiations and what I am now hearing about the treaty, we have travelled an important and interesting path, and I am very glad about that.
With regard to the short term, I will be fairly brief; at least, I hope so. Firstly, we cannot forget that we are, of course, experiencing a period of stagnation, of recession, but that we are coming out of two years of positive growth of around 2% in the euro area and even throughout the EU. We tend to forget this and to believe that the period we have just come from was a period of recession. That is not the case, in spite of the consolidation efforts that have been made on average.
Of course, there are countries which are following programmes and those that are under pressure from the markets. However, generally speaking, on average, 2010 and 2011 were profitable years in terms of growth and employment. In a country I know better than others, Belgium, 100 000 jobs were actually created in 2010 and 2011. Over the course of the year of the crisis in 2009, 7 000 jobs were lost. Even this year, in 2012, growth is positive. I know that there are problems in many countries and many regions. What I should like to highlight, however, is that we have also seen positive changes over these last two years.
For short-term growth, the most important thing we can do – everyone agrees on this – is to promote fresh confidence in the euro area. If confidence returns to the euro area, consumers and companies will have greater confidence and this will lead us to greater economic growth. In 2009, once confidence had returned, once confidence in the banks had been restored, we saw renewed economic growth and increased employment. We must therefore work towards this.
The last few months have not been as disastrous as some people are trying to tell us. For example, Germany’s spreads have decreased substantially for Italy and Spain: 1.6 for Spain and Portugal compared to the highest spread level several months ago. I am not saying that we have reached our goals, I am simply saying that a positive turnaround is taking place. I have not even mentioned Ireland where there has been a decrease in relation to the Bund of around 7%. Is this enough? No. Has there been a turning point? Yes. I therefore hope we will continue on this path.
In the short term, spending more and increasing deficits is not a solution. That is not the solution; we have tried it and it has failed. Even outside of the European Union, those who have implemented this fiscal recovery policy are now having to return to a more orthodox policy. Even in the golden rule, if there is any kind of deficit that we can tolerate, it should be a structural deficit. That way, there is room for manoeuvre: it is structural, it is not nominal, nor is it a 0.5% deficit the whole time. There is an evaluation and there is this structure effect which must be taken into account. In the short term, every cloud has a silver lining: the recent depreciation of the euro will help our exports and there are even studies which prove that this can happen very quickly.
For the long term, we have the Europe 2020 strategy. We poke fun at it; we compare it to the Lisbon strategy. I believe that, now, it has been proven that it is no laughing matter and the Europe 2020 strategy has been integrated into the European semester and the six-pack. Parliament has also shown much stronger commitment to work towards it than in the past. There are also much stronger commitments towards employment in the Euro-Plus Pact. Of course, all of this has to be implemented. However, I believe that we have made all the necessary provisions for this long-term strategy to be a success this time.
As for the European patent, I share a certain disappointment with you. However, the way I look at it is that it includes positive elements, in spite of everything, but that is my nature. I started my political career with a prime minister, in the 1970s, who said ‘The European Council has not managed to reach an agreement on the European patent.’ That was in 1978. Here we are now much later and, under the Belgian Presidency, and even with a minister for economic affairs whom some people know better than others, we have managed to reach a breakthrough thanks to enhanced cooperation. Now we must complete the final step; this will take several weeks, but I am sure that the Danish Presidency – with our help – will find a solution to this problem.
With regard to the social aspect, the specific employment policy, we must realise that there are many measures we can take at European level. We can work on the single market. We can mobilise European funds, which is being done anyway: the cofinancing rate has, furthermore, been reduced and the Vice-President of the Commission was right to mention this. We can do all of this, then, and there are the project bonds, but, admittedly, most of the work has to be done at national level."@en1
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