Lisbon, 24/11/2014 (Agence Europe) - Last week's presentation of a €700 billion investment plan by ALDE, double the one to be presented by the Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker, this week, will not undermine the latter's credibility, said Sir Graham Watson, president of the ALDE party, in an interview with EUROPE during the party's congress in Lisbon.
“I do not believe that this undermines the credibility (of the Juncker plan). It shows that his idea is a good one, that we need investment in infrastructure. But if we want to do this seriously, we could go further than €300 billion”, said Sir Graham Watson. “We are calling for a bit more ambition”, he explained.
When asked about the similarities between the ALDE plan and that of Juncker, the Briton said that the number of sectors in which “you can invest with a faster return is limited and this can be summed up in one sentence: connecting Europe”. He went on to refer to broadband, transport networks and energy distribution, in particular electricity. “We have fairly good networks for oil and gas, but we need a better electricity system if we want to move from an economy based on fossil fuels to a low-carbon economy”.
The Liberals' project lays down two conditions for funding to be granted: the states in which a project is to be implemented would be obliged to apply the structural reforms contained in the socio-economic policy recommendations laid down for them by the European Council, and the national budget for the following year must have received the approval of the Commission.
“The idea is that a member state would be eligible for this type of investment if it has done what it signed up to do. It's not a stick, it's a carrot”, said Sir Graham. The idea is to move the slider between the group of countries which are not observing the rules and want investments and the group of countries which do stick to the rules and do not want investment, he explained. We want to “create a consensual approach whereby France and Italy take their commitments under the Stability and Growth Pact more seriously and Germany takes measures to get the economy moving ”.
On Friday, the Commission is to return its opinions on the draft national budgets and Sir Graham Watson argues that it should adopt a tough stance towards “all member states when it comes to implementing the legislation already adopted; France should not be exempted from this”. “Mr Juncker should very early on establish the fact that irrespective of the size of a state, it has to play by the rules”.
Luxleaks. Despite being hit by the Luxleaks scandal, Juncker is still the right choice for Europe, the Briton argued. Firstly, because as Spitzenkandidaten of the party which came out top of the elections in May, he was democratically the logical choice. Secondly, because out of all the “other Prime Ministers in position”, he is the one with the most experience in European affairs. “He has the energy to continue and a vision for Europe”, the ALDE President added.
Even so, the EU needs a more coherent approach to taxation. “The states don't want a CCCTB and nor do most of the political parties”, said Watson, but the proposal should nonetheless see the light of day. “It is about launching an idea and waiting for the right time politically”, he concluded, drawing a parallel with financial regulation, which nobody would have believed possible a few years ago. As to the motion of no-confidence tabled last week by the EFDD Eurosceptics and unaffiliated MEPs, “I believe that everybody sees it for what it is: an opportunist strategy”. The vote will show “a strongly pro-Commission majority”. (EL)