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The EU is making headlines in the UK. And I must say this is not necessarily a bad thing. Any debate on the EU project is welcome. I have also called for a wide debate in my own country. And I am happy to make my contribution to your debate.
I am not shocked either by the idea of revising the Treaty if it proves necessary. But any revision should aim at a better functioning union. Not at undermining it. A piecemeal approach would lead to a major fragmentation of the Single Market, a Single Market which the UK has always strongly supported. And it would definitely go against the City of London’s interests – 40 per cent of new financial institutions who chose London in the last seven years did so because of the Single Market.
In the end, it will be for the British people to decide whether they want to stay in the EU. I don't know what their decision will be. But I know one thing: in a global world, Britain and the other European countries are and will be stronger together. The EU needs Britain, with its long democratic history, its innovation capacity, its pragmatism, its influence in the world and its great financial centre, the City of London.
And I also believe that Britain needs the EU. Not only because of the Single Market. But also because, faced with new superpowers such as China, Brazil and India, no EU country, be it Britain, France or any other, will exercise sufficient influence alone.
Eurozone
The UK is not part of the euro. And yet, it has supported the creation of a new banking union, while making it clear that it does not want to be part of it. This is its right. And we fully respect this decision. We are even taking measures to ensure that the new banking union does not undermine the UK’s important role in shaping the rules of the Single Market in financial services.
The European Banking Authority (EBA), based here in London... will remain the forum for coordination of bank supervision and the place where detailed rules are drawn up. And EBA decisions will have to be approved by a majority of countries outside the Banking Union. This is a strong safeguard.
Single Market
Last week, Prime Minister Cameron said that the Single Market remains incomplete in services, energy and the digital economy. I agree! These are precisely the areas which the Commission has identified as requiring priority action. We need to upgrade the Single Market. Adapt it to Europe's new economic, technological and social realities. And use it as a foundation to restore growth and create jobs. The Single Market is not the whole economy. But it is its bedrock. If this bedrock is fragmented, any private or public initiative is made less effective.
This is the purpose of the Single Market Act launched by the European Commission in April 2011 with the strong support of Malcolm Harbour, chairman of the IMCO committee in the EP. With 50 concrete proposals, 12 key actions, and one method: to find ways to promote growth and jobs in the Single Market. And to implement them.
How can we reconnect Europe to the people?
First, we have to deliver on our commitments to do what we have decided to do. And show the concrete benefits of Europe. We need greater progress. Such as a well-working digital Single Market and increased mobility, with the European professional card which I mentioned earlier.
But Europeans also have to realise that the EU is more than just a matter of individual interest, competition and return on investment. Without solidarity there will be no true Single Market. Beware of the rise of protectionism and populism is Europe with the crisis. Their first victim would be the Single Market.
The EU is not only a network. It is a joint project. The real question is: what do we want to build together? I welcome the debate on that question. Every European should take part. Be it through meetings at local level, on-line consultations, national Parliaments or MEPs, who are the best placed to represent the people’s interests in Brussels.
I believe we should take advantage of the next European Parliament elections in Spring 2014 to launch this debate. And I hope that the majority of British people will use the debate to reaffirm their attachment to the European project.