José Manuel García-Margallo y Marfil (PPE). – (ES) Madam President, what we need right now are clear rules, and what we are doing is precisely the opposite. I am therefore going to make a few proposals in order to re-establish clarity.

In the European semester, Parliament wants to focus on a series of discussions, which are currently unfocused and do not fit with public opinion. We want the political responses to the recommendations made to the Member States over the next six months to be taken into account when establishing the penalties provided for in the legislative package on governance.

My group would like to make it clear that there are no magic solutions in the legislative package for getting us out of the crisis. There are the well-known methods of budgetary discipline and structural reforms in order to maintain competitiveness.

With regard to the crisis mechanism, as you said yesterday, Commissioner, President Barroso promised us here that it was going to be a European mechanism. Today the Council is proposing an intergovernmental mechanism. Is this European – in Mr Barroso’s terms – because it appears that the fund will be based in Europe rather than in the Cayman Islands, or does the Commission intend to help us to create a mechanism following EU procedure in which Parliament has a contribution to make?

With regard to eurobonds, the Commission, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the experts say that it is a good idea, but that it is a premature idea, therefore we are late.

What I propose to the Commission is that we begin a debate to shape a system of eurobonds that gives reasonable financing to the countries that do the right thing and punishes those that do not by forcing them to go to the markets at rates that are genuine deterrents. That is the only workable way of combining fiscal discipline and economic growth.

Do not come back to me with discussions about whether it is too early or too late, because what we know now is that we have always been too late. Let us see if, for once, by changing the rules, we can be early.