Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-06-08-Speech-3-010-000"
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"en.20110608.3.3-010-000"2
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"Mr President, firstly, I would like to thank Mr Garriga and the members of the temporary Special committee on the policy challenges and budgetary resources for a sustainable European Union after 2013 because I believe they have done an excellent job. I have rarely seen such a balanced and reasonable report as the one brought forward by the Policy Changes Committee.
In relation to the question of the future financial perspective and its organisation, the kind of Europe that we want is becoming evident. What we need is a budget for the coming years that reflects the ambitions of the EU, including those of the Heads of State or Government, while, at the same time, meeting the expectations of our citizens. What may seem a fairly innocuous debate about figures measured in decimal places will, in fact, dictate the direction of the European Union for the next ten years.
We are regularly faced with new proposals for what the European Union should do, what it needs to achieve, and what tasks it needs to prepare for. At the same time, we also find that the financial resources this requires are not available. However, if we transfer more responsibilities to the EU, expecting it to finance ambitious projects, while, at the same time, cutting funding, then we will be guilty of acting against solidarity within the European Union because we will encourage internal divisions in the fight for funds, for example, in cohesion policy. Such an attack on solidarity, which can already be witnessed in a dangerous form within some Member States of the European Union, should not be permitted between the States of the EU.
We have the Europe envisaged by David Cameron or the Dutch Government – or at least by the party that supports the government in the Dutch Chamber of Deputies – a Europe of ever deeper cuts, a Europe of increasing withdrawal from integrationist development and a Europe of renationalisation. This is a concept that some people will support. However, one can also say that Europe is our answer, as a 21st century continent, to the economic, environmental, financial and migration policy-related challenges in a globalised world. There are two options open to us: we can split ourselves into our constituent parts, ranging in size from Germany, with a population of 82 million, to Malta with a population of 360 000. If it is a question of every man for himself, then Europe will become an irrelevance. After all, even a state with 82 million people, such as the one I represent, will not survive intercontinental competition in the long term. What we need is the strength of the 500 million people and the 27 States in the Community. That is what will make us strong.
This is precisely what is expressed by a budget for the next seven years of the financial perspective until 2020. This is a good draft plan. I would be very pleased to see the spirit of the Polish Presidency, as evident in the draft published by the Polish Presidency, shaping Europe in the coming years with the spirit of cooperation it proposes. The States in the Council are negotiating on the financial and economic future of Europe on an equal footing with the representatives of its citizens in the European Parliament. You cannot say ‘We want a Marshall plan for the Mediterranean that will support the development of democracies in North Africa’, while, at the same time, saying ‘We should cut the EU budget’. You cannot say ‘We want to finance the EU budget with 0.8% of Gross Domestic Product’ and then demand compensation when our own farmers are hit by the EHEC crisis, as the Dutch Government has done. Of course we want to help farmers. We have to help farmers. Of course we want to help North Africa. We have to help North Africa. However, then we also need a good, well-balanced, rationally developed, long-term budget as set out in this report."@en1
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