Brussels, 23/01/2009 (Agence Europe) - European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) President Mario Sepi, speaking to press in Brussels, gave three messages for meeting the financial crisis. “We cannot tackle the crisis with a preconceived ideology. We have to seek to reach social progress targets, but we must also face the crisis with pragmatism. The foundations of the political economy have to be re-debated: the problem to be solved above all relates to the question 'how is wealth to be created?' We have to work from the principle that wealth is created through work and not through the accumulation of virtual money,” he said.
Speaking just before the opening of the conference, “Rien ne va plus? Ways to rebuild the European Social Market Economy”, organised by the EESC on 22-23 January (see EUROPE 9816), Sepi set out what is meant by the expression “Rien ne va plus”: “It refers not only to the fact that the 'gambling' of the financial markets has led to their collapse, but also to the fact that one phase has come to an end. The cards are being re-dealt and the players are returning to the games table. But in this game they are playing Russian roulette”. He added, “Tackling such an important issue falls within the Committee's remit to assist the European institutions in socio-economic matters”.
The EESC has two objectives, Sepi noted: (1) to bring together all the stakeholders and partners - bankers, financiers, industrialists, trade unionists, economists and representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises - within the platform of the EESC to discuss possible solutions to the crisis; (2) to identify the causes of the crisis and find ways to relaunch a social and economic model. “We do not want to put anyone on trial. Rather, we want to find ways to open dialogue and resolve the crisis,” Sepi said.
Analysing the background to the crisis, Sepi said that in addition to the financial costs borne by governments to bail out the banks, it was also important to talk about the cost in terms of values, that is, the crisis of confidence and its consequences in terms of social tensions and what American sociologists call “social capital”. “These costs cannot be calculated, but this is where civil society's role comes to the fore: in promoting solutions so that these costs may be brought down,” the EESC President stated. He went to say that government support for the real economy “should not be unquestioning, but should be geared towards productive investment and high-quality development”.
John Monks argues for new economic and social deal
Speaking after Mario Sepi, European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) Secretary General John Monks said that the great risk at the moment was that banks had stopped taking risks! They had, he said, to unblock loans. According to Monks, a new economic and social contract was required that would help workers cope with all the painful changes expected in the months ahead. He went on to say that there had to be “guarantees that companies will try to maintain employment levels, assisted by temporary short-time working schemes; that wage levels especially for the low paid in some countries should rise to boost demand and stimulate consumption; that benefits for the unemployed and opportunities for training and retraining should be improved to increase purchasing power and to invest in the future; that the macro-economic dialogue should be used more to make wage development compatible with macroeconomic policies; and that public investment in green technologies should be stepped up substantially”.
Andrea Benassi regrets that there is no European dimension in recovery plans
Secretary General of the European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (UEAPME) Andrea Benassi agreed with Monks' comments and made a number of remarks from the point of view of the UEAPME. The crisis, he said, was having a real impact on Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Industries, “which are the first to suffer from the crisis. We suffer from the crisis in the construction sector, from the crisis in the motor car industry (including after sales services), from the crisis in banking and, to a lesser extent, from the crisis in savings”. Benassi noted, with regard to the real economy, “We have seen various national recovery plans, but have yet to see a European dimension in these plans”.
Pervenche Berès sees start of highly political debate
Chairwoman of the European Parliament economy/finance committee Pervenche Berès said straight out, “The situation is not good. 2008, 2009 and 2010 will be very hard years. I regret that there has been no European coordination on the recovery plans. Now we are about to get into a highly political debate wondering whom we are helping and how we are helping”. (G.B./transl.rt)