Brussels, 13/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - The debate held at the European Parliament during plenary session in Strasbourg on Tuesday 13 March on the conclusions of the latest European Council (1-2 March) was mainly geared to two intrinsically linked points. By way of introduction to the discussion, Council President Herman Van Rompuy evoked these points saying that there is no contradiction between budgetary austerity and reactivating economic growth, and that the EU has managed to go beyond the critical point of the crisis as “our strategy is starting to work”.
The president of the EPP Group, Joseph Daul (France), thus underlined that, not only must one no longer wait for recovery of public finance, but also that it is only through true implementation of the Council conclusions - whose central point was the signature of the budgetary pact by the most “clairvoyant” 25 member states - that the EU will show proof of having learned something from history. Although this shows some progress has been made, the attention paid by the Council to growth and the creation of jobs has not made any real progress since the outset of the crisis, he said. In order to help remedy this, Daul said the EPP Group will soon be sending a public letter to the Council and European Commission, calling for consolidation of the internal market through various legislative proposals, which will be coupled to a precise timetable, and also calling for the “sanctuarisation” of part of the European investment budget to directly promote economic growth.
Hannes Swoboda of Austria, who heads the S&D Group, said it would be impossible to address the situation if demand is not supported, and if the weakest are not supported at social level. He underlined that they were “not on the right track” for exiting the crisis. Using the situation in Greece and Spain as examples, Swoboda thus agreed that the current EU policy goes against growth objectives. Although the Council has reacted when it comes to finding a solution for youth employment, too much time has been lost and the existing European mechanisms are not being put to sufficient use to address the situation. Tax evasion and inequality in taxation systems are among the factors that make the European response to the crisis socially unjust, he concluded.
What progress has already been made? Have we really reached a turning point? These questions were raised by Belgian MEP Guy Verhofstadt, who leads the ALDE Group. The budgetary pact, national austerity measures and the merger of the future European Stability Mechanism (ESM) with the rest of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) capacities are neither an adequate response to the crisis nor a sufficient answer to the EU's structural problems, he said. The current easing “was bought” by the massive injection of liquidities by the European Central Bank, he asserted, adding that it is only through partial pooling of debts that the EU can hope to find a lasting solution to the crisis.
Daniel Cohn-Bendit of France, who heads the Greens/EFA Group, said a golden rule on budgets must be accompanied by two other rules of a similar kind: a social rule and an environmental rule. Budgetary austerity alone “stifles the population” without providing them any prospects for the future. If the EU were able to put forward such considerable financial means for saving the banking sector, then why are equivalent means not deployed to help member states in difficulty? he asked. Like Daul, he called for more financial means to be devoted to helping the states.
Speaking through its leader, Martin Callanan, the ECR Group said the last Council “wasted considerable energy on a treaty that will make no practical difference to the fundamentals, whilst taking decisions at the same time that will condemn the Greek people to a generation of poverty”. The GUE/NGL Group deemed it to be blackmail when access to the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) is made subject to the signing of the budget pact. “Did the Irish government raise any objection to the creation of a stick that is simply there to beat the Irish people with, to try and get us to vote for permanent austerity?” asked Paul Murphy (Ireland).
Answering MEPs, Commission President José Manuel Barroso underlined the fact that responsibility lies on member states, not only for the crisis but also for the solutions proposed today - which means that it is essential for a “politically and intellectually honest” debate to be held. One example among others, the states that call for growth to be relaunched are at the same time blocking other issues that are just as crucial, such as the Community patent. And, although some bemoan the lack of solidarity, Barroso said that their governments have not spent a single euro, a single pound sterling to help Greece, just as there were no social issues raised in the letter from the 12. Van Rompuy went on to reproach MEPs for not having raised the matter of the European semester even once, a point which is nonetheless central to the last summit. Regarding policy currently conducted, “this is the course we have chosen and we shall remain coherent along that road”, he said, underlining that structural reforms are above all necessary at the level of member states and not at that of the EU. (JK/transl.jl)