Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-04-18-Speech-3-350-000"
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"en.20120418.21.3-350-000"2
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"Mr President, honourable Members, during our previous debates, we agreed that the financial and economic crisis can only be overcome if we combine financial stability and fiscal consolidation with measures that generate growth and jobs. The economic situation in Europe does not allow for any complacency, and we must continue to take the necessary steps not just to ensure stability but to build sustainable growth and job creation.
Honourable Members, we have learned from the past. We cannot have growth mainly fuelled by debt or imbalanced growth where one sector expands to the detriment of others. Growth has to be built on the foundation of competitiveness. It should be socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable. Let me give some examples of how we are moving the growth agenda forward in Europe.
Firstly, the single market: further releasing the full potential of the single market. This is probably the largest engine for growth in the European Union. It gives European business unfettered access to other companies and half a billion consumers and allows them to develop the scale to compete globally. Getting the most out of a properly functioning single market is indeed economic policy
. This is why the Commission has been working for the past two years to put an enhanced single market at the service of the Europe 2020 objectives.
So it is incomprehensible that Member States are still not fully implementing the growth-friendly legislation we already have in place. Full implementation of the Service Directive will produce immediate results and boost the European economy by 1.5%.
The single market infringement rate in Europe is still too high. Again, if Member States are ready to move, this can deliver results fast. The Commission will present a range of ideas for improving single market governance and filling the implementation gap ahead of the June European Council.
Of course, we also need to continue our work to further enhance the single market, and indeed to complete the single market. The Commission, as you know, has presented the Single Market Act, and I again urge Member States and this House to play a constructive role in ensuring that the laws are adopted and come into force quickly. This is the only way for our SMEs and for our consumers to enjoy the full benefit of the single market.
I would like to confirm to you that later this year, the Commission will put forward the Single Market Act II to further advance our efforts to unleash the full job and growth potential of the single market. At the same time, we are working hard on achieving the digital single market.
Secondly, there is – and it is important to be reminded of this – the international dimension of growth. Our external policies need to focus on access to those markets in the world that are growing faster. We now have a free trade agreement with Korea which stands to bring us EUR 18 billion in additional trade, and similar agreements are being negotiated with a number of strategic partners, including India.
But let us not stop there. The United States is our largest economic partner. Our trade relations are the most extensive in the world, with a value of almost EUR 450 billion in 2011, and we have invested over EUR 1 trillion in each other’s economies. Any further gains, including by reducing non-tariff barriers, will be significant for both sides. We are exploring ways in which to broaden and deepen these ties.
In the global economy, the size of your market and the strength of your currency will determine your ability to compete, your capacity to shape the global economy and also your future prosperity. There is no strong economy without a strong currency. There cannot be a strong Europe without a strong euro. It is therefore no surprise that those who oppose a strong Europe also do whatever they can to undermine the euro.
Our Europe 2020 strategy has a breadth of vision and a depth of substance which goes far beyond any one narrow perspective or single course of action. It also has the flexibility to adapt and throw up new ideas and, indeed, be the basis for a new European initiative for growth. In this respect, investment is key. Investment at European level is vital, especially at a time when there is little fiscal space at national level. Of course, the multiannual financial framework is one of the main tools for delivering the Europe 2020 strategy. It is a tool for investment, growth and job creation across the whole European Union, from our capitals to our most deprived regions.
I am therefore grateful for the opportunity to formally present to you today – immediately after their adoption by the Commission – two concrete initiatives which address issues which we have discussed at length and where we are in agreement that significant measures need to be taken.
So let us make it clear that we are for investment and for growth. That is why we need the MFF, and that is why we need, in some cases, to frontload some of the investments. By investing in infrastructure, networks and research on a European scale, the European Union channels resources that help to complete our internal market, increase our efficiency and support the sustainability of our economy.
I believe that, to boost growth, some of the investments must be frontloaded. This is why the Commission has proposed pilot project bonds, which the European Council agreed in principle in March and which I would like to see on the ground as soon as possible. It is also why today, I would like to recall that, as I have already mentioned in this House – on 28 September 2011, in the State of the Union address, to be precise – I am in favour – and the Commission is in favour – of an increase in the capital of the European Investment Bank.
Moreover, with our proposals for a financial transaction tax to contribute to the budget, we are also making clear that this budget is not only a budget for investment but for solidarity. It is also a question of fairness, and fairness is important for the support of the reforms that are needed in Europe. Our strategy must ensure a fair spread of the benefits and burdens which reform will bring. It must be inclusive.
The current crisis has thrown into sharp relief the question of social cohesion. The Commission and I do not believe that the European social model is dead. We believe that it is an essential part of our social market economy. At the same time, the crisis we face is not just a fiscal debt crisis, it is also a crisis of competitiveness. It is an economic crisis. In order to sustain our social model, we need not just to pursue fiscal consolidation but also to regain our competitiveness, which is key to sustaining our social market economy.
Let me also tell you very frankly that I do not understand how it is possible that, at this especially difficult moment for Europe – while we have in some countries and many regions a real social emergency and an increase in social difficulties and, in some cases, in poverty – some governments in Europe are now calling for cuts in European programmes such as the Globalisation Adjustment Fund and support for the very poorest in our societies. As I have said before, discipline must be accompanied by convergence and responsibility matched by solidarity. I can see that we are not doing enough in terms of solidarity at European level.
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, we must show our resolve against criticism of our exit strategy by those whose goals are not always in the interests of the European Union and the euro.
We must show our confidence in those who are driving efforts as we reform our economies and put our public finances in order. These reforms are important. These efforts are essential. We need to move on from practices that have been very successful for a few but have come at a great cost for many others, in particular, the most vulnerable in our societies. We must not give in to the temptation to kick-start our economies through budgetary stimulus as this would create a false sense of sustainable growth. This would be returning to past mistakes with their own set of consequences, which we have been suffering for years.
We must complete the reform of the financial sector and, in this regard, the Commission has already presented proposals to banish the spectre of speculation which could create new risks, so that this sector fully regains its core purpose, that of serving the real economy and covering existing economic risks.
To return to sustainable growth and create jobs, we must stay the course we have set ourselves. We must spare no effort in implementing elements of last October’s road map, which is our exit strategy.
Remember that one of the pillars of the road map in question is to strengthen the firewall around the euro area. We now have an agreement that will strengthen the mechanisms in place to support Member States in financial difficulty and which will embark upon both vital yet difficult reforms.
First, as part of the effort to tackle the single biggest social challenge which we face, the Commission yesterday adopted an employment package. I have previously reported to this House on some of the targeted measures we are taking, such as support for small and medium-sized enterprises, the Youth Employment Initiative and the Commission action teams, which are working in Member States facing a more acute situation in terms of youth unemployment.
May I remind you that the European Stability Mechanism will have EUR 620 billion of callable capital, more than any other international financial institution. Its capacity of EUR 500 billion is almost equivalent to that of the International Monetary Fund, which deals with the entire world. What is more, we should remember – because there is a tendency to forget – that the Member States of the European Union are by far the main contributors to the International Monetary Fund. However, there is no room for complacency. Both the Commission and I remain convinced that the key to effective budgetary discipline and convergence in the euro area lies in the pooling of public debt.
In addition, work on the European Semester continues. For the first time, this year we will have an integrated vision of the situation of Member States, in particular, with the inclusion of the mechanism for the correction of macro-economic imbalances. Member States are in the process of submitting their national reform programmes and updates of their stability or convergence programmes. In May, the Commission will present its country specific recommendations based on its analysis of these programmes.
Rest assured that the Commission will be taking this work seriously and adopting a truly integrated approach. Thanks also to you, we now have the instruments for this kind of exercise, something we did not have in the past. For the purposes of competitiveness and inclusive and sustainable growth, the Commission will not hesitate to put Member States before their own responsibilities to ensure the reforms are put in place.
The situation is clearly still difficult. National authorities and our citizens are clearly making considerable efforts, yet we have some positive examples showing that these efforts are beginning to bear fruit.
For instance, Latvia is living proof that implementing a demanding programme of fiscal consolidation and renewed growth is possible. We have also seen early signs of a boost in exports in Ireland and Portugal.
There are indeed great difficulties, but there is also some progress. We need to build on this progress. Our work will not be easy. My message has never been one of complacency. I have never said that the crisis was behind us.
We must be relentless and serious in continuing our work together, showing coherence, sustainability, persistence and determination. We realise that it is a long drawn-out process with no magic solution, a process to ensure the future of our social market economy, a process to ensure the role of Europe in the world and to meet the needs and wishes of our citizens.
That is the Europe that we want. That is the Europe that we are fighting for.
The communication adopted by the Commission today takes an even broader, structural perspective. Creating jobs across Europe and meeting the Europe 2020 employment target requires the concerted efforts of all actors. The communication therefore puts forward a range of actions at all levels. These include proposals to maximise the job-creating effects of the European Union budgetary instruments and policy guidance on supporting job creation, especially in areas with great potential such as the green economy, health care and the ICT sector. These are just a number of labour market reforms.
At the heart of the communication is also a desire to remove obstacles to a genuine internal European labour market. Creating such a market will require action from national governments but also – and I will insist on this – the full involvement of the social partners at European and national level.
While the communication can take us a long way towards reinforcing the conditions for job creation, implementation on the ground is very much in the hands of the Member States. I would urge the Member States to move forward quickly and take the necessary steps at national level to help foster such conditions.
The second communication we have just adopted is about growth for Greece. Again, we are all in agreement on the need both to ensure that Greece delivers on its commitments and to support Greece and its people. The great efforts made by the Greek authorities and the Greek people in recent months in taking the measures necessary to secure the second programme open the way for this communication.
The set of priority actions it proposes ranges from promoting youth employment to tax reform, from investing in education to smart regulation. These actions, if properly implemented, should quickly unblock growth, create jobs and mitigate the social impact of the crisis. Beyond this, with the determination on the side of all the Greeks and the full support of the European Union, we can transform Greece for the better. I would like to tell the Greek people that we shall succeed together.
There have been many calls for greater solidarity, for a kind of Marshall Plan for Greece. Let us recall that the assistance provided under the Marshall Plan amounted to around 2.1% of the GDP of the recipients. The total package of assistance to Greece, if we consider the funds, grants from the Structural Funds, the loans and the write-off of private debt, is equivalent to 177% of Greek GDP. Yes, almost twice the growth Greece can generate in one year. This is a very visible symbol of the solidarity which lies at the heart of the Union. This shows that we are acting and making an enormous effort to help Greece stand on its own feet. We will continue to do so."@en1
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