Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-04-18-Speech-3-361-000"
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"en.20120418.21.3-361-000"2
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"Mr President, gentlemen, it is surely a well-known fact that the economy does not give birth to children. Neither does it bring up children, and it cannot provide children with a life in unspoilt nature. This would suggest that the Commission, and also the Council, needs to rethink its priorities; needs to reconsider. As a group, we will examine very carefully whether what you presented earlier today actually represents a shift in priorities. Until now, the motto has been to deal first with the economy, which needs functioning financial markets. That is why the first task was to balance national budgets – in other words, to reduce debt and keep the markets calm.
Unfortunately, Mr Daul is not here now. I simply wanted to tell him that my response is exactly the same as that of Georges Marchais. I did not understand his answer, but nonetheless I would contradict him. The measures that were taken were incorrect. It was wrong to concentrate solely on getting the economy right, and in the process to disregard entirely what was happening to people. It was wrong to put the stability of the euro above all else and to say that we could not care less what became of people. It should be the other way round: we must deal first with the people, then we can talk about stabilising the euro.
The speculative raids on Spain took interest rates on Spanish government bonds to above 6% or more, and thus close to the level at which other countries such as Greece, Portugal and even Ireland claimed assistance from the bail-out fund. The policy of austerity that has been forced on the Member States by the EU, the European Central Bank (ECB) and also by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with drastic cuts in public expenditure of all kinds, from reductions in wages and pensions to increases in value-added tax and much more, has increased the burden on citizens without even preventing the recent spiral. Rigorous cuts in public expenditure are exacerbating the downturn and driving up national debt – and we all need to acknowledge that. When Mr Draghi said recently that the European social model was finished, then I would like to hear you, Mr Barroso, say that the Commission does not think so. I would also expect you to go to Greece, to send your people to Greece, Portugal and Ireland, and to take careful note of what is going on there.
What will happen to the people who are currently having to fight for survival? What are we jointly doing to break once and for all this vicious circle that has implanted itself precisely in the countries worst hit by the debt crisis? We simply cannot look on and do nothing. It is no use having social policy programmes that will start to have an effect sometime in the future, when other measures have already taken effect. We need to act now. What has become of your 2020 goals to eradicate poverty? What happened to the European poverty platform? It has been put on the back burner. That was before the crisis. It is now, however, in the midst of the crisis, that people need help and support – and that they need the European Union to act. They do not need empty promises. We need concrete ideas for what we can do now. If you do that, you will have the support of my group. Support all those – including those within the Commission – who have seen the signs of the times all too clearly and want to change things. Please do not simply carry on as you were and say it will happen anyway. If we carry on as we have been doing, there will be nothing left. I appeal to you to present an actual project, a programme for how we can really provide active help to the people in the countries affected right now. Do something for them. In our Member States, we need to do what is necessary to ensure that the funds for the European Stability Framework (ESF) 2013 or 2014-2020, or for the other programmes, are not blocked or cut. The Member States must shoulder their responsibilities."@en1
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