EU must act now in unison, president Schulz tells leaders

28 June 2012

The president, attending the hour-long first session of the Council, called on EU governments to "take every feasible short-term measure to stimulate growth", while ensuring democratic legitimacy and a truly European dimension in all decisions.

Forging visions for our shared future is certainly a noble task, and in the long term we need a banking union, a fiscal union and a political union. It is generally easier to get through difficult times if you have something to look forward to. In psychological terms, I can understand this. But plans for the day after tomorrow, however important they may be, should not distract us from the pressing challenges of today. Europe's fate now hinges on our ability to come up with a convincing response to the debt crisis and set a course for growth.

However tough the negotiations on the technical details may be, we must never lose sight of one thing: it is our shared future which is at stake. Today, we must act decisively and quickly. Today, we must lay the groundwork for measures which can be taken in the next few months.

At the informal summit on 23 May, I proposed a pact between the three main institutions. The President of the Commission has submitted a similar proposal to the European Parliament. Concluding an interinstitutional agreement setting out a series of practical measures to address the crisis would demonstrate our ability to act. We are strong when we are united.

Constructive cooperation between the three main EU institutions will send out a message of hope to people in Europe, by showing them that we are tackling our problems together and in a spirit of solidarity. We, the representatives of the people, regard it as essential that the European Parliament should be involved in the EU's crisis management efforts – in order to guarantee both the democratic legitimacy and the quality of the measures taken.

If it is to be effective, political action needs the trust of the people – even more than the trust of the markets. Democratic legitimacy and trust flow from the involvement of parliaments in decision-making. Excluding parliaments will merely serve to deepen the crisis of trust in Europe.

Over the next six to 12 months we should, together, take every feasible short-term measure to stimulate growth, create jobs, end the credit squeeze and make taxation fairer. The European Parliament can make a contribution to the process of speeding up and improving the quality of decision-making at EU level. It has already drawn up countless reports and opinions which outline responses to the crisis. The fact that these reports and opinions have already adopted by Parliament means that the measures which are now urgently needed can quickly be implemented on the basis of an interinstitutional agreement.

Let me cite a few examples:

Today you will be discussing the issue of a banking union – the European Parliament put forward specific legislative proposals on this very matter two years ago. The failure to take up those proposals has thus cost us two very precious years – two years which could have brought us much closer to overcoming the crisis. We can and should take immediate steps to establish a banking union on the basis of the existing Treaties. You would be well advised, by the way, to base your discussions on the proposals for a supervisory authority put forward by the European Parliament three years ago, proposals which the Council then sadly watered down almost to the point of unrecognisability.

Today you will be discussing a series of measures to stimulate growth whose implementation Parliament had already advocated in the report its CRIS committee adopted one year ago:

We should also give serious consideration to authorising the ESM to have a banking license. We have to reduce the pressure built up due the high interest rates some Member States are facing.
 
We should not forget the great potential of sustainable development and eco-innovations to create growth, as pointed by the European Parliament: for example 500,000 additional jobs could be created through the application of EU waste legislation alone.
 
And, at long last, we should show that we are serious about the idea of a financial transaction tax. An overwhelming majority of MEPs called for the introduction of such a tax as long ago as in March 2011. The financial transaction tax brings a double dividend: it both curbs the scope for some particularly risky forms of speculation and provides a source of tax revenue. It is a matter of simple social justice that the people who caused the current financial mess should meet their share of the cost of clearing it up.
 
As you can see, we, the representatives of the people, have a real contribution to make and we look forward to constructive cooperation with you, also on the long-term plans for the future of the EU. However, our zeal for reform should not do anything to undermine three fundamental aspects of the European integration process:
 
Firstly, reform must involve all 27 Member States, since it is in our shared interest – and it is our shared responsibility – to create an economic and monetary union with the ability to take decisive action. Any split in the EU would raise once again the spectre of a divided, disunited Europe.
 
Secondly, we must first exploit to the full the scope offered by the Lisbon Treaty. Ordinary people in Europe have no time whatsoever for debates about Treaty revisions and conventions – they are worried about their children's future, their jobs, their pensions. They are looking to you for answers.
 
Thirdly, any reform process must be carried out on the basis of the existing Community institutions and in keeping with the principles of parliamentary democracy. In particular, involving the European Parliament and the national parliaments can help to give decisions democratic legitimacy and win the trust of EU citizens.
 
All the measures to save the euro must also be taken within the Community framework – after all, the common currency was introduced on the basis of Community law. Article 3(4) of the Lisbon Treaty leaves no room for doubt: 'the Union shall establish an economic and monetary union whose currency is the euro'. The euro is the Union currency, and the European Parliament represents the people of the Union. Ergo, the European Parliament is the euro-Parliament!
 
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