13-14 February 2013: 487th plenary session

Sustainable growth for a stronger Europe

On 13 February 2013, the plenary session took great pleasure in welcoming José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission. During this session, members were invited to voice their opinions in a debate on the theme of "Sustainable growth for a stronger Europe".

Statements by Group II members

Georges DassisGeorges Dassis, President of the Workers' Group, thanked Mr Barroso for attending and expressed his hope that the European Commission would pay greater heed to the Committee's opinions.

Mr Dassis went on to acknowledge that although the Commission had made some bold proposals during the second half of Mr Barroso's second mandate as president, the European Union's reactions were still too slow to keep up with the speed at which the financial markets wrought havoc. A prime example of this was the lack of response, to date, to the request for aid filed by the Republic of Cyprus. Whereas IMF economists now appeared to recognise their mistakes regarding the impact that the austerity measures had had on the countries concerned, the blows to which Mr Barroso had previously referred had been dealt exclusively to the weakest sectors of the population. If the Commission did not take action to turn the situation around, half of Europe's citizens would soon be living in abject poverty.

Georges Dassis went on to express his regret that, during the 2014-2020 period, the EU would have to work within the constraints of what had been referred to by the European Parliament as a "deficit" budget, as a result of the national self-interest displayed by certain Heads of State or Government during the course of negotiations. It was therefore essential that those politicians wielding most influence make the aforementioned political leaders see that national self-interest did absolutely nothing to further the interests of their respective countries, as could quite clearly be seen in this very dark chapter of Europe's history.

To summarise, George Dassis called upon Mr Barroso to state outright that the only hope for the peoples of the European Union was a Europe founded upon solidarity. Regardless of the reaction of the national leaders, the Commission would win such enormous support from the citizens themselves that, if it were elected by universal suffrage, it could use this as its electoral slogan.

 

On 14 February 2013, the plenary session was honoured by the presence of Vitor Constâncio, Vice‑President of the European Central Bank and Lucinda Creighton, Minister of European Affairs for the Irish Government, on behalf of the current Presidency of the Council of the EU.

Statements by Group II members in a debate on the banking situation and EU governance

 

Carmelo CedroneCarmelo Cedrone remarked that the seriousness of the current crisis highlighted the limits and shortcomings of European integration and the euro. None of the institutions had yet raised the problem of a monetary union operating without an economic counterpart. The eurozone governments were therefore implementing a highly diverse range of economic, budgetary and financial policies. No mention had been made of the 17 balances of payments that were causing such a great imbalance at the heart of the European Union.

Carmelo Cedrone went on to argue that, despite several declarations of intent, the political leaders were doing nothing to encourage growth. Indeed, if anything, they were slowing it down with the rigorous conditions they were imposing on the countries that were subject to programmes, whilst in the meantime, the banks had benefitted from enormous injections of liquidity with no strings attached.

For this reason, the European Central Bank should send the people of Europe a message of confidence instead of austerity and secure a broader mandate, such as that enjoyed by the US Federal Reserve. This would enable it to act more effectively from a macroeconomic perspective, thereby boosting growth, and to play the role of lender of last resort.

Carmelo Cedrone also insisted on the need to reduce the macroeconomic and industrial inequalities between countries and to establish a true "home for the euro" at European level; this would strengthen the ECB.

 

Edgardo IoziaEdgardo Iozia thanked the European Central Bank for the determination it had shown, in the absence of a clear and firm response from the European Commission and the Member States, in its attempts to calm the financial markets and get the EU out of the crisis. European citizens were paying the price for these uncertainties. The Executive Board of the ECB had therefore had to make some difficult and complex, ground-breaking decisions, whilst bearing in mind the balance of power between the States it represents.

Following Mr Constâncio's comment that the financial situation within Europe had improved, Edgardo Iozia pointed out that although since January there had been a decrease in deposits in national central banks, European companies had not yet felt the effects. It was therefore difficult to see the immediate, positive repercussions of the measures taken by the European Central Bank in the European economy. Furthermore, with the euro exchange rate currently high, exports were becoming very problematic at precisely the time when, faced with a "frozen" internal market, European industry needed to step up its export levels.

Edgardo Iozia then touched on banking union, which he saw as one of the biggest changes since Bretton Woods. However, the current supervisory structure was not yet configured with this union in mind. How would it be possible, therefore, to develop a system that had proven, over all these years, to be so dysfunctional? Furthermore, the United Kingdom, home to 80% of European financial activity, was blocking the reforms necessary for the implementation of more efficient banking supervision. The problems were therefore far from being resolved.

 

Statements by Group II members in the context of a debate on the priorities of the Irish Presidency

Manus O'RiordanManus O’Riordan welcomed the presence of the Irish minister and her statement that the European Central Bank should be lender of last resort in the sovereign debt crisis. Furthermore, one of the messages that he had wished to communicate through the publication "The EESC during the Irish Presidency" was that the opinions put forward by the Committee had always highlighted the urgent need to introduce eurobonds as an essential means of resolving the crisis. He hoped that the Irish presidency would bring this strategy to fruition.

Given that the minister had previously supported the introduction of eurobonds as a means of allowing debt-ridden States to borrow from the financial markets at sustainable rates, acting as a solidarity mechanism and stabilising the eurozone, Manus O'Riordan asked whether Ireland had any intention of taking this dossier forward during its presidency.

 

Dumitru ForneaDumitru Fornea focused on barriers to the free movement of workers, an issue referred to by the Irish Presidency, reminding those present of the difficulties faced by workers from Eastern Europe.

Ireland had a large Romanian community that contributed to its economic development. It should therefore make every effort to advance the legislation proposed by the European Commission, with the aim of protecting mobile workers from all forms of discrimination. This discrimination often arose as a consequence of media activity or a lack of information in certain countries, generating the atmosphere of a veritable witch hunt against Eastern European workers.

Dumitru Fornea therefore invited the Irish presidency to clarify publicly that these workers were not "immigrants", but citizens of the European Union, and that it was precisely the ability and willingness of people to live together that would that keep Europe strong.

Dumitru Fornea concluded his speech by expressing his agreement with the other priorities set out by the Irish presidency, particularly the investment in essential infrastructure (such as for transport or energy). He nevertheless challenged it to work towards enabling the differing national approaches in this area to give way to a federal or European approach.

Work organisation