Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-11-18-Speech-2-418"
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"en.20081118.33.2-418"2
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"Mr President, Mrs Berès, ladies and gentlemen, when the founding fathers of the European Union drafted the Treaty of Rome, they had the foresight to include, in one of its articles, a mechanism to help Member States whose balance of payments was seriously threatened.
Hopefully we will not have to use these funds, but we cannot rule out this possibility. If we have to use them, then we must demonstrate our solidarity, as the founding fathers did in the Treaty of Rome in 1957, and we must also plan for a possible increase in the ceiling above EUR 25 000 million, if this proves necessary. As a result, I would ask Parliament, when discussing this issue in the future, if this proves necessary, to show the same willingness that I am pleased to witness here today. I would ask Parliament to give its opinion quickly and flexibly on help that, due to its very nature and characteristics, will be urgent.
There are elements in the motion for a resolution tabled by Parliament, together with the debate on the proposal to raise the ceiling of the balance of payments facility, with which I agree. These involve concerns about the vulnerability of some of our Member States and about the need to assess how we can protect ourselves and protect those Member States affected by this particular vulnerability, as in the case of Hungary, but which may also arise in the case of other countries.
We have to make this defence of the stability of Member States’ economies and financial positions compatible with the free movement of capital and with the principles on which the internal market is based. However, we must be aware that we have to react to unnecessary risks and situations in which certain private interests may threaten the higher interests of Member State citizens and the economic and general security of our States.
I have taken due note of the suggestions made in this motion for a resolution. We will assess these in the Commission and report our findings to the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. As stated by Mrs Berès, these will also be conveyed to Mr De Larosière so that his group can present its findings within the period set for its work, in other words by March.
That foresight in that article of the Treaty of Rome has been passed on through successive treaty reforms and is now in Article 119 of the current Treaty. After many years of non-use, this legal basis has now been used by the Commission to assist a Member State which needed urgent help, namely Hungary.
This article of the Treaty was developed in a 2002 Regulation which is what we have used in the case of Hungary and which is what we are now proposing to amend with regard to the maximum ceiling of the amounts that can be made available to help Member States facing this kind of difficulty.
Yesterday we debated in this House the ten years of Economic and Monetary Union. This afternoon we have debated the economic situation. Yesterday and again today we have discussed the problems caused by this situation and, unfortunately, there are some EU Member States which are outside the euro area and whose macroeconomic and financial imbalances are putting them in a particularly vulnerable position, given market pressures.
In the case of Hungary and in light of these difficulties, at some point the Hungarian authorities contacted the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Immediately after establishing contact with the IMF, they contacted the European Commission.
As I have said to the Hungarian authorities, this was not the right procedure for a Member State. The logical procedure is firstly to contact the European authorities and then, if necessary – and in the case of Hungary, it undoubtedly was – to jointly contact the IMF.
I must say to you all that the IMF and its Managing Director, Mr Strauss-Kahn, have proved to be absolutely open to this cooperation between the IMF and the European Commission, the European authorities and the EU Member States which are members of the euro area and need to access the facilities provided by the IMF.
In the case of Hungary, we have acted in cooperation. Although the procedure was not started correctly, the end result has been right as we have acted in cooperation. The European Union is providing Hungary with EUR 6 500 million within a global aid package worth EUR 20 000 million. This same approach, but in this case using the right procedure of firstly contacting the European authorities and then jointly contacting the IMF, is now being used in the case of another country.
Unfortunately, the situation is proving so difficult that this may not be the last case, or at least we should be prepared for there to be other cases, other Member States which need this type of help. That is why, at the same time as we presented the Council with the proposal to help Hungary, by using Article 119 of the Treaty and the 2002 Regulation, we also presented a proposal to raise the maximum ceiling of the facility established by the 2002 Regulation to EUR 25 000 million."@en1
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