Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-03-07-Speech-1-034-000"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20110307.17.1-034-000"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the call for a financial transaction tax is nothing new; opponents of globalisation have been calling for such a tax for some years. Just five years ago, however, hardly anyone would have thought that it might be possible to implement it in the foreseeable future. Yet this week, it is on the agenda of the European Parliament alongside a CO
tax and Eurobonds, and rightly so in my opinion.
I can only welcome and support the financial instruments proposed by Mrs Podimata in her report, and I believe they will be voted through. These instruments are urgently needed. So far, the consolidation of national budgets has concentrated solely on cuts in expenditure. However, cuts in public spending primarily impact workers, pensioners and the poor; in other words, those reliant on the welfare state.
The income side of public financing has been completely disregarded to date. It is the second lever that we can use to consolidate national budgets. In particular, addressing the income side would result in the main perpetrators of the public debt crisis shouldering an appropriate part of the public debt.
If we are to consolidate national budgets, then it is quite simply imperative that we increase tax revenues. In fact, the high level of public debt is mainly a result of the nationalisation of private debt; in other words, of governments taking on the debts of private banks and financing the consequences of the financial crisis. The states are thus in no way solely responsible for the debt crisis. Asking the financial sector to dip into its own pockets is therefore not simply obvious; it is our political duty. A financial transaction tax would at last mean this sector shouldering part of this debt as one of the main perpetrators of the public debt crisis. This report would send out an important political signal were it to be adopted as presented.
Similarly, we consider Eurobonds to be a sensible and, thus, also a necessary instrument. They will do more to reduce debt than all the sanctions and advice put together, however well meant. The complaints by some countries in surplus that Eurobonds would increase their interest burden are unacceptable since, at the same time, these countries in surplus are earning more from their exports to deficit countries. Some might criticise this as a transfer union. However, anyone who wants a social Europe – who wants the EU to continue to hold together in the future – must accept the idea of a transfer union at least in principle.
Finally, I would like to say to the Commission that I hope that it will now finally present proposals for a financial transaction tax; we have been calling for this for over a year now."@en1
|
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples