Timothy: Barroso Must Focus On EU2020
Wednesday 16 June, 2010
During the European Council Debate in Strasbourg on Wednesday, Timothy called on Europe "to take action today, not make grand schemes for the future". The joint debate, entitled Preparations for the European Council and the G20 summit, was attended by Spanish Finance Minister Diego Lopez Garrido, who called for "further steps towards an economic union". President of the Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, also in attendance, echoed those comments saying "we need to look for a deeper economic union".
The EU is planning to implement tougher economic rules for all Member States and closer economic ties. Timothy warned that these types of measures might stifle the EU's 2020 Strategy, which is set to champion deregulation and eliminating trade barriers. Timothy praised Jose Manuel Barroso for his work on this initiative, but he warned that additional regulatory burdens would "overshadow" it.
Timothy's speech in full:
Presidents, colleagues,
There is an old story - a man is lost trying to find a railway station. He goes up to someone he sees in the street and asks: "where is the station?" To which the person replies, "The route is difficult, the journey is long, so I wouldn't start from here if I were you".
In all these lengthy discussions about how to avoid a future euro crisis, we are diverting vital energy from the task at hand about how to get out of the current crisis.
All this talk about European economic governance, new rules and regulations, and further sanctions misses the rather simple, fundamental point: what about now?
We have to start from where we are now.
We want the Euro to continue to be a success especially for those who have chosen to be members but this requires action today, not grand schemes for the future.
But it is obviously true, as is now recognised on all sides of this House, that there were serious weaknesses in the design of the currency and some Member States did not find it appropriate to be in the Zone. But the flaws in its design have been matched by even more serious weaknesses in implementation which may not be solved by just drawing up new rules.
After all, there was insufficient will to enforce the rules which had been put in place in the first place and there was a failure by some member states to fulfil the commitments which they had undertaken.
Yet nothing could be more dangerous for the European Union, than to believe that the solutions to our problems involve more regulation, further centralised control, & greater burdens on our member states.
We need to get back to the real concerns of our citizens - above all, how to rebuild Europe's fragile economy.
Our economic position has suffered three grievous blows over recent years:
Firstly, even before the current crisis and at a time of economic growth, we were actually growing more slowly than our major trading partners. We were becoming steadily less competitive in global markets, seeing jobs exported and markets undercut. We may have felt prosperous but it was a tragic illusion based largely on money borrowed by both the public sector and private households.
Secondly when the crisis came it rocked the western world causing instability and forcing governments to borrow even more to bring us back from the brink.
And thirdly this exessive borrowing in a number of key members of the eurozone has brought it to the edge of disaster.
Member states and our citizens are drenched in debt from which it will take years to recover.
Most of the difficult steps needed can only be taken by member states themselves. But the European Union can help.
That is why we must not let the Europe 2020 strategy be over-shadowed by more grand debates about future economic governance.
We welcome, Mr Barroso, your work on this strategy. This 'centre-piece initiative' of the Commission is still a 'work in progress' but it must be given the attention it deserves. The emphasis on re-launching the single market by extending it into new areas, focusing on smart regulation, reducing bureaucratic burdens and eliminating barriers to trade is the right approach. But we must not underestimate the effort it will take to achieve - and we must learn from the mistakes of the Lisbon Strategy.
