Statements following the votes on the economic governance "six-pack", which aims to prevent Eurozone members from simply ignoring Commission warnings to correct their budgetary policies and make them tackle economic imbalances more promptly.

debate

plenary session

six-pack (T)

GOULARD, Sylvie (ALDE, FR)

FERREIRA, Elisa (S&D, PT, EC)

WORTMANN-KOOL, Corien (EPP, NL)

HAGLUND, Carl (ALDE, FI)

FEIO, Diogo (EPP, PT)

Economic Governance Package: extrcts of the statements by the rapporteurs

Exterior shot of the European Parliament, Strasbourg, France (1 shot) 

SOUNDBITE (in English): Corien WORTMANN-KOOL (EPP, NL), Rapporteur: "This reform of our economic governance in Europe, we urgently need it in order to convince the market that the Euro is our common currency and that we develop a common approach in order to defend our Euro."

SOUNDBITE (in English): Corien WORTMANN-KOOL (EPP, NL), Rapporteur:  "The package will take effect from next year on and in the past when Member states didn't like the assessment of the European Commission with regard to budgetary discipline, they could simply ignore this and that is no longer the case."

SOUNDBITE (in English): Diogo FEIO (EPP, PT), rapporteur:  "After 1 year of work we had a great majority in this Parliament, it is a very good signal for the markets, to the confidence in the European Union and a very good signal to States, because we need good public accounts to have growth"

SOUNDBITE (in English): Diogo FEIO (PPE, PT), rapporteur:  "Now the debt of the States will be analysed by the Commission and as we can understand easily this is very important, because of States in the European Union have now high debts and this is bad to all the people, because we have this debts that now some governments have more taxes, more unemployment in the States."

SOUNDBITE (in English): Elisa FERREIRA (S&amp;D, PT), Rapporteur: "We have to look inside the economy, look at the labour market, look at how far the real economy is unbalanced or growing. We will look at spill-over effects from measures in one country that have an impact on other countries and we hope that with this new framework the European Commission will be more informed when it makes recommendations and more coherent with all the information."

SOUNDBITE (in English): Elisa FERREIRA (S&amp;D, PT), Rapporteur: "The European problem is not a problem of external global imbalances, it is a problem of internal imbalances, it is because divergences grow that we have at this moment a lot of trouble in Europe."

SOUNDBITE (in French): Sylvie GOULARD (ALDE, FR): "We have managed to reach an agreement, which is not evident if you see how divided the Eurozone and the European Union with 27. On basis of the Commission proposal, which was good but present a year ago, we have tried to enrich and with a Council of Ministers who was not always feeling comfortable with the strengthening of the budgetary discipline and the new macro economic instruments, a certain number of the EP demands to have dialogue going beyond the boarders. We are satisfied to have found an agreement, to my view a very balanced one, but it is not the end of the process, we need to complete it, my group ALDE has put forward precise requests to Mr Barroso, like the Eurobonds in my report will now be under the initiative right of the European Commission, so we will keep on working. We wish that the strengthening of the stability will help to develop growth and path a way out the crisis."

SOUNDBITE (in French): Sylvie GOULARD (ALDE, FR): "Instead of everybody isolated we will really work together in analysing the status quo of the economy, by verifying that national budget is line with the rules. The second concrete change is that in the future when a recommendation by the COM a Member States refuses to follow this one or by creating difficulties, the Parliament can ask the Finance Minister of this country to come to the EP, which was not possible until now, so that in a public meeting he defends his point of view. These are 2 changes very concrete which and this I hope avoid that we find ourselves in the same situation we are living now."

SOUNDBITE (in English): Carl HAGLUND (ALDE, FI), rapporteur: "The fact we have introduced transparency in many different ways, one reason that we are in this deep crisis is the fact that many important decision have been made behind closed doors in the Council or with Member States horse trading and the fact that this will be more transparent will have a very positive impact on the outcome of the decisions."