Europarlementariërs in debat over de financiele crisis, energiebeleid en klimaatverandering (en)
The European Council of 19-20 March, which will focus on the financial crisis, energy security and climate change, was the subject of a debate between MEPs, Czech deputy prime minister Alexandr Vondra, whose country holds the EU presidency, and Commission President José Manuel Barroso. The majority of MEPs agreed that solidarity among Member States was crucial to solving the economic crisis and that protectionism must be avoided.
Council Presidency
Opening the debate, Mr Vondra first looked at the financial crisis, saying "We have avoided a meltdown of the financial system" and "the top priority now is the restoration of credit flows to the economy. We also need to do more "to improve the regulation and supervision of financial institutions", not only to prevent future crises but to bolster consumer and market confidence.
Swift adoption of legislation such as the Solvency II Directive (on insurance), the revised Credit Requirements Directive (on banks) and the UCITS Directive (on unit trusts) would help, although further reform would be needed. Moreover, with Member States' budget deficits growing fast, "Restoring confidence also requires governments to give a clear commitment to sound public finances, fully respecting the Stability and Growth Pact".
Recovery programmes, structural reform, no protectionism
With the financial crisis now affecting the real economy, Member States have each launched their own recovery programmes but, he stressed "they are coordinated, and are based on common principles defined in the European Recovery Programme agreed last December. This is important if we are to ensure synergies and avoid negative spill-over effects". The European Council will assess the state of implementation of the Programme. As far as the Community part of the Recovery Programme is concerned, the Presidency hopes the summit will agree to finance energy and rural development projects.
In addition to short-term measures, "structural reforms are more urgent than ever" and "The renewed Lisbon Strategy remains the right framework within which to promote sustainable economic growth, which will in turn lead to the creation of new jobs", a key issue as unemployment rises. EU leaders would look at ways the Union can help mitigate the social impact of the crisis, and this will also be the focus of the special summit in May.
Mr Vondra stressed that "We will not protect jobs by creating barriers to foreign competition" and "Protectionism is clearly not the right answer". "More than ever, our companies need open markets, both internally, within the Union, but also at global level". This led him to the G20 Summit, which takes place on 2 April in London. "The European Council will establish the Union's position in advance of the G20 Summit" he said. "We want this Summit to be ambitious. We cannot afford it to fail."
Energy security
Energy security would be the other major item on the summit agenda, said the minister. The Presidency will seek an agreement on enhancing the Union's energy security in the short, medium and longer term, based on the Commission's Second Strategic Energy Review.
Urgent steps must be taken to launch infrastructure projects to enhance energy interconnections. Legislation on oil and gas stocks must be adapted to ensure that Member States act with responsibility and solidarity and, in the longer term sources, suppliers and supply routes must be diversified. He also hoped the legislation to create a fully fledged internal market for electricity and gas would be completed before the European elections.
Climate change
Preparations for the Copenhagen Conference on climate change would also be discussed at the summit, with the aim of helping achieve a comprehensive agreement in Copenhagen next December.
Eastern Partnership
Lastly, the European Council would launch the Eastern Partnership, designed to promote stability and prosperity on the whole continent. A bilateral dimension, adapted to each partner country, would lead to the negotiation of Association Agreements, possibly with free trade areas, while the multilateral track would provide a framework for tackling common challenges such as democracy, good governance, economic integration and energy security.
European Commission
Job losses test Europe's social model", said Commission President José Manuel Barroso, stressing that the economic crisis must be faced, by families, workers, and businesses and citizens, with the help of the EU and its Member States, working together.
The recovery plan agreed by EU Ministers in December 2008 provides an "unprecedented budget stimulus", equivalent to 3.3% of GDP, he continued, citing €6.2 billion in structural funds to come in 2009, in addition to the € 5 billion already earmarked for recovery plans.
Next week's Council must make progress in four areas - financial market reform, investing in the real economy, supporting employment, and working through the G-20 forum to strengthen the international financial architecture, said the President.
Parliament's Ferreira report on the European Economic Recovery Plan, Andersson report on employment policy guidelines and Kirilov report on investing in the real economy would provide an important input to the summit, he said.
Looking beyond the Spring Council, to the May employment summit, the President stressed the need to "use these two months wisely", by involving MEPs and social partners in debate on how to help people through the crisis, so as to ensure that Europe emerges from it quicker and stronger.
"Europe has to find its strength in cohesion and practical solidarity", he stressed.
Political group speakers
The leader of the EPP-ED group, Joseph DAUL (France) said next week's EU summit must "send specific signals" about "Europe's strength and determination" to tackle the problems it faced. Europe already had its successes in the form of the social market economy and the euro. Now it must say No to protectionism and a fortress Europe, and ensure it stayed open to the world.
Solidarity was also crucial. Our fellow citizens sometimes asked "what is Europe for?". Now was the time to show it was "a Europe of solidarity". Each of the 27 governments must resist the temptation to go its own way.
Innovation, with massive investment in the knowledge economy, including environmental technology, would be important for economic recovery, as would the removal of regulatory barriers to the internal market in these areas, said Mr Daul. Lastly, he repeated that his group favoured "a market economy with rules" and he urged that the demagogues and rabble rousers be ignored.
"We've been hearing this stuff for months - cut-and-paste texts may make a great speech, but the crisis is deepening, people are losing jobs and we have to deliver", said Martin SCHULZ (PES, DE) for the Socialist Group, adding that €40 billion in value has "gone missing" in recent months, and "our economies are on the brink of collapse".
Mr Schulz welcomed Mr Barroso's commitment to support "solidarity" among Member States, within and beyond the Euro area, but stressed the need to put it into practice "right now" - inter alia by acting on rules to govern hedge funds, private equity and top executive salaries. "Bankers think that now they have been bailed out, they can carry on as usual", but the answer to this is "no", said Mr Schulz. Bankers were bailed out with taxes paid by restaurant waiters, drivers, and airport luggage handlers, and simply allowing them to carry on as before would be tantamount to "class warfare from above", he added, challenging the EPP-ED to vote against tax havens and in favour of solidarity.
Graham WATSON (ALDE, UK) began by pointing to the 'string of reports' produced by the European Parliament on improving the economy, which have provided the Member States with a 'bridge across the river of recession' which the Council now needs 'to cross without fear'. He emphasised that the underlying message of today's EP reports in this area is 'jobs, jobs, jobs' and that flexicurity, public investment in Research and Development and the rapid transition to the knowledge economy are the foundations of a healthy economy.
He continued by stating that "it was not the Lisbon strategy that brought hardship to our kitchen table, but rather, it is the Member States which ignored it." Referring to climate change, Mr Watson pointed out that it will not stop as the economy slows and that "recession must not mean inaction." He argued that the Council knows that "the ravages of recession will return without root and branch reform of the financial system." Financial institutions, he said, should be regulated robustly with a European financial authority to oversee the system. Europe, he said should be "strong in mind and fleet of foot", ready to reform and ready to accept that the current stimulus package will not be enough. He concluded by arguing that the Council, Commission and Parliament need to work together, "preventing procedure getting the better of purpose." The time has come, he said, for fundamental reform.
Cristiana MUSCARDINI (UEN, IT) began by asking whether the Council is going to freeze derivatives or at least going to propose such a thing at world level and suspend their marketing. She pointed out that, in the now nationalised banks, these derivatives are still a drag on the balance sheet and that more vigilance means that we have not just to revise the system of banking supervision, but also to meet new costs for the SMEs and the unfair competition that arises from beyond our border.
Ms Muscardini went on to point out that the Council has still not decided to stop this by introducing a labelling system, which is the only way to protect producers and consumers without protectionism. She concluded by stating that in order to help companies, SMEs not only need to be offered credit lines, but that they also need to be given faster access to mobility.
Rebecca HARMS (Greens/EFA) pointed out that this is the fifth debate in the European Parliament about the successes and failure of the Lisbon strategy and asked how is it that we can underline how important a successful strategy is each year and "yet now, suddenly, we have woken up to the great crisis falling down upon us." She stated that last year, the Parliament called on the Commission "to guarantee the stability of the financial markets, because the signs of crisis were already there, but there was no response."
Ms Muscardini argued that the Commission and national governments believe that they can get away without laying the foundations of a new banking system, "but if they don't do that, we're not going to get out of this crisis." She referred to the issue of climate change as being 'equally important" and concluded by stating that "if you look at the plans in place at European level, you can see that it is a case of fine words and not much action."
Jirí MAŠTÁLKA (GUE/NGL, CZ) pointed out that the reform programme was agreed in 2005 and that in 2009, "we have a financial crisis and poverty." He referred to the level of unemployment in the EU and argued that "the situation shows that the policy so far has failed" and that "a new approach has to be found at the spring summit" which will focus on the quality of jobs, environmental conditions, better conditions in the work place, etc. Mr Mastalka concluded by stating that "we need, for example, to see that when conditions are not fulfilled, finance is not received from the EU. We need to see not just solidarity, but obedience to the rules."
Nigel FARAGE (IND/DEM, UK) of the for the Independence and Democracy group, called into question the idea of European solidarity and open borders in the face of the economic crisis.
He stated that "we cannot sign a blank cheque to bail out the countries of Eastern Europe. We don't have the money, economically the plan is quite unsound but most important of all, it is politically unacceptable to the tax payers in France, and Britain and Germany that we should do so."
Jana BOBOŠÍKOVÁ (NI, CZ) said that the Council should support the idea of Europe without borders as it is the only way out of the economic crisis. However, she rejected the views of the previous speakers that it is a time to fund environmental policies.
"We should reject the Commission plan to fund renewable energies, because economic history and theory shows very clearly that this will not give economic growth back nor will it slow down growth in unemployment. It will simply worsen the crisis and create inflation."