Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-03-25-Speech-3-009"
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"Mr President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, ladies and gentlemen, the last European Council was a Council of practical results.
Mr President, we now need to keep up the momentum on the work of economic recovery; on the EUR 5 billion there is a real urgency. This investment is critical in these difficult times. We all know that the credit crunch has had a direct impact on strategic projects. There are some challenges, particularly the possibility of a freeze on oil and gas connections. It has put the brakes on investment in renewable energy. It has also put research on clean technology on hold. Therefore, we need to have a clear European response.
I know that this Parliament is committed to moving this dossier forward with speed, and hope that your own examination of the proposals will allow you to enter into swift negotiations with the Council, so that they can pass into law by May.
The same is true of the package of existing and forthcoming measures on the financial system. For Parliament and the Council to secure first-reading agreement on these measures before the election recess would send out a powerful message that the EU knows what it has to do to restore order to the financial system.
This is a key building-block in restoring confidence, and this is why the Commission will continue to adopt the proposals as set out in its communication of 4 March 2009 on hedge funds and private equity, on executive pay and on how to follow up on the ideas set out in the report of the high-level group I have established under the leadership of Mr de Larosière. In fact, this report received a warm welcome at the European Council and it was considered unanimously the basis for further work. I am very happy with that result.
We also need to continue to deepen the work of coordination. Coordination is key – coordination and implementation. The guidelines we have set out on impaired assets and on support to the car sector are already being used to direct Member States’ action most effectively.
Now we are in the implementation phase of the recovery plan, the Commission will be stepping up its work to monitor how national stimulus announcements are being carried through into action. We have some instruments. We also have the instruments of the Lisbon Strategy that remain in force. We will also look closely at the various national measures being taken to address the crisis and stimulate demand, to see what can be learned and how we can help.
The same spirit should inspire us as we prepare for the Employment Summit. I have said it before in this Parliament: this crisis is causing real hardship, and this is nowhere more visible than the impact on the jobs market.
Unemployment is rising and most likely will go on rising. This is my number one concern, and I think it should be the number one concern in Europe. Workers all over Europe must know that European leaders care. That is why the special summit devoted to employment in early May is so important: to take stock of the impact of the recovery measures so far, to see what is working and what is not working, and to exchange best practices and agree on further steps necessary.
We need to make sure that all levers are mobilised at local, regional, national and European level to cushion the impact of the crisis and prepare people for the jobs of the future. We must, in particular, make the most of what we can do to complete the Member States’ action through the European Social Fund and the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund.
As you will know, the European Council decided that the summit should take place in a troika format. To be open and frank with you – as I always am – I was disappointed with this decision. I would have preferred all 27 Member States to devote the time necessary to discuss together the best way forward on what is after all
key issue for European citizens in this crisis: the employment situation.
I should like to pay tribute to the Czech Presidency and in particular to Prime Minister Topolánek, who kept a tight grip on the framework of discussions by focusing them on concrete objectives. The outcome is there to be seen: a series of important decisions in themselves, but also decisions that speak volumes about Europe’s determination today. The reality of our decisions shows the reality of our unity and confounds pessimistic expectations which, once again, have proven to be inaccurate. I am going to concentrate on economic aspects; Prime Minister Topolánek has mentioned most of the issues, so there is no need to go back over them all.
Of course, we know that most of the instruments are at national level, but that should not be a reason for European leaders not to discuss at European level the way in which they can coordinate their actions. We also know that, when we take decisions regarding the financial sector, or when we adopt a recovery plan, these are also measures for employment.
But I think the subject of employment deserves attention to itself, on its own merits, from European leaders. Be that as it may, the Commission is fully mobilised and set to deliver a strong message on 7 May 2009. I personally believe that this summit, which it was decided to hold in a troika format, should be kept open so that all prime ministers who want to participate should have the opportunity to do so.
I would like to tell you, as Prime Minister Topolánek did, that just before the European Council we had a very important discussion with the social partners, together with the Prime Minister of Sweden, Mr Reinfeldt, and the Prime Minister of Spain, Mr Zapatero. I think we saw the willingness of the social partners to engage with us. It is important to send that message to all Europeans, and specifically to all workers in Europe, that we at European level also care about a social dialogue.
We have invited the social partners to come to the Commission. We have organised a meeting in the College of Commissioners, and I am determined to go on working with the social partners, the European Parliament, the governments of Europe, the Presidency, of course, and also with the Committee of Regions, and the Social and Economic Committee because I really believe that, in facing this problem of employment, we need a European mobilisation not only of governments and the European institutions but also of the social partners and all our societies.
I am determined that we should have all the possible options on the table. That is why the Commission will be devoting special efforts over the coming weeks to working with all our partners, and I would very much welcome the full participation of Members of the European Parliament and of this Parliament as an institution. You have a wealth of knowledge about action on the ground.
In short, this was a European Council that took very important decisions on economic and financial matters – these are very concrete results. But it was in no sense the end of a process. We need to keep up the momentum of the process. We need to be open to everything we have to do in face of a crisis that will have, specifically, more impact on social matters. It is important that we retain this determination and that, through coordination and implementation, Europe will be able not only to respond to the challenge internally but also to make an important contribution to the global response to this crisis of very great dimensions.
Firstly, the Council has endorsed the Commission’s proposal to devote EUR 5 billion to strategic energy projects and to broadband Internet. The agreement reached at the European Council clearly reflects the EU’s determination to use all the tools at its disposal and to do its best to prevent the crisis from jeopardising our long-term objectives, particularly in terms of energy security and the fight against climate change.
The second major decision was to double the maximum amount of support granted for the Member States’ balances of payments: EUR 50 billion is a very strong commitment. It proves that, even when times are tough, solidarity is not a hollow word in Europe.
Indeed, the best way for Europeans to curb the crisis and to re-establish growth conditions is to coordinate their positions, take action together and support one another.
The third major decision shows that the Union is fully contributing to the effort to be made to tackle the crisis worldwide. The budgetary stimulus given to the European economy, if we include the automatic stabilisers in this, is now approaching 4% of European GDP. However, to this we added – during the European Council – the commitment to support the IMF with a maximum of EUR 75 billion. The Union is playing its part to the full, both by forcefully combating the crisis and by introducing a programme of ambitious and forward-looking regulatory reforms.
Indeed, the European Union has set an example of unity and leadership which, if followed, will pave the way for more wide-ranging solutions at international level. The debate that we held yesterday with the UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, clearly demonstrated this. The European Union is approaching the London Summit with a solid and consistent agenda, based on four pillars: a substantial and coordinated budgetary stimulus, an ambitious regulatory agenda, a strong message against all forms of protectionism, and a sustained commitment to the Millennium Development Goals, particularly for the most underprivileged in the world.
This is a leadership agenda, and I believe that it is nonetheless important to point out – since it was not obvious at the start – that the position of the Member States, which are going to take part in the London Summit, and of the Commission, is in fact the message of the entire Union of 27 Member States, which want to maintain this leadership position so as to introduce a new approach at international level. This is not a technocratic agenda. The challenge is to re-introduce into the economic system, and especially into the global financial system, ethical values without which the market economy cannot function. People must be re-installed at the heart of the global economy. We are in favour of open and competitive economies, but economies in which the markets serve the citizens. That is, moreover, why I support Mrs Merkel’s ambitious proposal to create a charter for a sustainable economy. It points out that we are in favour of a social market economy.
However, the European Council also looked beyond the crisis. In the area of external relations, I welcome the support given by the 27 to the Commission’s proposals to develop the Eastern Partnership, which we will have the opportunity to examine in more detail during the Eastern Partnership Summit on 7 May. Working with the Union for the Mediterranean, we now have a consistent framework for our neighbourhood policy, which is without doubt one of the main priorities of the Union’s external relations."@en1
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