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Speech by the President of the European Parliament at the meeting of the
European Council 

11 December 2008 - Brussels 

President of the European Council, Nicolas Sarkozy, 

Heads of State and Government,

President of the Commission, José Manuel Durão Barroso,

High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier
Solana,

Ministers,

xxx Financial and economic crisis xxx

The international financial crisis has left the world as a whole facing
exceptional challenges. The breakthrough in the efforts to bring about
closer international cooperation and a reform of international financial
institutions achieved at the G-20 meeting in Washington on 15 November
owes much the coordinated approach developed in the European Union.

If we can now see a chance of resolving the crisis, it is because the
European Union has shown the determination needed to take a pioneering
role at world level. 

On behalf of the European Parliament, I should in particular like to
thank the President of the European Council, President Nicolas Sarkozy,
and the President of the Commission, José Manuel Barroso, for their
perseverance.

You have all contributed to the positive results - but so has the
European Parliament.

However important these reforms at international level may be, they must
on no account serve as a pretext for postponing action here in the
European Union. We must not waver in our efforts to revise the European
legal framework and we must not continue to take refuge behind national
reservations.

Crucial to all this is the creation of a suitable legal framework for
supervising the financial markets in a single European internal market.
In pursuing that aim we must take due account of the clear principles
underpinning the social market economy: freedom requires regulation. 

The courage you demonstrated in introducing Monetary Union is exactly
what is needed today. Let us now take a determined step towards
establishing a European legal framework for this supervision in which
all the Member States are represented on an equal footing, as they are
in the European System of Central Banks, and which can protect our
citizens effectively. 

The European Parliament expects to be kept regularly informed about and
to be closely involved in the work the Larosière Group carries out to
shape that architecture. 

In addition, the legal status and powers of the three committees, on
securities regulation, on European banking supervision and on insurance
and pensions supervision, set up as part of the Lamfalussy Process
should be laid down under the codecision procedure, and not solely on
the basis of a Commission decision. This would guarantee the committees'
independence, and scrutiny by the European Parliament at the same time.

I would also point out that the European Parliament has repeatedly drawn
attention to the need for further measures to improve the regulation of
the financial markets.

In particular, with a view to forestalling crises more effectively in
the future we are calling for all financial institutions and products to
be required to comply with European rules, since certain products, such
as hedge funds and derivatives, which are usually traded outside the
traditional banking sector, have been instrumental in triggering the
current crisis, by virtue of the important role they play in the 'shadow
banking system'. 

In this area as well, the European Union should take the lead. With that
aim in view, the Commission’s Legislative and Work Programme for 2009
should be more ambitious: the legislation we need cannot wait until
2010!

Heads of State and Government,

The economic situation is setting the European Union major challenges.
This calls for joint European solutions, a policy based on strength,
responsibility and stability. 

On behalf of the European Parliament, I should like to thank the
Commission for the communication it issued on 26 November which provides
a sound framework for coordinated action to revive the economy in the
European Union and, at the same time, contribute to long-term,
sustainable prosperity. 

In particular, the European Parliament welcomes the fact that the
economic recovery plan focuses on research, innovation and long-term
growth, in other words on sustainable investments.

In keeping with the principles of a sustainable social market economy,
it is also important to invest more in training and re-training in order
to offer people new prospects.

This is not a competition to see who can spend the most. We need
targeted investment in the technologies which hold the key to a viable,
environmentally-friendly future – measures which increase the
competitiveness of the European Union.

The circumstances we are dealing with are truly exceptional. A
combination of overly generous financing terms and inadequate regulation
seduced banks in almost every country of the world into granting
reckless loans and engaging in risky financial trading and produced a
property and securities bubble which has now burst.

The financial crisis has stripped many banks of their capital and
created a general atmosphere of mistrust between credit institutions.

Those who exercised budgetary discipline during the good times can now
use that hard-won breathing space to stabilise the banks and offer
businesses incentives to make sustainable investments without
jeopardising the Stability and Growth Pact and the favourable long-term
financing possibilities which go with it. 

The economic recovery plan will have significant implications for the
2009 Community budget. As one arm of the budgetary authority, in the
negotiations the European Parliament has already made clear its support
for appropriate measures to address the current crisis. 

We are aware of our responsibility and prepared to do our best to ensure
that the decisions at European level which are fundamental to the prompt
implementation of the Commission package can be taken without delay.

For its part, the European Commission has a responsibility to clarify
the implications of its proposals quickly and to report regularly on
their implementation. 

Heads of State and Government,

The third industrial revolution is already taking place and this process
of radical structural change is also presenting us with an opportunity.

Combating climate change, and thus safeguarding creation, is certainly
our once-in-a-century task.

It is a task which requires the European Union to display responsible
leadership, but one which, at the same time, offers us ways out of the
economic crisis and represents the approach best suited to securing
sustainable energy supplies.

In other words, we can, if we so wish, create growth and jobs, reduce
our energy dependence and make progress towards achieving the climate
objectives we set in.

xxx Energy and climate package xxx

Today, an historic preliminary decision on the energy and climate
package is about to be taken.

The European Parliament has acted highly responsibly in the face of this
challenge. Our approach to the work of establishing the procedure and
conducting the negotiations has been pragmatic. We have brought forward
our committee discussions by many months and made every effort to ensure
that an agreement could be reached in good time. We have done our duty
as Europeans!

The European Parliament has endeavoured to strike a balance between
climate objectives and economic imperatives. We have aimed at balance
between the necessary flexibility for Member States in implementing the
package, and the equally-important assurance that key objectives will be
met. This is what gives the energy package its credibility.

In the negotiations conducted under the codecision procedure significant
progress was achieved because the European Parliament was prepared to
compromise.

However, the European Parliament is adamant that funding for investments
in the new, clean technologies of the future, such as carbon storage,
must be guaranteed.

Heads of State and Government, 

Now the Council must do its part, now the responsibility rests with you.

If we fail to achieve an acceptable result now, it may no longer be
possible to adopt the energy and climate package on schedule. This is
not what either the Council or the European Parliament wants, and any
such failure would also undermine the European Union’s leadership in
this area at world level.

However, if we are to resolve this matter before the end of the French
Presidency any agreement which you reach today as Heads of State and
Government must also be acceptable to and secure a majority in the
European Parliament. 

The outcome must therefore also take account of the standpoint
democratically adopted by the European Parliament in its role as an
equal co-legislator with the Council.

The European Parliament will not relinquish its rights under the
codecision procedure, and recognition of this fact will be crucial to
the adoption of the package as a whole next week 

Regular, open exchanges of views between the Council and the European
Parliament’s decision-makers during the negotiations conducted here
are vital, therefore.

xxx Lisbon Treaty xxx

Mr President of the European Council,

Heads of State and Government,

Over the past year the European Union’s resolve has been tested as it
rarely has before. The cost of the Lisbon Treaty not being in force has
been brought home to us anew every day.

The significant challenges ahead of us make an effective, democratic
European Union which is close to its citizens more essential than ever.

The European Parliament welcomes the recent ratification of the Lisbon
Treaty in Sweden and we thank Prime Minister Frederik Reinfeldt for his
determined advocacy of that ratification.

We are convinced that, following the decision by the National Court of
Justice, the new Czech Council Presidency will also make its
contribution to the prompt completion of the ratification process. The
Czech Republic has given its word and should now ratify the Treaty
without delay.

Expectations are now high on all sides that agreement can be found on a
way forward which respects both the democratic decision taken by the
citizens of Ireland and those taken by the 25 Member States which have
already completed ratification of the Lisbon Treaty by the parliamentary
route.

The special subcommittee of the Oireachtas, the Irish Parliament,
submitted its report on the future of Ireland in the European Union in
late November. That report concluded that there are no legal objections
to a fresh referendum.

That report also emphasised how beneficial European Union membership has
been for Ireland. 

The financial crisis has hit Ireland hard, but the country's membership
of the eurozone has spared it a much more serious crisis. The euro has
been Ireland’s salvation.

Prime Minister Cowen, this afternoon you will outline the Irish
Government’s current thoughts on the situation and suggest possible
solutions.

We need a roadmap which frees us from our current institutional
paralysis, clears the way for the Lisbon Treaty to enter into force as
soon as possible, respects existing legal obligations and makes it
possible for the President of the Commission to be elected on 15 July
reflecting the outcome of the European elections, as foreseen by the
European Parliament's calendar.

All the Member States and the European institutions now have a major
responsibility to work together with Ireland to draw up a suitable
roadmap which is acceptable to everyone.

The European Parliament is prepared to take account of the justified
interests of Ireland and its citizens. I am confident that you will find
a solution today which safeguards our shared future.

Thank you for your attention.