Mr President, on behalf of the Group, I would like to thank the rapporteur for the comprehensive, extremely important and highly informative work that he has carried out. I would like to re-emphasise the value of the extensive deliberations that we had in committee with the experts, who, fortunately for us, made themselves available to Parliament. These experts were most emphatic about how important it is to take investment-related measures and to employ demand-orientated instruments. By that, I do not think they mean what you have just termed the Keynesian school of thought of yesteryear, Mr von Wogau, for no one wants a lack of stability or solidity, rather we must at last find the right policy mix here in the European Union. This involves both supply- and demand-orientated measures. We see this in other countries of the world that have been pursuing this very strategy for many years now, and which are more successful than your homeland, for example. I am certainly not overly pessimistic with regard to the prospects for the European Union. After all, we can see that after a year of economic and monetary union in the European Union, the economy has undergone a distinct recovery. The Commission’s annual report on the economy is right to anticipate positive trends. After all, the global economic and political conditions are favourable, they just have to be utilised. We must at long last resolve to coordinate things in such a way that we create real synergy of the kind that will actually facilitate a high level of sustainable growth for many years to come. I must say that this business with the euro-dollar exchange rate does not worry me, not just because I see potential here for revaluation of the euro, no, because the euro-dollar exchange rate is giving the European export economy an additional boost, thereby underpinning its role as a driving force in the economy during an important phase of European economic development. As I said before, the European Union still lacks a common growth strategy, which would be instrumental in enabling us to actually use the interdependence of the EU national economies to best advantage, and in enabling the internal market to function to optimum effect This does not just have to do with the fact that there is still a lack of structural reform. Of course, it is important for us to undertake structural reform. But has anyone ever calculated the economic impact of this structural reform, to enable us to see what it could actually contribute in the way of growth, investment and employment? Seen in this light, we cannot dispense with structured growth. I think it is a shame that even now, not all participants in the macroeconomic dialogue see the need for coordination. We simply must be aware that we are still not free of external risks, and European growth, growth within the EU, is still subject to internal risks. At the end of the day, there are, for example, indicators here in the European Union that show that growth and its prospects are by no means as solid as they were in the 80s. This also has something to do with confidence. I do not believe that we should leave it to the financial markets to pass judgement, but we must ensure that both consumers and manufacturing gain in confidence where development in the European Union is concerned. There is also a need for a common European approach – I would not dispute this – in the development of wage policy, which, I believe, has already been brought into line in the EU, in exemplary fashion, with the productivity and inflation objectives of the ECB. It should not boil down to a renationalisation of the fight against inflation at Member State level, this fight being waged due to the pressure exerted by increased oil and raw materials prices. An independent evaluation of European economic policy will be of importance to the European Union and to structured growth. What we need is an annual report on the economic and social situation in the Union, so as to enable us to develop an EU policy with benchmarking and specific quantitative and qualitative figures and objectives for investment and growth. This must be incorporated into the cornerstones of economic policy. It is my belief that, at the end of the day, any violation of this policy must be followed up by a detailed analysis of causes with regard to the respective national economy. Of course, the benefits arising from favourable economic growth should now be put to use in helping to alleviate structural shortfalls more intensely, and rightly so. However, the benefits of growth should also be used for investment in the information society, and in research and development, as well as in that expensive raw material ‘labour’. Measures including Internet access in every school or lifelong learning would constitute a sound approach in this respect – which even opponents of state expenditure programmes would have to agree to – so as to secure future prospects and full employment for the citizens of the Union.

Political group: PSE