Text tabled : A7-0182/2011

  Edite Estrela (S&D), in writing. – (PT) I abstained from the vote on the report on implementing measures to correct excessive macroeconomic imbalances in the euro area, as it forms part of a legislative package on economic governance, whose measures concentrate almost exclusively on austerity and sanctions, which will have extremely negative consequences for the European economy and the European public. Austerity alone will not solve the crisis in the euro area. There is a need for policies to consolidate public finances which promote smart growth, social cohesion and jobs, and which provide, specifically, for the creation of a system of Eurobonds and a financial transaction tax.