Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-07-07-Speech-3-059"
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"en.20100707.6.3-059"2
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"Mr President, to begin with, of course, I should like to extend my sincere thanks to all the Members of the European Parliament who have spoken – group members and others – for their words. I should also like to make clear that we feel rather encouraged in our approach to these six months. Without wanting to exaggerate, I have the feeling that, in the coming weeks and months, we can be partners in moving Europe forward which, I believe, is the crux of the matter. In any case, I know that there is confidence in the Belgian Presidency today, and I also know that we shall have to earn that confidence and to prove ourselves deserving of it. This is the frame of mind with which we are now starting out.
The crisis started, just under two years ago, with an implosion of the US banks, and its consequences became evident on the continent of Europe. We therefore had to take swift action. The second effect impacted on the confidence of citizens as both consumers and investors. This lack of confidence, this loss of confidence, then had a negative impact on the real economy which, in turn, has had negative effects on the job market, the social consequences of which we are now having to contend with.
Mr President, as a number of MEPs have said, people expect the EU to take action on this, as has been demonstrated repeatedly in the past. Indeed, this was the reason for its creation: as a kind of guarantee of the prosperity and welfare of the citizens of this continent. Therefore, the EU must provide the right answer to the negative social consequences we are experiencing as a result of the crisis, which started as a financial crisis and has ended up as a crisis of the real economy, and is also being seen on the labour market.
I should like to make one special remark in the light of the history we share with an important part of Africa; one special remark about the Africa strategy. This issue was raised by Mrs De Keyser and Mr Schulz, the Chair of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament.
With regard to the Union’s Africa strategy, which forms part of its external relationships, we support the discussion which Baroness Ashton has initiated with the aim of bringing greater coherence to our regional relationships. Of course, it is true that Belgium, because of its long tradition, wants to keep the African continent at the top of the European agenda and we also want to make as effective a contribution as possible to today’s discussion.
Mr President, as I have already said, I am not going to go into the specifics of every point. We have taken very careful note of everyone’s wishes.
To conclude, I would like to underline what Jean-Luc Dehaene has said, which is that one of the advantages of the current political situation in my country is that we can devote almost all our time to the EU rotating Presidency, including during the coming holiday period.
Besides that, I would like to underline and repeat that the programme of the Belgian Presidency was drafted after extensive dialogue and debate within Belgium, and these debates have also included all the regional governments. One specific characteristic of my country is that, both at the federal level and at the regional level, our governments are composed of numerous parties. I therefore repeat that the programme is supported by almost 90% of the representatives sworn in yesterday in the Belgian Parliament. Ninety per cent of the members of that Parliament support this Presidency programme.
As acting Prime Minister of Belgium, and as the acting rotating President, I would like to thank you. We will work very hard in the coming months. Yves Leterme has thanked you, and I can assure you that the Prime Minister of Belgium – whoever it will be – will be here again in December. I hope then that we will be in a position to see that our common ambitions have been reached.
I am sure you will forgive me for not responding to all your specific questions and speeches, for example, Mr Belet’s questions about sport and the questions about the Eurovignette. I know by heart that there are passages devoted to this in our substantial programme. This also goes for a number of speeches by other MEPs.
Perhaps I should say something first and foremost about our approach, and some repetition may be necessary. As Mr Daul has already said, our ambition was not so much to make a catalogue of promises, both realistic and unrealistic. We have actively striven for what Mr Daul would call
; that is, fewer promises and more results. That is our ambition. Our intention was not to produce a Presidency of gimmicks involving the individual wishes of one Member State, which would also have overestimated the importance of the Presidency within the framework of the implementation of Lisbon. No, our ambitions are clear: to sign up to an agenda determined at world and European level rather than one dictated by Belgium. The agenda of this Presidency, too, is dictated by your institution and the European institutions in general, and also by current events.
Secondly, I repeat once again that we subscribe to the approach of the Treaty of Lisbon – the Treaty of Lisbon as a whole, and nothing less than the treaty. As some Members have said, the Belgian Presidency is, in fact, the first to be able to establish precedents and apply this Treaty of Lisbon and all its provisions during its six-month term of office.
It is true that the aspect, for example, of pure bicameralism, as mentioned by Mr Dehaene, is an innovation that is sometimes still underestimated by colleagues – including colleagues in the Belgian Government – who are finding out about it today.
It seems to me that one of the first tests at this level will be the preparation of the 2011 budget. As a former parliamentary official, I know that preparing a budget – I am going back 15 years here – is always a rather delicate task. Today, with the disappearance of the distinction between, on the one hand, compulsory expenditure and, on the other, non-compulsory expenditure, and with the prospect of pure codecision before us, this is an exercise that I feel demands our full attention, and I believe that Mr Wathelet, Secretary of State for the Budget, will be anxious to do a good job.
Mr President, we want to move Europe forward, therefore. We want to do so with a great deal of respect for the institution that derives the most legitimacy from the people.
When it comes to the content, I feel encouraged by many people’s words. As the President of the Commission, too, mentioned in his speech, it is clear that the restoration of sufficient sustainable economic growth – which must be fairly distributed, Mrs Van Brempt – must have absolute priority; and, Mr Verhofstadt, this can indeed be done by providing a solution as regards financial supervision. We have taken note of your request to consider having recourse to qualified majority voting. There is the problem of hedge funds. In addition, drawing on the stress tests and, particularly, the conclusions that will have to be drawn directly from these tests, we shall have to take the necessary measures to strengthen the balance sheets of our banks and ensure that the financial world is able to radiate financial strength once more. The next step must be to revive the real economy, and the European Commission has presented the relevant texts and plans. Mr Barroso, in that regard, I agree with those who expect, on the one hand, a strengthening of the Stability and Growth Pact and stricter budgetary surveillance as a matter of course and, on the other, stimuli for infrastructures and for industrial policy, which would make Europe more tangible for social and economic players than is currently the case, and which should form part of a common ambition for our whole continent.
Finally, with regard to the social aspects, I should like to emphasise all the same that, although Europe does not really have very extensive competence in this area, Belgium’s ambition is to take full account of the consequences of the financial, economic and social crisis."@en1
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"‘moins de promesses, plus de résultats’"1
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