Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-10-20-Speech-3-025"
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"en.20101020.3.3-025"2
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"We have all been recounting various anecdotes during these debates today, which also brought an historical association to my mind. For 18 years of my life, I lived in a country of real socialism, where Party congress after Party congress kept setting new economic targets and the citizens of my country – and the same goes for other countries of real socialism – were told by party congresses that things would get better, and how they should get better. What is more, there was a ministry of domestic trade in my country at that time, even though there was no domestic trade.
Listening to some of the speeches today, my impression is that the proposal we heard from the European Commission is one which aims to reinstate the priority of economic over political thinking. Over that political mindset which would stifle any sound economic action, because today, politicians at national level and – as we hear – for populist considerations, really like to point their finger at Europe. They say that we need to cut down on Europe and that Europe is not the solution, as this, to some extent, gets them off the hook in the eyes of their voters. If we do not implement something which will make countries realise that they there will be harsh consequences if they conduct economically irrational policies, we will not get anywhere. What is also needed here is solidarity, however. In the Franco-German proposal, I see the real danger of ending up in a situation where the stronger countries will have greater leeway, and where Greece will be unable to go beyond certain limits. Greece will have to cut expenditure, but when it comes to the stronger countries, their luck will be in, and suddenly we will find that they will be allowed to break these rules on political grounds. What I want to say is this: we need European solidarity, and that is why we need European solidarity.
In conclusion, Mr President, I should like to say that I know that you stand guard over this European solidarity. The latest decision of the European Commission on the gas agreement between Poland and Russia – for which I would like to thank you – is a fine example of how the Community aspect is something that works, and which works in the interests of countries like Poland. I would like to say once again, Mr President, that we cannot wave away reality with a magic wand. If we reach a point where the political solutions, compounded with the dose of populism that exists in some parts of Europe today, dominate over economic thinking, then your ambitious plans to intensify the market – which I consider a very good plan
. I believe that as MEPs, we are well aware of how far we still are from a common market, just from the mobile phone roaming bills we get every month. If we have a common European market but we still have to pay roaming bills, it shows quite clearly that we still have a long way to go before we achieve our aim of economic integration."@en1
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