Liege/Brussels, 18/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - As the European elections approach, the European Union could pay the price of decisions unanimously approved by the member states, decisions for which it often finds itself alone to bear the responsibility. That, in substance, was the message delivered by European Commission President José Manuel Barroso in a citizens' debate in Liege, Belgium, in the evening of Thursday 17 October.
Although, in general, the debate passed off well, Barroso was given a hostile reception by the youth wing of the Workers' Party of Belgium (PTB), Comac, some 100 of whose sympathisers gathered outside the theatre where the debate took place, carrying the slogan “No to Barrosterity!” During the course of the debate, Barroso faced criticism from two young members of the public who hold him responsible for the austerity policies advocated in Europe and even for the recent tragedy off Lampedusa in which hundreds of immigrants trying to reach Europe lost their lives. At one point eggs were thrown at the stage but none hit Barroso.
“It's easy to be European when everything is going well”, he said regretting that the European institutions are “very often the whipping boys for national problems”. Didier Reynders, Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium, who also took part in the debate, agreed. He said that, after EU Council meetings, when a positive decision is taken, the member states take the credit but when the opposite is the case, “it's always the fault of Brussels”. He stated that virtually every decision requires unanimity, with each member state having “made the choice to vote as it does”. This state of affairs, Barroso said, is dangerous at a time when extremism is on the up, because it provides these tendencies with arguments. The threat hanging over Europe is not, then, only Euroscepticism but also the “indifference” of pro-Europeans.
With regard to the crisis, handling of which has proved relatively fertile ground for Eurosceptical movements, Barroso underlined that Europe had been forced to “build lifeboats in the midst of the storm”. Furthermore, the Commission, which is part of the troika, along with the IMF and the European Central Bank, acted on the mandate grated by the countries of the eurozone with the means that they provided it. In the first instance, it was not the Commission which “invited the IMF” to join the group. As for austerity, it is the result of a very simple calculation between goals to achieve and amounts in loans made available by the member states.
On Cyprus, which was forced to contribute to its own bail-out plan inflicting heavy losses on the uninsured depositors of the two main Cypriot banks, Barroso set out the Commission diagnosis: the island needed €16 billion while the eurozone had pledged to provide a maximum of €10 billion.
“Do you think it's in our interests to cause more suffering?” he replied to strong questioning from Véronique De Keyser (S&D, Belgium). “It's difficult to say that we have found the right ways” to address the crisis, the MEP argued, highlighting the 15 million unemployed young people across the EU. She added: “When I see what the troika asked of these countries on the brink of collapse, … non-economic recovery measures, you haven't helped us”. “If we hadn't saved the banks, what kind of situation would we have been in?” queried Barroso, adding that the EU had been successful in saving the euro and, by extension, keeping Greece within the monetary union, even when many did not think it possible and were no longer calling for it. He spoke of a member state, without naming it, which had lied over the state of its banks, painting far too rosy a picture when the Commission shown signs of concern. As for employment, Barroso said that that was a matter reserved to member states, on which the Commission “does not have the instruments to respond to citizens”.
Barroso called for banking union, at least for the countries of the eurozone, then fiscal and political union. This is by no means certain, as “some member states do not want to hear talk of federalism”, he noted. Reynders also argued for a political Europe which represents its member states at international meetings, such as the G7 (our translation throughout). (EH/transl.fl)