Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-04-13-Speech-3-022"
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"en.20050413.2.3-022"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the spring summit has been a success. The Presidency deserves our congratulations for securing a decent compromise on the Stability and Growth Pact and relaunching the Lisbon Strategy.
Our Union is in a strange situation. We are the world’s principal exporter and the main market for the rest of the world. Our Union is a haven of peace, an attractive political entity to which more and more countries want to accede. At the same time, we are engaging in a sort of self-flagellation, wallowing in the predicted decline of the House of Europe.
The facts, however, refute this pessimistic view. Seen from outside, our Europe is a model of the good life. It combines a high standard of living with almost unprecedented social and environmental standards. Europe is creating jobs – 6.5 million over the past four years. Nevertheless, the unemployment rate remains excessively high in some of our largest countries.
Yes, our growth is slower than that of China, but an economy that accounts for almost a quarter of global GNP will invariably grow more slowly than a new economy taking off in a country that has experienced a century of stagnation. Even with a growth rate of only 2%, the economy of our Union expands every year by the size of the entire Taiwanese economy.
The prevailing theory is that Europe is being left behind by the United States in terms of competitiveness and productivity. On closer examination, it emerges that the American productivity gains are derived chiefly from particular parts of the service sector, such as wholesaling, retailing, real estate and financial intermediation, which are not in any way engaged in direct competition with their European equivalents.
Conversely, Europe admits to lagging behind – and there is a genuine gap here – in the fields of semiconductors and office machinery. Quite surprisingly, our businesses have a productive edge in the fields of communications and computer services. Indeed, Europe outperforms America in 37 out of 56 areas of economic activity. It is true that Europe is lagging behind in terms of research, and the private sector bears the brunt of the blame: whereas 80% of the 1.2 million researchers in the United States work for the private sector, only 48% of European researchers are employed by private companies.
The refocused Lisbon Strategy can and must provide responses to all of these problems. In order to maximise its success, the European Union needs a favourable macroeconomic framework. The reinvigorated Stability and Growth Pact, by allowing public-spending policies to be adjusted in response to cyclical trends and by enhancing the impact of investment, will help to promote growth.
Stability is unquestionably a public asset. The fact is, however, that the Union, and particularly the euro area, has never known such a high degree of stability. Inflation is no longer a problem, the currency is strong, and interest rates have reached an all-time low. We do need more growth and more domestic demand, particularly in some of our largest countries. The fact that Britain, Sweden and Denmark are achieving faster growth than the euro area, even with their higher interest rates, should give the European Central Bank food for thought.
The Socialists certainly support the President-in-Office of the Council, even though he is an eminent member of the European People’s Party, when he reminds the European Central Bank that, while it bears sole responsibility for monetary policy, the conduct of European economic policy is the task of national governments. This is another area where we need to insist on the ‘separation of Church and State’."@en1
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