Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-05-22-Speech-2-376-000"
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"en.20120522.18.2-376-000"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, when I hear the solutions that have just been proposed, I can only say that this reeks of hypocrisy. On the one hand, we are being reminded, and rightly so, about the difficult social situation of the people who are suffering from the effects of austerity policies and, on the other hand, solutions are being proposed which will once again have an impact on the poorest of the poor. The only thing I can say in response is that the Commission, the Council, Parliament and the democratic majorities in the European Union should be protecting us from solutions of this kind, which are simply inhumane.
I would like to look at the fact that measures have been imposed on the Greek Government for months which have led to greater poverty for its citizens. This is true and this is exactly what must be changed. The Greek economy is about to collapse even further under the weight of the austerity measures. In addition, the economies of Spain, Italy and other EU Member States are expected to shrink, despite stringent austerity programmes. Now the drastic cuts in public spending are to be accompanied by measures to stimulate growth. You yourself have also explained this on behalf of the Presidency. This involves promoting policies for growth and global competitiveness in conditions which include high levels of sovereign debt and ongoing crises. That is precisely the poisoned chalice which is being handed to these countries. It will not help to bring about a recovery or to put an end to the causes of the current situation.
This is not what is needed to bring about genuine sustainable and inclusive growth and to eliminate economic, fiscal and financial inequalities. The top priority for all investments must be to combat poverty and the destruction of the environment. Resource saving investments and a fundamental reorganisation of energy, industrial and agricultural policy and of the transport system are required, In other respects, I do not see any basic differences between this and the political platform of Syriza, which has been subject to such heavy criticism here in recent days and weeks and which has been described as if it were an extremist party. The question we need to answer is: what form should new negotiations take? We also need to ask ourselves whether all the accusations being made against Greece about the debts that it has run up are justified. Should we not carry out an audit or an evaluation of the debts and are new negotiations not urgently needed in this context?
To summarise the situation, when we talk about growth, the Council should decide tomorrow whether it wants to use Ms Merkel’s growth model or to follow the course promised by Mr Hollande, for example, during the French election campaign. That is something quite different, with a focus on quality and not just on quantity. It is about really helping people and ensuring that economic growth benefits public interests. The economy is designed to serve people and not just to be an end in itself. Economic growth can only be discussed against this background."@en1
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