Brussels, 11/09/2013 (Agence Europe) - A more powerful European Union and greater in the key issues, but smaller and taking a back seat on the minor issues. This is the line given by European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, on Wednesday 11 September, at the last speech on the state of the Union before the European elections in May 2014.
In a speech with a generally very modest vision, Barroso spoke in particular about the results of the last five years and the response brought to the financial crisis. “Europe has fought back (…). We suffered the crisis together. We realised we had to fight it together. And we did, and we are doing it (…). We would never have thought all of this possible five years ago”, he said, recalling that, in 2012, the issue of the eurozone's disintegration was still very much raging. At “the G20 in Saint Petersburg (…) this year, contrary to recent years, we Europeans did not receive any lessons from other parts of the world”, Barroso states. “The facts tell us that our efforts have started to convince (…). Market trust is returning”. Barroso listed the improvements in the situations in Ireland, in Portugal (where growth is returning and unemployment decreasing), in Greece (which is finding competitiveness again), in Cyprus (which is applying its aid plan, as foreseen), and in Spain (where exports of goods and services are going well). “Recovery is within sight”, said Barroso optimistically, recalling that is it nevertheless necessary to remain vigilant because the EU still has “26 million unemployed”, particularly young people.
Youth employment, along with banking union, will feature as a top priority for the next mandate, Barroso said. It is therefore on these issues, and that of financing the real economy, that the most crucial decisions will have to be taken. A return to unemployment must definitely be avoided, he warned. It is thus important to conduct all the structural reforms well that are advocated in the country recommendations. On the European level, he said, the potential of the single market must be further exploited in order to eliminate all barriers for companies and people. Barroso also cited the example of the telecoms market. With regard to banking union, all the arrangements will have to be adopted before the end of the mandate, he stated. And the EU will have to be at the forefront of innovation and invest more in research and science.
However, for this to happen, the member states will have to agree on an appropriate European budget, Barroso said, calling on the Council to adopt the financial perspectives for 2014-2020 as quickly as possible, as the perspectives are still blocked. Lastly, if the EU wants to punch its full weight, it will also have to implement “political union”, Barroso stressed, which is the only way to consolidate Europe's progress. Strengthening the social dimension, defending the rule of law and supporting total equality of treatment between all the member states will constitute the first pillars.
It was quite a long speech, punctuated by references to current events - particularly the situation in Syria (for which Barroso backs the recent proposals of putting the chemical arsenal under control) - and it received measured support from the European Parliament. In the view of the leader of the Parliament's EPP Group, Joseph Daul, Barroso's work must be hailed, but while the signs of recovery are indeed there, the EU must definitely continue its structural reforms. The S&D Group was more cautious. While the French delegation criticised Barroso's speech as “euroblabla”, the leader of the S&D Group, Hannes Swoboda, recalled how fragile the recovery is. “In Spain, it was only 31 new jobs that were created last month”, he stated. “Is that recovery?” Swoboda went on to call for more cohesion and more solidarity, and for people's freedoms to be supported.
Guy Verhofstadt, the leader of the ALDE Group, also believed that Europe should “avoid complacency”. “The most important things to do still lie ahead of us”, he said, warning the EU against a “Japanese winter”, a long period of sluggish growth without job creation. And he added: “This speech doesn't give a coherent vision to avoid this”. In Verhofstadt's view, the crucial reforms to be conducted are on “banking union - of course, a more integrated eurozone with true governance and common instruments and perhaps a stronger role for the European Central Bank”. Work must also be quicker with the Council on certain issues - for example, on the digital agenda. The Greens/EFA Group was critical about the content of the policies conducted until now. Picking up on the reference to the origins of the EU given by Barroso - in other words, building peace - Rebecca Harms asked “Why haven't we been able to support this European miracle over recent years?”, and she wanted to know what direction should now be given to this growth. In Harms' opinion, “we have only put off the climate agenda, and now we are speaking about giving subsidies to nuclear energy or fossil fuels. This is not in the interest of citizens at all”. Harms also spoke out about the way the EU works when “Edward Snowden finds asylum with Putin!” “What are these values?” she asked, believing that citizens' confidence will only be won back with “another policy” (our translation). (SP/transl.fl)