Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2014-10-21-Speech-2-305-000"
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"en.20141021.20.2-305-000"2
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"Mr President, the European Conservative Reformists are a Group that prefers to look forward, not back to the past. While my Group has not always seen eye-to-eye with Mr Barroso on a number of different issues, with his Commission there have been times when we have been able to find common ground. So, Mr Barroso, as you look forward to your next role may I, on behalf of our Group, wish you all the best and your Commissioners all the best for the future.
As you yourself said, your Commission has been a Commission of crises, not all of them your fault. Your first term began with an institutional crisis, after the French and the Dutch voted to reject the European Constitution. But instead of listening to the very real concerns expressed by voters in two of the founding Member States, instead of lifting your eyes from the institutional navel gazing, the Commission resurrected and repackaged the Constitution as the Lisbon Treaty, under a new guise.
Your second term was marked by a financial crisis and a banking crisis and then a currency crisis and a debt crisis. These changed the political agenda and consumed much time and energy. But despite a slew of financial regulation over the last five years, we are still in a position where some banks are considered too big to fail and we have not ended taxpayer bailouts. Given the scale of the eurozone crisis at times, it would have been better if you have could have been more open. We know you can be open. After all, you have been very open with the British people in the last few days, and in the same way that you have said what you think about freedom of movement, in the same way that you have been clear what membership of the EU entails, will you now be open with the taxpayers of Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and other richer eurozone countries about what euro membership entails?
Will you be open that the only way to sustain the eurozone in the long-term is fiscal transfers from the richer countries to the poorer economies of the eurozone, probably forever? These crises are enormous and are not over and we will have long-term consequences for years to come, but these crises are a symptom of a larger crisis, and that is dealing with global competitiveness. But there are people who are deeply worried about being left behind; left behind as leaders come to Brussels to pursue political integration; left behind as our share of the world economy shrinks; left behind as too many of the political elite look back to the past rather than forward to the future.
At times we have agreed with you on the Services Directive, free trade agreements and measures to pursue the completion of the Single Market. But it is time that we look at how we help businesses grow. Instead of creating more red tape, ask entrepreneurs what stops them from creating new jobs. Instead of environmental targets, ask companies what makes them greener and more environmentally friendly. Instead of rules which ban investors from investing outside the EU, ask them what encourages them to invest in start-ups.
So while I think it is fair to say that your Commission has not always had the chance to look forward, I also think it is fair to say that we hope that the next Commission will be in a position to sometimes take a step back, focus on the bigger picture and face the challenges of the future."@en1
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