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Woensdag 11 november 2015 - Brussel

14. Pakket "Europees semester" - jaarlijkse groeianalyse 2016 (debat)
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  President. – The next item is the debate on the Commission statement on the European Semester package – Annual Growth Survey 2016 (2015/2924(RSP)).

 
  
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  Valdis Dombrovskis, Vice-President of the Commission. Madam President, the Commission will soon publish its Autumn European Semester package, and this package will start the 2016 European Semester. I am very pleased to be here to outline the main points which are new and to discuss with you the key ideas that we are considering.

To engage with the European Parliament at a plenary debate even before the Annual Growth Survey is presented is one of the initiatives to increase democratic accountability that the Commission proposed in the Communication of 21 October on ‘Steps Towards Completing EMU’. As you will recall, the European Commission substantially streamlined the European Semester last year. To enable a more genuine dialogue with the Member States, the Commission published its Country Reports in February, three months before the country-specific recommendations were finalised. The recommendations have become fewer and more focused, and these changes have met with a mostly positive response.

The Commission’s Communication on ‘Completing Economic and Monetary Union’ proposed some further changes, in line with the Five Presidents’ Report. The autumn package will therefore include recommendations for the euro area, and there will be increased focus on employment and social matters.

This package has been prepared against a background of still moderate economic recovery. But the recovery is boosted by temporary factors and is subject to downside risk. Unemployment is still high in many Member States, with high numbers for long-term and youth unemployment. Macroeconomic imbalances are adjusting, but we need to continue to reduce high public and private debt. Divergence across countries is still large, and this shows in employment and poverty indicators.

The 2015 Annual Growth Survey, the first under the new Commission, recommended pursuing an economic and social policy based on three main pillars: a boost to investment; a renewed commitment to structural reforms; and the pursuit of fiscal responsibility. Since then, important steps have been taken both at EU and national level.

Member States continue to undergo fundamental and sometimes difficult structural reforms. The Commission has submitted initiatives aimed at restoring growth, improving convergence and promoting social fairness. The Investment Plan for Europe is operational. Parliament and Council adopted in record time the European Fund for Strategic Investment. The Commission has made ambitious proposals to strengthen economic governance. These cover the operation of the European Semester; the macroeconomic imbalances procedure; banking union; and strengthening the social dimension, while reinforcing transparency and democratic legitimacy.

Moreover, the EU Internal Market is being strengthened through a new Internal Market Strategy, and Action Plans for a Digital Single Market and Energy Union. All these tools and instruments must now be fully deployed and deliver concrete results for our citizens.

Given the economic and social situation in Europe, the three main priorities of the previous Annual Growth Survey remain valid. Of course they need to be updated to take account of the progress made, notably in the Investment Plan, as well as of the new challenges that have emerged, including the refugee crisis.

Concerted action on reforms both at the EU and national level is needed to rekindle investment, foster economies that are both competitive and fair, and to run responsible public finances, and we hope that this year’s Annual Growth Survey and European Semester will contribute to these objectives.

 
  
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  Burkhard Balz, im Namen der PPE-Fraktion. Frau Präsidentin, Herr Vizepräsident! Als Europäische Volkspartei begrüßen wir die heutige Debatte zum Europäischen Semester. Das Europäische Parlament will der Kommission gern ein paar Botschaften mit auf den Weg geben, bevor der neue Jahreszyklus zum Semester in der kommenden Woche beginnen wird.

Wir begrüßen, dass die Ideen der Kommission zur Feinabstimmung des Europäischen Semesters den rechtlichen Rahmen der europäischen Verträge berücksichtigen. Wir begrüßen auch, dass die Kommission jetzt deutlich erklärt hat, die bestehenden Haushaltsregeln anzuwenden und vor allen Dingen durchzusetzen. Aber wir werden auch genau darauf achten, dass die Kommission dieses Versprechen im Semester 2016 auch halten wird.

Wir wollen den Fokus des Semesters auf den wirtschaftspolitischen Faktoren unterstreichen, denn wo die wirtschaftliche Basis und die Arbeitsmarktpolitik stimmen, da entwickeln sich auch die Beschäftigungs- und Sozialindikatoren positiv. So sehen wir auch die bislang positive wirtschaftliche Entwicklung in Programmländern wie Portugal, die große Anstrengungen unternommen haben und bei denen die Wirtschaft dank strenger Reformen unter christdemokratischer Regierung stetig aufwärtsging.

Den Vorschlag der Kommission, eine Eurozonenbetrachtung einzuführen, können wir nicht uneingeschränkt teilen. Eine Betrachtung auf Eurozonenebene darf nicht die nationale Verantwortung der einzelnen Mitgliedstaaten verringern oder gar abschwächen. Und um die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit in Gesamteuropa zu stärken, müssen manche Länder im Moment mehr leisten als andere. Daher begrüßen wir die Einrichtung von nationalen Wettbewerbsräten. Auch ein unabhängiger Sachverständigenrat kann sicherlich hilfreich sein, wenn sein Mandat darauf ausgerichtet ist, gerade dort nachzuhaken, wo bekanntermaßen am dringendsten die Wirtschafts- und Reformpolitik verbessert werden muss.

Wir geben der Kommission daher einen Auftrag für diesen Semesterzyklus mit: Packen Sie die Probleme an den Wurzeln an! Bleiben Sie sich als Hüterin der Verträge treu! Und wenden Sie die Haushaltsregeln an, wie wir sie gemeinsam geschaffen haben! So kann der neue Semesterprozess gut beginnen.

 
  
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  Maria João Rodrigues, on behalf of the S&D Group. Madam President, I would like to say to the Vice-President that it is very important at this time for Parliament to express its concerns on the economic and social priorities for the European Union over the next year.

Yes, there are some signs of recovery, but it is still a mild recovery. My question is about the strategy to foster growth in Europe. We can see that, so far, this strategy is mainly led by exports. We do, of course, need to have a competitive economy, but we believe that this is also the right moment to invest more in domestic demand. We need to foster European domestic demand. This means, first of all, pushing for more private and public investment. It also means encouraging consumption, particularly among the middle classes and those who are more impoverished.

So we are calling for a new policy mix where investment is really at the top, where reforms are needed. But the reforms should focus mainly on growth potential, innovation, education and energy transition, making sure, too, that we can keep sustainable social welfare systems. To add to this policy mix, we should also focus on reducing social inequalities. This means a very active social policy. We think that fiscal consolidation should indeed be pursued, but in such a way that it is consistent with these previous goals.

I would say that this new policy mix should be particularly rigorously applied in the euro area, and that is why we need to reduce the macroeconomic and macro-social imbalances which we have in the euro area and which are undermining its long-term sustainability. Parliament will be very active all through this cycle of the European Semester. We will come forward with a strong and clear position before the Spring European Council, but we are also concerned by the recent package presented by the Commission, because we think that Parliament should be more involved when designing the new instruments – competitiveness boards, the European Fiscal Board, the way for the euro area to manage its external representation and, finally, the way to conduct the European Semester with a proper interinstitutional agreement.

 
  
  

PRESIDE: RAMÓN LUIS VALCÁRCEL SISO
Vicepresidente

 
  
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  Stanisław Ożóg, w imieniu grupy ECR. Panie Przewodniczący! Szanowni Państwo! Komisja Europejska usprawniła już w pewien sposób semestr europejski poprzez zmiany w kalendarzu analiz i dyskusji nad sytuacją gospodarczą w strefie euro i całej Unii.

Kolejne kroki mają na celu pogłębioną integrację gospodarczą i fiskalną. Nowy semestr europejski ma również bardziej koncentrować się na aspektach społecznych i zatrudnienia, a centralną rolę mieliby odegrać partnerzy społeczni. Popieram fakt, że Komisja zamierza w ten sposób regularnie koncentrować się również na ocenie skutków społecznych w programach dostosowań makroekonomicznych. Niewątpliwie przyniesie to pozytywne skutki, jednak chciałbym przypomnieć, że semestr europejski jest przede wszystkim procesem wzmocnionej koordynacji polityk gospodarczych państw członkowskich, którego zasadniczym celem jest lepsze uwzględnienie wymiaru europejskiego w planowaniu krajowych strategii gospodarczych, a nie uczynienie decyzji leżących stricte w gestii państw członkowskich przedmiotem debaty i analizy na szczeblu europejskim.

Nie mogę pozbyć się wrażenia, że wszelkie niepowodzenia strefy euro i problemy wynikające z różnic w poszczególnych gospodarkach Unii podaje się jako przykład dalszej głębszej integracji. Komisja podaje za przykład Stany Zjednoczone, które na międzynarodowych forach gospodarczych i finansowych mówią jednym głosem.

Zwracając się do Szanownej Komisji – porównywanie Europy ze Stanami Zjednoczonymi jest zupełnie nie na miejscu. Przecież Stany Zjednoczone to jedno państwo, a Unia Europejska to dwadzieścia osiem suwerennych państw. O ile popieram lepszą koordynację polityk gospodarczych, szczególnie w państwach strefy euro, które posiadają wspólną walutę i są od siebie uzależnione, to nie mogę poprzeć planów Komisji dotyczących tworzenia kolejnych ponadnarodowych bytów, jak na przykład Europejska Rada Budżetowa.

 
  
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  El Presidente. – El señor Frunzulică ha presentado una «tarjeta azul», pero ocurre lo siguiente: quienes hasta ahora han intervenido ―y así será hasta la señora Kappel― lo han hecho en nombre de sus grupos.

Yo preferiría que las «tarjetas azules» se presentasen para formular una pregunta a los oradores que no hablan en nombre de sus grupos, sino a título personal.

Por lo tanto, concedo la palabra al señor Torvalds.

 
  
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  Nils Torvalds, för ALDE-gruppen. Herr talman, kommissionär Dombrovskis. Vi ser naturligtvis med en viss spänning fram emot de förslag som vi väntar från kommissionen. Spänningen beror inte minst på att vi under den senaste sessionen i Strasbourg behandlade egentligen motsvarande fråga från förra året, och det visar sig där att vår tendens att ideologisera frågor ledde till att vi inte kunde komma överens om innehållet.

Men som vi vet är makroekonomi ingen exakt vetenskap och därför ska jag i det följande koncentrera mig på två olika frågor. Den första frågan handlar egentligen inte om makroekonomi, utan om ett medicinskt problem. Europeiska unionen och framför allt rådet tycks lida av någon sorts schizofreni i den här saken. Reglerna för den europeiska planeringsterminen godkänns av rådet. Därefter ger rådets medlemmar, dvs. medlemsstaterna, fullständigt blanka fan i att följa de beslut som de själva har fattat.

Vi trodde att vi hade nått botten i den här utvecklingen när vi upplevde att endast nio medlemsstater på något sätt hade lyckats uppfylla de här råden. Men senare visade det sig att vi följande år var nere i sju. Den här sortens schizofreni i fråga om beslutsprocessen måste vi på något sätt klara av.

Den andra frågan jag vill lyfta fram kunde egentligen beskrivas med ordet asymmetri. Det som vi upplever i nästan alla beslut är att de 28 medlemsländerna i många hänseenden är oerhört olika. Men samtidigt finns det en tendens både inom parlamentet och inom kommissionen och rådet att fatta beslut utgående från den gamla och dåliga regeln om att samma storlek på strumpbyxan ska duga för alla.

Det är en dålig utgångspunkt. Vi måste lära oss att de asymmetriska krafterna i Europeiska unionen är oerhört kraftiga och att vi måste klara av att fatta beslut som jämkar samman dessa asymmetriska tendenser på ett sätt som gör att den här unionen håller ihop. Och att vi inte behöver höra alltför många utrop från till exempel Storbritannien om att de önskar lämna oss. Den sortens diskussioner behöver vi inte i det här sammanhanget.

 
  
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  Fabio De Masi, im Namen der GUE/NGL-Fraktion. Herr Präsident! Dieser Satz ist nicht von mir, sondern vom französischen Star- Ökonomen Thomas Piketty: Das Europäische Semester ist ein europäisches Desaster! Es wird ohnehin kaum umgesetzt, und das ist auch gut so, sonst wäre die Situation in der Eurozone noch schlimmer. Seit der Krise wurden Staatsausgaben und Löhne gekürzt, die Arbeitslosigkeit ist aber gestiegen. Die Eurozone verharrt in der Depression und die öffentlichen Schulden sind explodiert, statt zu sinken. Die Geldpolitik ist am Limit und verpufft. Wenn diese Politik ein naturwissenschaftliches Experiment wäre, dann müssten die Dijsselbloens und Schäubles jetzt alle einpacken und nach Hause gehen. Das Experiment ist gescheitert.

Jedes Jahr redet die Kommission einen Aufschwung herbei, nur: Die Bevölkerung sieht ihn nicht. Mit dem Problem in China schmilzt auch die Hoffnung auf einen exportgetriebenen Aufschwung wie Eis im Sommer. Mit dem Bericht der fünf Präsidenten soll diese verrückte Politik fortgesetzt werden: Wettbewerbsausschüsse sollen in die Tarifautonomie eingreifen, Löhne sollen sinken, bis alle Exportweltmeister sind. Aber jedes Kind versteht: Es können nicht alle gleichzeitig Exportweltmeister sein. Der Euro droht an dieser Politik zu zerbrechen. Überall wird diese Politik abgewählt – in Griechenland, in Portugal – ,und das ist auch gut so. Herr Juncker sagte vor dem griechischen Referendum, ein Nein zu dieser verrückten Politik sei mit dem Euro unvereinbar. Ich möchte ihm mit Bertolt Brecht antworten: Wenn den Regierenden das Volk nicht passt, sollen sie sich ein neues wählen.

 
  
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  Philippe Lamberts, au nom du groupe Verts/ALE. – Monsieur le Président, bienvenue Monsieur le Vice-président Dombrovskis, je vous ai écouté avec beaucoup d'attention. Je ne perçois pas grand-chose de neuf dans votre discours, mais si j'écoute bien les signaux faibles, j'entends à plusieurs reprises l'adjectif ou le substantif "social". Et je suis donc curieux de prendre connaissance du contenu du paquet d'automne.

Puisque vous en parlez et que votre patron veut que l'Union européenne soit gratifiée d'un rating triple A pour sa politique sociale – et on en est loin –, je voudrais faire quelques suggestions. En matière de lutte contre la pauvreté – vous l'avez noté –, les résultats ne sont pas très réjouissants; or en matière de lutte contre les inégalités, vous avez des instruments à disposition dans le Semestre. Aujourd'hui, votre répondez qu'il faut continuer à déréguler les marchés du travail, parce que finalement on permet à ceux qui sont les exclus du marché du travail d'y entrer plus facilement. Mais le résultat, c'est surtout que ceux qui ont un travail voient leurs conditions de travail, salariales et non salariales, se dégrader tout simplement du fait d'une plus grande compétition entre travailleurs.

Ce que vous pourriez faire, c'est plutôt décider d'axer vos recommandations sur les instruments fiscaux, parce que l'instrument fiscal est le premier instrument de redistribution. Si vous voulez vraiment lutter efficacement contre la pauvreté, c'est peut-être cette orientation qu'il faut prendre. Ne me dites pas que la politique fiscale n'est pas une compétence de l'Union européenne, parce que j'ai déjà vu dans beaucoup de recommandations spécifiques par pays des recommandations sur le système fiscal. Et donc plutôt que de vous acharner sur la compétition sur le marché du travail, vous pourriez dire: "J'encourage les États membres, en effet, à instaurer un tax shift des revenus du travail vers d'autres formes de revenus", mais il faut faire attention parce que, si vous dites "des revenus du travail vers la TVA", c'est à nouveau les classes les plus faibles de la société qui s'en ressentent.

Vous pourriez donc peut-être mettre l'accent sur la question de la progressivité de l'impôt. Nous assistons depuis des décennies en Europe à une réduction de la progressivité de l'impôt sur les revenus. Peut-être y a-t-il quelque chose à faire de ce côté qui vous permettrait en tout cas de recommander aux États membres une plus grande justice sociale.

Même chose en matière de compétitivité, ce n'est pas un vilain mot! Je vous ai entendu parler de relancer l'investissement. Les deux domaines dans lesquels l'investissement est absolument nécessaire si nous voulons être compétitifs, ce sont l'efficacité énergétique et l'efficacité des ressources – autrement dit, pour la même unité de produit intérieur brut, nous devrions consommer à la fois moins d'énergie et moins de ressources que nos concurrents. C'est une question de plus grande indépendance de l'Europe, dont on sait qu'elle est pauvre en ressources et en énergie, mais aussi une condition de compétitivité. Ce serait bien de retrouver cela dans vos recommandations, puisque la Commission européenne parle beaucoup d'économie circulaire, cela dit, je n'ai pas encore vu beaucoup d'actions.

Je voudrais terminer par deux pays spécifiques, il me reste une minute. Premièrement l'Allemagne: la Commission Barroso II avait une fois de plus protégé l'Allemagne en évitant que les excédents excessifs ne soient vraiment ciblés par la procédure de déséquilibre macroéconomique. Aujourd'hui, où en sommes-nous? 8,4 % prévus par l'Ifo en termes d'excédents commerciaux de l'Allemagne. J'espère que la procédure de déséquilibre macroéconomique va pointer du doigt l'insuffisance de la demande intérieure allemande et demander à l'Allemagne qu'elle rééquilibre définitivement sa balance des paiements. Un excédent de 8,4 % est complètement insensé sur le plan macroéconomique.

Deuxièmement, je voudrais dire un tout petit mot sur la Grèce, avant tout à l'intention de nos collègues. Je crois qu'il est important, en termes de légitimité démocratique, que notre Parlement suive de près ce qui se passe au niveau de l'exécution du programme d'assistance à la Grèce. Et je crois qu'il faut arrêter de tergiverser. Nous avons une commission économique et monétaire, une commission de l'emploi et une commission REGI. Réunissons-les et convoquons – je n'ai pas d'autre mot – non seulement la Commission européenne, mais aussi l'Eurogroupe, le Mécanisme européen de stabilité et la Grèce pour que nous puissions juger nous-mêmes des enjeux actuels de l'exécution du plan.

 
  
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  Marco Valli, a nome del gruppo EFDD. Signor Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, ringrazio anch'io per l'opportunità di avere questo dialogo, perché è importantissimo cercare di capire quale potrà essere il futuro di quest'Europa e di questa governance.

Per quanto ci riguarda, quest'Europa ha profondamente fallito perché ha messo al centro della propria ideologia economica il profitto e non l'uomo e, quindi, non tutta la situazione economica e sociale, che si sta disgregando. La democrazia sta reagendo in modo violento e stiamo vedendo come, appunto, si sta cercando di ribellare a quella che è un'imposizione tecnocratica che sta arrivando dalla Commissione europea e dagli Stati membri, che ascoltano solo le lobby finanziarie quando dicono loro di fare un certo tipo di riforme – ho in mente le riforme nel mondo del lavoro, che stanno ulteriormente allargando la forchetta sociale e le disparità: abbiamo sempre più ricchi e sempre più poveri o sfruttati.

Questa è la situazione attuale, e non vedo riforme interessanti, ad esempio in ambito fiscale: i paesi con condotte immorali continuano in tal senso dimostrando una volontà veramente scarsa di procedere verso una vera giustizia fiscale, e questo perché, appunto, si fanno ancora gli interessi delle multinazionali.

Questa impostazione neoliberista non sta funzionando e vi crollerà sulla testa proprio perché, togliendo la sovranità economica e monetaria ai paesi, state sottraendo la possibilità di decidere del proprio futuro, di poter fare manovre economiche che possano aiutare veramente a uscire dalla crisi.

La direzione che sta prendendo la Commissione sulla deregulation finanziaria è pazzesca. Abbiamo un sistema che rischia di implodere e andiamo avanti con sistemi che si sono dimostrati fallimentari, come l'utilizzo di prodotti finanziari per rilanciare l'economia invece che regolamentare seriamente la finanza, fare una vera riforma bancaria strutturale che separi le banche d'affari dalle banche commerciali.

Queste sono le riforme che andrebbero fatte, ma vengono accantonate perché ci sono degli interessi lobbistici che, ripeto, allargano la forchetta e quando ci saranno tante persone povere che si lamentano, ripeto, vi cadrà tutto sulla testa e appunto la democrazia reagirà in modo violento.

Quindi dobbiamo assolutamente cambiare dogma per riuscire a mettere davanti l'uomo e non l'interesse del profitto. Questo è il problema: non puntare al profitto, ma all'interesse della società, dei poveri e di chi sta male.

 
  
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  Barbara Kappel, im Namen der ENF-Fraktion Herr Präsident! Danke, Herr Kommissar. Das Europäische Semester zur Koordinierung der Wirtschaftspolitik wurde vor vier Jahren gemeinsam mit der Strategie Europa 2020 eingeführt und es ist bei der Implementierung genauso wenig effektiv wie diese Strategie. Sicherlich war es gut gemeint, und es ist wichtig, die Wirtschaftspolitik zu koordinieren, nur: Die wirtschaftspolitische Praxis Europas zeigt uns, dass offenbar das Europäische Semester kein wirklich effektives Steuerungselement für die Koordinierung der Wirtschaftspolitik ist.

Mit review habe ich erwähnt, dass die Bilanz der Strategie Europa 2020; ernüchternd ist: Die Arbeitslosigkeit ist weiterhin hoch – 9,8 % in Europa, das wissen wir aus der Herbstprognose der Kommission –, die Investitionen in Forschung und Entwicklung sind zu niedrig und auch bei der Armutsbekämpfung ist man nicht wirklich weitergekommen, hier war das Ziel der 2020-Strategie, die Anzahl der von Armut bedrohten Personen auf knapp unter 100 Millionen zu senken. Davon sind wir weit entfernt.

Ebenso ernüchternd ist die Bilanz des Europäischen Semesters: Die länderspezifischen Empfehlungen werden nur zu elf Prozent eingehalten. Wir haben es gehört: Neun Mitgliedsländer von 28 machen das. Die Überprüfung des Verfahrens bei makroökonomischen Ungleichgewichten schreckt wenige Mitgliedsländer davon ab, solche makroökonomischen Ungleichgewichte passieren zu lassen. Dasselbe gilt für mögliche Maßnahmen im Zusammenhang mit einem Defizitverfahren. Auch hier kann festgestellt werden: Manche machen es sich leichter. Krisenländer, vormalige Krisenländer, die bei der Umsetzung von den Strukturreformen erfolgreich waren, die schaffen es. Das haben wir heute auch schon gehört, die Herbstprognose der Europäischen Kommission hat es aufgezeigt: Nehmen Sie Irland, nehmen Sie Spanien und Portugal, hier ist man auf Wachstumskurs, hier geht es wieder nach oben, weil die Strukturreformen umgesetzt wurden. Das wird in anderen Ländern nicht getan – bedauerlicherweise –, und weil das nicht getan wird, wird es auch mit der Wirtschaft in Europa nicht aufwärts gehen. Ohne Strukturreformen, ohne wachstumsfreundliche Haushaltskonsolidierung wird es nicht weitergehen, wird es nicht das Wachstum geben, das Europa braucht, um wieder international auf die Überholspur zu kommen und erfolgreich zu sein und Beschäftigung zu schaffen.

 
  
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  Zoltán Balczó (NI). Elnök Úr, a 2016. évi növekedési jelentés a gazdasági kormányzásnak a része, és a tagállamok számára akarja a gazdaságpolitikát uniformizálni. 28 tagország számára kíván a Bizottság azonos célokat megfogalmazni. Idézek az októberi plenárison tárgyalt kérdésből, amelyet a Foglalkoztatási és Szociális Bizottság nyújtott be: „A tagállamok társadalmi, gazdasági és költségvetési körülményeik szempontjából rendkívül eltérőek.” „Milyen rugalmasságra van lehetőség a nemzeti költségvetési szabályokon belül?” Már hallom a választ, hogy majd jönnek az országspecifikus ajánlások. Egy másik jelentés bizonyította, hogy ezeket a tagországok nem tartják be, mert nem a valódi problémáikra ad választ. Ezért ki kell jelentenem, hogy a gazdasági kormányzás európai szemesztere egy kényszerzubbony a tagállamok számára. Nem biztosítja a kellő mozgásteret a valóban országspecifikus gazdasági döntések számára.

 
  
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  Paulo Rangel (PPE). Senhor Presidente, começaria por saudar o Vice-Presidente Dombrovskis e este trabalho da Comissão nas perspetivas do Semestre Europeu para 2016 e, designadamente, o enfoque que faz na questão, em particular, do crescimento, das reformas estruturais e dos efeitos sociais que, obviamente, a tomada destas medidas em conjunto tem sobre os diferentes Estados-Membros.

Gostava de saudar todo esse trabalho que foi feito; dizer que, em geral, estou de acordo com as orientações da Comissão e, em particular, com aquelas que apontam para a ideia de que todo este trabalho deve ser feito com respeito pela consolidação orçamental.

Não queria, no entanto, deixar de chamar a atenção, neste exato momento, para a situação particular de Portugal, onde acaba de ser demitido pela Assembleia da República, com plena legitimidade, o Governo português, mas onde foi feito um acordo pelas forças da extrema-esquerda com o Partido Socialista, que põe em causa, tendo em conta os números que estão apresentados, o equilíbrio que, até agora, tem sido seguido em Portugal.

Estou extremamente preocupado com o aumento do consumo que vai ser feito de uma forma completamente desordenada e, portanto, nesse sentido, que podemos estar a pôr em risco todos os esforços que o povo português fez durante estes anos e que garantiram uma diminuição muito significativa do desemprego, um crescimento que, não sendo excecional, é relativamente já inspirador e, portanto, chamava a atenção da Comissão para que estes objetivos orçamentais e estes objetivos de política global sejam prosseguidos e que não se deve deitar fora todo o esforço que a população portuguesa fez ao longo destes quatro anos e que estava a ter resultados tão prometedores e inspiradores, deixando Portugal, aliás, fora já do procedimento de défice excessivo a partir de 2016.

Tudo isso está comprometido com os acordos feitos e, portanto, gostaria de chamar a atenção para esse ponto.

(O orador aceita responder a uma pergunta "cartão azul" (n.º 8 do artigo 162.º)).

 
  
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  Marisa Matias (GUE/NGL), Pergunta segundo o procedimento "cartão azul". Gostaria de aproveitar para perguntar ao colega Paulo Rangel se ele não sabe que o problema de Portugal é mesmo o desemprego, a falta de procura, a pobreza e a situação miserável a que o Governo nos trouxe com a ajuda das reformas estruturais; e que me explicasse, então, qual é a contradição entre melhorar os salários, melhorar o mercado de trabalho, melhorar a procura e o crescimento económico e desenvolvimento, porque se o Semestre Europeu tem como prioridade crescimento económico e desenvolvimento, diga-me como melhorar os salários, as pensões e a procura é contraditório com isso.

 
  
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  Paulo Rangel (PPE), Resposta segundo o procedimento "cartão azul". Parece-me que é evidente aquilo que pode acontecer. Repare, ninguém está contra um alívio na situação de austeridade. Só que a questão é uma questão de velocidade e de gradualismo.

Nós sabemos que, para o Bloco de Esquerda, que é um partido da esquerda radical, que é realmente um partido contra a União Europeia, tal como nós a concebemos, e contra o próprio euro, tal como nós o concebemos, que é um partido que não está preocupado com o défice, para quem se pode gastar, que acha que deve haver um perdão unilateral da dívida de 50 % ou 60 %, nada disto faça sentido.

Agora, para quem está comprometido com os objetivos europeus e com os objetivos estratégicos da União Europeia, é evidente que isto pode ser um desastre e nós não queremos que Portugal caminhe para o desastre e que volte à bancarrota em que esteve em 2011, que os socialistas já nos puseram lá e, agora, nos estão a prometer outra vez que vai acontecer.

 
  
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  Roberto Gualtieri (S&D). Signor Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, signor Vicepresidente Dombrovskis, come lei ha ricordato e come ci hanno detto le previsioni autunnali della Commissione europea, la ripresa economica nell'area euro e nell'Unione europea continuerà ad essere modesta. Nonostante il calo dei prezzi del petrolio e un valore relativamente debole dell'euro nei confronti delle altre principali valute internazionali, i tassi di crescita positivi che registriamo nelle nostre economie riescono a compensare le enormi perdite accumulate negli anni della crisi, ma non riescono a intaccare in misura sostanziale il deficit di investimenti ancora presente e a generare un consistente aumento del tasso di occupazione.

Alla luce di questa situazione è fondamentale intervenire con un policy mix adeguato, lo ha già ricordato la collega Maria João Rodrigues. Le giuste scelte di politica monetaria già attuate e quelle recentemente annunciate vanno sicuramente nella giusta direzione. Tuttavia, come lo stesso governatore Draghi ha più volte ricordato, gli stimoli monetari non possono da soli risolvere il problema di una crescita anemica. La disciplina fiscale e le riforme strutturali sono delle condizioni necessarie per ricostruire la fiducia degli investitori, attrarre investimenti dall'estero e migliorare la competitività del nostro sistema economico nei confronti del resto del mondo.

Tuttavia, affidarsi unicamente alla domanda estera per irrobustire la nostra crescita è estremamente rischioso. La storia, così come le difficoltà dei Brics negli ultimi mesi, ci insegnano che i sistemi economici diventano virtuosi solo se sono in grado di governare il proprio ciclo economico da soli, senza dipendere eccessivamente dalle oscillazioni della domanda mondiale. Questo significa lavorare per rilanciare tutte le componenti della domanda interna, sia i consumi che gli investimenti.

Alcuni paesi, con la presentazione delle rispettive leggi di stabilità, hanno dimostrato di volersi muovere lungo questa linea e a livello europeo molte cose sono state già fatte, penso ad esempio al piano Juncker, ma molto resta ancora da fare. Mi auguro che la Commissione mostri, quindi, il giusto grado di ambizione nella preparazione della prossima annual growth survey.

 
  
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  Anthea McIntyre (ECR). Mr President, the Commission’s work programme for 2016, encouragingly, states that it is not business as usual. Many challenges are still to be faced in terms of economic recovery and cutting unemployment. Commissioner Thyssen indicated yesterday that progress is not unified across the Member States, and I agree. The Five Presidents’ Report recognises that there is no one-size-fits-all solution, which is something I very much welcome.

The Commission has indicated its intention to develop a European pillar of social rights that takes into account the changing realities of Europe. It suggested that it start with the eurozone countries. That is, frankly, where it should stay. In his letter to Mr Tusk, the British Prime Minister outlined the two types of Europe – those that are inside the euro and those that are outside. The UK is outside, but we do not want to stand in the way of any measures that eurozone countries decide to take to secure the long-term future of their currency.

 
  
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  Cora van Nieuwenhuizen (ALDE). We hebben het al van meerdere sprekers gehoord: als je de economie wilt aanjagen en echt groei en banen wilt creëren, dan draait het om begrotingsdiscipline, dan draait het om structurele hervormingen en dan heb je een monetair beleid ter beschikking. We zien nu dat Mario Draghi met de ECB iedere maand 60 miljard aan een soort financiële groeihormonen in de economie pompt. Dat geeft wel wat verlichting, maar het is eigenlijk hetzelfde als een bodybuilder die groeihormonen neemt. Op het oog ziet het er allemaal wel wat beter uit, maar wanneer je ermee wilt stoppen, dan blijft er niets over als je niet daadwerkelijk echt getraind en flink aan je lijf gewerkt hebt. Met andere woorden: we redden het niet met alleen het monetaire verruimingsbeleid van de ECB.

Ik wil er dan ook bij de commissaris op aandringen de teugels niet te laten vieren, noch ten aanzien van de strakke begrotingsdiscipline, noch ten aanzien van de structurele hervormingen. Dat kunnen we ons simpelweg niet veroorloven. Als we nu niet doorpakken, dan was alle moeite voor niets. Net nu de eerste signalen erop wijzen dat het ietsje beter gaat, lijkt men in Portugal en andere landen te denken: ach, het kan wel een tandje minder. In Italië heeft Matteo Renzi uitspraken gedaan over het feit dat die hervormingen politiek onhandig zijn. Dat kan allemaal wel zo zijn, maar als we echt weer economische groei willen creëren, dan zijn ze onvermijdelijk en zullen alle landen ze moeten doorvoeren.

 
  
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  Marisa Matias (GUE/NGL). Senhor Vice-Presidente, bem, antes de mais, gostaria de vos acalmar um pouco. Não é preciso estarem preocupados com o que se está a passar em Portugal, porque o que se está a passar em Portugal é democracia e não devia causar estranheza na casa da democracia.

Relativamente ao Semestre Europeu, ele é, em si mesmo, contraditório e traz contradições profundas. Gostaria de dizer, Senhor Vice-Presidente, se por acaso se desse ao trabalho de ouvir mas, como não dá, vou dizer na mesma, que, vinda de um país onde se aplicaram teoricamente as reformas estruturais e teve um aumento da dívida pública como nunca visto, é que tem que haver uma especial atenção ao emprego e às questões sociais. Mas não basta que o senhor o ponha no seu discurso e dizer que vai prestar essa especial atenção quando, ao mesmo tempo, diz que têm que ser aplicadas as reformas estruturais sem nenhuma alteração mínima de adaptação ao país e à circunstância de cada país.

Portanto, esta aplicação não é outra coisa senão a generalização de vínculos precários, salários baixíssimos, trabalhadores pobres, imigração. São essas as consequências sociais das reformas do mercado de trabalho, das reformas estruturais. Portanto, esta contradição tem que ser resolvida. Ou bem que é mais social, ou bem que há mais reformas estruturais. Não se pode é repetir as mesmas políticas sem ter em conta os resultados que elas têm tido.

 
  
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  Ernest Maragall (Verts/ALE). Señor Presidente, European Semester: lo usamos más para ejercer de observador-comentador que de corrector útil y gobierno común. Contemplamos la partida de ajedrez; le decimos a cada jugador lo que hace bien o lo que hace mal; sancionamos unos comportamientos, pero no otros; formulamos pronósticos que no siempre se confirman y recomendaciones que no siempre se cumplen. El déficit real que padecemos es de gobernanza económica europea, global, democrática, responsable.

Aquí todo parece seguir igual: tenemos un crecimiento moderado ―dicen―. Tenemos algún nuevo problema ―como el de los refugiados―, pero hay que seguir con la política de siempre: jobs and growth, reformas estructurales y equilibrio fiscal. Queremos creer ―parece― que basta con repetir el mantra de la austeridad para que todo se acabe resolviendo. Insistimos en la idea equivocada de que los problemas radican exclusivamente en los países donde aparecen síntomas concretos: los desequilibrios, los imbalances ―principalmente los déficits y el desempleo―; y en la idea también equivocada de que son dichos países los que deben y pueden resolverlos.

No hay déficit sin superávit simétrico ni deuda sin crédito equivalente. Un exceso de deuda supone un exceso de crédito equivalente. Insistir en reclamar el pago de lo que no se debería haber prestado acaba ahogando al deudor y arrastrando al acreedor.

Por ese motivo, las Naciones Unidas acaban de aprobar en septiembre los principios básicos para la reestructuración de la deuda soberana como única manera de romper los bucles perniciosos de «deuda, austeridad, más deuda, más austeridad».

Emitimos recomendaciones para cada país y ninguna para el gobierno en común: para los países, la Unión Europea es culpable; para la Unión Europea, lo son los países. ¿No ha llegado momento de reconocer que somos todos igualmente culpables y responsables?

Sin resolver las disparidades, un incremento de la demanda haría crecer los déficits y la deuda de los países menos competitivos. Si para contener estos desequilibrios mantenemos la austeridad globalmente, cae la demanda agregada y se dispara el desempleo. No saldremos de este bucle sin una política fiscal europea, tanto por el lado de los ingresos, hoy disminuidos por el dumping fiscal entre países, como por el del gasto diligentemente diseñado para aumentar la oferta allí donde hay desempleo.

Concluyo, pues, con tres ruegos: democratizar la gobernanza europea para ponerla al servicio de los ciudadanos, avanzar rápidamente hacia la unión fiscal y aplicar esta al servicio del pleno empleo como objetivo común y compartido.

 
  
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  Patrick O’Flynn (EFDD). Mr President, for all the grand talk about investment and structural reform, the truth is this: that the European Union countries in general have experienced another year of paltry growth and are failing to tackle mass unemployment and, particularly, sky-high youth unemployment.

To the extent that the vista ahead is any less bleak, the prime cause is not a sound basis for long-term progress; it is the belated application of quantitative easing across the euro area and the accompanying weakening of the euro. A few years ago one pound sterling was worth only EUR 1.10. Now it is worth EUR 1.40, and yet this exchange rate will surely merely further demonstrate the folly of holding so many divergent economies within a single currency. A somewhat weaker euro will tend to increase trade surpluses in Germany, while it will not be sufficient to stimulate recovery in Greece.

After 15 years of failure, it is surely not too early for supporters of the euro to admit it has been a calamity. It has failed for precisely the reasons we sceptics forecast. Weaker economies on lower productivity paths have had economic activity sucked out of them while stuck in a fixed exchange rate with Germany. Artificially cheap money, loaned under the misapprehension that the might of Germany stood behind the borrowings of others, has destabilised economies across the euro area.

Yet now you seem to want to integrate further to create a common treasury which will remove tax and spending decisions from national democratic control, and yet the productivity path of the southern periphery will still not match that of Germany. The southern countries lack the scale, the brands, the R&D budgets, the technical education, the smooth industrial relations, the communications infrastructure and the exceptional cultural reverence for work and organisation of Germany. You will need enormous and permanent transfer payments to compensate the weaker parts for living in this straitjacket, and yet the levels of social solidarity required for that will not be forthcoming. You will, I am afraid, have reawakened the latent national hostilities you hoped to banish and locked these countries into an age of economic stagnation. I am full of sorrow that you cannot see the folly of your ways.

 
  
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  Lorenzo Fontana (ENF). Signor Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, talvolta rimango stupito nel sentire che la cosa fondamentale da fare per rilanciare la nostra economia sono le riforme strutturali.

Sì, sicuramente ci sono degli sprechi che vanno tolti e tanto c'è da fare e da operare. Però sembra quasi che non ci vogliamo rendere conto che ci sono delle politiche, anche internazionali, che incidono sulla nostra economia: soprattutto in questo periodo l'abbiamo visto col fatto che l'euro si è abbassato, col fatto che la bolletta energetica si è abbassata, che il prezzo del petrolio è crollato, e questo ha dato sicuramente un po' di fiato alle nostre economie.

Ecco io non so se poi queste riforme strutturali daranno la possibilità di rilanciare l'economia europea, come si dice. Quello che so è che averle fatte e aver avuto l'austerità ha creato dei seri problemi soprattutto dal punto di vista della povertà, della disoccupazione, dell'aumento – soprattutto in quei paesi più in difficoltà da questo punto di vista – delle tasse, che poi hanno causato i fallimenti delle imprese e quindi hanno causato maggiore disoccupazione.

Ecco, ora quelle persone che hanno fatto queste grandi riforme strutturali ed economiche, e che ci hanno detto e ci hanno imposto di farle, adesso ci dicono che forse ci sarà un aumento nell'economia. Tra l'altro è curioso notare come i paesi dell'area euro cresceranno meno rispetto ai paesi dell'area esterna all'euro, e questo dovrebbe far riflettere gli euro-entusiasti, quelli che credono che la moneta unica sia la cosa più importante.

Io vi invito a riflettere anche su altre questioni. Per esempio le sanzioni alla Russia hanno creato un danno economico: forse sarebbe il caso di toglierle. Cosa si pensa di fare in relazione al fatto che la Cina vuole diventare economia di mercato? Attenzione, perché se la Cina avrà l'economia di mercato, questo significherà che avremo una concorrenza in certi settori che sarà devastante. E poi, per quanto riguarda il TTIP, qualcuno dice che servirà ad aumentare il nostro prodotto interno lordo, ma ne siamo proprio sicuri?

Io temo purtroppo, vedendo certe strategie dell'Unione europea, che questa sarà l'ennesima fregatura.

 
  
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  Κωνσταντίνος Παπαδάκης ( NI). Κύριε Πρόεδρε, οι φθινοπωρινές προβλέψεις της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης για ισχνούς ρυθμούς ανάκαμψης του ΑΕΠ στην ευρωζώνη και την Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση προοιωνίζουν για όλα τα κράτη μέλη μεγαλύτερη ένταση των αντιλαϊκών μέτρων, της επιτήρησης, των μνημονίων, των σαρωτικών αναδιαρθρώσεων.

Στόχος της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης και των κυβερνήσεων στο πλαίσιο του Ευρωπαϊκού Εξάμηνου είναι η ακόμα μεγαλύτερη μείωση της τιμής της εργατικής δύναμης για την ενίσχυση της καπιταλιστικής κερδοφορίας στον διεθνή ανταγωνισμό. Οι αποφάσεις της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης στο προσφυγικό επιδιώκουν να προμηθεύσουν τα ευρωπαϊκά μονοπώλια με πάμφθηνη εργατική δύναμη που έχουν ανάγκη αυτή την περίοδο.

Ταυτόχρονα στην Ελλάδα η κυβέρνηση με την απαλλαγή των επιχειρηματικών ομίλων από ασφαλιστικές εισφορές και άλλες επιβαρύνσεις, την ανακεφαλαιοποίηση των τραπεζών για να εξασφαλιστεί η χρηματοδότηση των μονοπωλίων, φορτώνει στις πλάτες του λαού ακόμα μεγαλύτερη και εξοντωτική φορολογία των εργατών, των αυτοαπασχολούμενων, των μικρομεσαίων αγροτών, με κατεδάφιση του ασφαλιστικού συστήματος, πλειστηριασμούς και εξώσεις από την πρώτη κατοικία των εργατικών λαϊκών οικογενειών. Η αυριανή απεργία στην Ελλάδα αποτελεί απάντηση εφ όλης της ύλης και βήμα κλιμάκωσης για την ανάκτηση απωλειών στην κατεύθυνση της συνολικής ανατροπής.

 
  
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  Markus Ferber (PPE). Herr Präsident, Herr Vizepräsident der Kommission, liebe Kolleginnen, liebe Kollegen! Zunächst einmal freue ich mich auf die Arbeit in den nächsten Monaten. Ich habe die Ehre, für die EVP-Fraktion den Jahreswachstumsbericht des kommenden Jahres und alle daraus resultierenden Maßnahmen im Rahmen des Semesters begleiten zu dürfen.

Wir müssen drei Punkte besonders im Auge behalten: erstens das Finanzierungsumfeld verbessern. Die Herbstprognose der Generaldirektion ECFIN zeigt, dass das Wirtschaftswachstum moderat steigen wird. Das heißt, es sind weitere Maßnahmen notwendig, damit wir zu einer weiteren Verbesserung beim Wachstum kommen. Es sind Maßnahmen am Kapitalmarkt notwendig. Hier gilt es insbesondere natürlich, die Kapitalmarktunion auch zügig umzusetzen, und es geht darum, Bankenunion und Bankenfinanzierungsfragen anzugehen, um ein günstiges Refinanzierungsumfeld zu schaffen.

Zum Zweiten – das will ich schon einmal im Widerspruch zu vielen Kollegen hier im Hause sagen – sind Strukturreformen notwendig. Wir müssen uns von der Vorstellung lösen, dass der Staat alles liefern kann, was die Menschen nur erwarten, ohne dass auch ein Beitrag dazu geleistet wird, oder dass die Staaten nicht mehr in der Lage sind, sich an den Kapitalmärkten zu refinanzieren. Deswegen ist das Stichwort Strukturreformen und Wettbewerbsfähigkeit wichtig. Wir müssen aber auf der anderen Seite auch aufpassen, dass wir nicht einen Qualitätswettbewerb nach unten haben. Wenn also freie Berufe – in Deutschland zum Beispiel – infrage gestellt werden, habe ich auch kein Verständnis dafür.

Und wir brauchen eine glaubwürdige und verantwortungsvolle Haushaltspolitik, damit sichergestellt ist, dass die Regeln des Stabilitäts- und Wachstumspakts eingehalten werden. Ich hoffe, dass Portugal hier genau angeschaut wird. Ich wünsche mir aber auch, dass Frankreich endlich mal deutlich angeschaut wird – Frankreich, das seit vielen Jahren gegen den Stabilitäts- und Wachstumspakt verstößt und nicht in der Lage ist, die selbstgegebenen Ziele zu erreichen. Hier muss entsprechend eingegriffen werden.

(Der Redner ist damit einverstanden, eine Frage nach dem Verfahren der „blauen Karte“ gemäß Artikel 162 Absatz 8 der Geschäftsordnung zu beantworten.)

 
  
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  Bernd Lucke (ECR), Frage nach dem Verfahren der „blauen Karte“. Herr Kollege Ferber! Ich habe gehört, Sie halten Maßnahmen für erforderlich, um das Wachstum in der Eurozone zu stimulieren. Ich wusste gar nicht, dass Sie einer Partei angehören, die solche zentralistisch-dirigistischen Konzepte verfolgt. Früher war es der Fall, dass man in Europa Wachstum hatte, ohne dass es Maßnahmen dafür gab. Heute ist es noch so, dass andere Regionen wachsen, ohne dass es staatliche Maßnahmen gibt. Aus welchem Grunde propagieren Sie das, statt sich einfach auf die Kräfte des freien Wettbewerbs und der Wettbewerbsfähigkeit der einzelnen Unternehmen zu konzentrieren?

 
  
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  Markus Ferber (PPE), Antwort auf eine Frage nach dem Verfahren der „blauen Karte“. Schauen Sie, Herr Kollege, das kann man natürlich auch anders verstehen. „Maßnahmen“ kann ja auch bedeuten, dass mal Dinge zurückgenommen werden, dass Marktkräfte freigesetzt werden. Ihre Interpretation des Begriffs Maßnahmen kann ich so nicht teilen. Ich will aber schon einmal darauf hinweisen, dass wir hier im Hause, in der Europäischen Kommission und natürlich auch in den diversen Hauptstädten eine Grundsatzfrage zu klären haben zwischen Angebotspolitik und Nachfragepolitik. Hier prallen ja immer beide Systeme ordentlich aufeinander. Es wird mir eine besondere Freude sein, das im Rahmen des Europäischen Semesters einmal durchzuexerzieren. Dabei baue ich natürlich auf die Unterstützung aller klugen Volkswirte dieser Erde, aber nur der klugen.

 
  
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  Elisa Ferreira (S&D). Senhor Presidente, lamento que não me tenha sido dada a possibilidade de falar quando o meu colega interveio, o Sr. Paulo Rangel…

but in the meantime I will speak in English for the benefit of the Commissioner.

My first sentence is just to confirm something. In spite of what party politics may inspire in my colleague, Paulo Rangel, I want to reassure you that the Socialist Party in Portugal has always been the most pro-European party and that the programme of the government that has been prepared as an alternative to the one that has just been dismissed complies fully with Portugal’s commitments in relation to Europe and, in particular, compliance in the governance framework.

This is a reassurance that I do not think any party politics should put in jeopardy, and I hope and trust that, if this government is brought to power with the support, in the Portuguese Parliament, of the parties on the left, this is considered as a normal, democratic procedure and that as Commissioner, you will be thinking and acting independently of party politics. So this is something I want to reassure you on, and I really regret that after such a dramatic, negative attack on democracy and on his own country, Mr Paulo Rangel just left the Hemicycle and is not here for a complete debate.

Having said that, I have other matters to which I would like to draw your attention. One of them is, necessarily, the need to reassess the other instruments, apart from monetary policy, that we can use to relaunch growth in Europe. This is somewhere where Europe is lagging behind when compared with the United States. The second is on the completion of banking union.

However, the fact that this terrible attack on my own country was prepared and made here in this Parliament has forced me to diverge from my previous organised speech. But I hope you will be sound and institutional in the assessment of democracy and its consequences in Europe.

(The speaker agreed to take a blue-card question under Rule 162(8))

 
  
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  Sofia Ribeiro (PPE), Pergunta segundo o procedimento "cartão azul". Bem, até este momento, nós não conhecemos em Portugal qualquer programa do Partido Socialista, ao contrário do que a Sra. Deputada disse.

Aquilo que eu gostaria de saber é muito simples: se as vossas linhas de ação, essas cinco que já foram apresentadas, aumentam as despesas públicas e diminuem a receita, como é que a Sra. Deputada pode garantir neste momento que nós, em Portugal, vamos manter o equilíbrio das contas públicas e que vamos cumprir as nossas obrigações europeias.

 
  
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  Elisa Ferreira (S&D), Resposta segundo o procedimento "cartão azul". Se está a falar do programa que o Partido Socialista apresentou e trabalhou, e que agora foi reajustado em função de um acordo legítimo, de acordo com os votos dos cidadãos portugueses, a Sra. Deputada tem de dizer aqui, e confirmar, que não põe minimamente em risco nem os compromissos relativamente ao cumprimento do Pacto de Estabilidade e Crescimento, nem os compromissos relativamente ao MTO. Essa foi a baliza fundamental na qual todas as propostas foram trabalhadas, e foram trabalhadas com detalhe, que nunca existiu nem existe no programa do PPE, e não existe nem existiu no programa da coligação para Portugal. E isso é que é lamentável, é que os senhores falem de política […]

(O Presidente retirou a palavra à oradora.)

 
  
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  Bernd Lucke (ECR). Herr Präsident, Herr Kommissar Dombrovskis! Ich habe Sie ja schon öfter reden hören. Aber ich muss sagen, ich höre immer wieder dasselbe von Ihnen. Manchmal habe ich fast den Eindruck, Sie nehmen immer dasselbe Manuskript, das Sie vorlesen, denn nie bekomme ich eine Antwort auf die Frage: Woran liegt es denn, dass die Eurozone nicht ordentlich wächst, woran liegt es denn, dass wir im sechsten Jahr nach der Krise immer noch vor uns hin dümpeln, während die Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika längst wieder im Aufschwung sind? Es liegt nicht am Wechselkurs, denn deer ist niedrig. Es liegt nicht am Erdöl, denn das ist billig. Es liegt nicht an den Zinsen, denn die sind niedrig. Es liegt nicht an den Rohstoffen, denn die sind billig. Die ganzen außenwirtschaftlichen Gründe zählen hier nicht. Was wir aber feststellen, ist, dass in der Europäischen Union, in der Eurozone, die Arbeitslosigkeit in manchen Ländern sehr hoch und in anderen sehr niedrig ist. Was wir feststellen, ist, dass die Schulden zum Teil sehr hoch und zum Teil sehr niedrig sind. Was wir feststellen, ist, dass die wirtschaftliche Aktivität zum Teil gut ist und zum Teil sehr schlecht ist. Herr Dombrovskis, es liegt daran, dass manche Länder wettbewerbsfähig sind und andere sind es weniger, manche sind produktiv und andere sind es weniger. Aber alle müssen im selben Markt wirtschaften, zu denselben Preisen und mit derselben Währung. Das kann nicht gutgehen! Wir müssen den Euro auflösen – nur so lösen wir die wirtschaftlichen Probleme Europas!

 
  
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  Antanas Guoga (ALDE). Mr President, since everyone is talking about Portugal, I will just put in my two cents as well. I think Social Democrats across Europe are in shock that a modern party has formed an alliance with the extreme left and the communists and people who are against NATO. Europe is in great danger, and I hope that you will take responsibility for your actions and that, in a few years from now, you will take responsibility and own up to what you have done. I think you have acted in bad faith.

Commissioner, I welcome the streamlined European Semester process, but I will never get tired of repeating that the single marketplace is of major importance in growth creation. We really need to make it happen. We need a single market pillar in the European Semester. I will be very specific: we need to press for full implementation of the Services Directive. Services can really bring us a lot of benefits. Structural reforms of products, services and labour markets in Member States are what will get us out of the crisis: better-functioning, less bureaucratic and more digital public sectors.

 
  
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  El Presidente. – Señora Ferreira, lamento no poder concederle la palabra porque hay muchos oradores inscritos.

Este Pleno tiene que terminar hoy, no mañana, y, por tanto, no es posible darle la palabra, sobre todo, porque este es un debate de ámbito general europeo, no de ámbito exclusivamente portugués.

 
  
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  Δημήτριος Παπαδημούλης ( GUE/NGL). Κύριε πρόεδρε, κύριε Dombrovskis η γενικόλογη ομιλία σας και η ισχνή και εύθραυστη ανάπτυξη δεν μπορεί να κρύψει τις μεγάλες αποτυχίες της μονομερούς λιτότητας που εφαρμόζετε χρόνια στην ευρωζώνη και τις μεγάλες αποκλίσεις. Αυξήθηκε η φτώχεια, αυξήθηκε η ανεργία, αυξήθηκαν οι ανισότητες, αυξήθηκε το δημόσιο χρέος, μειώθηκαν οι επενδύσεις. Και επειδή εδώ είμαστε για να απαντούμε συγκεκριμένα, σας ερωτώ: τα υπερβολικά πλεονάσματα της Γερμανίας, κύριε Dombrovskis, παραβιάζουν τους ευρωπαϊκούς κανόνες; Ναι ή όχι; Γιατί δεν αναλαμβάνει η Επιτροπή δράση και γι αυτά, όπως ασχολείται με τα υπερβολικά ελλείμματα; Λέτε να ενισχυθεί η διαφάνεια και δημοκρατική λογοδοσία και ο ρόλος του Ευρωπαϊκού Κοινοβουλίου. Τότε γιατί για τις προτάσεις που δημοσιεύσατε στις 21 Οκτωβρίου αρνείστε το ρόλο του Ευρωπαϊκού Κοινοβουλίου στην υλοποίηση αυτών των νομοθετικών πρωτοβουλιών, και πότε επιτέλους θα δεχθείτε το πρόγραμμα για την Ελλάδα, όπως ζητάει το Ευρωπαϊκό Κοινοβούλιο, να μην συζητιέται μόνο πίσω από κλειστές πόρτες στην Επιτροπή και στο Εurogroup, αλλά και στις αρμόδιες επιτροπές και την Ολομέλεια του Ευρωπαϊκού Κοινοβουλίου;

 
  
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  David Coburn (EFDD). Mr President, it seems to me almost laughable that the EU is to publish a report on growth when it is at the centre of Europe’s relative global decline. The EU is about nothing more than the erosion of national sovereignty and the centralisation of powers in Brussels. And what is Brussels but an autocratic, bureaucratic Leviathan wallowing in red tape and destroying any competitiveness that Europe could possibly have with regulations on everything imaginable?

At the centre of this political project is an economic anomaly, the euro. This currency never was – and never will be – an economically-sound project. It was a political project and not an economic project. While this may make the federalists here feel fluffy and warm, it certainly does not make the people of Europe feel fluffy and warm as they are entering into an economic crisis. For the stifling of Europe’s competitiveness and the euro as the common disease, the only medicine with a hope of curing Europe is a euro exit and a return to the original currencies.

Thankfully, the case for the UK is not so dire. In the last five years the UK has generated more jobs than the rest of Europe put together. Unfortunately, the Brits are not feeling the benefits, because of endless supplies of cheap European labour flooding our markets and reducing our standard of living. This is also increasing the housing problem.

We have a housing crisis in the UK, and we have to build a new house every seven minutes just to keep up. That is a scandal, and we cannot have any more of it. There are only two ways to sort out the UK housing market: firstly to increase supply and, secondly, to halt open-door European immigration. Now that Cameron’s pathetic list of demands – well, rather pleas, really – have finally been published, we know definitively that free movement of people is not up for negotiation. It may please UKIP ...

(The President cut off the speaker)

 
  
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  Gilles Lebreton (ENF). Monsieur le Président, Monsieur le Commissaire dans votre communication du 27 octobre, vous affirmez que ce sont les résultats qui importent et non pas les bonnes intentions. Examinons donc vos résultats!

Vous voulez maintenir la confiance dans l'espace Schengen, mais celui-ci s'est effondré sous la pression migratoire: partout les frontières resurgissent. Vous voulez remettre les gens au travail, mais c'est vous qui les acculez au chômage par votre politique ultralibérale. Vous voulez protéger la santé publique, mais vous cédez aux lobbies qui disséminent les perturbateurs endocriniens. Vous voulez réconcilier l'économique avec le social, mais vous faites l'inverse en vendant votre âme au capitalisme financier le plus sauvage.

Vous voulez assurer la survie de l'Europe, et là, rassurez-vous, l'Europe survivra, mais ce sera sans vous, Monsieur le Commissaire, car ce sera l'Europe des nations.

 
  
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  Ελευθέριος Συναδινός ( NI). Κύριε Πρόεδρε, η ετήσια επισκόπηση ανάπτυξης για το 2016 αποτελεί απτή απόδειξη της δυσπραγίας της εφαρμοζόμενης ευρωπαϊκής πολιτικής. Τα προγράμματα δημοσιονομικής εξυγίανσης, τα σχέδια βιώσιμης ανάπτυξης, η δημιουργία ποιοτικών θέσεων εργασίας και το αναπτυξιακό σχέδιο Γιούνκερ είναι, a priori, καταδικασμένα σε αποτυχία.

Οι οικονομικές στρεβλώσεις μεταξύ των κρατών μελών, η οικονομική κρίση, η αναδυόμενη κρίση αγορών, η επιβράδυνση στο παγκόσμιο εμπόριο και η ανεξέλεγκτη λαθρομετανάστευση χρειάζονται γενναίες αποφάσεις και αλλαγή πολιτικής. Ως τώρα τα αποτελέσματα της εφαρμογής των μεταρρυθμίσεων συνέβαλαν στην υπονόμευση του ευρωπαϊκού κοινωνικού μοντέλου και εν τέλει στην απώλεια πίστης των πολιτών στη ευρωπαϊκή ιδέα.

Τρανό παράδειγμα, η χώρα μου η Ελλάς των τριών μνημονίων. Επί πέντε συναπτά έτη, η αδελφότητα των τροϊκανών απαιτεί περισσότερη λιτότητα, μειώσεις μισθών συντάξεων και δαπανών. Αλήθεια άραγε, μπορεί ένας Γερμανός ή ένας Γάλλος να ζήσει με τριακόσια ευρώ σύνταξη ή πεντακόσια πενήντα ευρώ μισθό Η προπαγάνδα του ευρωπαϊκών μέσων ενημέρωσης περιορίζεται στα εντέχνως ψευδή κακώς κείμενα των Ελλήνων. Οι Έλληνες πληρώνουν τις επιταγές της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης με αίμα αθώων.

Οι δήθεν δημοκράτες κατηγορούν τα εθνικιστικά κόμματα για φασισμό. Στην Ελλάδα σε τις περιπτώσεις λέμε λαϊκά «είπε ο γάιδαρος τον πετεινό κεφάλα».

 
  
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  Pablo Zalba Bidegain (PPE). Señor Presidente, comisario, ha dicho usted que hay que renovar el compromiso con las reformas estructurales. No puedo estar más de acuerdo con usted.

España es un ejemplo: ha sido uno de los países más ambiciosos en cuanto a reformas estructurales se refiere y ahí están los resultados. Somos el país que está a la cabeza del crecimiento económico, somos el país que ha pasado de destruir, no hace más de dos años, la mitad del empleo que se destruía en la Unión Europea a crear más de la mitad del empleo que se crea en el conjunto de la Unión Europea.

Por tanto, insisto: ahí están los resultados. Pero no tenemos que olvidar que hay que reforzar también la dimensión social de la unión económica y monetaria. No nos podemos olvidar de ello, señorías.

Y por último, de nada servirán estos avances si no avanzamos en dotar de una mayor legitimidad democrática a todo el proceso del Semestre Europeo. Si no lo hacemos, estaremos actuando de espaldas a los ciudadanos.

(El orador acepta responder a una pregunta formulada con arreglo al procedimiento de la «tarjeta azul» (artículo 162, apartado 8, del Reglamento))

 
  
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  Paul Rübig (PPE), Frage nach dem Verfahren der „blauen Karte“. Herr Kollege! Wie – glauben Sie – könnten die internationalen Entwicklungen zum Europäischen Semester beitragen, zum Beispiel die WTO-Verhandlungen jetzt in Kenia, wenn die Handelserleichterungen greifen? Könnte das nicht auch zu einem zusätzlichen Wachstum führen?

 
  
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  Pablo Zalba Bidegain (PPE), respuesta de «tarjeta azul». No cabe ninguna duda de que parte del crecimiento económico se explica gracias al impulso de las exportaciones.

En el caso español, hemos pasado de un déficit comercial grave a un superávit comercial y eso, sin duda alguna, se produce gracias a los acuerdos comerciales que está impulsando la Unión Europea, pero también gracias al importante acuerdo que se podría implementar en la próxima Conferencia Ministerial de la OMC que se va a celebrar en Kenia.

Por lo tanto, me congratulo de las palabras del señor Rübig y no tengo ninguna duda de que ese es el único camino.

 
  
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  Pervenche Berès (S&D). Monsieur le Président, je suis désolée que M. Ferber soit parti, parce que j'aurais voulu le rassurer sur l'état de l'économie française et l'interpeller sur son évaluation de l'économie espagnole – que M. Zalba vient de décrire – où manifestement son ami politique, M. Rajoy, a dû bénéficier de complicités pour ne pas se faire rappeler à l'ordre quant à la situation de son économie, au regard de ce fameux pacte de stabilité.

Monsieur le Vice-président, vous ne nous présentez pas aujourd'hui l'examen annuel de croissance, c'est donc le moment de vous adresser quelques messages et notamment vous faire part de l'idée suivante: en principe, vous présenterez la recommandation de la zone euro; nous voulons en faire un outil de débat macroéconomique entre responsables politiques avant le Conseil européen du printemps. N'en faites pas un outil statistique pour ne mener aucun débat politique et simplement renforcer l'application des règles dans des États en déficit. Nous voulons un outil qui permettra d'organiser le vrai débat de politique économique dont nous avons besoin, celui qui – dans le prolongement du plan Juncker – va nous permettre d'examiner la situation en termes d'investissements dans la zone euro, la situation en termes de convergence entre les économies, la situation en termes de lutte contre le dumping fiscal et de capacité à mener une vraie harmonisation fiscale au sein de l'Union européenne. Je vous demande, Monsieur le Vice-président, de mener ce débat à l'intérieur du document que vous allez nous présenter la semaine prochaine.

 
  
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  Richard Sulík (ECR). Herr Präsident, sehr geehrter Herr Dombrovskis! Die Europäische Union war schon immer sehr talentiert im Aufstellen von großartigen Plänen. Nicht nur das Europäische Semester, sondern auch die Strategie Europa 2020 malen eine schöne Zukunft aus. Nur: Die Wirklichkeit ist anders und meistens ernüchternd. Ihre Pläne sind unrealistisch und somit nutzlos. Oft schaden sie sogar, zum Beispiel verdrängt das Juncker-Investitionsprogramm private Investitionen. Da entsteht ein wirklicher Schaden. Oder Ihre schönen Pläne bezüglich der Verschuldung, die stehen im Widerspruch zu der monetären Politik der Europäischen Zentralbank, die die südlichen Länder mit Geld flutet, und Frankreich macht dann sowieso immer Schulden anstelle von Reformen. Da kneifen Sie regelmäßig. Was Europa braucht, sind Grundsätze und keine Pläne! Zum Beispiel weniger Bürokratie, den gleichen Maßstab für alle und Einhaltung eigener Regeln – das wird viel mehr für die Zukunft bringen!

 
  
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  Miguel Viegas (GUE/NGL). Senhor Presidente, a Europa, a União Europeia, continua estagnada, apesar de uma taxa de câmbio favorável, do baixo custo energético, apesar de uma injeção colossal de liquidez por parte do Banco Central Europeu, que totaliza, é bom dizer, quase metade do PIB da zona euro. Não se vislumbra qualquer relançamento sólido da economia, como atesta, aliás, o fraco nível de investimento privado.

Quanto ao Semestre Europeu, a Comissão Europeia continua a não querer pôr em causa as regras, apesar da esmagadora maioria dos países não as respeitar. Verifica que a grande maioria das recomendações por países não são seguidas mas, em vez de questionar essas recomendações, prefere culpar os governos pela sua não aplicação e, assim, propõe, na prática, mecanismos para aumentar a pressão sobre os Estados nacionais por forma a impor a sua visão neoliberal sobre as economias. Ao mesmo tempo que prega a legitimidade democrática, cria instituições antidemocráticas, como seja os conselhos fiscais que, na prática, apenas irão reforçar os mecanismos de ingerência que impedem qualquer possibilidade de desenvolvimento alternativo.

 
  
  

PRESIDENZA DELL'ON. DAVID-MARIA SASSOLI
Vicepresidente

 
  
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  Dariusz Rosati (PPE). Mr President, I am very happy that we are having this debate ahead of the publication of the Annual Growth Survey, because it gives us a unique opportunity to convey our views to the Commission and actually, I hope, to influence the Commission’s thinking on policy priorities for the next year.

On those priorities, I fully agree with Vice-President Dombrovskis. I think the priorities as formulated this year will also remain valid for next year – that is, number one: investment; number 2: structural reforms; and number 3: fiscal responsibility. And to all those who do not like fiscal responsibility, I would like to assure them that these are precisely the means and the instruments, not the goals themselves, but the means and instruments to accelerate growth and create more and better jobs.

There are still some weaknesses in the framework, and weakness number one is of course the very low rate of implementation of CSRs in Member States. I think we are going to hear from the Commission how it wants to incentivise Member States in order to ensure better implementation. The other weakness is the lack of national ownership, and this is again something we have been talking about for quite a long time. I would like to see the proposals from the Commission aimed at increasing national ownership.

There are also some new threats ahead. We see that growth is still weak in the European Union. We are lagging behind the US in terms of recovery, and there are also new risks on the horizon, like slow growth in China and geopolitical risk. Mr Vice-President of the Commission, all of this requires ambitious and determined effort.

(The speaker agreed to take a blue-card question under Rule 162(8))

 
  
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  Doru-Claudian Frunzulică (S&D), blue-card question. In fact I was listening to our colleague, Mr Rosati, and I thank you for accepting the question.

Speaking about more jobs, social security, growth and so on, I would like to ask him his opinion on whether the Commission should have to take into consideration the lack of crisis management response, considering the migrants that have come, are still coming, and will come in the next year, to Europe. How will this influence the growth of European employment and so on?

 
  
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  Dariusz Rosati (PPE), blue-card answer. I do not think this is directly relevant to the macro-economic political priorities for the next year, but this certainly is one of the most important challenges ahead of us. We are definitely making progress in addressing this issue. We are not just talking now about distributing refugees across countries, but we have started to talk about creating safe zones around Syria; we are talking about hot spots and about better controls at the external borders. But certainly the economic impact of refugees is a mixed issue; to some extent refugees can contribute to economic growth, and we have many examples of those contributions. On the other hand, the whole process has to be controlled better in order not to create chaos.

 
  
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  Alfred Sant (S&D). Mr President, the Commission is right in seeking to streamline and prioritise the approach of the European Semester. However, the political rhetoric used to frame and run initiatives has an influence that extends beyond their scope. On the issue of taxation, for instance, the need for Europe-wide action should be restricted to the need for transparency. Widening this approach to open the way for tax convergence and harmonisation is outside the present scope of the Treaties. It is also counterproductive, since it further limits the flexibility of the regions and peripheral countries which most need it.

So I would agree to all measures intended to ensure transparency in the assessment of tax dues, but not to measures that contribute to tax convergence and harmonisation. First, there need to be viable programmes that really compensate for the growing economic divergence between the centre and the periphery of the European Union.

Too often, EU programmes are assessed on whether they contribute to greater or lesser union. This focus is misplaced. We should be asking all the time how programmes will directly benefit citizens – which citizens, how, when? – taking into account national realities and avoiding one-size—fits—all solutions. With the right answers, asking whether we need more or less Europe could become irrelevant. There is no better way of generating growth in Europe.

 
  
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  Νότης Μαριάς ( ECR). Κύριε Πρόεδρε, το Ευρωπαϊκό Εξάμηνο συνιστά ένα αντιδημοκρατικό θεσμό που στοχεύει στον περιορισμό των δικαιωμάτων των εθνικών Κοινοβουλίων να αποφασίζουν κυρίαρχα για τον τρόπο διαμόρφωσης των εθνικών προϋπολογισμών. Στην Ελλάδα, από το 2010, η τρόικα έχει καταργήσει κάθε εξουσία της Βουλής να ασκήσει τα κυριαρχικά της δικαιώματα διαμόρφωσης του κρατικού προϋπολογισμού. Η τρόικα με τα μνημόνια έχει μετατρέψει την Ελλάδα σε ένα τεράστιο κοινωνικό νεκροταφείο με εκατομμύρια φτωχούς και τεράστιες στρατιές ανέργων.

Το μνημόνιο τρία που ψηφίστηκε από την μνημονιακή πεντάδα ΣΥΡΙΖΑ, ΑΝΕΛ, ΝΔ, ΠΑΣΟΚ, ΠΟΤΑΜΙ διαλύει το ασφαλιστικό σύστημα, πετσοκόβει συντάξεις και μισθούς, κάνει φορομπηχτικό ρεσάλτο στις τσέπες των Ελλήνων, βγάζει στο σφυρί τα σπίτια των συμπολιτών μου και διαλύει τον αγροτικό τομέα.

Κύριε Dombrovskis, στην πρόσφατη επίσκεψή σας στην Αθήνα επιμείνατε στην άσκηση της σκληρής αυτής μνημονιακής πολιτικής. Να γνωρίζετε λοιπόν, κύριε Dombrovskis, ότι ο ελληνικός λαός δεν ανέχεται πλέον τρόικα και μνημόνια και με τη γενική απεργία της 12ης Νοεμβρίου στέλνει σε εσάς μήνυμα αντίστασης και αγώνα.

 
  
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  Miguel Urbán Crespo (GUE/NGL). Señor Presidente, yo creo que la Comisión parece muy preocupada por que el Gobierno de España no vaya a cumplir los objetivos de déficit. Aguardaremos su opinión sobre el resto de los presupuestos para averiguar si el Gobierno español les ha salido díscolo o más bien el Semestre Europeo es el que plantea exigencias imposibles.

De hecho, creemos que el Semestre Europeo es un método de «disciplinamiento» de la austeridad que vulnera la voluntad popular de nuestros Estados. En todo caso, mucho más que el nivel de déficit o el de la deuda, nos debería preocupar como dato absoluto el insoportable nivel de desempleo que soportamos en mi país: más de un 25 % de desempleo. Y esto dura ya cerca de siete años, lo cual es inusitado en nuestras economías.

Un dato así no puede sostenerse en el papel y en sus modelos económicos, pero como realidad social es algo insoportable. El 20 % del desempleo supone más exclusión social, más pobreza y más jóvenes emigrados. Esta no es nuestra Europa, esta no puede ser la Europa que estemos construyendo.

 
  
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  Joachim Schuster (S&D). Herr Präsident, meine lieben Kolleginnen und Kollegen! Das Europäische Semester ist in den letzten Jahren nicht nur der Rahmen für die europäische Koordinierung der Wirtschaftspolitik gewesen, sondern war auch gleichzeitig das Mittel zur Durchsetzung einer neoliberalen Wirtschaftspolitik. Diese Politik hat sich als falsch erwiesen: Ökonomische Probleme sind nicht gelöst worden, die soziale Spaltung hat sich vertieft. Das hat ja auch – so glaube ich – Herr Dombrovskis im Prinzip gesagt, indem er angekündigt hat, dass im Jahreswirtschaftsbericht stehen wird, dass es trotz extrem günstiger Rahmenbedingungen nur ein verhaltenes Wachstum gibt, eine hohe Arbeitslosigkeit, und dass viel zu viele Menschen in Armut leben oder von Armut bedroht sind.

Es zeigt sich eindeutig, dass die absolute Priorität, die die Austeritätspolitik auf Haushaltskonsolidierung legt, falsch ist. Und man hätte – wenn man nicht nur ideologiegetrieben an Wirtschaftspolitik herangeht – auch schon wissen müssen, dass man mit Austeritätspolitik keine Krise überwinden kann. Und nur für die deutschen Kolleginnen und Kollegen, die das hier manchmal besonders vehement vertreten: Auch Deutschland hat 2008 bis 2010 nicht durch Haushaltskonsolidierung die Krise überwunden, sondern wir haben in Deutschland ein umfangreiches Konjunkturprogramm aufgelegt, haben die Banken gestützt, die Kurzarbeit ausgeweitet, und wir haben das durch eine erhebliche Ausweitung der Neuverschuldung finanziert. Deswegen zeigt sich: Man braucht einen Kurswechsel im Europäischen Semester. Die Förderung von Wachstum, von Investitionen, auch von öffentlichen Investitionen, muss in den Mittelpunkt gestellt werden. Finanzieren könnte man das ja zur Abwechslung einmal durch Bekämpfung der Steuervermeidung und Steuerhinterziehung – Stichwort nur LuxLeaks. Man braucht eine Bekämpfung prekärer Beschäftigung, und man muss die sozialen Auswirkungen unserer Politik viel stärker auch in die Berichterstattung einbeziehen.

 
  
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  Matt Carthy (GUE/NGL). Mr President, I wonder whether the Commissioner heard the remarks of the Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny at the PPE conference in Madrid recently? I wonder, Commissioner, did you hear him describe the arrival of the Troika in Ireland as a bloodless coup, and I wonder if you agree with him?

Undoubtedly, the Taoiseach’s remarks were more about absolving his own government’s responsibilities of continuing the Fianna Fáil agenda of crippling austerity that has financially devastated Irish families and, in fact, devastated our domestic economy. Joined by the EU institutions, it has been an agenda that has forced the Irish people, representing 1% of the EU population, into 42% of the costs of the European banking crisis.

While the Commission and the Irish Government celebrate economic growth as a vindication of their agenda, do you, Commissioner, know that in Ireland we have a severe crisis in our health services, for example? Do you know that Ireland has an unprecedented homelessness crisis? Will you accept, Commissioner, that the EU economic agenda that is epitomised by the European Semester is a failure driven by a political ideology that has put the interests of financial markets ahead of the needs of citizens, and in fact has devastated our economies?

 
  
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  Esther de Lange (PPE). Mr President, I think that anyone in this House who has children might actually know the story of the very confused, very mixed-up chameleon. He tries to be every colour at the same time and every animal at the same time, and in the end he is not even able to catch a fly. If I listen to this House, we are trying to turn the Commission into a very confused chameleon. We want to push them further to the left, further to the right, we demand that the country-specific recommendations have more focus, including on social issues, and then at the same time we complain that not enough elements are taken on board when preparing these country-specific recommendations. If I listen to this House, we not only want this Commissioner to be a European politician but also a Portuguese one.

I think that in last year’s Annual Growth Survey there was a very smart triangle of reform for competitiveness, budgetary responsibility and investment – and may I remind you that that is not only public investment but also private. I hope that this so-called holy triangle or trinity will remain in next year’s Annual Growth Survey.

Of course, this House rightly has demands. We demand more political oversight in the future, for example though the adoption of convergence guidelines. We want checks and we want balances in the process of making economic policy. So for my part, the European Fiscal Board could have been more independent than is currently proposed.

But I warn colleagues that we will not get any of our wishes respected if we forget the foundation which is this holy trinity. So, reminded of the chameleon, I would like to say to this Commissioner: stay on course, remain yourself, and move steadily but carefully forward.

 
  
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  Anneliese Dodds (S&D). Mr President, I hope that as Commissioner Dombrovskis drafts the new Annual Growth Survey, he will rectify two major problems with its predecessor.

First, last year’s report ignores the disaster of competitive wage devaluation. The economic evidence speaks for itself. Where there has been recovery, in many cases this has been driven by exports, with the notable exception, of course, of my own country, the UK, which has an appalling current account deficit. Across much of the EU, demand from domestic consumption has stagnated, and it has often stagnated because wages have stagnated or even fallen. Increasing the incomes of the least well-off people across Europe is one of the most effective and sustainable ways of promoting growth. I hope this will be acknowledged, rather than dismissed, in the new report.

Second, last year’s report only promoted the involvement of social partners in implementing decisions – decisions that were taken by others – yet trade unions in particular often play an essential role in increasing workforce skills and productivity. Five minutes from where I live, there is a factory that produces three mini cars every minute. Trade unionists in that factory, working hand-in-hand with management, have introduced radical innovations, both in production methods and also in management of the workforce.

Commissioner Dombrovskis, we have got rid of many relics from the 1970s: flares, kipper ties and Abba have all gone, whether we like it or not. Please can we also get rid of outdated attitudes about trade unionists and put them right back at the heart of decision-making around the economy, where they belong.

 
  
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  Gunnar Hökmark (PPE). Mr President, I think it is important that the Commission takes note of two things in its Annual Growth Survey. One is the change in and the challenge of the global economy. When I listen to the debate in this House, it is as if the changes in the global economy are not there – we are maybe looking at the internal market but not at the external one – but the fact is that it is very much the increased supply, increased productivity and increased competition we see today in the global economy that is the challenge to the European economy.

Where we lack competitiveness we are also suffering increased deficits, and that will not help with the increased spending. And that is the other thing to take note of in the survey report: that wherever you are trying to perform a policy without considering the realities of the global economy, by leaving the rules of the Stability Pact you are undermining the national economies. That is a very clear and obvious pattern. Where you have stabilised public finances and fiscal stability, you have in most parts of Europe growth or growth has returned, but where you are trying to solve the problems by increased spending, you get increased taxes and increased deficits and less employment. That is the truth and we need to know that. That gives hope for Europe, because then we see what to do; maybe less hope for Socialists.

 
  
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  Κώστας Μαυρίδης ( S&D). Κύριε Πρόεδρε, απευθυνόμενος προς τον κύριο Επίτροπο, περιμένω να βάλετε τα ακουστικά σας γιατί θέλω να το ακούσετε, εκφράζω κατ’ αρχήν την απογοήτευση μου, γιατί ενώ μιλάμε για ενδυνάμωση της δημοκρατικής λογοδοσίας και της νομιμοποίησης της δημοκρατικής διαδικασίας με επίκεντρο το Ευρωπαϊκό Κοινοβούλιο, κύριε Επίτροπε, η Επιτροπή σας τροποποιεί τα εργαλεία οικονομικής διακυβέρνησης χωρίς τη νομοθετική συμβολή του Ευρωπαϊκού Κοινοβουλίου - και αυτό δεν είναι θέμα άποψης, είναι ένα γεγονός.

Συνεχίζω τώρα για το θέμα της ανάπτυξης. Ενώ έχουμε μακροοικονομικές συνθήκες οι οποίες είναι ευνοϊκές, απουσιάζει το στοιχείο των επενδύσεων και απουσιάζει το στοιχείο σοβαρών και μακροπρόθεσμων επενδύσεων. Το σχέδιο Γιούνγκερ είναι όντως μια σωστή πολιτική που εμπλέκει το δημόσιο χρήμα με το ιδιωτικό κεφάλαιο και το SNT έπαιξε σημαντικό ρόλο προς αυτή την κατεύθυνση αλλά αναμένουμε ακόμη. Και η χρησιμοποίηση συστάσεων της ευρωζώνης για να διασφαλιστεί εάν το επίπεδο επενδύσεων στην ευρωζώνη είναι το απαιτούμενο είναι ένα σωστό εργαλείο.

Απευθύνομαι, όμως, και σε ένα συνάδελφο που άκουσα να αναφέρει ότι ο ευρωπαϊκός Νότος έχει πλημμυρίσει από χρήματα της Ευρωπαϊκής Κεντρικής Τράπεζας ή κάτι τέτοιο. Νομίζω ότι δεν παρακολουθεί. Έχει πλημμυρίσει ο ευρωπαϊκός Νότος, αγαπητέ συνάδελφε, από ψυχές κατατρεγμένων που πεθαίνουν και από παιδάκια τα οποία ξεβράζονται από τη θάλασσα. Ξυπνήστε λοιπόν!

 
  
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  Ivana Maletić (PPE). Gospodine predsjedniče, ova rasprava prije samog početka novog ciklusa Europskog semestra je prilika da istaknemo sve ono što je dobro i na tome inzistiramo u novom ciklusu, ali isto tako da istaknemo i slabosti koje zajedno moramo riješiti. Dobri i kvalitetni pomaci su pojednostavljenje postupka, orijentacija na ograničen broj najvažnijih prioriteta, ranije objavljivanje analiza po državama članicama.

Što nam nedostaje? Nedostaje snažna politička volja na razini država članica, nedostaje jače partnerstvo s lokalnim i regionalnim jedinicama, nedostaje i uključivanje nacionalnih parlamenata. Nadam se da ćemo u novom ciklusu Europskog semestra ostvariti kvalitetnije pomake u jačanju upravo ovih elemenata. Države moraju samostalno osmisliti mjere i aktivnosti kojima će ispuniti ciljeve i preporuke iz Europskog semestra.

Međutim, pritom nema potrebe gubiti vrijeme na pokušajima i pogreškama, kad su istovremeno već druge države članice prošle put traženja najboljih rješenja. Razmjena iskustava i znanja u provedbi reformi, ubrzavanju investicija, jačanju konkurentnosti, dobrom financijskom upravljanju, pametnoj fiskalnoj konsolidacji i ostalog, naša je velika prednost u Europskoj uniji.

I zato pozdravljam poticaje iz Europske komisije kojima se želi pomoći državama članicama kroz osnivanje službe za podršku provedbi strukturnih reformi, odbora za konkurentnost i fiskalnog odbora. Zajedništvo i partnerstvo mogu pomoći onome što nam nedostaje, a to je provedba Europskog semestra.

 
  
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  Tibor Szanyi (S&D). Elnök Úr, immáron negyedik alkalommal adatik meg ennek a Parlamentnek, hogy az Európai Unió gazdaságpolitikai koordinációjának tulajdonképpen egyetlen eszközét tárgyalja. És valóban itt látjuk meg ennek az új eszköznek az értelmét, hiszen ez ad nekünk alkalmat arra, hogy egységes szerkezetben tudjuk a különböző országok gazdaságpolitikájának előrehaladását vagy éppen visszafejlődését értelmezni. Nyilvánvalóan a költségvetés, a növekedés, a foglalkoztatás, azaz a versenypolitikák esetében valóban szükséges az összehasonlítás, mert különben soha nem fogjuk megérteni, hogy mitől van szinte húszszoros különbség az európai bérek tekintetében, attól függően, hogy Európa melyik szegletét nézzük, és ugyancsak az adózás tekintetében is itt jönnek elő a problémák.

Én elfogadom, elhiszem, hogy az adópolitika minden kormány kezében egy nagyon fontos eszköz. Ugyanakkor lehetnek olyan esetek, így például az élelmiszerek esete, ahol már csak az emberek, az európai polgárok érdekében is érdemes lenne bizony harmonizált politikákat folytatni. Nos, ami a mostani tapasztalat, és ez új jelenség az eddigi előrehaladáshoz képest, hogy az Európai Bizottság az átstrukturálással, az európai szemeszter logikájának átstrukturálásával szinte kiszorítja az Európai Parlamentet. Jóval kevesebb időt hagy az Európai Parlamentnek munkája elvégzésére, és ezzel bizony – meg kell állapítsuk – kevesebb lehetőséget ad az európai polgároknak a beleszólására. Az öt elnök jelentése szintén leszögezte, hogy több demokráciára van szükség, s higgyék el, higgye el, Biztos Úr, a demokrácia még soha nem bántotta, soha nem ártott a gazdaság fejlődésének.

 
  
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  Eva Paunova (PPE). Mr President, as I see it, this discussion is about jobs and growth. It is about how to make our economy more competitive and able to meet the new challenges ahead of us.

Some say we need to turn challenges into opportunities; for instance that the migration flow can increase regional growth and help us address labour market productivity and demographic challenges. I am actually unsure how straightforward this would be: without the skills and competences, asylum seekers could fall into irregular employment, with disruptive effects on the labour market.

We must remember that challenges are not always opportunities and that they must always be carefully addressed at the same time. What we need to do is make Europe’s economy strong enough to respond to difficulties if they arise instead of simply looking at the best-case scenario for the moment. This means serious structural reforms in places where they are most needed, and investing in Europe’s growth.

One point I would very much like to emphasise: making the investment plan truly European is also key to the European Semester. It must support the Member States and regions that were hardest hit by the crisis and those with fewer internal resources. It must also invest in value-added areas, such as technology, innovation, digitalisation and small businesses. This, in turn, means that the investment plan for Europe must absolutely go hand in hand with the Capital Markets Union, the European single market and the development of the digital single market.

Therefore, I call on the Commission not only to ensure the continuity of its policies, but also to enhance the link between its separate initiatives.

 
  
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  Csaba Sógor (PPE). Mr President, the European Semester is one of our most important tools in tackling structural weaknesses, achieving sustainable growth and healthy finances, and promoting the competitiveness of the European economies. The recent emphasis on employment and social aspects can also be considered very welcome steps towards creating a better balance between the economic and social dimensions of EU governance. Nevertheless, despite the efforts of the Commission towards streamlining the process, the potential of this instrument in delivering economic reforms in the Member States cannot be truly exploited as long as the implementation rate of recommendations is as low as at present. Considering that only around 9% of the country-specific recommendations were fully implemented by the Member States in 2013, I am eagerly looking forward to the measures that the Commission intends to take in order to increase the national ownership of CSRs and to improve their implementation so that we can reap the full benefits of the European Semester in the future.

 
  
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  Sofia Ribeiro (PPE). Senhor Presidente, peço-lhe que confirme se eu não tenho tempo de palavra, uma vez que a indicação do meu grupo é de que teria um minuto e meio para intervir como relatora do Parlamento pela Comissão do Emprego, numa lista que foi corrigida e em que o coordenador da Comissão do Emprego não intervinha. Peço-lhe que faça essa verificação, por favor.

(O Presidente responde à oradora.)

 
  
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  Presidente. – On. Ribeiro, io sono molto contento se lei interviene, però nella lista degli oratori lei non era presente. Se vuole io le do la parola, abbiamo un minuto sicuramente di tempo in più, quindi può intervenire. Però poi si rivolga al suo gruppo, perché a noi non ce l'hanno comunicato.

Procedura "catch-the-eye"

 
  
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  Sofia Ribeiro (PPE). Senhor Presidente, folgo em saber que a Comissão pretende valorizar mais a defesa das questões sociais nesta análise anual de crescimento e nós precisamos de resolver questões estruturais problemáticas, como o desemprego, o desemprego jovem, o desemprego de longa duração, os indicadores de pobreza e o envelhecimento da população.

Como relatora pelo emprego, neste Semestre Europeu pretende defender-se o equilíbrio de uma economia social e de mercado para sermos capazes de responder aos desafios internos e externos na União Europeia. Entendendo que é nesta linha em que maior competitividade contribui para maior justiça social e que esta maior justiça social estimula, por si só, a competitividade e, portanto, as pessoas têm que ter a certeza, têm que ter uma garantia de poderem prever e organizar as suas vidas e isto só é possível se pudermos garantir a sustentabilidade das contas públicas, a responsabilidade fiscal e o equilíbrio orçamental.

Folgo também em saber que a Comissão pretende fazer coisas diferentes, de forma diferente. Temos de lutar pela União na Europa que estimule a coesão social, prestando especial atenção às regiões mais desfavorecidas para não sermos uma Europa a duas velocidades. É esta a responsabilidade que se nos exige.

 
  
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  Presidente. – Ci sono molti interventi. Io sono nella condizione di dare la parola a tutti, ma nessuno deve superare un minuto, perché altrimenti qualcuno non potrà intervenire.

 
  
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  Ana Gomes (S&D). O Deputado Paulo Rangel tentou pôr em causa a legitimidade democrática de um governo à esquerda em Portugal que, cumprindo os compromissos europeus, tente corrigir a devastadora deriva de austeridade que empobreceu drasticamente o país, obrigou mais de 500 mil portugueses a emigrar nos últimos quatro anos e não reduziu, só aumentou, o endividamento público e privado.

Mas, Sr. Comissário Dombrovskis, é a si que pergunto se a Comissão Europeia não tem vergonha da desigualdade ativamente fomentada pelas políticas que a troica abençoou em Portugal, incluindo a amnistia fiscal de 2012, que serviu para lavar, legalizar e manter milhares de milhões em paraísos fiscais, sem sequer obrigar a repatriá-los, apesar de serem produto de fraude e evasão fiscais e de corrupção?

Ou continua a não ver o esquema de benefícios e isenções fiscais que, em total opacidade, o Governo português prosseguiu nestes quatro anos, favorecendo as grandes empresas e o grande capital, enquanto sobrecarregava de impostos quem trabalha.

Será que a Comissão vai usar o Semestre Europeu para corrigir as políticas fiscais regressivas e obscenas em Portugal e noutros Estados-Membros com políticas pró-europeias, pró-crescimento, pró—justiça social e justiça fiscal?

 
  
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  Danuta Jazłowiecka (PPE). Panie Przewodniczący! Przekazane dane wskazują, że Unia powoli wychodzi z kryzysu ekonomicznego. W większości państw członkowskich miał miejsce wzrost gospodarczy, a w dwudziestu trzech krajach Unii Europejskiej nastąpił spadek bezrobocia.

Obecny rok przyniósł ze sobą wydarzenia, które z pewnością zdeterminują sytuację gospodarczą w Europie w najbliższych latach. Coraz wyraźniej widać, że Chiny – jeden z motorów światowej gospodarki – zaczynają przeżywać ogromne problemy. Wiele europejskich firm będzie musiało zweryfikować swoją strategię rozwoju i, być może, zredukować zatrudnienie.

Drugim problemem, który z pewnością wywoła istotne reperkusje gospodarcze, jest napływająca do Europy fala uchodźców. Nikt obecnie nie jest w stanie oszacować, jakie będą konsekwencje tego procesu na rynku pracy w państwach członkowskich i jakie pociągnie za sobą koszty budżetowe. Te konsekwencje na rynku pracy i wzrost wydatków budżetowych z pewnością będą musiały zostać uwzględnione w ramach europejskiego semestru.

Dla rynków pracy niezmiernie ważny jest stabilny rozwój gwarantujący powstawanie miejsc pracy. Naszym priorytetem nadal powinno być utrzymanie stabilności finansów publicznych państw członkowskich i jednoczesne finansowanie przemyślanych reform strukturalnych o długoterminowych pozytywnych efektach dla gospodarki i zatrudnienia. Niezbędne jest także pogłębianie integracji w ramach wspólnego rynku opartego na swobodnym przepływie pracowników, usług i kapitału.

 
  
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  Ruža Tomašić (ECR). Gospodine predsjedniče, konkurentnost Europske unije na globalnom tržištu značajno je pala u posljednjem desetljeću, a veći broj država članica vapi za strukturnim reformama koje bi im vratile ekonomsku stabilnost. Ciljevi Europskog semestra u tom su kontekstu veliki korak naprijed.

No, ako bismo Europski semestar promatrali kao medicinski postupak kojim želimo izliječiti europsku ekonomiju, mogli bismo reći da je postavljena ispravna dijagnoza, ali je propisana nedjelotvorna terapija. U Hrvatskoj prave strukturne reforme nisu provedene od osamostaljenja, a članstvo u Europskoj uniji i sudjelovanje u Europskom semestru dovelo je do donošenja isključivo vatrogasnih mjera, često samo u predizborne svrhe.

Zato smatram da moramo značajnije poraditi na provođenju konkretnih mjera u državama članicama, umjesto da se fokusiramo na određivanje plemenitih ciljeva koji, ako ikad budu ostvareni, to zasigurno neće biti u planiranom roku. Upravo je vrijeme ono čega nemaju ni Hrvatska ni Europska unija.

 
  
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  Ivan Jakovčić (ALDE). Gospodine predsjedniče, ono što nam treba je jednostavno rečeno gospodarski rast. Ono na što treba Europski semestar biti fokusiran je rješavanje problema nezaposlenosti, a to naravno možemo učiniti jedino s pravim gospodarskim rastom.

U tom kontekstu želim jasno naglasiti da nam je potrebna kompletna sinergija zemalja članica, jedinica lokalne i regionalne samouprave, svih europskih institucija, uključujući i Europsku investicijsku banku, druge financijske institucije, a ono što posebno želim naglasiti i velika očekivanja koja gospodarstvo i države članice imaju od Junckerovog budućeg fonda.

Svi ti elementi moraju biti zajedno, moraju dati sinergiju kako bismo došli do gospodarskog rasta i kako bi zaista ovaj mali oporavak koji se ponegdje osjeća, a ponegdje ipak ne, ipak omogućio da Europa stane na noge i na taj način napokon vidimo gospodarstvo u boljoj kondiciji.

 
  
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  Νεοκλής Συλικιώτης ( GUE/NGL). Κύριε Πρόεδρε, για ακόμα μια χρονιά βρισκόμαστε εδώ για να συζητήσουμε με την ετήσια επισκόπηση ανάπτυξης. Να συζητήσουμε στην πραγματικότητα πως οι προϋπολογισμοί των κρατών μελών της ευρωζώνης θα μεταλλαχθούν για να εξυπηρετήσουν τη δήθεν ελεύθερη αγορά. Να εξυπηρετήσουν δηλαδή την ηγεμονία της αγοράς, εντείνοντας έτσι τις κοινωνικές και εργασιακές ανισότητες. Σε κάποια κράτη μέλη μάλιστα μιλούν ότι η ανεργία μειώθηκε. Την ίδια στιγμή όμως η επισφαλής εργασία αποτελεί πλέον τον κανόνα κι όχι την εξαίρεση. Η φτώχεια αυξάνεται στην Ευρώπη και η κατανομή του πλούτου όλο και συγκεντρώνονται στα χέρια των πλουσιότερων. Ως GUE επιμένουμε ότι το Ευρωπαϊκό Εξάμηνο πρέπει να καταργηθεί. Τα κράτη μέλη πρέπει να επανακτήσουν το δικαίωμα χάραξης της δημοσιονομικής τους πολιτικής, η οποία να έχει έντονο κοινωνικό χαρακτήρα. Το Σύμφωνο Σταθερότητας επίσης πρέπει να καταργηθεί. Χρειαζόμαστε ένα πραγματικό Σύμφωνο Απασχόλησης και Ανάπτυξης με βάση κοινωνικά κριτήρια που θα είναι επωφελές για τους λαούς της Ευρώπης. Μακριά από τις λογικές των μνημονίων και της βίαιης απορρύθμισης της εργασίας. Τέλος, επιμένουμε ότι πρέπει να γίνουν δημόσιες επενδύσεις για δημιουργία βιώσιμων και ποιοτικών θέσεων εργασίας και στήριξης του κοινωνικού κράτους.

 
  
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  Seán Kelly (PPE). Mr President, thank you particularly for taking all of us in the catch-the-eye. It makes us feel valued and makes it worthwhile for us to stay here for the entire debate.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Mr Cameron, outlined his requests for reform within the European Union. He put emphasis on one point in particular: competitiveness. He is, of course, absolutely correct because, without it, we are not going to be strong in Europe, we will not have growth, we will not have jobs, and we will not have influence in the world. Certainly there have been many instances in the past where we have regulated – maybe in isolation, sensibly – but it did have a very negative effect on competitiveness, and that certainly needs to stop. He is right in that regard.

The other aspect is, in relation to the Semester, that it is an opportunity for us to ensure there is proper discipline in budgets, etc. in the Member States. For that reason, the first Member State that steps out of line must be dealt with because, if they are not dealt with and they get away with it, everything will fall apart again.

 
  
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  Nicola Caputo (S&D). Signor Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, per consolidare la ripresa economica europea occorre un ulteriore e deciso impegno a livello politico. Molti Stati membri devono, infatti, affrontare sfide quali l'elevato debito pubblico e privato e la mancanza di investimenti, fattori che continuano a determinare una forte disoccupazione e un deterioramento delle condizioni sociali.

Gli Stati membri devono adoperarsi per garantire la ripresa economica attuando politiche di bilancio responsabili e incentivando gli investimenti attraverso l'eliminazione degli ostacoli ai finanziamenti e la piena attuazione del piano Juncker.

Investimenti e responsabilità fiscali devono però essere compatibili con una crescita economica sostenibile e con la creazione di posti di lavoro di qualità. Va migliorata prioritariamente la politica occupazionale al fine di garantire una maggiore coesione sociale. Il nuovo semestre, a mio avviso, deve aprirsi all'insegna delle questioni occupazionali e sociali che, solo se affrontate nel modo giusto, possono portare alla riduzione del tasso di povertà e alla crescita della domanda interna.

 
  
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  Paloma López Bermejo (GUE/NGL). Señor Presidente, oigo a mis colegas decir que apoyar los salarios, mejorar las prestaciones sociales, reconocer los derechos laborales, etc. es pan para hoy y hambre para mañana; que estas medidas no funcionan a largo plazo. Y yo pregunto: ¿qué significa para ustedes el largo plazo?

Han pasado ocho años desde el inicio de la crisis y, allí donde se han aplicado las reformas con mayor dureza, el crecimiento sigue por debajo de otras economías desarrolladas o de la economía mundial; donde se ha aplicado la austeridad hay más desempleo y la deuda pública sigue aumentando. España es un claro ejemplo de ello.

¿No se dan cuenta de que cada vez tienen más difícil seguir manteniendo esta farsa? Repasen el New Deal de Roosevelt o el «pleno empleo» de Lord Beveridge ―son de los suyos― y hagan lo que hicieron ellos en momentos de crisis: dejar de sacrificar a los trabajadores para mantener un proyecto fallido como es esta Europa de las finanzas.

 
  
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  Μαρία Σπυράκη ( PPE). Κύριε Πρόεδρε, αντιπρόεδρε Dombrovskis, στη χώρα μου την Ελλάδα οι αριθμοί των φθινοπωρινών προβλέψεων της Επιτροπής είναι άκρως ανησυχητικοί για το μέλλον μας, παρά τη διαφαινόμενη ανάκαμψη της ευρωζώνης: ύφεση 1,4% το 2015, ύφεση 1,3% το 2016, ανεργία 25,7% το 2015, ανεργία 25,8% το 2016. Σε ένα τέτοιο περιβάλλον η Επιτροπή οφείλει να ενθαρρύνει τις διαρθρωτικές αλλαγές, δείχνοντας ότι η εφαρμογή τους οδηγεί τελικά σε ελάφρυνση των πολιτών. Συγχρόνως, οφείλετε να αντιμετωπίσετε το ζήτημα της ανταγωνιστικότητας κάθε χώρας ξεχωριστά λαμβάνοντας σοβαρά υπόψη τις εκτιμήσεις των Εθνικών Συμβουλίων Ανταγωνιστικότητας. Στην Ελλάδα δεν υπάρχει ξέρετε κανένα περιθώριο για περικοπή μισθών, δεν υπάρχει κανένα περιθώριο για μειώσεις, υπάρχει περιθώριο για τη μείωση των κρατικών δαπανών, υπάρχει περιθώριο για την περικοπή της γραφειοκρατίας και για την αύξηση της απορρόφησης των κοινοτικών πόρων.

 
  
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  Doru-Claudian Frunzulică (S&D). Mr President, we are speaking about the Annual Growth Survey 2016; we are talking about strategic investments in Europe in order to create jobs and to bolster the Member States’ economies; we are talking about labour and social market policies – but what kind of recovery, what kind of growth are we going to have, taking into consideration, once again, the challenges that Europe and the European Union will have to face in the near future?

You know that our growth – our very small growth – has been built mainly on exports, not on big infrastructure projects, not on big investments in Europe, and especially in Central and Eastern Europe. There, as you know, we are very far from the levels existing in Western Europe, especially regarding infrastructure and harbours, airports and so on.

Once again I would like to ask the Commissioner to give us an answer: what is going to be the European Commission’s influence on European development, taking into consideration that the European Commission is moving money to cope with the influx of migrants in Europe?

 
  
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  Κώστας Χρυσόγονος ( GUE/NGL). Κύριε Πρόεδρε, συζητούμε σήμερα για ανάπτυξη η οποία υποτίθεται ότι θα στηριχθεί στους τρεις πυλώνες, τις επενδύσεις σύμφωνα με το σχέδιο Γιούνγκερ, τις δομικές μεταρρυθμίσεις και τη δημοσιονομική σταθεροποίηση. Στην πραγματικότητα όμως το σχέδιο Γιούνγκερ είναι υπεραισιόδοξο, για να μην πω ουτοπικό. Οι δομικές μεταρρυθμίσεις συνίστανται σε απορρύθμιση της αγοράς εργασίας και του ασφαλιστικού συστήματος, δηλαδή σε μείωση της αγοραστικής δύναμης των καταναλωτών, που σημαίνει ότι δρομολογείται ύφεση. Τέλος, η δημοσιονομική σταθεροποίηση δεν κάνει τίποτα άλλο παρά να ανεβάζει τελικά τον λόγο του δημόσιου χρέους σε σχέση με το Ακαθάριστο Εγχώριο Προϊόν, μέσω της ύφεσης την οποία προκαλεί.

Χρειαζόμαστε κάτι διαφορετικό, κάτι που θα δίνει έμφαση στη δημιουργία θέσεων εργασίας και για να γίνει αυτό προϋπόθεση είναι να αποκτήσουν ιδίως οι μικρομεσαίες επιχειρήσεις, που θα δημιουργήσουν την απασχόληση, ίση πρόσβαση σε πιστώσεις από τα τραπεζικά συστήματα με την εγγύηση της Ευρωπαϊκής Κεντρικής Τράπεζας, δηλαδή με bail out και όχι με bail in όπως ισχύει σήμερα για τα τραπεζικά συστήματα των κρατών μελών.

 
  
 

(Fine della procedura "catch-the-eye")

 
  
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  Valdis Dombrovskis, Vice-President of the Commission. Mr President, first of all thank you very much to the honourable Members for their input, which I have duly noted, and we will continue the debate after next week. We will be presenting the annual growth survey (AGS) in detail in a joint meeting of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) and the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL), so I will be doing this together with Commissioners Thyssen and Moscovici.

The European Semester package is specifically designed to shape discussions between EU institutions and in the Member States, including with national parliaments. The various documents will therefore be the subject of debate with the Council, the Eurogroup and this Parliament, and the ensuing common understanding will shape the remainder of the 2016 European Semester.

Now let me come back to some of the specific questions which were raised during the debate. First, on strengthening the euro area dimension. Some concerns were raised as regards the practicality of this approach, but here I must note that we are doing this, of course, while respecting the rules in the Stability and Growth Pact, and our intention is to very clearly communicate this also in our documents.

A number of questions were raised on strengthening the demand side of the economy, including by investment and consumption, and this was certainly among our priorities in the last European Semester and will remain so in this European Semester too. There is an obvious need to strengthen the demand side of the economy as well as the questions which were raised concerning strengthening the social dimension, reducing inequality, reducing poverty – these are important policy goals. As I said too in my introductory remarks, strengthening the social dimension within the European Semester is one of the work directions we are pursuing, and we will continue to do so in the next European Semester.

Some questions were raised on tax policy, including on tax fairness and the effectiveness of the tax system. Here it must be said that the Commission’s recommendation to the Member States typically is to shift the tax burden away from labour – especially low paid labour – to other tax bases which are less detrimental to growth, such as property, consumption, capital. So this emphasis on actually reducing the tax burden – the tax wage on low paid labour – should also contribute to tax fairness.

There were probably a number of other issues that were raised, but to give a rather more general summary, I think the approach we are now preparing in the next European Semester in the Annual Growth Survey is a balanced approach which takes into account different concerns, and we hope it will also ensure sustainable and balanced economic growth and strengthen job creation, something we need in Europe very much.

 
  
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  Presidente. – La discussione è chiusa.

Dichiarazioni scritte (articolo 162)

 
  
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  Dominique Bilde (ENF), par écrit. Ce débat sur la croissance et l'ensemble de mesures 2016 pour y parvenir en Europe via le Semestre européen n'est qu'un énième mirage dont on sait à l'avance que les solutions proposées ne changeront rien. L'austérité, l'immigration de masse, l'ultralibéralisme, la monnaie unique et la soumission à la finance ont ruiné l'Union européenne et aucune de ces politiques ne remet en cause ces dogmes.

Outre ce débat, je tiens à témoigner mon indignation quant au fait que le Parlement européen ait autorisé la tenue d'une séance plénière ce 11 novembre à Bruxelles allant contre le respect de ses principes de respect des jours fériés des États membres. Alors que la Grande Guerre a fait 9 millions de mort en Europe, nous nous devons de respecter le devoir de mémoire que l'Union bafoue et j'ai donc décidé de quitter l'hémicycle et de ne pas participer aux votes. Un auteur disait que "Ceux qui connaissent le passé sont les mieux à même de construire le futur", il semble qu'aujourd'hui, l'Union oublie alors bien vite son Histoire.

 
  
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  Lidia Joanna Geringer de Oedenberg (S&D), na piśmie. Roczna analiza wzrostu gospodarczego publikowana przez Komisję Europejską rozpoczyna każdego roku nowy cykl zarządzania gospodarczego i zawiera priorytety gospodarcze UE oraz wskazówki w zakresie polityki dla państw członkowskich na kolejny rok. Punktem wyjścia dla analizy wzrostu gospodarczego na 2016 r. będącej w fazie przygotowań są założenia z 2015 r., w których Komisja zaleciła realizację polityki gospodarczej i społecznej opartej na trzech filarach: inwestycjach, reformach strukturalnych i odpowiedzialności budżetowej. Priorytetem było i jest zapewnienie Europie powrotu na ścieżkę tworzenia trwałych miejsc pracy i zrównoważonego wzrostu gospodarczego. Niepokoi jednak fakt, że pomimo podejmowanych wysiłków ożywienie gospodarcze w UE znacznie osłabło w 2014 r., a stopa bezrobocia w strefie euro wciąż utrzymuje się na rekordowym poziomie 12%. Poziom inwestycji spadł od 2008 r. o około 470 mld euro, a lukę inwestycyjną szacuje się na około 230–370 mld euro. Potrzebny jest wyraźny postęp w walce z wysokim bezrobociem i ubóstwem. Zapewnienie wzrostu w całej UE jest możliwe tylko pod warunkiem współpracy między państwami członkowskimi i wprowadzenia reform strukturalnych. Potrzeba stanowczych działań na poziomie krajowym z udziałem parlamentów i partnerów społecznych państw członkowskich. Zasada rzetelności rachunków publicznych musi być podstawą tworzenia budżetów krajowych i budżetu europejskiego, aby zapewnić stabilność gospodarczą w UE.

 
  
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  Victor Negrescu (S&D), in writing. The 2015 Annual Growth Survey, presented last year, recommended pursuing a social and economic strategy based on three main pillars: the pursuit of fiscal responsibility; a boost to investment; and a renewed commitment to structural reforms. Even though some of the objectives have been achieved and others are ongoing, I believe it is essential for 2016 to introduce also new concepts in the context of the new social and economic situation, namely: a clear social dimension in the policies implemented by the Commission; to refocus investments on the creation of growth and jobs, and especially sustainable growth and decent jobs; a policy regarding migration issues focused on long-term solutions and security of European citizens; and the development of new cooperation mechanisms that strengthen the European dimension at different levels of the EU society.

 
  
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  Ivan Štefanec (PPE), písomne. Podľa môjho názoru je potrebná najmä štrukturálna reforma a dodržovanie pravidiel paktu stability.

 
  
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  Theodor Dumitru Stolojan (PPE), în scris. Comisia Europeană a lansat noul semestrul european pentru anul 2016, prin publicarea prognozei creșterii economice pe anul 2016.

Vestea bună este că economia Uniunii Europene crește în anul 2016. Vestea rea este că această creștere economică de 2,0 % în 2016 este sub aceea pe care o va înregistra SUA. Prin urmare, decalajul economic dintre SUA și Uniunea Europeană se mărește, iar cauzele sunt clare: Uniunea Europeană întârzie reformele structurale care să relanseze creșterea competitivității economiei europene. De exemplu, marile bănci europene anunță abia acum restructurarea reală a acestora, mobilitatea forței de muncă este încă obstrucționată în unele state membre, iar povara reglementărilor europene și naționale pun în dezavantaj firmele europene în raport cu cele americane. Apelul premierului britanic pentru competitivitate este binevenit.

 
  
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  Romana Tomc (PPE), pisno. Med nedavno gospodarsko krizo se je izkazalo, da je potrebno zagotoviti boljše gospodarsko upravljanje in učinkovitejše usklajevanje politik med državami članicami EU. Prav zato danes razpravljamo o evropskem semestru. Bojim pa se, da so se kljub temu določene politične odločitve upočasnile.

Pomemnbno je, da začnemo izvajati cilje evropskega semestra. Od sredine 2013 lahko beležimo šibko gospodarstvo rast, kljub temu pa je okrevanje EU pod pričakovanji. Rešitev se skriva v zagonu gospodarstva, novih delovnih mestih, okrepljenih naložbah in pa v dobro izobraženi ter usposobljeni delovni sili.

Če bomo želeli uresničiti vse glavne cilje evropskega semestra, se moramo izzivov, s katerimi se soočamo, lotiti celostno. Zato pozivam tudi svojo državo, da se aktivno prične ukvarjati z begom možganov, saj bo odliv mlade populacije za seboj prinesel mnogo posledic, in sicer posledic na socialne sisteme, socialno varnost, pokojnine in pa na zdravstveno varstvo.

 
  
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  Miguel Viegas (GUE/NGL), por escrito. A União Europeia continua estagnada. Apesar de uma taxa de câmbio favorável, do baixo custo energético, apesar da injeção colossal de liquidez por parte do BCE, que totaliza quase metade do PIB da zona euro, não se vislumbra qualquer relançamento sólido da economia, como atesta o fraco nível do investimento privado.

Quanto ao Semestre Europeu, a Comissão Europeia continua a não querer pôr em causa as regras, apesar de a esmagadora maioria dos países não as respeitar. Verifica que a grande maioria das recomendações por país não é seguida mas, em vez de questionar estas recomendações, prefere culpar os governos pela sua não aplicação. E, assim, propõe na prática mecanismos para aumentar a pressão sobre os Estados nacionais por forma a impor a sua visão neoliberal sobre as economias.

Ao mesmo tempo que prega a legitimidade democrática, cria mais instituições antidemocráticas que apenas respondem perante a Comissão e irão reforçar, sob a capa de uma peritagem neutra e científica, todos os mecanismos de ingerência que impedem qualquer possibilidade de desenvolvimento alternativo por parte dos Estados-Membros.

 
  
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  Θεόδωρος Ζαγοράκης ( PPE), γραπτώς. Όπως προκύπτει και στην φετινή ετήσια επισκόπηση της Ανάπτυξης στην ΕΕ, η Ευρώπη απέχει ακόμη πολύ από την οριστική έξοδο από την κρίση. Είναι προφανές ότι χρειάζεται να κάνουμε πολύ περισσότερα.

Οι διαρθρωτικές αλλαγές είναι απαραίτητες, αλλά από μόνες τους δεν είναι αρκετές. Χρειάζεται να ενθαρρύνουμε τις επενδύσεις με κάθε τρόπο. Τα ποσοστά ανεργίας, ιδιαίτερα στις χώρες του ευρωπαϊκού Νότου, αποκαλύπτουν το μέγεθος του προβλήματος, αλλά και το αδιέξοδο που έχει βρεθεί η Ένωση τα τελευταία χρόνια. Οι τόσο πολυπόθητες νέες θέσεις εργασίας μπορούν να έλθουν μόνο μέσω της ενίσχυσης των μικρομεσαίων επιχειρήσεων, του περιορισμού της γραφειοκρατίας και της πρόσβασης των επιχειρήσεων στον τραπεζικό δανεισμό.

Είναι βέβαιο ότι εάν δεν ανοίξει σύντομα η κάνουλα των επιχειρηματικών δανείων, κάθε σχέδιο οικονομικής ανάκαμψης θα είναι καταδικασμένο να αποτύχει.

 
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