Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-07-03-Speech-2-065-000"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20120703.5.2-065-000"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, Mr Callanan’s opening remarks have made me consider something. There is one reason why I am pleased that Germany did not get to the final, because if you continue with this analogy, it suggests that whoever becomes European champions becomes one of the most indebted countries – Greece in 2004, Spain in 2008 and 2012. I do not know what would have happened in Germany, but I am glad we have been spared that fate.
Mr Van Rompuy, at the end of the G20 summit, you stated that the economic union should exist by the end of the year. These were empty words, however, which have not been fulfilled even now after the summit. I therefore have to agree with those who say we should stop rushing from one summit to the next, and that we should ensure, once and for all, that together – and that means the people of the European Union and their directly elected representatives in the European Parliament, the national parliaments and the other European institutions – we talk about what should actually follow and where the journey will lead us. It can only be a joint debate, and it must start now. We need concrete ideas now.
The Head of Government’s statement kept talking of a breakthrough. I doubt that it is really a breakthrough. Influenced by election campaigns and elections in Greece and France, those in power have, in fact, decided more or less hesitantly, half-heartedly, or even inconsistently, on greater stability and security, and on the configuration of the European Union. They have not passed the regulatory measures that have been recognised as being needed, however.
In short, I would say that the EU, the Member States and also the euro area remain in crisis because there has been no change in their priorities and because there has been no shift away from the path of global competitiveness, neoliberal deregulation and the privatisation of public services and social security systems. Admittedly, there has been some relaxation of the strict line of German austerity policy, in that access to aid funds from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) is being eased without the countries affected having to submit additional reform programmes. In this connection, I should like to say that we should be grateful to the Greek population and to the Syriza party and Alexis Tsipras for having drawn attention to precisely this sore point, and we should now renegotiate with the Greek Government in the interests of the Greek population.
However, the fully announced pact for growth and jobs is still not specific enough and lacks the necessary goals. The revenues required to finance such a programme are limited to the money created by the European Central Bank and to European Investment Bank credit. It is likely that we will have to wait some time before the financial transaction tax becomes effective, too. The other sums included in the EUR 120 billion package seem to have been counted twice. They were already available anyway, and essentially it has now simply been confirmed that these funds will be made available swiftly.
The answer to the important question of which investments and spending programmes are to receive these funds promptly remains relatively vague. The idea put forward by the French to use 1% of GNI for such a growth and employment programme does not sound bad in itself, but what is dubious is what Chancellor Merkel highlighted at the press conference, which is that it is to be used mainly to promote public private partnerships. In other words, what we are selling as an employment programme is ultimately also a programme to maximise the profits of private companies and corporations. In the final event, that will only make it more difficult to introduce concrete regulation of the financial sphere. In doing this, we are putting the next stumbling block in place for ourselves."@en1
|
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples