Brussels, 17/06/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 17 June at the end of his speech to EU27 heads of state, the president of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, insisted that the decisions taken that day would have consequences on future generations. Presenting the press with the main messages contained in his speech to the European Council, he explained: “What we are experiencing is a test of solidarity and responsibility in Europe”.
The first message is to regain the trust of citizens, by sending out a strong message that the EU and its member states remain united by telling them the truth: “The credit card culture of living on borrowed money must end. We have to pay the bills; otherwise we will be stealing the inheritance of our children, and probably their children as well. We have to tell our citizens that we will have to work longer hours, retire later, and live within our means”.
He then explained that in order to prevent future crises arising, “we do not need to build new institutions … but rather strengthen those that already exist” … firstly, beginning with “the Commission as coordinator of our economic Union”. He declared that it was important for the European Parliament to “include the 27 member states because the problems of the eurozone affect the other currencies too” and to base coordination of Union policies on the Community method. In the context of the package on financial supervision, the president of the European Parliament provided assurances that the EP was “prepared to speed up the work”.
Finally, the EUROPE 2020 strategy could help towards finding a way out of the crisis and building sustainable growth for the next decade. Nonetheless, he did note that what had been so far proposed was not sufficient. Buzek underlined the fact that “the EP says that the strategy is not currently sufficient and that certain details will need to be added”. He also pointed out the importance of a European Energy Community. This is an initiative that he himself launched with Jacques Delors and which, according to Buzek, the president of the European Commission considers to be a “good proposal” for his institution to support.
Buzek is optimistic about discussions regarding the European External Action Service and the “Swift” dossier. He believes that in both cases they should be able to reach agreements soon but recognised that it would be difficult to arrive at this point before July. (A.B./transl.fl)