Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-02-15-Speech-4-240"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20010215.11.4-240"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Madam President, I believe that the Commission's censure of Ireland is a serious breach of Ireland's democratic freedom. The freedom of an elected government to frame its own budget in accordance with its electoral commitments is fundamental to democracy. I therefore urge Ireland's Minister of Finances not to renege on his promises to increase spending, on health in particular, and to lower taxes, especially for the lower-paid. I hold no brief for tax cuts for the wealthy, nor is this a budget that would be proposed by the Green Party. Nevertheless it is a programme that has been negotiated with the social partners.
Ireland has particular difficulties with inflation because of its traditional ties of trade with the UK, which remains outside the eurozone. This is an aspect of Irish inflation which has been completely ignored by the European Commission. In fact, if the European Commission had deliberately decided on a course which would alienate the UK from joining the euro, by revealing itself to be an out-of-date bureaucracy which tries to bully elected governments in ways that are completely outside its brief, it could not have done better. This is absolute political stupidity to say the least.
This interference with the Irish budget is the result of the Maastricht Treaty; the Commission is even trying to get governments to agree their budgets with it in advance, which was not part of the Treaty. I therefore anticipate a resounding rejection of the Nice Treaty in the Irish referendum this Summer because of this unwarranted interference and because this is a very bad treaty, as many in this House agree.
Since 1994 the cumulative increase in employment has been 39 per cent. Today the economy is close to full employment, which is a huge sea change for Ireland. Irish unit labour costs are still more than 10 per cent below the eurozone average. Therefore both wage rises and tax cuts for the low paid are on the agenda for Ireland in 2001. I believe the Commission is deliberately trying to interfere in a field beyond its competence. We must not let this happen. Over the last five years there has been a dangerous increase in inequality with the rich becoming very rich and the poor becoming ever more marginalised. We will not and cannot tolerate this continuing."@en1
|
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples