Dismiss Europe’s 2020 strategy at your peril. Therein lies the solution to everything. Youth unemployment. Unemployment among the over 50s. Green jobs. A sustainable economy. Lowering CO2 emissions. General well-being. “In the 2020 strategy…” began Jose Manuel Barroso several times. If only MEPs had been creative with their questions, they would surely have found out that it could disperse volcanic ash clouds.
However, in the event the 10-year economic strategy should be found wanting, it will be member states’ fault. Indeed, all is not happiness and light between member states and the commission president. He found it “quite surprising” that some national politicians are making an “intergovernmental reading of the Lisbon Treaty.” “Quite surprising, but it is indeed happening,” he added ruminatively. Frankly, the surprise element should have long gone by now.
And later, a fairly strong statement: “I find it quite extraordinary that it was so difficult to find a solution of solidarity for Greece.” Perhaps he was speaking with his Portuguese hat on.
Thankfully the exchange was relatively ash-free. Although Iceland’s volcano, should anyone have asked (apparently visitors groups were still expected in Strasbourg despite “the travel chaos”) would have provided a neat one-off excuse for the near empty chamber. Who knows what force majeure will befall question time next month. Still there was some ashy-ness. “I want to refer to the volcanic eruption,” started off one MEP grandly.
“Look, this volcanic problem,” said Barroso managing to make it sound like an outbreak of hives, “is certainly beyond the control of the EU institutions.”
Naturally, that qualified for most unnecessary statement of the hour. Closely followed by that of British far-right deputy Andrew Brons, who apparently felt the need to spell out that he is “not” a “euro-integrationalist.”
An Italian MEP received a lofty answer to the question about what he should tell local shoe and textile manufacturers that Europe is doing about cheaper Chinese imports. The answer, said Barroso, is not to shut borders but raise social and environmental standards in China. Barroso evidently has not been on the voters’ doorsteps for some time.
There was a brief and impassioned defence of his failure to make it to the late Polish president’s funeral. “I had great respect for President (Lech) Kaczynski. I have done everything to be present at his funeral,” he noted before moving on to the possibility of easing state aid rules for airlines.
Meanwhile British Conservative MEPs carried on their tradition – they are admirably consistent in this – of making it sound like Britain is the only member of the EU. And certainly the only member state that counts. Timothy Kirkhope said he hoped that the 3 million people in the UK who take advantage of the opt-outs in the working time directive would continue to be able to do so under any new proposals by the commission.
“Apart from Britain, there are also 26 other member in the European Union,” replied Barroso. It was almost a ‘so there!’ moment.
#1 by Damien on April 21, 2010 - 12:07 am
Mr Barosso finds it extraordinary that it was so difficult for the Member States’ to arrive at a solution for Greece, and thinks the remedy for competition from China is to push for greater social rights for Chinese workers!
Has anyone ever told Mr Barosso that charity starts at home, or in his case, within the EU.
Before talking about the pay and social rights of Chinese workers, maybe he should look poor and exploited Europeans, especially Greece’s top doctors. It seems many top greek medical specialists and consultants get paid less than their receptionists, or so they declare on their tax forms.
Perhaps this is why it is so difficult to get solidarity from Member States where their citizens pay their taxes and don’t create a government budget deficit because of tax evasion.
And on the EU response to the Ash Cloud, aren’t their people in the Brussels bubble that are paid to think up problems and write treaty articles to deal with them.
Isn’t that why we were sold the Lisbon treaty, to deal with problems or the buzzword ‘future challenges’ that Europeans ‘want’ the EU to look after.
This is yet another example of the EU taking their eyes off the ball on issues and threats that are real to the citizens of the EU, because they focused too long on getting Lisbon through.
#2 by DG on April 24, 2010 - 11:57 am
The 2020 Strategy will fail for the same reason as its previous incarnation, the Lisbon Strategy, failed. It attempts to set various laudable objectives but does not provide the means to enable them to be achieved.
It is hard to credit that Barroso is surprised by the “inter-governmental” view taken by the Member States of the Lisbon Treaty when the Commission seems to be doing the same thing. Its approach can be conrasted with that of Delors in his famous White Paper which led to the Single European Act and the creation of the internal market more than a quarter of a century ago.
The approach now being adopted has been given various fancy titles, such as the Open Method of Coordination or, more realistically, soft law. Soft option would be an even more accurate description.
There is really no alternative to the hard slog of Commission proposal, negotiation and final adoption of identified measures both legislative and non-legislative.
Creating a single air-traffic control system for the skies over Europe would be a good example. The Commission may not be responsible for volcanoes but it certainly has a treaty responsibility for the impact they may have on transport, consumer interests etc.
#3 by Nellie on April 26, 2010 - 9:29 pm
Well, did you really expect anything different from an ex-Maoist like Barroso?
Greece is nothing but a Ponzi scheme, borrowing today to pay the debt it incurred years ago. This is unsustainable and soon it will have to restructure its debt, causing everyone to lose their investment in Greek government bonds.