Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-11-17-Speech-1-063"
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"en.20081117.21.1-063"2
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"Mr President, Mr President of the Eurogroup, Mr Juncker, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I shall begin by congratulating my fellow Members, Mrs Berès and Mr Langen, on the quality of their report, and by thanking them for having incorporated the amendments tabled by the Committee on International Trade.
Lastly, I regret that the report does not take up the idea of an economic government. Mr Juncker, this is not an issue of sincerity; it is a political proposal for organising our Community instruments.
In times gone by, governments would settle major international disturbances with military wars. Today, we are fighting an economic and social war, but instead of having people die, we have people out of work, and we no longer really know who the enemy is.
In this context, let us not be naïve and let us work tirelessly to implement European economic and social governance. The latter may certainly not be enough in itself, but it is a necessary condition for the success of a European social market economy.
Ten years on from its creation, the EMU should be regarded as a European success story of which we should be proud. No one can dispute the fact – and many studies demonstrate it – that there is indeed a link between monetary policy and trade policy, and that, in this respect, the positive role of currency stability is necessary for the sustainable growth of international trade.
Increased use of the euro as an international currency benefits the Member States of the Euro Zone because it enables European businesses to reduce the exchange risk and to increase their international competitiveness.
However, although the European Central Bank, by prioritising price stability, has increased confidence in the euro, no one can seriously dispute the fact that inflation is a global reality and that, in an open market economy, this global phenomenon cannot be tackled by means of European monetary policy alone.
It is clear that the euro exchange rates have been too high for too long and have had negative effects, not least by constraining exports and by promoting imports within the internal market. Many manufacturers have voiced their concerns in this regard. According to a study that we commissioned within the Committee on International Trade, the ECB’s high-rate policy has cost us, over the past few years, 0.5 growth rate points per year.
It is in this way that I regret that the Commission has not carried out a more precise analysis of the euro’s international role and its repercussions on the internal market with regard to international trade.
The monetary policies conducted by some of the EU’s partners with the aim of undervaluing their currency unfairly undermine trade. They could be considered a non-tariff barrier to international trade. It is in this context that we are proposing to study the feasibility of a body for regulating monetary differences on the model of what the States managed to create in the trade sphere at the World Trade Organisation.
This body, which would come under the IMF, could help to stabilise the international monetary system, to reduce the risk of abuse and to give the global markets back the confidence they need.
I support the Commission’s proposal to develop common, European monetary positions, by obtaining in the long term a single seat for the Euro Zone within the international financial institutions and forums."@en1
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