Brussels, 28/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - Pressed by MEPs to take the lead in proposing solutions to the current crisis, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso came out on the offensive, criticising intergovernmental cooperation, and showed ambition in advocating European renewal.
Barroso criticised Franco-German desires to rule the roost over European affairs at the expense of the European institutions. “The reality today is that intergovernmental cooperation is not enough to take Europe out of this crisis, or to give Europe a future. Quite the opposite, in fact: a certain intergovernmentalism runs the risk of taking us down the path of renationalisation and fragmentation. A certain intergovernmentalism could spell the death of the united Europe that we want”, he declared.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel proposed in August that European Council President Herman Van Rompuy should become a sort of “Euro Czar” at the head of an “economic government” of monetary union. This idea was rejected out of hand by Barroso: “The European Commission is the economic government of the Union, we certainly don't need more institutions for this”. He added: “We need more than ever the independent authority of the Commission”. The Commission is arguing that it should be someone from within its ranks who takes over at the head of the Eurogroup, a post which could also go to Van Rompuy.
“I truly believe that we are at a pivotal moment in our history. One of those moments where, if we do not make progress in integrating, we risk fragmentation. It is, then, a question of political will, an ordeal by fire for our whole generation. I say to you: yes, it is possible to get out of this crisis. Not only is it possible, we have to do so”, Barroso went on.
“Today we are facing the greatest challenge the Union has had to face, I believe, in all its history”, Barroso said. He spoke of a “financial, economic and social” crisis, and of a crisis of confidence in EU leaders and in Europe itself.
The sovereign debt crisis is, in his view, above all a crisis of political confidence. “Yes, the situation is serious, but there are solutions to this crisis. Europe has a future.” To restore confidence, “we need stability, growth, and also political will and political leadership. We should join together to propose European renewal to our citizens”.
Amendment of the Treaty. Speaking about the problems associated with eurobonds, Barroso suggested it may be necessary to consider further changes to the Treaty. “I am also thinking particularly of the constraint of unanimity. The pace of our joint endeavour cannot be dictated by the slowest. And today we have a Union where it is the slowest member that dictates the speed of all the other member states. This is not credible also from the markets' point of view, this is why we need to solve this problem of decision making.” Barroso added that member states have of course the right not to accept decisions but those member states do not have the right to block the moves of others, who also have their national sovereignties. And if they want to go further, they should go further, he said.
He added that, in the coming weeks, the Commission will publish its proposals for “EU project bonds” and that the Commission was also proposing pilot projects to fund growth. “We can do it even before the MFF (multi-annual financial framework) is adopted. In this way we can frontload some of the major infrastructure investments Europe needs” he went on.
Role of EU in the world. Barroso argued for a Europe that is “open and involved in the world”. It is fashionable to speak of the G2. “I don't believe the world wants a G2. I believe that, if we want a fair world and an open world, Europe is needed more than ever.” The Arab spring was, he said, “a profound change that will have massive consequences, not just for those peoples but for us, too, and for our Europe”. He hoped the Arab spring “will also be the opening of the door to hope and peace for the whole of the region, to a Palestinian state living in peace with the state of Israel, as Europe would like to see”. “And let us not abandon the most needy and let us be equal to our commitments in achieving the Millennium Development Goals”, Barroso said. He called, too, for a stronger common foreign and security policy which must emphasise the common security and defence dimension “if the EU is to have any clout in the world”. “The time has long since passed when it was possible to oppose the idea of European defence for fear of harming the Atlantic Alliance”, Barroso stated. The Commission would assume its share of responsibility in pursuing its efforts on a single defence market.
In conclusion, Barroso said he believed that the institutions and member states had to be asked to show “pride in being European”.
“It is heart-warming to hear a speech like that”, said Joseph Daul on behalf of the EPP Group. He said that “the national method would give way to the European method, the Community method, the only one that will allow us to be united in bringing effective solutions to the huge, urgent challenges facing us”. The Community method was not three or four presidents each carrying a different message, “but a single, rapid crisis exit plan”. It was for that reason that the role of the Commission is so important, Daul added. He thanked Barroso for the proposals set out and asked him “to be more ambitious yet” because there was an emergency.
Martin Schulz (S&D, Germany) felt that Barroso had, in his speech, shown “combativeness” in his defence of the Community approach. “Europe has not run out of ideas. The crisis exists on the level of the leadership of Europe. It is intergovernmentalism that is undermining Europe”, he argued. He noted growing national involvement in international relations, which would lead to the collapse of the EU. He railed against politicians allowing themselves to be guided by the financial markets. “I hope that, through the Parliament-Commission-Council institutional architecture, we can fill this void” which comes from governments not acting in financial markets, he said. He argued for stronger European institutions to respond to the challenges of the 21st century.
Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the ALDE Group, did not feel that the state of the EU was at all rosy. He opined that the intergovernmental approach was doomed to failure as it required unanimity. “We have to get rid of this unanimity rule”, he said. He felt that the crisis had attained the scale that it had because “member states are unwilling to transfer more power to the EU”. “I'm happy with a number of the initiatives that you set out, Mr Barroso”, he conceded. (LC/transl.rt)