Mr President, Commissioners, ladies and gentlemen, we are faced with an economic situation which is still very uncertain, and the European institutions need to do more than just wait for American recovery and its impact on the European Union economies. Moreover, as in Europe, recovery in the United States still appears to be slow and to differ according to sector, and it is accompanied by restructuring processes which are having considerable repercussions on employment and require substantial capital investments. It is no coincidence that the United States Government has adopted a highly interventionist policy, and it should make the European institutions pause for thought for they still have to counteract ongoing stagnation in the investment sector, at least if they want to avoid the gap in competitiveness between Europe and the United States widening further. This being the case, the need to respect the constraints of the Stability Pact, particularly in terms of national budget deficits and the debt reduction mechanism, cannot, as some would advocate, take the place of stronger coordination of economic and social policies and a policy mix which will impact on the economic policies of the countries of the Union, particularly the Eurogroup. The constraint of the 3% threshold for national budget deficits must be respected. However, we have to understand, at this point, that the scarcity of resources available for each State to develop an economic and social environment policy which is capable of giving fresh stimulus to employment and the economy makes it essential that we create fresh synergies through stronger coordination of economic, social and environmental policies, particularly in the eurozone; moreover, this coordination should also be evident at the level of the policy for supplies of oil raw materials, in order to reduce price fluctuations and counteract the threats from inflation. That is why our report calls upon the Commission to propose to the Council and certain groups of States open coordination experiments precisely in the investment sectors in which the Lisbon European Council recorded the greatest delays in the European Union in the development by 2010 of a knowledge-based economy and society moving towards full employment and social cohesion. I refer, in particular, to investment in research and development, to investment – which has to be substantial if it is to have any effect – in lifelong learning; a policy which is inseparable from the promotion of job flexibility. I refer, once again, to investments which could encourage, which could facilitate a policy of active ageing based on the voluntary choice of employees and on the retraining of older workers so as to ensure the endurance of a collective pensions system. I refer, lastly, to investments in integrated infrastructures of networks and services which can lead, with the commitment of the States, with the commitment of private individuals and with the support of the European Investment Bank, to the immediate recovery of employment. I also feel it is important and urgent that consideration be given to the recommendations of the Green Paper on corporate social responsibility, in cases of mergers and restructuring, so as to use benchmarking and other procedures to encourage the practice of informing and consulting workers and in order to find solutions based on employability and continuous education as alternatives to structural unemployment. Mr President, this is the path proposed by Jacques Delors yesterday and again today in the interview published in Le Monde this morning. With this path, the economy and the markets will benefit from a considerable announcement effect which will encourage economic recovery in the countries which are currently just marking time too. Lastly, Mr President, I would like the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs’ call to the Commission and the Council for Parliament not just to be consulted but to be more involved in establishing the broad economic policy guidelines and promoting greater cooperation between the European institutions to be taken up, so that this process too is carried out with full transparency and with the informed participation of the Members of Parliament.

Political group: PSE