Brussels, 15/01/2013 (Agence Europe) - The Austrian chancellor, Werner Faymann, has drawn up a decidedly Social-Democrat vision of the future of Europe, criticising the lack of solidarity among member states and the current obsession with economic austerity as a way of getting out of the sovereign debt crisis. He made a clear call for the introduction of a temporary redemption fund to manage excess eurozone debt (see EUROPE 10763).
Faymann said it would be cynical to say that the crisis was behind us when 8.5 million young people under the age of 25 are without work. He criticised austerity policies that simply slashed and burned expenditure, undermining spending power and not giving a chance to investment to boost competitiveness. Comparing the struggling countries to ships that the EU has to shelter during storms, he slammed the gaps between interest rates for Germany and those charged for the struggling countries. All of which are good reasons for setting up a redemption fund for the excess debt of eurozone nations - “a good idea”, he said. Faymann defended public services, which are very difficult to take back once they've been privatised. On the financial front, Faymann called for tighter financial regulation to encourage a fair sharing of risks between those who take the risk and those who suffer the consequences, particularly when banks fold. Arguing that a tax on financial transactions would be a way of making the financial market pay some of the cost of the financial crisis, he recommended a clampdown on tax evasion although, along with Luxembourg, Austria is still blocking agreement on changes to EU rules on savings tax. On the environmental font, Faymann stressed Austria's position of saying no to nuclear power, in part because the question of what to do with nuclear waste has never been answered. He said that some MEPs might laugh, but those who had seen the impact of the Fukushima disaster understand Austria's position.
MFF. Pointing out Austria's success in getting young people into work, Faymann criticised countries receiving a rebate from the EU. He was speaking ahead of the summit in February, which might focus on the multiannual financial framework (MFF, the EU's seven-year budget) and said the rebate money could instead be invested in training and getting a million youngsters in the EU into work - which would be seen by them as much better than a handful of countries getting a rebate.
The heads of the main political groups at the European Parliament were delighted with Faymann's speech. “We believe in a credible European budget”, agreed Joseph Daul (France) on behalf of the EPP Group, pointing out that more Europe was needed in all domains. For the S&D Group, Hannes Swoboda (Austria) urged the European Commission and Council of Ministers to examine the modalities of a redemption fund, although in the view of Rebecca Harms (Greens/EFA, Germany), the conditions for joining such a fund would not be liked by the struggling countries. Guy Verhofstadt (ALDE, Belgium) talked of the role of the United Kingdom in Europe (see below), while Gabriele Zimmer (GUE/NGL, Germany) echoed Faymann's views on austerity that doesn't deliver and the importance of public services. The usual noises were made by the Eurosceptics, with Martin Callanan (ECR, UK) recommending that Europe move in a different direction with greater openness in the market, and saying that the greater European integration desired by the elite was the complete opposite of what citizens really want. (MB/transl.fl)