Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-12-13-Speech-4-054"
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"en.20011213.4.4-054"2
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"At this, the last plenary part-session of the European Parliament of 2001, which is also the last before the introduction of the euro notes and coins, we have to note that the European Parliament has not organised a formal sitting or even a debate of any kind to mark an event which is in principle, for all of the federalists here, who are in the majority, the greatest ever project of European 'integration'.
Why this silence, which has moreover lasted for several part-sessions and which has been broken only by sovereigntist voices? The answer is simple: the final phase of introducing the single currency – which is to say the physical changeover of notes and coins as of 1 January 2002 – is based on two enormous deceptions.
First of all, the single currency is totally useless from a technical point of view and serves only to satisfy the extremist desires of certain federalists who absolutely must have uniform monetary signs throughout Europe. In fact, we could quite easily have kept the current arrangement: the euro for international purposes, superposed on national currencies. We are therefore going to turn people's lives upside down, make their lives more difficult in the coming months, and doubtless further reduce the trust which they have in their national institutions, and all of this for no useful purpose except to pander to federalist passions.
The second deception is that public opinion has never been properly enlightened and has even been manipulated. Neither at Maastricht nor in the ensuing years did the public fully understand the impact of the Treaty, that is to say, that it would bring about the end of the franc. Subsequently, every possible effort was made to give the impression that the public supported the project, which was not true. Today the harsh reality has dawned: 52% of French people think that the single currency offers more disadvantages than advantages while 33% think the opposite (
11 December) and 62% would like to continue using the franc compared with 32% who are of the opposite opinion (
11 December). Similar percentages are replicated at European level.
The deception is so huge that next year, when people's eyes are opened, we will not only have to rethink the euro, but also consider thoroughgoing reforms of the European institutions to prevent public opinion from being manipulated in this way again."@en1
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