Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-10-23-Speech-2-041-000"
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"en.20121023.4.2-041-000"2
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"Madam President, Commissioner Lewandowski, President-in-Office, first, let me say that having listened to the speech by the Cypriot President-in-Office, I am shocked to hear how little passion it conveys for Europe. I simply do not get the impression that your heart is in it and that your proposals for the next multiannual financial framework reflect any genuine determination to work for the future of Europe.
We are all in the same situation in Europe. On the one hand, we understand that the Member States must consolidate their budgets. At the same time, we all know that we need to stimulate sustainable growth and that this is in our shared interests. We need to combat climate change, we have to move our economy towards a low-carbon pathway, and we have to offer our young people new prospects and, with that, new hope, which means building confidence in the European project as well. However, we cannot do so if we allow the budget to contract to the level now being proposed by the net contributors on the Council. That sends out the wrong political signal and does not reflect the spirit of Europe.
Why is it so important to have our own resources and above all to introduce proper regulation of the financial markets and expect them to contribute to overcoming the crisis? Because this is just. The banks must shoulder their share of the responsibility. It should not simply be the taxpayers and ordinary people who have to cover the costs of the crisis. The banks must make their contribution as well, since they speculate on the financial markets. That is why the Financial Transaction Tax is the right way forward politically and economically. It is a contribution to a social Europe and it is needed to fund the European budget.
Mr Lewandowski has now cleverly proposed a system of incentives. The Member States would pay a lower percentage of their GDP if they participated in a Financial Transaction Tax. One-third would go to the Member States themselves and two-thirds would accrue to the EU budget. This would be a win-win situation for the Member States and would be in Europe’s interests as a whole. Hopefully, the Council will show some movement on this issue.
Let me make one final comment, if I may: a eurozone budget has also been proposed in the political discussions. I think there are indeed good reasons for additional incentives, also in relation to the European budget, but this is about the indivisibility of the EU budget. We will not relinquish any rights of democratic control over the budget. This issue has arisen before, and regardless of whatever bright ideas some heads of state and government may have, you can be sure that we will defend our parliamentary rights with self-confidence here, and that we will continue to campaign for a genuinely and truly democratic Europe, and that applies to the budget as well."@en1
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