Brussels, 13/02/2009 (Agence Europe) - In an official declaration issued during the plenary session of the Committee of the Regions (CoR) on Thursday 12 February in Brussels, Luc Van den Brande, the Committee president, took a clear position against the return of economic protectionism in the European Union. He called on member states to adopt an integrated and coordinated approach in the light of the current economic crisis.
“In a European single market, we cannot afford to have 27 initiatives without some coordination: objectives and principles must be shared, even though solutions can change from one member state to the other. Protectionism and short term policies would produce a structurally weaker EU business and financial sector, with negative implications for productive potential in the wider economy. National go-it-alone measures encourage others to follow and, if member states were to pursue uncoordinated rescue plans, the European single currency would suffer and the single market would eventually disintegrate”, Luc Van den Brande said, highlighting the importance of an integrated European approach. He added: “We should promote unity and take forward our common ambitions and joint European projects - investing in competitiveness, energy efficiency and the EU's climate change agenda”. For the full declaration see: http://www.cor.europe.eu (G.B./transl.jl)