Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-05-22-Speech-2-368-000"
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"en.20120522.18.2-368-000"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the thing that shocked me most about the introduction to this debate was the tone in which people spoke about Greece. I hope that a different approach will be taken tomorrow at the informal summit from that in the initial speeches which I heard here.
I believe that the desperate situation in Greece, which is a disaster in both political and economic terms, is primarily the result of a combination of two major problems. The first is a comprehensive failure of the state in Greece that has been tolerated for a long time and the second is an austerity programme imposed by the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which we have said right from the beginning was not feasible. The combination of these two problems, against the background of a very deep financial and economic crisis, not only in Europe but throughout the world, has resulted in the downward spiral which Greece now finds itself in.
We are expecting you, Mr Rehn, and the representative of the Council Presidency to talk about this at the summit because we know that this downward spiral not only involves the Greeks, but could also pull in the citizens of other crisis countries or even the entire European Union, if the European Council does not finally get around to discussing the failings and weaknesses of the current crisis policy.
In recent days, we have read that there is a slow motion run on the banks under way in Greece. We know that if this goes on, Spain and Italy will also be affected. I would like to know why many Heads of State or Government are saying no longer only off the record, but also almost openly: ‘If the Greeks do not want to stay, then they should go’. I think this is a ridiculously irresponsible attitude. I believe that tomorrow, a decision must be made to allow the Greeks more time to stabilise their budget and their state.
Mr Rehn, I also think the Commission must by now have reached the point that it can say tomorrow how the hundreds of millions of euro in Brussels which currently cannot be accessed by Greece can be used immediately to create jobs for young people in Greece and, for example, to fund the changeover to sustainable energy. It would be a clear demonstration of the EU’s shortcomings if tomorrow, everyone were to continue behaving as if they were helpless.
My group believes that Greece must stay in the euro area and not only because we know that this is better for Greece, but also because we are convinced that it is better for the entire European Union.
If there are discussions about growth tomorrow, we hope that they will not once again concern, for example, the bubble which was almost directly responsible for leading Spain into its current crisis. If we talk about growth, then we must discuss sustainability, which can be achieved by means of consistent climate protection measures and energy and resource efficiency. We have spoken on numerous occasions about the fact that resource saving production processes and products are a guarantee for jobs not only today, but also in the future. The Commission is working on the assumption that between six and 10 million new jobs can be created in these fields by 2020. Where are the initiatives in these areas?
On the subject of financing, I believe that we can achieve something with different areas of European funding, including the funds that we must now make consistent use of on the basis of policy requirements, and with the options available from the European Investment Bank (EIB). However, without similar investments on a national level and without promoting private investments on a large scale, we will not be able to achieve our objectives.
Finally, I would like to say that you can discuss growth tomorrow, but unless you talk seriously about how you plan to tackle the refinancing problem in Spain and in Greece and about the debt redemption fund and the prospects for eurobonds, then the growth pact that has been presented today will simply go up in smoke. We need a genuine fiscal union, a subject which has often been discussed in this House. As the chair of a group, I am slowly getting sick and tired of the feeling that speaking to the Council and the Commission is like talking to a brick wall."@en1
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