Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-07-06-Speech-2-380"
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"en.20100706.28.2-380"2
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"Madam President, Cassandra had a gift: that of telling the future. She also bore a curse: that of not being listened to. For this reason, Troy fell.
Parliament anticipated more than 10 years ago that liberalising the markets, without putting in place European supervision mechanisms at the same time, would lead to a crisis in the system, for one very simple reason: cross-border institutions cannot be supervised by national authorities whose jurisdiction ends at their borders. They can only be supervised by European authorities. We did not take heed of this, and the crisis erupted. Exotic products, unknown even to their creators, flooded the markets. Nobody trusted anybody else, nobody lent to anybody else, and credit dried up. The result: 23 million unemployed and EUR 3.5 billion – one third of our production – committed to aid the financial sector. Now what?
We in Parliament have been at odds with the Council for some days now. Parliament has given a great deal of ground in order to reach an agreement; the Commission too. The Belgian Presidency has shown great willing. It has asked us for time. We are going to give it time, but let us show today that Parliament is united, that it has very clear ideas. For this reason, let us vote massively in favour tomorrow of the amendments that the most influential groups within this House have put forward jointly. There are several ideas that Parliament would like to highlight. The first is that the crisis will only be overcome when confidence recovers and transparency is re-established within markets, institutions and products. This will only be possible when there are European supervision authorities that are credible, strong, independent and subject to democratic control: authorities that are not limited to meekly repeating the slogans emanating from national governments.
What does it mean to say that they are European? It means that they must have real power to ban the sale of toxic products; it means that they have real power to put an end to the regulatory distortions that prevent the market from working; it means that they must have real power to require national supervisors to always operate in defence of European interests. National supervisors cannot be feudal lords invested with absolute power. The European authority must ensure that the law is obeyed, that national authorities do what they need to do when there is a threat of pandemic, and that they are able to resolve conflicts when colleges of supervisors do not want to do so, or cannot. They need to be able to require private institutions that are offside to do what they need to do when national colleges of supervisors notice any omissions within the European guidelines.
The second lesson is that, among cross-border institutions, there is a special, singular type: those known as systemic institutions. An elementary truth about capitalism is that when it is done well, money is made, and when it is done badly, money is lost. This governs everything except systemic institutions. When things are going well, they make a fortune, and when things are going badly, it is the taxpayer who has to run to their aid. To resolve the problem of systemic institutions, there are only two solutions, only two: either supervisors within the countries where they operate are given greater powers to control their solvency and liquidity, which would lead to the removal of the European Parliament from the equation, or truly European institutions are put in place, which is what this House is proposing.
This means that European authorities need to watch over these institutions with particular zeal, as their ruin will be the ruin of all. It means that the European institution needs to be provided with resolution and control mechanisms for stabilising endangered institutions, if this is possible, or to wind them up, if this is not possible. Lifeboats should be made ready before the voyage, not in the middle of a storm. Also, these systemic institutions need to be required to pre-finance, to provide funds for guaranteeing the interests of depositors, which is our main concern, and for paying the costs of a crisis when it occurs. What cannot happen is for the taxpayer to have to carry the can again. What cannot happen, as the Americans say so often, is for ‘Main Street’ to have to pay for the excesses of ‘Wall Street’ again.
I would ask the ladies and gentlemen of the Council who are absent today – they have been very active this morning, talking on the telephone, and it seems that the storm has passed and things are calm, and they are still not here – to convey the same message through the Commissioner. The Council has asked for time. Parliament has given it time. Let nobody be confused, however: this is not a sign of weakness. This is a sign of the strength of this House. The strength of a body that believes in what it says, and feels that it has the support of the public, who back it. The Council and the Commission, which is doing a magnificent job, needs to make use of this time to forge a parliamentary consensus on the European direction, in the direction of Europe. It must not make use of this time to try and put together blocking minorities in opposition to Parliament. I ask the Council to listen to Cassandra for once. Today, Cassandra is the rapporteurs who have spoken. Cassandra is also Commissioner Barnier. Those who are not Cassandra know only too well to whom I refer.
Listen to Parliament, seek an agreement, say here what was said in Toronto. Do not say one thing here and another there. As old Castilians say, if the Council does this, God will reward it, and if not, God will demand it. God and this House."@en1
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