Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-04-12-Speech-3-270"
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"en.20000412.10.3-270"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, if Europe is to grow, attract capital and create jobs, the single market for financial services must be turned into a reality. Up until now, it has mostly been a matter of words and all too few concrete measures. At present, the financial services market and, through this, Europe’s power to grow have been impeded by countless national regulations and administrative complications. These are detrimental not only to companies but also, of course, to Europe’s citizens.
The development of the Internet is, and will be, of great importance to the provision of financial services across national borders. Above all, it is consumers who will benefit from this development because they will have greater choice and access to lower prices.
We Liberals do not regard tax harmonisation as a prerequisite for bringing the single market for financial services to fruition, even if a degree of harmonisation may prove to be necessary to avoid harmful competition over taxes. The euro has stabilised economic development and provided better opportunities to reduce the costs of acquiring capital, something which benefits both companies and private households.
It is my conviction that, if the EU is to be able to provide Europe’s citizens with growth and strength, then all Member States must participate fully in the EU project, that is to say, be members of EMU.
Mr Romano Prodi’s statement today in a Swedish newspaper to the effect that Sweden could stay outside EMU is therefore both surprising from an economic point of view and doubtful in terms of the Treaties.
The Commission’s Green Paper on liberalising complementary forms of pension protection is something we welcome. It is nonetheless important to emphasise that pension cover in Europe is characterised by national diversity and that there is no need to harmonise the various systems in order to create a single market. It is important that a large number of systems should exist side by side. This increases choice and diversity. However, it is desirable, in order to avoid double taxation, to introduce a minimum degree of harmonisation in regard to the Member States’ treatment of supplementary pensions for tax purposes. I also consider that the Member States themselves should be able to determine what the system should look like, for example whether or not the care of relatives should be covered by pensions. This is an issue which can be resolved better at national level.
In committee there was lively discussion on biometric risks. Views were put forward to the effect that only those systems which cover risks of this kind are to be included under the directive. We do not believe that this should be the case, especially in view of the need for small and medium-sized companies to be able to do business. Freedom of choice is emphatically a good thing.
Finally, I want to congratulate Mr García-Margallo y Marfil and Mr Kuckelkorn for two important reports designed to create a competitive Europe."@en1
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