Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-02-15-Speech-3-060-000"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20120215.4.3-060-000"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, this was a very lively debate and a lot of direct questions were addressed to the Commission. Some of the comments on the issue were not very positive, but please bear with me and I will try to respect the time limit.
What else has the Commission done for Greece? I would just like to list some of the measures. EU cofinancing rates have been boosted by 10% to as high as 95%. EUR 500 million of EU funding is being reprogrammed so it can be used to guarantee financing provided to SMEs. Around 180 major projects are being kick-started, which will result in 100 000 jobs, including in the construction phase. All this whilst the EU is providing continued financial solidarity to Greece.
The two programmes put together amount to EUR 240 billion, and this is equivalent to over 100% of the Greek GDP. I know that some political forces question the adequacy of the amount of financial assistance provided to Greece, but it should also be recalled that the level of support in this unprecedented show of solidarity reflects the mandate given by the Member States under which the Troika and Greece have conducted the negotiations.
You also know very well that the Commission was helping the Greek authorities to negotiate with PSI – private sector investors – on private sector involvement. This may result in an overall figure – including both programmes and the private sector involvement as a result of the negotiations – of well over EUR 300 billion. So I think it is evident that the effort being made is huge.
Concerning the Eurogroup meeting of today, yesterday it became clear that the second programme and arrangements for its funding from both sides – Greece and the Eurogroup – both need to be finalised. Today, there will be a conference call and the Commission will do its utmost to put all the finishing touches to the agreement, because we want this to be a success and we want to do our utmost to help Greece. I hope that we will have a positive result next Monday when the Eurogroup and the Ecofin ministers meet.
If you will allow me, I will also comment on two other questions. Mr Daul asked what the European Spring summit will be about. It will be about economic governance and about growth and jobs. I agree with him 100% that what we need to do is to progress much faster with the Single Market Act, and I would like to thank this Parliament for its support.
I had a very constructive meeting yesterday with the Conference of Committee Chairs, where I think we made quite good progress. I really felt the strong will to go faster with the legislative proposals, so we can remove the remaining barriers to the single market which are preventing the European Union from using it better to create new jobs and economic growth.
The Services Directive is a pain – I agree with you, Mr President – and therefore we took three Member States to the Court because delaying putting this very important growth-enhancing measure into operation is unacceptable.
My last point is to Mr Lamberts. Yesterday, we adopted for the first time the alert mechanism report and we are going to screen and analyse the situation of the 12 Member States. France is among them. In the event that Germany is not within the established indicators, I can assure you that the German situation will be analysed as well. We will do our utmost to be absolutely fair and to use the new economic governance tool we have at our disposal with the utmost efficiency and utmost fairness.
First, there was a question asking what the official position of the Commission was on Greece. I want to make it absolutely clear that in the Commission, we want Greece to remain a member of the euro area. We have stated this many times and I am very glad that I can restate it today.
I would go even further. I would say that Greece does not have a closer and better ally than the Commission these days. From day one – in Athens, in Brussels, in all the capitals where the issue of Greece was discussed – we have been present and we have been trying to do our utmost to help and assist Greece. The Commission and all the officials are working flat out to iron out the programme for Greece and to help Greece to prepare a realistic and good programme. We have worked day and night, with no summer breaks, no winter breaks and no weekends, all day long.
I have to say that we have always been looking for ways in which to get the best solution for Greece and how to get it supported by the citizens in Greece. Do not forget, these solutions must be also supported in other Member States, because – and I know that we probably disagree on this with some of you – we are already talking about unprecedented support which has been offered to help Greece. Therefore, I cannot comment on, and I resent, Mr Cohn-Bendit’s comments concerning Marco Buti or other officials of the Commission. They really do not deserve this.
We do not have ultra-liberal Taliban, but hard-working, dedicated officials who are keeping Greece from falling into the abyss of disorderly default. What is the difference between the situation and the plan the Troika offered and disorderly default? I think the best you can do is listen to the very graphic description of this possibility made by the Greek Prime Minister, Mr Papademos, or the Greek Finance Minister, Mr Venizelos.
There was criticism here of the measures on the salaries and pensions, but do we know of an alternative? What would be an alternative to disorderly default? What would be the consequences? I think that the Greek Parliament has realised how dreadful this alternative is and, therefore, supported the proposals made by the Troika by a big majority of two-thirds. They supported the package.
Regarding the concrete question from Mr Goebbels who suggested the minimum wage cut by 22%; this was a request from the Eurogroup. And why? Because this measure is essential to fight unemployment and restore competitiveness to the Greek economy.
It is also important to consider the context. Labour costs in Greece rose by 54% in the years following 2000, compared with 28% in Portugal and 18% in Germany. It is true that they have fallen by an average of 40% over the two years 2010 and 2011, but more clearly needs to be done. The minimum monthly wage in Greece is at present EUR 110 higher than in Spain, and EUR 266 higher than in Portugal. These are the facts."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
"(Cries of dissent)"1
|
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples