Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-02-15-Speech-3-010-000"
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"en.20120215.4.3-010-000"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, trust is the foundation of the single market, the foundation of the European Union. However, the financial crisis has undermined this trust, the trust that our fellow citizens have not only for each other but also for policy makers, and this distrust continues to grow. In the face of this danger, we must be unambiguous. We need measures to restore confidence in the good management of our finances and the Treaty to be signed next month will be one of the cornerstones of this.
We also need measures to restore confidence in the governance of the euro and this cannot be achieved by issuing contradictory statements. In this regard, I am very surprised by the statements made by Commissioner Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the Commission, who is of the opinion that it would not be a tragedy if Greece left the euro area. I ask the Commission: is this your official position? I would ask the Commission to address this matter.
Ladies and gentlemen, after years of imprudent management of public finances in many of our countries, now is the time for change. This applies even more to Greece of course, but we will not avoid spending cuts —and Greece cannot take any more. Our Latvian friends showed the way some years ago, by reforming their public management without any outside help and accepting painful sacrifices that led to a return to growth.
That is why, for my part, I also trust in the Greek people’s enormous sense of responsibility and I am not among those who would have them believe they will immediately overcome the crisis without reforming.
That said, as I stated just after the last European Council, it will take more to build the economy than growth and employment reforms. However, the package proposed to us at this stage is not, in any way, up to the challenge. I firmly believe this is no longer the time for business as usual. It is time to make commitments on a par with those of the post-war Marshall Plan or even the 1992 single market project.
Ladies and gentlemen, the time has come for Europe to be ambitious. The time has come to establish a project which mobilises all our resources to restore growth and employment.
My group expects the European Commission to propose a legislative package of this kind, in close cooperation with Parliament, as we did with the ‘six-pack’. This package could include measures as ambitious as completing the internal market. We need to know which countries are still blocking this market. The Single Market Act, the Services Directive and the European Patent are all being blocked by an absurd dispute over location. This package must also reduce the burdens imposed on our businesses which stifle their competitiveness. In return, leave it to them to commit to providing more employment, above all, for young people. Ultimately, there is no magic formula for overcoming this crisis unless we demonstrate political will, have the courage to tell our fellow citizens the truth and see through our commitments.
As a former manager, I can tell you, I have lived through many crises and I would ask the Commission and the Heads of State or Government who are always thinking of the next election — I understand this and therefore, it is up to us, in Parliament and in the Commission, to show them the way, to put forward proposals, bold proposals for major projects, for example — to establish the internal market and condemn those who do not.
These are measures, small measures, which together will perhaps allow us to quickly return to 1% growth."@en1
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