Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2014-02-25-Speech-2-021-000"
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"en.20140225.4.2-021-000"2
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"Mr President, so far this debate has been very predictable. Many people, particularly from the left, continue to argue that socialism, spending and more state interference are somehow the answer to Europe’s competitiveness crisis. But we must never forget that it was, of course, predominantly the Socialists who – particularly in Greece – actually took Europe to the brink. It is the parties of the centre-right that are slowly dragging it away from the precipice, taking the hard decisions that are slowly returning this continent to growth. Much as I enjoyed the Minister’s speech this morning, I have to say that there is something deeply ironic about a Minister from Greece coming here to argue with us and tell us how to reduce youth unemployment.
Yet many on the left – as Mr[nbsp ]Swoboda exemplified this morning – are still arguing for more state spending and more centralisation of power. You are still perpetuating the falsehood that states can somehow create jobs or that politicians can somehow legislate to create more employment. Surely the experience of recent years shows us that when countries do tighten their belts, spend to invest and restructure their economies, we begin to see the benefits.
We are certainly seeing that in my own country. My Conservative-led Government in Britain has stuck with its long-term plan to pay down the deficit, to incite the productive parts of the economy and to reform our welfare system. As a result, the economy is now growing faster than any other major European economy, there are 1.3 million more jobs and unemployment is falling sharply. There is, of course, still much more to do. The economy is not secure but it is going in the right direction.
If we compare that to Socialist France, public spending there is now equivalent to 56[nbsp ]% of national income, the second highest in the euro area. Unemployment is at a 16-year high, taxes have sent wealth abroad and social welfare spending is now the highest in the OECD. President Hollande promised us all an end to austerity, but he has actually been mugged by reality because the only way to end austerity is to implement the tough reforms that encourage investment and grow the economy.
At EU level, those lessons are starting to apply as well. The debate is already beginning to shift away from protectionism, away from higher spending and an endless stream of red tape and towards open markets, better spending and cutting back on regulation. I welcomed many of the things Mr[nbsp ]Barroso said on that this morning. I only hope that Commissioner Andor, sitting behind him, is actually listening, because of course his Unemployment Department is doing more to make employing people and actually creating more jobs in Europe as difficult as possible.
For those of us who want to see state spending controlled, the worst possible thing you could do is to give the EU new powers to raise its own revenue through new own resources. I understand that this afternoon Mr[nbsp ]Schulz and Mr[nbsp ]Barroso will join with Prime Minister Samaras and Mr[nbsp ]Monti to launch the new High-Level Group on own resources. Own resources would give the Commission and this Parliament carte blanche to spend increasing amounts of taxpayers’ money on their special pet projects, which, of course, is why it will never actually happen.
That is why the next European elections are also so important. This Parliament now has powers to either help our economy to recover or – as it so often does – to actually hinder it. That is why the parties, certainly in my group, will offer an agenda for the EU that mirrors the reforms being taken in many of our Member States – to deliver investment and infrastructure instead of wasteful spending, to deliver deregulation and decentralisation instead of interference, and to open up trade and the single market instead of creating more barriers to business.
We are proud to have begun that debate about taking the EU in a new direction, away from its socialist and centralising past. It is a debate that many are now starting to pay lip service to, including Michel Barnier, including even Mr[nbsp ]Schulz. Now it is time to deliver on that agenda so that we can truly make the EU work for its people."@en1
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