Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-02-11-Speech-3-163"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20040211.6.3-163"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Mr President, the Parmalat scandal comprises a series of quite distinct crises. Firstly, there has been fraud of gargantuan proportions; secondly, there is a systemic crisis in the market place, and, thirdly, there is a very considerable social disaster in Italy, where most of those affected are living.
I do not want to make any more remarks about either the fraud or the problems there may be in Italy. I would prefer to talk about its effect on the markets. We sometimes forget that one of the lessons of the twentieth century was the clear emergence of the evidence to support the view that markets are the best driver of prosperity and the best creator of jobs that we have seen in the world. It is therefore clear that the proper working of markets is essential to our collective future wellbeing. Those markets must be arranged so that criminality is difficult. However, just as it is impossible to organise the City of Strasbourg to make it impossible to be mugged, equally, it is impossible to organise the financial markets to ensure that there is no outside possibility of criminal fraud taking place. We should recognise that.
Secondly, it is important that investors have confidence in the market. The claims and evidence that companies produce about themselves should be transparent, and the rules about the way in which that information is put together should be unimpugnable. I welcome Commissioner Bolkestein's remarks on his review of auditing and auditing standards.
Equally, the governance of companies in the marketplace should be beyond reproach in terms of the way in which decisions are made. Again, I welcome the Commissioner's remarks in his statement. Furthermore, the claims that are made in the market and the advice that is given to possible participants in it must be such that there is no suggestion of impropriety. I must ask – and perhaps I say this as someone who is not standing in the forthcoming elections – can the same be said about the claims that the political parties are going to make in the forthcoming contest?
We must not forget either that even in the case of apparent large-scale losses by banks, it may well be that in a world where private provision of pensions is going to become increasingly the norm, it is the small people who get hurt by these disasters. It is the confidence of the small investor – either directly or through pension funds – which is so important for the workings of twenty-first century capitalism.
Many speakers have mentioned regulation. Regulation is the answer, but not over-regulation. That must be the lesson that we draw from this crisis."@en1
|
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples