Brussels, 07/06/2011 (Agence Europe) - During Question Hour at the European Parliament (EP) plenary session, Commission President José Manuel Barroso responded to the political groups on a number of issues.
Refugees in the Mediterranean. Is Frontex able to respond appropriately to the flow of migrants from North Africa, asked Manfred Weber (EPP, Germany). Frontex has been and will be used, but member states will have to be willing to provide greater funding: the EU budget cannot provide the resources to cope with current challenges, Barroso said. Third countries too, had to cooperate, he added, indicating that recent meetings had shown that the Tunisian authorities were willing to help.
Financial crisis and eurobonds. ALDE Group leader Guy Verhofstadt mentioned the recent comments by Commissioner Olli Rehn on this issue. Rehn's ideas “have my full support”, Barroso said, but most euro area member states have so far rejected the idea of eurobonds. A number of options now seem possible, “but we are not there yet”, he stated. Budgetary restructuring is not an option, member states must first settle their deficits, he stressed. Debt restructuring is all well and good, said Daniel Cohn-Bendit, joint leader of the Greens/EFA Group, but the main thing is that Greek society regains its confidence and has prospects other than austerity. And what about tax evasion? Could Greece not be helped by freezing accounts “in our European banks” so that the Greek government can discover where the tax evasion is coming from? We are tackling banking secrecy, Barroso confirmed, but unfortunately while “the legal situation is assured”, the measures agreed will only come into force on 1 January 2013.
Financial crisis and social crisis. Leader of the S&D Group, German MEP Martin Schulz, drew attention to the danger of a crisis being caused by the austerity measures. Barroso agreed: along with efforts on budgetary reform must go efforts to strengthen the labour market and bring a social dimension into all policies.
Control of the internet. This must be possible, said GUE/NGL Group leader Lothar Bisky (Germany). We all want an open internet, but we are against abuses, replied Barroso, going on to refer to discussions (more brainstorming than negotiation sessions) which have taken place with the sector, including Mark Zuckermann, who invented Facebook.
G8 summit. This topic allowed interventions, under the “catch the eye” procedure, on issues ranging from corruption (this will be discussed at the G20 in November, Barroso said, highlighting a proposal on transparency on commodities) to taxing financial transactions (we're working on it, he said) and conditionality of aid to third countries (should this matter be left to the “discretionary powers of the Council”?). To that question from Mariel De Sarnez (ALDE, France) Barroso replied that it should be for the Commission, and the Commission would be answerable to Parliament, so we are on the same wavelength. The best way to help the poorest (through trade, which meant also encouraging them to trade among themselves, Barroso said) was also discussed. (L.G./transl.rt)