Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-06-17-Speech-2-069"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20080617.5.2-069"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I, too, would like to thank the rapporteur. I have been having a few additional thoughts about Slovakia’s accession to the euro area over the last few days.
The Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats will be voting in favour of this report. Based on the events surrounding the change from the koruna to the euro, we again submitted relevant amendments and compromise proposals because this change, which was more than the allowable 15% fluctuation, led to a dispute in Parliament too. All we can do is ask of the Commission – and not just ask, but actually insist – that it helps out here so that for future adoptions of the single currency, the criteria that are already laid down in the Treaty will be made specific.
Since becoming a Member of the European Parliament, I have been present every time a new country has adopted the single currency. Each time, we have been presented with new arguments, including the one that ‘after all, the previous states were able to do it this way too’, and this will become a neverending story. I consider it important that we see joining the euro area less as a matter of national honour and more as a goal of making the criteria more objective, which is good for the state that is joining.
The upward revaluation of the koruna by more than 17% is certainly economically justified. Whether it was right to combine the timing of the revaluation with entry to the euro area is another matter. Therefore, we should do everything possible to ensure that the euro and the overall economy achieve something good, rather than restricting ourselves to the point of view of a political situation of limited duration, whether European or national.
Let me mention briefly what happened on Thursday. I think it is wrong for the European Parliament to ignore this repeatedly, and we will have a major debate about this tomorrow. We will vote today on whether Slovakia should join the euro area and ECOFIN will do so in July. We saw on Thursday how one member of the euro area said that it did not want the European Union to be the way it is. High representatives of your home country then chimed in along the same lines, Commissioner.
The euro was never an end in itself. The euro was always just a marker along the way to further development of the European Union. Now – although the Council is not here, unfortunately – everyone is asking the same question: where to with Europe now? What are the next specific steps? Some are talking about the core of Europe, others of alternatives, still others are saying we should stop expanding, but some are behaving as if nothing will change. Therefore, we will try again with the euro, and even try again after that.
However, when we make these decisions, we should bear in mind the political realities in the European Union, so when we vote today, I will have very mixed feelings about whether simply ignoring the vote – the reality in Europe – is really the right thing to do."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples