Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-11-16-Speech-3-015-000"
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"en.20111116.5.3-015-000"2
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"Mr President, Mr Barroso, Mr Van Rompuy, Mr Juncker, ladies and gentlemen, the economic and financial crisis is turning everything on its head and things are changing at an increasingly dramatic pace: changes in Greece and Italy, with the establishment of governments of national unity, which we welcome; whereas until now, our citizens saw European integration as being far removed from their day-to-day lives, now they are calling for more integration. Well, not everyone, as just yesterday, David Cameron saw fit to attack a Europe to which, last time I checked – yesterday afternoon –, his country still belongs, when what we really want is constructive positions, even from him, on how to emerge from the crisis.
I am thinking about real budgetary, fiscal and social integration. Mr President, it is Europe which speaks while the anti-Europeans scream and shout. That is not my way of moving Europe forward.
Still, all the influential players in the Union acknowledge – as I have been saying for years – that the answer to our problems is not less but more Europe. The solution is Europe. I think some presidents realise this. Those who do not are replaced; which is a good thing. A Europe that needs to be transformed along the lines of integration which should have been done when the euro was created because, I will say it again, the current crisis is not just a crisis of the euro which, this morning, Mr Juncker, was still trading at around 1.35 against the dollar – or 1.34 as it might have dropped a centime, which is still acceptable.
The reason for this crisis is the mistake made in setting up a currency without giving it the governance needed to make it work. We need to acknowledge this political error, but, above all, we need to put it right, and very quickly. That is what the euro area Member States are being forced to try and do and, once again, I congratulate the Council, Mr Van Rompuy, which is hard at work but which, in my opinion, is not working quickly enough because when your house is burning down, the fire-fighters get to work and, I tell you, fire-fighters are never criticised. I used to be a voluntary fire-fighter myself. We would sum up after the fire: we would look at what had been lost and what could be improved. That is what I am asking of you, Mr Van Rompuy. Do not be afraid. Be stronger. We will work it out later.
However, once again, I want to emphasise the importance of crisis management which is a new source of division in Europe. Ladies and gentlemen, we are seeing it more and more, we need to take care to distinguish between those that are in a deep crisis and those that have managed it better. We need to recognise this.
I want to stress how crucial it is that the Seventeen take into account all the instruments of the Euro Plus Pact when making any decisions on governance of the euro area. Mr Juncker, this is your job, do it. There are many countries wanting to join the euro area. We must not create different categories of players in this Euro Plus zone. We must not leave those countries wanting to join warming up on the sidelines. We must not exclude them from strategic decisions taken in the dressing rooms. I want to underline, here, the merit of countries like Poland, which has the Presidency, and which, despite not yet being in the euro area, are making extremely brave efforts, from a political viewpoint, to clean up their finances and boost growth. We should encourage them; we should make them feel a part of our club. Similarly, and I shall say it again, we should not abandon the Community method.
As much as I firmly believe that the Franco-German alliance is a key driving force in Europe – which recent weeks have again proved –, I call on all Member States to contribute and go further than Paris and Berlin, instead of complaining about the impetus provided by Paris or Berlin. Nobody is stopping them.
Likewise, Mr Barroso, I also call on the European Commission, with your commissioners, to do everything in your power to safeguard, strengthen and shield European cohesion. Do what you can to reassure small and medium-sized States that the Community method is still the glue that holds us together, that makes us stand firm and binds us together. It is in times of difficulty that it needs to be reinforced. That is the main responsibility of both institutions, the European Parliament and the Commission, which stand up for the European general interest.
I want to finish my part in the debate on a possible revision of the European Treaties. Yes, changes will definitely need to be made to put right what is necessary. Yes, these will definitely have to be major adaptations, given the significance of the issues at stake. My group is open to this process as long as there is open, democratic debate involving elected representatives and civil society as part of an agreement. Above all, however, we must not fall back into the temptation of spending all our time talking about the mechanical tools, to the detriment of our political objectives. We must not lose sight of what is urgent, namely credible economic governance, and of what is less urgent, and let us do what can and must be done to current treaties, if necessary by making small changes to the rules of procedure as I call them. I am thinking of the establishment of the internal market, of the rules governing financial supervision or credit rating agencies. I am thinking about the political role played by the Vice-President of the Commission responsible for economic and monetary affairs, which is yet to be defined. I am thinking about the rapid implementation of the Stability and Growth Pact and of macroeconomic surveillance."@en1
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"(The President interrupts the speaker following an interruption off-microphone from Mr Bloom)"1
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