Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-10-08-Speech-3-041"
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".
Madam President, I would just like to underline two or three points that seem important at this stage in the debate. Broadly speaking, I have noticed that there is nevertheless a consensus on the general lines we should be following.
It is an undeniable fact that, until now, even with the Stability and Growth Pact, even with a European Central Bank, the external representation of the EU in international financial bodies has fallen far short of the actual importance of Economic and Monetary Union and what the European Union project represents. Therefore, even at the heart of the crisis, I see opportunities. If we demonstrate wisdom, if we understand what we can and must do, I can see an opportunity for developing our idea of a Europe at the service of our citizens.
It is necessary to understand that this is a highly unusual situation we are in, and that we have a mainly national framework with which to be dealing with a transnational crisis. The truth is, the supervisory authorities are national authorities. The Commission and the European Central Bank do not have powers of financial supervision.
Regarding the Commission's powers, particularly as regards State aid, we have put in some work on this, and I can assure you that there is excellent cooperation between our services and the governments, which were keen to be in contact with us early on. I can also tell you that cooperation with the European Central Bank has been excellent, and once again I have witnessed the extraordinary effort the French Presidency has had to make in order to achieve a European approach, against this difficult background of fragmented supervisory systems, though still with a European dimension. Anyway, I would applaud, in this context, the decision the European Central Bank has taken today to cut interest rates, a decision taken in coordination with other central banks.
As regards the points you underlined in your speeches, I would just like to highlight two things. One, raised by Mr Daul, concerns the issue of the real economy and SMEs. It is now certain – it is a recognised fact – that the crisis is already having consequences for the real economy, and that we have more difficult times ahead. I believe we should find targeted measures, within the framework of all the reforms being put in place by Europe, to adapt to a much more difficult context of competition and to find ways of helping SMEs in concrete ways. This is also the reason why, within the framework of these initiatives, the European Investment Bank has been encouraged to put measures in place for SMEs. The whole of this dimension, the dimension of the real economy, must be followed very closely over the next few months.
Another point raised by Mr Schulz concerns the problem of those outside Europe, the problem of the very poorest. I believe it is also my duty to draw your attention to an important problem here. We are talking at the moment about ‘financial rescue’, but we must not forget ‘human rescue’. This year, according to World Bank figures, 75 million more people will be victims of starvation. Next year, they are predicting 100 million more.
That is why, while recognising that our problems in Europe have multiplied, we must not forget the problems in developing countries. We must not forget the tragedy in Africa. We must make the effort to respond positively to the request we recently received from the United Nations Secretary General and the President of the World Bank, in a letter addressed to all heads of State and government, and also, I think, to the President of the European Parliament, namely that the European institutions, that is Parliament and the Council, should approve the Commission's initiative concerning the implementation of an emergency plan to support farming in developing countries.
We must not forget, as Mr Jouyet quite rightly said, that all these crises are linked: the financial crisis, the world food crisis, the energy crisis, important aspects as regards the geopolitical crisis. I would very much like to see Europe take part in a constructive approach, not just for us, as Europeans, but also for the rest of the world.
We contribute to a new order in globalisation, which we want to be fair, not by shutting ourselves off, not by questioning the concept of the market economy, but by trying to apply fairer principles and rules in the market economy. As has been said, the current problem is also a problem of incapacity, not so much of the market – though many market operators are using unacceptable behaviour – but more of the competence of certain political or public authorities, which have not found suitable solutions for a market situation in terms of regulation.
To finish, I can tell you that in our daily contacts with the governments I am seeing a recognition of the need for this European dimension. For example, as you no doubt know, until now, Europe and even the euro zone did not really exist as such for the international financial authorities. It was only a few months ago, after many years' insistence, that the European Commission finally won the right to a seat, to a presence at the Financial Stability Forum."@en1
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