Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-03-11-Speech-2-265"
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"en.20030311.10.2-265"2
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"Mr President, the downturn in the economy has proved to be deeper and longer-lasting than was first thought. The present situation clearly highlights how important the Lisbon strategy for growth and competition is. The Union was to have become the world’s most competitive region by 2010 and an engine for growth, as our Member States’ leaders put it so beautifully at Lisbon. It all seems to have gone differently, however. In the last three years Europe has become a continent where the sun is setting, one which cannot keep its promises, which is betraying the confidence of its citizens, and which is leaving future generations to inherit only debts and uncovered pension liabilities. Can we really not do any better than this?
Only three countries – Denmark, Sweden and Finland – have done what was agreed at Lisbon. Ireland, Great Britain and the Netherlands have also made considerable progress. The three biggest economies in the euro area, however, have not done enough up till now. If we were at school, ladies and gentlemen, Germany, Italy and France would be kept down a year. I would not use such harsh words normally, but this is a serious business. What in your opinion, after all, does a press report tell you which says that at present a hundred Germans lose their jobs every hour?
International business cycles obviously play their part, but this does not alter the fact that our economic structures are so constrained that they are a huge barrier to growth. Moreover, when we then try to eliminate these structural problems, for example with the directive on port services, a whole crowd of brawlers and egotistic anarchists gather in front of the European Parliament.
At the moment we do not need new targets or new complicated rules. Now is the time for action. This means genuine commitment to the Stability and Growth Pact and structural reforms. If Member States are to be allowed to deviate from the objective of balancing public finances under the Stability and Growth Pact, this will give out quite the wrong signal. In practice this would lead to rules that are open to interpretation, and would weaken our credibility and our ultimate objectives in coordinating economic policy even further."@en1
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