Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-09-24-Speech-3-010"
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"en.20080924.4.3-010"2
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"Mr President, Madam Vice-President, the European Commission has done outstanding work in the last few years in many areas, notably environmental and climate policy, and here in this House, we are in the process of translating this into legislation. As regards the development of the common market, however, we see major shortcomings, especially where the social dimension is concerned.
What we are also demanding is a stronger common economic policy in Europe, which could also help to cushion or avert the type of crisis now spilling over from the US. Here, too, the Commission has been notable for its omissions. Another area where the Commission has failed – and I am sorry to address these comments to you as I know you can do very little about it – is its failure to tackle the growing inequality in Europe of its own accord, or to urge the national governments to act. We will be debating this issue this afternoon in relation to energy poverty, another topic which we have repeatedly raised and where we have received no response from the Commission, which has yet to produce any real initiatives here.
It is unacceptable for the Commission – with its commitment to inclusion and social justice as a matter of principle – to stand by and watch while social inequality in Europe steadily increases during this particular phase of economic and social life. That is unacceptable, and we should not be accepting it.
Europe's citizens expect the Commission to take their needs and concerns seriously, to present appropriate proposals and to act as a moral authority, notably in the context of the financial crisis. It should not be left to the French President, Mr Sarkozy, in his capacity as President-in-Office of the Council, to take a clear position here; this clear position should come from the Commission, the Commission President and the relevant Commissioner as well.
Madam Vice-President, you are very eloquent in your endeavours to inform citizens about the Commission's work, and we pay tribute to and fully support your efforts. However, it is not just about form; it is also about substance. The Commissioners must provide you with appropriate content. When it comes to the financial crisis, regulation and the social dimension, the social market economy is supplying you with too little content. That is why you will often find it difficult to present a credible case to citizens.
We say 'yes' to the ecological restructuring of our economy and society; we are completely on your side here and will translate this into action. However, my urgent message to you is this: we need to take a step back – or a step forward, if you like – towards policies based on social responsibility, and that means the Commission as well, for what we are getting here is too little, too late. I would ask you to ensure that this situation is remedied in the next few months.
The current financial crisis is sufficient reason to discuss this issue, and that is what we have done in the context of the Rasmussen report. It is not only my group and I, and indeed many others, who are deeply disappointed by what Commissioner McCreevy has said – or has not said – here. That is the major problem.
If we read the lead articles in any conservative newspaper today, whether it be the
or the
the headlines could have been written by socialist groups in this House, but not by the Commission President and certainly not by Mr McCreevy.
The
for example, has had the following headlines:
‘Modern history’s greatest regulatory failure’ or ‘After the crash: why global capitalism needs global rules’.
While Damien Hurst's
broke art auction records, the financial institutions have suffered record losses, prompting the following comment from the
:
‘How we were all blinded by the golden calf’.
Unfortunately, this applies to the Commission, or at least to those members of the Commission who should be responsible for these issues. Frank Schirrmacher, the editor-in-chief of the
and hardly a left-winger, writes: 'Neoliberal ideology created a rational and fortuitous connection between the individual and globalisation which was rooted solely in the economy', and laments 'the self-destruction of the social welfare discourse'.
It would be nice to have detected at least an element of this in the words of the Commission President or Commissioner McCreevy. After all, I am not demanding a large amount of left-wing criticism or self-criticism, but what we are demanding, time and again, as Martin Schulz recently made very clear, is the strengthening of the social dimension and scrutiny of all Commission projects in terms of their social impacts. Unfortunately, this is still not happening. There is no response from the Commission here."@en1
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"The Golden Calf"1
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