Europe's present and future were discussed today as Commission President, José Manuel Barroso, presented his first "State of the Union" speech, announcing initiatives to fight unemployment, including through "green" jobs, while enhancing economic governance and profoundly reviewing the EU budget. MEPs in turn, insisted on the need for even greater ambition for the EU, while speakers, including Mr. Barroso, strongly criticised the treatment of the Roma minority.
Commission President José Manuel Barroso said the Union "withstood the test" of the crisis but has to move forward. He stressed that a number of key challenges lay ahead.
Mr. Barroso promised better economic governance to deal with this crisis and avert future ones. He said the Commission would unveil proposals on 29 September for stronger national budget monitoring, promising that "we will match monetary union with true economic union", while making sure that economic fundamentals are improved as "a debt generation makes an unsustainable nation".
On the job front he said that he aims to restore growth and jobs via the "Europe 2020 strategy" with the creation of a "European Vacancy Monitor" to help people find jobs. He also said his aim was to promote sustainable development and create 3 million "green-collar" jobs by the end of the decade. Steps that could help this initiative included agreement on an EU-wide Patent and a promised 38 billion euros of savings for companies by cutting red tape.
In the area of freedom, justice and security he said that while EC will further address "the exploitation of illegal immigrants", terrorism and organised crime with concrete proposals, "everyone in EU must respect the law and governments must respect human rights". He also underlined that "racism and xenophobia have no place in Europe" and made "a strong appeal not to reawaken the ghosts of Europe's past".
On EU spending and the budget he called for the strengthening of EU own resources, i.e. those not provided directly from the Member States' budgets. He promised a proposal for a new system for the EU "own resources" next month. He also proposed moving from the current 7 year multiannual budget to a 10 year budget and issuing "EU project bonds" to finance infrastructure projects and generate jobs without burdening national budgets.
Internationally he called for Europe to develop a true foreign and security policy. "If we don't act together, Europe will not be a force in the world, and they will move on without us: without Europe and without its Member States".
He announced the Commission will commit the EU to a further 1 billion contribution to the UN Millennium Development Goals. Also, he said there would be proposals in October to pool national resources in an EU crisis response mechanism for tragedies like Pakistan's floods.
The European People's Party MEP Joseph Daul called for an EU tax that would not add to the existing tax burden. He explained that it was not in addition to a national tax but rather it could be used to achieve economies of scale regarding EU policies and ensuring that public money was better spent. He also insisted on the importance of investing in research and innovation, the economy and in reducing inequalities.
"I didn’t like your speech" was the emphatic conclusion of a Socialist and Democrat leader Martin Schulz. He was critical that it had not touched on the current state of the EU: "The state of the Union today is not good. You and your Commission are failing to play the role given you by the Treaties, at least not in full measure." Mr. Schulz promised to support the EC in efforts to defend the "community method" against "intergovernmentalism". He strongly condemned what he termed "a witch-hunt" against the Roma.
Liberal leader Guy Verhofstadt noted that in the last year that "problems were big but unity was very small" pointing out to the problems encountered by Greece. He said genuine economic governance was needed as well as "finalising" the response to the crisis with concrete measures on such things as derivatives trading.
For the Greens, Daniel Cohn-Bendit asked whether the EU is headed towards "an intergovernmental Europe or a Community" and in a reference to the Roma issue, invoked Albert Camus in pointing out that "the defense of minorities means not imposing the majority's will", naming France as being "in breach of the Treaties".
Michał Tomasz Kamiński for the Europe of Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group told the House that "the 27 member states are going to stay there, they are elected by citizens. We want balance between community and what is intergovernmental in Europe", he said.
Lothar Bisky of the leftist GUE/NGL group said: "Millions that have been spent rescuing banks have not been spent on the neediest in society or in education". He also condemned the treatment of Roma.
Nigel Farage of the Europe for Freedom and Democracy group criticised Mr Barroso's speech for "completely ignoring the state of the Union" and commented that "the more common policies there are, the less people like it".
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