Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-10-25-Speech-1-064"
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"en.20041025.13.1-064"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, leaving aside the uncertainty caused by movements in the price of oil, the European Central Bank (ECB) has succeeded rather well in its quest for price stability. Is the euro zone economy, for all that, in good health? Obviously not. Results are mediocre, growth is weak, domestic demand is running out of steam and unemployment is severe, whilst inequality and poverty are on the rise. Hamstrung by the ECB’s independence – which is absurd, yet is enshrined and is soon to be set in stone in the constitution – rendered impotent by the absence of economic governance, weakened by a Stability and Growth Pact that is both rigid and stupid, the EU has subordinated itself to the ECB’s decisions and is paying for price stability in Europe with weak growth and high unemployment.
The out-going Commission proposed a reform to the Stability and Growth Pact that was based on common sense, and yet the ECB – through the voice of its Chairman – completely devoted to its monetarist dogma, was worried that the reform might go beyond the merely cosmetic, in particular by introducing the golden rule that support would be available for the investment needed to meet the Lisbon objectives or by laying the groundwork for a counter-cyclical budgetary policy capable of restarting the machine during periods of slowdown.
I am personally convinced that the dogmatic leadership of the ECB is the natural consequence of a deadly choice for the EU and its citizens, which consists of removing all forms of economic governance from any political control. I would add that the upshot of this choice is that the most damaging strategies are encouraged. This report, despite its author’s opinion, is thus symptomatic of this phenomenon. In demanding structural reforms, it stigmatises social systems and pension schemes. It also calls for an increase in the working hours of European workers. At this stage, therefore, this report fails to convince us, not least because it has been contaminated by the amendments tabled by the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats. Accordingly, we shall submit several amendments in the course of this debate, and if those amendments are not adopted we will vote against."@en1
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