Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-04-18-Speech-3-560-000"

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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the technical nature of this report must not be allowed to obscure the urgency of adopting it. Given the seriousness of the crisis and the scarcity of financing, Greece is now being suffocated by delays in major infrastructure projects. These major projects are essential to the country’s economic development and to restoring growth there. The Greek State is facing the threat of heavy fines – estimated by some to amount to more than EUR 1 billion – from its contractors as a result of the delays, and also from the European Union for not respecting a number of directives, environmental directives in particular. On top of this, Greece is experiencing difficulties in making use of its Structural Funds, despite the efforts being made by the Union to accelerate the absorption of these, in particular, by increasing European cofinancing by 10%. Thus, we find ourselves in a paradoxical situation where the States receiving financial assistance not only cannot spend the money available, but are also at risk of being fined by those who are trying to help them. I would therefore like to pay tribute to the work of the rapporteur, Danuta Hübner. She has managed to convince the Council to accept the Commission’s proposal which aims at using the Structural Funds as a guarantee fund to facilitate financing for infrastructure projects and, thus, to attract private investors. I unreservedly support this report, but I would like to go further. The European Union has been accused, wrongly, of being merely a tool for implementing rigour and austerity. On the contrary, this report shows that Europe can be effective if it uses all the tools available to it to restore growth, to help improve the situation of the public finances, and to support investment in future projects."@en1
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