Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-05-15-Speech-4-006"
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"en.20030515.1.4-006"2
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"Mr President, I would like to begin by thanking Mr García-Margallo y Marfil for his report. I would also like to thank all those Members of Parliament involved for their active cooperation in its production.
As regards improving sustainability, the importance of public debt is worth noting. I agree with you on the need to focus on this issue and we are paying special attention to it. We think it is essential to provide for future obligations by setting aside assets beforehand. We also feel it is crucial to ensure a greater and better use of natural resources. Consequently any form of sectoral subsidy resulting in a less efficient system in environmental terms must be given careful consideration. Similarly, sustainability and social cohesion must be considered as objectives of economic policy.
Lastly, I would like to refer briefly to another proposal presented in your draft involving a Lisbon implementation plan. I think we share your disquiet. The Commission has made it clear that it is concerned about the failure to implement the decisions taken at Lisbon. Clearly, implementation is behind schedule. Once again, however, I do not feel that the solution lies in devising new plans. Rather, I believe we must move ahead more speedily with what we have already decided. Political will is essential for this. So too is Parliament’s support. The positions adopted in this House will be crucial to the success of all the efforts required.
Clearly, we are launching a new venture. It differs substantially from our activities in previous years. For the first time, the broad guidelines of economic policy cover a three-year period. The Commission recommendations on these guidelines are based on the fundamental principles established at the 2003 Brussels European Council. As Mr García-Margallo y Marfil pointed out, it is also the first time these guidelines are being put forward alongside the broad guidelines on employment.
For the first time too, a number of changes to the broad guidelines of economic policy have been included. We believe these changes are crucial. The general part of the guidelines has been drastically cut. We believe now is the time to focus more effectively on priorities. We have defined the specific guidelines for each country in a more precise and systematic manner. It is also the first time a specific reference to the Eurozone has been included.
As is only to be expected, the economic strategy built into the guidelines of economic policy is based on the conclusions of the Lisbon European Council. The García-Margallo y Marfil report contains some criticism of the broad economic guidelines. It alleges they are not sufficiently ambitious. In my opinion this criticism is not justified. The broad guidelines relate well to the agreements reached at Lisbon. It is also true that we are aiming at commitments that can be defined and assessed more effectively. I agree with Mr García-Margallo y Marfil on this, and will comment later on his idea for a specific action plan. The underlying problem however is not devising new plans, but implementing what we have already agreed.
In our opinion, we also need to take account of the particular situation we are in at the moment. We need to deal with the difficulties posed by the cyclical conditions. Mr García-Margallo y Marfil emphasised this. I also agree however that we should not set aside the fundamental elements of our strategy just because we are currently in a somewhat difficult situation.
Our strategy is based on three key ideas: healthy macroeconomic policies, structural reforms and sustainable processes. As regards healthy macroeconomic policies, I think we all agree that achieving budgetary balance is essential. I also agree with Mr García-Margallo y Marfil that it is especially important to guard against repeating past mistakes. The latter entailed implementing polices promoting cyclical economic patterns thus storing up problems for the future. The Commission outlined its concern over this problem in its communication last November. We pointed to the need to implement the Stability and Growth Pact during the good periods of the economic cycle, not just during the bad ones. This is essential if we want to avoid subsequent problems. In short, we are seeking to establish a sound policy and allow automatic stabilisers do their job.
When it comes to the potential for growth, I completely agree that the necessary structural reforms should be implemented. These are key to ensuring the economy of the European Union stands up better to external fluctuations. Nonetheless, if these reforms are to be effective they must be all-embracing and applied jointly. We fully agree on the need to increase employment. The difficulty concerns whether we need to implement specific employment incentives or whether it would be better to draw up a general economic policy with employment as its objective. We think the latter is the best option.
Mr García-Margallo y Marfil, you said that one of your concerns was the implementation of an action plan on structural reform. You asked two questions. Firstly, you asked why we do not have a list of structural reforms. Secondly, you asked why we are not using mechanisms to monitor these reforms more effectively. In my opinion, the list of structural reforms is contained in the Lisbon conclusions. Our yearly progress reports are contained in the summary reports. It also true that it falls to Member States to implement them. Establishing another new plan would not resolve the problems. We believe we already have the plans. We know what we need to do. I feel the crucial issue is how we implement these plans. We therefore think we should focus on two essential aspects of this.
Firstly, there are the yearly reports issued by the Commission on the application of the broad economic guidelines of economic policy. The main idea behind moving from one to three years is to focus more on the application of annual principles, and less on their definition. Another reason was to place greater emphasis on the peer pressure system established in the European Union. This is a key aspect of the coordination of economic policies. You raised an important issue, Mr García-Margallo y Marfil. You queried whether or not this is sufficient. I believe that it is sufficient if we can count on political agreement on the part of the Member States to apply joint decisions. We must remember that the system of coordinating economic policy consists of coordinating national economic policies based on a Community system. We must also remember that peer pressure is the only way we have of implementing this. The sole exceptions are the recommendations we use to identify certain failures and, of course, the Stability Pact."@en1
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