Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-03-25-Speech-4-052"
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"en.20100325.3.4-052"2
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"Mr President, in the wake of the financial crisis, public debt has become rapidly worse, even if, in many countries, they are beginning to turn off the taps of recovery. Having dealt with an acute economic crisis, we need to focus very closely on the long term and serious imbalance in public finances.
We have had the Stability and Growth Pact, but the problem lies in the fact that the Member States have not complied with it, and so we now have acute deficits in public finances to deal with. Attention has been given to incorrect statistical information in the case of Greece, but the core of the problem is a badly managed economic policy.
We politicians are faced with very difficult decisions, amid slow growth, an ageing population and an employment situation that is improving only sluggishly. There are only a few cures for public finances: to increase revenue from taxation, to boost economic growth or to cut expenditure.
In the search for remedies, key indicators are the sustainability of public finances and the deficit. The sustainability deficit is a reflection of how much the tax rate should be raised or the rate of expenditure lowered for public finances to be on a sustainable basis over the long term. To achieve a balance, we have to continue to recognise that accrued debt will increase by the difference between interest rates and the growth in Gross National Product, and an ageing population will cause the cost of pensions and care to rise substantially in the years to come. In order to boost income in public finances, it is absolutely essential to have growth and employment, increase the productivity of public services and implement the structural measures that can guarantee the sustainability of pension schemes, for example.
In the long term, an increase in the birth rate and preventive health care will be of significance for the balance in public finances. In the midst of the economic crisis, we called for better coordination of public finances, and I would like to ask how Commissioner Rehn intends to bring this about. I believe, however, that this economic crisis cannot be used as a way out of the back door for the economies of the Member States to be brought under control. We just have to observe strict budget discipline in public finances."@en1
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