Brussels, 09/05/2012 (Agence Europe) - The leaders of the main European institutions took the opportunity of Europe Day, on Wednesday 9 May, to underline the importance of convincing citizens that Europe is the solution to the current socio-economic challenges facing them, despite the elections in Greece and France, which illustrate an increasing rejection of the solutions advocated by Europe as a way of finding an exit strategy to the debt crisis.
Herman Van Rompuy said that convincing citizens was through obtaining results. During the Europe-Forum on the German WDR channel, he said that he was convinced that “there was no going back on the euro”. The president of the European Council said that in order to overcome the crisis they needed to respect “debt and deficit reduction commitments”. He added that “Europe is the best thing for jobs”. He said that the single market was particularly useful, allowing companies to sell more and consumers to buy cheaper goods. Van Rompuy then travelled to Paris where he met the new French president, François Hollande, and the outgoing president, Nicolas Sarkozy.
In a debate on the state of the European Union, Martin Schulz from Germany said: “Nobody is saying that the idea of more Europe is not in vogue. I don't believe any of it.” The president of the European Parliament regretted that “two of European integration's greatest achievements are being questioned: the euro and the freedom of movement”. He said that the euro was in danger of “becoming a symbol of national selfishness or indeed exclusion” and the Schengen area is under threat by a determination to withdraw behind national borders. He asserted: “We reject blanket and unilateral diktats and we approve of the economies that provide initiatives for growth”. Schulz called for a “pact for growth”. During the Europe Forum he said that the pact for growth could not be funded through debt or inflation and that the fiscal compact would not be modified. The president of the European Commission, José Manuel Durão Barroso, agreed with him on this point.
The left called for Europe to listen to the fears expressed by citizens. The president of the S&D Hannes Swoboda, emphasised that “Europe has not understood that it needs to send a message of hope” to its citizens, in a reference to the election campaign of the new French Socialist president, François Hollande. He said that this is important because austerity policies particularly affect the weakest members of society and endanger social peace by providing grist to the mill for extremist ideologies. Swoboda said that the golden rule should therefore be budgetary discipline at the service of investment for growth, young people should not be forgotten and that they should be given guarantees of training and jobs.
Speaking on behalf of the Greens/EFA, Daniel Cohn-Bendit also looked at Europe's need to “respond to the anxiety” felt by its citizens. In a reference to the Greek election results, he warned the ECB that there was no alternative to implementation of the second Greek bailout. He warned: “Remind yourselves of history and the Versailles Treaty!… To say in democracy that there is no alternative is a mistake, if this were the case what would be the point of politics?” He called for the memorandum linking Athens to its institutional creditors to be re-examined so that “the Greek people are able to survive the pace of reform and do not go thirsty or hungry”. If this does not happen, the response will be “ultra-fascist, ultra Nazi, ultra-Stalinist, ultra, ultra, ultra…” he exclaimed. In order to give hope to citizens, they need a substantial Community budget with its own resources, a greater injection of capital from the EIB and a programme that puts “a new green deal” in place.
Patrick Le Hyaric (GUE/NGL, France) predicted “serious dangers” to the people if the policies being carried out are not “profoundly re-orientated”. He said that they needed to respect the vote cast by the Greek people and scrap the memorandum. He rejected the fiscal compact, even annexed to a pact for growth, and appealed for “a new pact for human development… paid for by taxes on financial transactions and a harmonised tax on capital”. He also called for a monetary creation policy from the ECB that was for the benefit of the states and not for the banks any more, as well as “a moratorium on part of previous debts”.
According to the right, pitting austerity against growth is a false debate. The president of the EPP Group, Joseph Daul, said: “It is not just the populism of the right but the populism of the left that does not have a place in Europe, and I urge all the traditional political parties to remember that they have nothing to gain and everything to lose by attempting to make extremes appear banal.” He pointed out that Europe was going through a difficult period and that decisions in the future would be decisive for the stability of their respective economies and the social cohesion of their countries.
On the current political debate between cleaning up public finance and growth, Daul is of the opinion that it is impossible to “divide deficit reduction from growth… the reality is that growth enhancing measures should not be synonymous with additional spending… we no longer have the means”. He warned that “as long as the biggest spender countries do not carry out a policy for reducing their debts, the countries that have made an effort to develop good management, will not be prepared to show solidarity with them”. He said that the declaration by Robert Schuman “created a new path for Europeans. Now, more than ever, we are linked to each other, we show solidarity and responsibility to each other, which implies budgetary convergence, as currently being developed, in addition to fiscal and social convergence.” The leader of the EPP explained that this solidarity would only function if everyone made an effort and was prepared to link healthy public finances with sustainable growth.
“Europe is change and Europe is now!” exclaimed Belgian Liberal Guy Verhofstadt. He appealed for a genuinely federal Europe with “genuine economic governance, real democratic control, a genuine federal budget and, why not, a real European army”. In his opinion, this is the only way of integrating Europe into globalisation and maintaining its social model. He called for them to turn over a new leaf on creating illusions. For some people, there is the illusion that only austerity will take us out of the crisis. For others, the illusion is that growth can return without introducing good financial housekeeping: “It is a big mistake to pit these ideas against each other. We do not have to choose between budgetary rules and solidarity, discipline and growth. We need all of them: growth and discipline, budgetary rules and solidarity.” He considers that the fiscal compact should not be amended but completed by way of an agenda for growth, and said that he wants capital from the EIB to be increased. Verhofstadt also defended “project bonds” and the partial pooling of debt through a “redemption fund”.
The Eurosceptics adopted a quite different tone. Martin Callanan (ECR, United Kingdom) said that they did not need more Europe because this was exactly what was going wrong in the EU. In a reference to certain democratic decisions, such as the two referendums in Ireland, he added that people do not trust the EU because the EU does not trust its citizens. Nigel Farage, also from United Kingdom, warned against the risks of revolution fanned by despair, even though he thought that a democratic rebellion could also bring hope, as witnessed with the emergence of sovereignists or indeed nationalist parties such as the True Finns.
EU High Representative Catherine Ashton stressed in a declaration that Europe Day “should also be an opportunity to look forward. The coming year will be crucial for Europe's recovery - and for Europe's future. Not only the steps we take internally in the European Union on the economy and with Croatia joining in July 2013. But also how we engage globally. I am convinced that Europe must remain actively engaged around the world. And equally that our international work can help to underpin our economic recovery. Everywhere I go, I hear that others from outside Europe want to work with a Europe that is active and committed. So that is what I intend to do. In short, we will continue to do what the framers of the Lisbon Treaty - and long before them, Robert Schuman - intended; for Europe to play an active role in solving global problems. There is much we have achieved in the past year; but even more to be done.” (MB, LC and CG/transl.fl)