Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-12-03-Speech-3-029"
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"en.20081203.12.3-029"2
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Mr President, Mr Jouyet, honourable Members, firstly may I concur with you Mr Pöttering in everything that you have said relating to the tragedy in Mumbai, and also say that I share your sentiments relating to the need for the spirit of solidarity in Europe, and the spirit of what must be real European citizenship to be put into practice.
I wish to pay tribute to the boost given by Parliament to the recovery plan, in the form of its parliamentary committee and plenary part-session debates, and in particular, the debate I had with the Conference of Presidents, and I should like to thank the President of Parliament and the chairmen of the various groups for their contributions, which made this debate possible. The implementation of this plan must enjoy the same sustained dialogue as its preparation.
By proposing to inject EUR 200 billion to kick-start our economy, our recovery plan, which comprises ten detailed priorities, shows a degree of common action that is unprecedented at European level. The challenge was enormous, as was the risk of failure, since an ambitious plan on the same scale as the need had to be defined. The plan is not based on the smallest common denominator but nor does it ignore the widely varying budgetary and economic positions of the various Member States, even though all Member States are part of a common market and the majority of them have a common currency. We therefore have to confess that it is no easy task, that it is really quite difficult to find, from an intellectual and also obviously from a political point of view, an economic response for 27 countries with such different starting points.
This is why we have not defined a one-size-fits-all plan, but a coordinated plan, based on the instruments already at our disposal in Europe, the Stability and Growth Pact and the Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs, but by defining the common aims to be pursued in a coordinated fashion for economic recovery.
This plan must now be translated into reality. The concept of coordination must not simply prevail at the time of agreement but also during implementation, since the price of inaction is unacceptable. We ourselves can testify to this: job losses are occurring daily. We cannot wait for the recession to get worse and degenerate into a serious depression.
I think that we can all see a change of attitude even if this change of attitude has not yet fully been translated into concrete decisions. Everybody is very well aware that we are not dealing with an ordinary fall off in economic activity. We are in a completely different situation, which is not an ordinary drop in economic activity; we are, I repeat, experiencing exceptional circumstances and that now is the time to act.
Each institution must fulfil its responsibilities. The Commission has done so by presenting this plan and will continue to do so to ensure its implementation. I am counting on the vigilance of Parliament to remind each institution of its commitment. This recovery plan offers the necessary policy framework for decisive and ambitious action. I believe that it is at the same time both ambitious and realistic; putting forward ambitious proposals that have no chance of being approved is pointless. At the same time, however, we must retain this ambition.
This plan shows that the basic principles established by the Stability and Growth Pact and the Lisbon Strategy have rendered us capable of providing a real European solution.
This is a great opportunity which must be seized by Europe. I believe that this is a real test for Europe. Not merely a test of its economic response, which is demanding enough, but also of the very idea of Europe. What is our idea of Europe? Do we or do we not want to have European responses to European and to global economic problems?
United in action, Europe can demonstrate that it is capable of: providing the necessary coordination so that each can deploy all its forces in the battle; offering, on a customised scale, the required budgetary stimulus to guarantee a real impact, while ensuring the medium- and long-term viability of public expenditure levels; ensuring intelligent use of short-term tools for boosting long-term competitiveness by killing two birds with one stone: the stimulus must limit the impact of the crisis on households, workers and businesses in the short-term, while simultaneously easing the transition towards a less energy-intensive economy, while supporting reforms for European competitiveness, in the medium- and long-term; ensuring all our actions are imbued with the key imperatives of solidarity and social justice, which must primarily be focussed on the most vulnerable in this time of crisis.
We have therefore set out three clear priorities, three foundation stones for the strategy which has the needs of the most vulnerable sectors of society as its underlying across-the-board priority.
I think that we will all be able to learn lessons from these events and demonstrate the reality of the fine ideas of European citizenship and solidarity.
This is not the time for restricting actions to the national level. Let us be absolutely clear about this. This is the message that I would like to send to the European Council and I know that I can count on Parliament to echo my message. Only a European-level solution will have the necessary scope to make a difference, to everybody’s benefit.
Parliament’s support is essential. I would therefore like to ask you to examine new proposals, speed up procedures and adjust the European budgetary framework. Here too, we must be clear. I think that it would be completely contradictory if we now were to ask Member States to make an additional effort as regards their budgets, budget boosts, while we at European level, were unable to use all the appropriations at our disposal in the Community Budget.
The Commission has therefore, I believe, produced a good proposal, saying that all unspent appropriations should be used to support certain programmes and launch certain European actions, whether for interconnections, innovation, climate-friendly energies or for an economic recovery policy that is also full of potential in the medium term. I believe this is the very least that should be done.
But above all, I invite you to explain to our fellow citizens how the European Union is providing protection, not by taking action on behalf of States, but quite the reverse, by increasing the effectiveness of the actions taken by States, combining our efforts to stimulate demand and restore confidence for the benefit of all our citizens.
The second point on the European Council agenda is climate change. I know how much time and attention this Parliament has devoted to the climate change energy package. You have shown how this is truly one of the major political, economic and ‘civilisational’ projects of our time. When we look back at what will be an historic decision, your support for the objective and your input into how it should be reached will prove to have been invaluable.
It is now almost a year since the Commission made its proposals. In that time we have seen a major economic downturn. We have heard understandable concerns from industry at a time of intense pressure.
But the commitment to the core goal has not wavered: to meet the 20/20/20 targets by 2020; to show the way for a global agreement at Copenhagen next year; and to prove that we are serious and we mean business when discussing these issues.
Of course there is much to be done before the Council and Parliament reach a final agreement. This is how it should be. These are critical decisions impacting on the life of every European. They deserve to be taken seriously. We must get it right.
The European Council next week will be key to reaching agreement between the Heads of State and Government of the 27. But while agreement amongst the 27 is a necessary condition for a deal, it is not in itself sufficient. Believe me, nobody knows better than the Commission the crucial role Parliament plays as a co-legislator. You have proven time and again that your input is indispensable, not only for the democratic legitimacy of European legislation, but also for its effectiveness.
Your work is critical in building a broad cross-party, cross-national consensus on essential pieces of legislation. We will need you to play this role on the climate and energy package too. A lot has already been achieved in recent trialogues. I am confident we can travel the rest of the way together as well. I really believe we can and should reach a deal at the European Council – and I welcome the efforts of the very hardworking French Presidency of the Council, with which the Commission is actively cooperating. This is why, right after the European Council, I propose to take up its outcome in trialogues with the European Parliament in order to iron out remaining differences and translate political agreement into legal texts.
Over the last few months, Mr President, honourable Members, the European Union has indeed been faced with a series of major challenges: a conflict in Georgia, an unprecedented financial crisis and an unexpected recession.
I am confident that we will be able to conclude work in good time and show that climate action, energy security and economic growth can and must be pursued in a mutually supportive way. This is the best message we can send ahead of the European elections, but also ahead of the coming into office of the next United States President, and in view of Copenhagen. I give my commitment that the European Commission will work tirelessly with you to make this possible.
Finally, there will doubtless be some who would argue that, in the current situation, discussing the Treaty of Lisbon is a distraction. They would be wrong. The European Union today is proving itself more essential than ever in terms of promoting the economic and social well-being of its citizens. Giving it the tools to do this task more efficiently, more democratically, is not a distraction. It is an imperative. The crises we have been experiencing have all underlined this need.
I believe that the European Union has shown a lot of maturity in responding to the ‘no’ vote in Ireland, by respecting the outcome, and by giving the Irish authorities the time to digest and analyse, time to work out how to address this situation.
Above all, Europe has shown its determination to keep working towards the prize of the new Treaty. Member States have continued to ratify. The Commission, like this Parliament, has continued to put the case for the Treaty. And we have worked together with Ireland – not against it – to find the right way forward.
There remains an urgency to see the Treaty in force. There remains a need to respect the decisions of the 25 national parliaments which have ratified. And the overriding goal of the European Council must be to set out a credible way forward which will allow Ireland to ratify as well. By the end of next week, we need to have a road-map that leads us out of this impasse.
2008 will go down in the history books as a year when the European Union faced some of its most difficult tests. But also, I believe, when it showed itself determined enough, decisive enough, and bold enough to meet the challenge. Let us use the next few weeks to leave a legacy of a stronger, more ambitious European Union for the future.
The European Union has so far correctly assessed these extraordinary events and has, I am absolutely convinced, performed creditably. Thanks to the shared commitment and close cooperation of our three institutions and, I must add, the energy and skill of the French Presidency, the usefulness and relevance of the European dimension has been made clear. We have shown Europeans in particular and the world in general that the European Union was up to the task: able to provide a swift and coordinated response and ready to work hand in hand with its partners on the world stage.
But let us be absolutely clear and honest with each other: the key work still needs to be carried out over the coming weeks. Because we are facing a large number of challenges, in particular, three major challenges, which can only be met if the three major European institutions – Parliament, the Council and the Commission – continue to collaborate, with each one fulfilling its role in the pursuit of our common aims: first of all to take decisive measures, which must be immediately implemented, to put Europe on the path to economic recovery, to provide a response to the crisis in the real economy; secondly, to demonstrate that Europe is equipping itself with the resources to become the world’s leading low-carbon economy and that we can keep our position as world leader in the battle against climate change; and thirdly, to draw up a road map for the implementation of the Treaty of Lisbon.
I am sure there are lots of other areas I could mention, in particular in the field of external relations, where I should like to say that we in the Commission are today proud to have approved a communiqué which sets out the considerably ambitious aims for a real Eastern Partnership policy but, as time is short, I am now going to concentrate on those three challenges which I see as the greatest challenges for the European Council in December.
First of all, let us look at the European plan for economic recovery. During the debates which took place prior to the European Council in October this year; problems were having a knock-on effect and the financial crisis was already spreading to the real economy.
A week later, in a communiqué we approved, the Commission proposed an EU-level policy framework for action. We said that we needed an economic response to the financial crisis and that this must be made in a coordinated fashion. A consensus was broadly reached for this policy framework, being approved at the last informal European Council and by Parliament at its part-session last month. But this policy framework also fed into the global strategy defined at the G20 summit, where it was used as a basis for discussion. Finally, the approach recommended by this reference framework policy was adopted by Member States when defining their own courses of action.
As well as providing detailed implementation methods, the European plan for economic recovery, as presented by myself last week, elevated this coordination to a new level of ambition."@en1
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