Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-11-18-Speech-2-276"
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"en.20081118.29.2-276"2
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"Mr President, like other speakers here today, I would like to quote Keynes. It has seldom seemed more appropriate. I will quote in English:
‘Speculators may do no harm as bubbles on a steady stream of enterprise. But the position is serious when enterprise becomes the bubble on a whirlpool of speculation. When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done.’
The Commission’s proposal for a solution to the financial crisis really beats about the bush. The EMU structure is not a bulwark against general crises, and certainly not financial crises. The four freedoms and the restrictive Stability Pact do not make things any easier; in fact exactly the opposite. We need to redraft the institutional framework for the economy and economic policy. It is all very well to suggest that a new financial architecture will be created, but the structure has not been described well enough to have a chance at architectural college, or on an economic course. This is surely connected to the understanding of the crisis. Naturally enough, the initial focus was on doing something about the liquidity crisis, to ensure the supply of lubricants. In this regard, the various countries have chosen slightly different models – that is the way of things – but what does the Commission actually mean when it says that the EU shall (and I will quote from the programme):
‘ensure that the restructuring of the banking sector is done in a way which will ensure fair and healthy competition in the sector for the future’.
Does this mean that the public sector is required to inject capital? Is that what this sentence means? I would also like to ask the Commission whether new credit rating agencies are to be set up. Many of the old ones have, in any case, proven to be totally untrustworthy. What does the Commission mean when it talks about the ‘structural reform agenda’? Does it mean labour market reforms, ‘flexicurity’, without security? Is it the intention that increased job insecurity should be the workers’ contribution? In general, it is unclear whether or not the Commission intends wages to be a crucial competitive parameter. Are wages viewed solely as costs? We also need to view wages in relation to the effect they have on demand. Finally, I would like to ask a question on behalf of my colleague, Mr Blokland, who is the first vice-chairman of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, relating to the environment: when is the Commission going to publish the national emission ceilings?"@en1
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