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Środa, 3 lipca 2013 r. - Strasburg

13. Zamknięcie greckiego krajowego nadawcy radiowo-telewizyjnego (ciąg dalszy debat)

  Presidente. − L'ordine del giorno reca il seguito della discussione concernente le dichiarazioni del Consiglio e della Commissione sulla chiusura dell'emittente nazionale televisiva greca (2013/2684(RSP)).

Interventi su richiesta - "catch the eye"

  Licia Ronzulli (PPE). - Signora Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, nel corso dell'intero dibattito abbiamo parlato del diritto dei cittadini ad essere informati e del diritto alla libertà di espressione per i giornalisti.

Se si parla di Stato di diritto dell'Unione europea, tutti i valori e tutti i principi devono essere tutelati e garantiti nelle riforme. Per una volta sono d'accordo con l'onorevole Cohn-Bendit, c'è bisogno di una riforma, una riforma globale però che assicuri i diritti di tutti, consumatori ed operatori. Purtroppo, ancora oggi, troppi paesi membri adottano normative eccessivamente rigide e non rieducative per i reati di diffamazione o addirittura per quelli di omesso controllo.

A questo proposito anch'io porto un caso italiano: tra 59 giorni per il direttore Giorgio Mulé si apriranno le porte del carcere, colpevole, pensate, di omesso controllo. Il carcere non rispetta il diritto dei cittadini a essere adeguatamente informati, ma soprattutto non tutela l'onore dei soggetti coinvolti. Riformiamo e innoviamo – concludo – sì a sanzioni forti che prevedano la radiazione se la diffamazione è certa e provata, no ad ogni misura punitiva che limiti la libertà di stampa.

  Σοφοκλής Σοφοκλέους (S&D). - Κυρία Πρόεδρε, η δημόσια τηλεόραση αποτελεί κατάκτηση του ελληνικού λαού. Ενίσχυσε την ποιότητα της δημοκρατίας, προσέφερε αντικειμενική ενημέρωση, κράτησε πολιτική, πολιτιστική, κοινωνική συντροφιά σε εκατομμύρια πολίτες μέσα και έξω από τη χώρα . Δεν φιμώνεται, δεν εκβιάζεται, δεν απαλλοτριώνεται, δεν πρέπει να κλείσει. Αυτή πρέπει να είναι η απάντηση του Ευρωπαϊκού Κοινοβουλίου. Άλλο σημαίνει "νοικοκύρεμα", το οποίο μπορεί να είναι αναγκαίο, και άλλο "μαύρο στην οθόνη", που αποτελεί ταφόπλακα για την ελεύθερη, δημοκρατική, δημόσια ενημέρωση.

Το Ευρωπαϊκό Κοινοβούλιο πρέπει να στείλει ένα ξεκάθαρο μήνυμα σήμερα, ότι δεν υιοθετεί τις εκβιαστικές πρακτικές που ακολούθησε ο κ. Σαμαράς, ότι στέκεται δίπλα στους εργαζόμενους, ότι στηρίζει τη δημόσια πληροφόρηση, ότι το κλείσιμο της ΕΡΤ αποτελεί ένα κτύπημα στην καρδιά της Δημοκρατίας και ότι καλεί την ελληνική κυβέρνηση να αναθεωρήσει την απαράδεκτη και προκλητική της απόφαση. Ανοιχτή ΕΡΤ σημαίνει ενίσχυση, στήριξη των δημόσιων μέσων μαζικής ενημέρωσης σε όλη την Ευρώπη.

  Marielle de Sarnez (ALDE). - Madame la Présidente, deux mots pour dire, premièrement, que je regrette l'attitude de la Commission, qui a donné le sentiment, au fond, de se laver un peu les mains de ce qui se passait en Grèce.

Je pense – Doris Pack l'a très bien dit – que ce problème ne concerne pas que les Grecs et le gouvernement grec, mais bien tout le monde. C'est une décision qui est attentatoire au droit, mal inspirée et, de surcroît, stupide, parce que ce n'est pas comme cela que l'on s'y prend quand on doit réformer. C'est même exactement le contraire de ce qu'il faut faire quand on doit réformer. C'est le premier point.

Deuxièmement, tous les regards se sont tournés vers l'Union européenne parce que tout le monde s'est demandé si cela n'avait pas été une demande de cette fameuse troïka. Personnellement, je vous dis que cela doit nous faire réfléchir à quelque chose. On ne peut plus continuer avec une troïka qui est, au fond, complètement anonyme. Personne ne sait qui compose cette troïka, quels sont les visages qui la composent. Personne parmi les peuples européens ne sait au juste ce que la troïka dit exactement. Les Grecs se sont dit: "Peut-être est-ce à cause de la troïka". Mais s'ils savaient, s'il n'y avait pas d'opacité, si on avait une nouvelle manière de réinventer un partenariat et une solidarité, y compris avec les pays en difficulté, peut-être que ceci n'arriverait plus demain.

Voilà ce que je demande à la Commission.

  Tarja Cronberg (Verts/ALE). - Madam President, closing a national broadcasting company is an act of political symbolism at a time when the people are suffering under austerity. Many are hungry, the young are unemployed, and public sector reform which is supported by the EU should also consider the stability of society and be selective in its choices.

  Paul Murphy (GUE/NGL). - Madam President, the dictatorial closure of the ERT, the shutting down of the broadcaster’s TV and radio stations, the sacking of 2 650 workers all represents a dictatorial attack on workers’ rights and conditions and on basic democratic rights. It comes after the government has declared every major strike in the last six months to be illegal and has tried to force workers to go to work.

It is another sign of the arrogant and dictatorial nature of this government. The Samaras-led coalition, the capitalist class it represents, will use any means at its disposal to pursue the class war which it is waging against the Greek people, regardless of whether that means tearing up the constitution. All of this is, in reality, fully backed up by the gangsters in the troika.

I salute the working people in Greece who occupy the buildings, who organise mass protests, who went on strike. I wish them well in building a movement to force the Samaras government back; that can lay the basis for bringing this government down, replacing it with a genuine left-wing government, tearing up the memorandum, refusing to pay the debt and implementing Socialist policies, to have real change in Greece.

  Andreas Mölzer (NI). - Frau Präsidentin! Wir alle wissen, dass Verschwendung und Misswirtschaft in staatlichen Unternehmungen gang und gäbe sind, und das nicht nur in südlichen Staaten wie Griechenland. Das kennen wir durchaus auch aus Mitteleuropa, etwa auch aus meinem Heimatland Österreich.

Es ist aber doch so, dass der Sparzwang, dem die Griechen unter Aufsicht der Troika unterworfen werden, seltsame Blüten treibt. Die Schließung des staatlichen Senders ist eine dieser kuriosen Folgen eines Sparzwangs, der in erster Linie die Bevölkerung trifft und ihr wirklich schwere Lasten auferlegt und ihr nunmehr auch die öffentliche Information genommen hat. Die Griechen sind insgesamt wirklich Opfer einer Krise, wobei das viele Geld, das von Seiten anderer Staaten nach Griechenland geflossen ist, offenbar nur in die Bankenrettung geflossen ist und nicht zu den Menschen.

Öffentlich-rechtliche Sender sind natürlich etwas Wichtiges, sie laufen aber auch immer wieder Gefahr, Regierungsverlautbarungssender zu werden. Darum sollte man darauf achten, dass er das nicht wird, wenn man einen neuen öffentlich-rechtlichen Sender für Griechenland gründet.

(Fine degli interventi su richiesta – "catch the eye")

  Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-President of the Commission. − Madam President, this debate has very clearly demonstrated how complex and sensitive the issue we are dealing with is. Therefore I would just like to insist again that the Commission has not called for the closure of any particular entity in the context of the second economic adjustment programme for Greece.

The reform of the Greek public administration is a key element of the programme, with a very clear focus on efficiency and effectiveness. This involves not only closures and dismissals, but also hiring, training, promotion and careers. But the specific decision on how to rationalise the public administration rests with the Greek Government.

The Commission understands the difficult situation of the ERT staff, and expects that the announced dismissals will be carried out in full accordance with the applicable legal framework and of course in full compliance with the Court’s ruling. We are also convinced that the EBU advice and the direct responsibility of the Deputy Minister should also help the process. We also agree with honourable Members on the importance of public broadcasting. The Greek authorities have announced that a new national broadcaster will be launched soon and this is positive news. The new entity has to be efficient and sustainable, but it also has to guarantee media pluralism.

Let me make one more general remark about the situation in Greece, because many honourable Members referred to the current developments. The efforts of the authorities and the citizens of Greece over the past three years have been enormous, as were the challenges facing the country. After a difficult 2012, when ultimately Greece gave a strong demonstration of its commitment to stay in the euro area, the conditions are gradually coming into place for a return of confidence.

The situation is much better now than it was a year ago. According to our spring forecast the recovery is expected to start by the turn of the year. Government bond spreads have fallen markedly in recent months and the June economic sentiment indicators stayed broadly at their May level when they showed sentiment up 16.5 points in one year to a five-year high.

Investors are showing renewed interest, also attracted by the significant improvement in the ease of doing business over the last year. Prices have started falling in recent months and inflation is well below the euro area average. This, together with an improved wage flexibility, is helping to restore the competitiveness of the Greek economy and the current account balance is clearly improving as well.

While, as I said, the situation is much more encouraging than a year ago, it is also very essential to keep the reform momentum. There is clearly no room for complacency, and therefore we very much look forward to the positive conclusion of the ongoing review mission, which would further support this confidence.

Several honourable Members referred in their comments to the Troika, so let me just recall that the decision to create the current model of the three institutions – the Commission, the ECB and the IMF – called the Troika, was taken by the euro area Member States in the winter and spring of 2010. Many Member States insisted on having the IMF on board and we are working on the basis of this mandate as regards the current EU-IMF programmes. It must be stressed that the decision on the adjustment programmes is not being taken by the Troika, nor the Commission, but unanimously by the euro area Member States.

  Vytautas Leškevičius, President-in-Office of the Council. − Madam President, I have taken good note of the range of views expressed in this afternoon’s debate. As I said at the outset, it would not be appropriate for me as a representative of the Council to respond to the various points that have been made in the course of the debate but what I can say is that we all have an interest in robust and free media.

However, decisions on the future organisation of the Greek broadcasting company are entirely a matter for the Greek Government, which is answerable to its electorate, and the Council has no role, nor does it have the right to express a view on the matter. Nonetheless, I have listened attentively to the views expressed this afternoon and have taken good note of the various opinions. I will make sure your opinions are brought to the attention of my colleagues in the Council.

  Doris Pack (PPE). - Frau Präsidentin! Ich hatte mich vorhin gemeldet. Ich finde es unangemessen, dass es einen Kollegen von dieser Seite dort gibt, der die Troika als Gangster bezeichnet hat. Ich bitte, dass Sie das rügen!

  Presidente. − Sì ha ragione, effettivamente è stata una definizione piuttosto disdicevole.

La discussione è chiusa.

Dichiarazioni scritte (articolo 149)

  Inês Cristina Zuber (GUE/NGL), por escrito. – O encerramento da empresa nacional grega de radiodifusão constitui um ato autoritário que contraria os direitos e a liberdade de informação do povo grego e constitui um atentado sem precedentes aos trabalhadores desta empresa de serviço público. Resulta das opções do governo grego e da troica, portanto da União Europeia, que tantas vezes se pronuncia a favor da liberdade de informação e comunicação. É um atentado contra a liberdade de expressão e contra o pluralismo nos meios de comunicação e informação. Tem como objetivo a privatização deste serviço público, atentado que está também a ser feito ao povo português através das contínuas tentativas de privatização da RTP, da RDP e da Lusa, e do despedimento dos seus trabalhadores. Estamos solidários com a luta do povo grego e dos trabalhadores da ERT.