Brussels, 09/02/2010 (Agence Europe) - We are experiencing a difficult moment but will come through it stronger. That was the message sent out by the Spanish minister for European affairs, Diego López Garrido, ahead of a meeting of the European Council on 11 February. He was addressing MEPs in Strasbourg on Tuesday 9 February to explain the Spanish Presidency's priorities for economic issues. The MEPs focused on the need for greater coordination of the eurozone and criticise over-reaction on the money markets to the situation in Greece, Spain and Portugal.
López Garrido said there were reasons to be cheerful amidst the gloom of high unemployment figures, although admitted that the main demand was for jobs. He said it was important to protect the most vulnerable and look into an “employability policy”. The most important thing, argued López Garrido, is to move on from monetary union to economic union and to consider coordinating economic policies and job creation policies, as set out in the EU Treaty, which is one of the Spanish Presidency's key ideas. He said that coordinated public policies had proved their worth.
We are living through an unprecedented situation but we are dealing with it, agreed EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquín Almunia. He said that Greece needed the European Commission's support and was receiving it, detailing the joined-up approach adopted by the Commission to monitor progress by the Greek government (see EUROPE 10070). He admitted the situation in Greece was a matter of concern to the entire eurozone.
The EU has to take action, argued Corien Wortmann-Kool (EPP, the Netherlands), calling for better economic and monetary policy coordination and regretting that the member states often act as if the stability and growth pact did not exist. Taking the long view, Udo Bullmann (S&D, Germany) criticised President Barroso's vision, describing the EU2020 strategy as a “swamp” that would not remedy the situation. A more coherent strategy is required, he explained.
Speaking about the situation in Greece, Guy Verhofstadt (Belgium) said that the European Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB) had made a strategic error in not intervening early enough and letting bad news circulate about Greece for too long. The chair of the ALDE Group wondered how people could expect the money markets to have confidence in Greece when other members of the eurozone did not. The former Belgian prime minister said that eurozone members had to find a solution themselves and not make recourse to the International Monetary Fund. Almunia responded that the Greek government, the Eurogroup and the Commission had acted as quickly as possible in October 2009, before the Greek general elections. An IMF bailout for Greece would slam the door on economic governance in the eurozone, warned Pervenche Berès (S&D, France), regretting what she described as lack of coherence in the Economic and Monetary Union. It is far easier to help out member states that are not in the eurozone, despite the fact that the eurozone is supposed to operate on the basisi of solidarity, she explained, calling on Van Rompuy to launch a debate into how to remedy the problem.
The Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) is strictly focussed on public finance criteria and does not go far eough, argued Pascal Canfin (Greens-EFA, France), asking how the Spanish Presidency and the European Commission were planning to boost the SGP and make it broader. In the opinion of Nikolas Chountis (GUE/NGL, Greece), the SGP has collapsed, is in crisis and has to be turned into an employment and growth pact. Welcoming the Spanish Presidency's desire to boost coordination of economic policies in Europe, Jean-Paul Gauzès (EPP, France) expected the European Council to send strong signals of solidarity with Greece and demonstrate that the member states were not going to be intimidated by speculators' attempts to undermine the euro. Robert Goebbels (S&D, Luxembourg) said that the attacks on the euro were a sign of greedy behaviour on the markets. If the markets acted more intelligently, he said, then they would recognise that the eurozone deficits are smaller than the Japanese or United States' deficits.
López Garrido said the eurozone was strong and would emerge strengthened from the current rebounds on the markets, which were not justified by the strong economic fundamentals. He said the eurozone's problems would be sorted out within the eurozone. The European Council on Thursday should send out a strong European message to public opinion, a pro-European message of unity, confidence in Europ's governments and confidence in the Greek government. Commissioner Almunia wants it to be made clear that the member states must introduce the measures they are planning to take to respect EU economic rules. (A.B./transl.fl)