Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-02-22-Speech-2-024"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20050222.4.2-024"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
".
Mr President, Commissioner, a well-respected French economist has recently published a book entitled ‘
’ (The politics of powerlessness), and I believe that this is a feeling that many of our fellow citizens can justifiably empathise with. I would add, however, that the politics of powerlessness is in fact a deliberate strategy chosen since Maastricht, since 1992, which is broadly based on three axes: the structural reform of the markets – as we call it in our jargon – the reduction of public deficit and the focus on conquering external markets.
Furthermore, as regards the institutions and the allocation of powers, the EU has exclusive competence in the area of competition law and monetary union; otherwise, the Member States must cope and must compete with one another. I feel that 15 years on – unfortunately, in my view – this institutional choice has been given succour by the Constitutional Treaty, a document that I endorse, even though it contains numerous gaps. 15 years on, we have seen the results of this – or rather, a lack of results – in terms of growth, particularly the quality of growth, and in terms of job creation.
Accordingly, Commissioner, our message as the ecologists’ group is that there really must be a change of strategy. We have the impression that discussions on the Stability and Growth Pact are conducted on the margins and that if we truly want to achieve the best results, we must pursue a more proactive policy at euro zone level, one in which ministers ultimately share a support framework based on more ambitious objectives and in which efforts are channelled into achieving convergence between the different national economies. As I do not have much time, I shall mention three of these objectives.
The first objective, in my view, is to implement massive reductions in taxation on labour and to seek alternative ways of funding social security systems, taking account of the diverse nature of each country. I feel that it is very important, however, to be able to say to the citizens that people who work – people who have the opportunity to work – must be able to make a decent living from their work. I believe that this can be achieved by means of massive reductions in taxation on labour.
The second objective – you will not be surprised to learn – is that we need high-quality growth, which means saving more energy and polluting much less. Please look at the Commission’s documents on the assessment of the Community’s sustainable development strategy: the results are abysmal, hence the urgent need for a sea change in this regard.
Thirdly and lastly, we must support internal demand in the Union. There is no need to focus entirely on conquering external markets, as though the economy were made up solely of innovative large companies or small or medium-sized enterprises taking on the Chinese and Indian markets. Internal demand must be supported, which entails public and private investment and involves sending a clear message to the public authorities, both at EU and Member State level, that we are proud to be European and that we have established monetary union along with an internal market. What we now need is a genuine economic and social union that offers every citizen a future."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples