Toespraak Belgische premier Leterme over oplossingen voor economische crisis door Belgische voorzitterschap (en)
©European Commission
Ladies and gentlemen,
Last year the economy experienced the most severe recession since the second world war. This recession was sparked by speculation and profiteering in the financial sector. Today most economies are growing again and the increase in unemployment has stopped. Yet despite promising growth in the first half of 2010, the economy and the financial system remain fragile. Governments, consumers and companies have built up too much debt and need to consolidate their balances. Moreover, the crisis has laid open a number of structural flaws that remained unnoticed for the most of the 2000’s.
The economic priorities of the Belgian presidency are therefore simple: “We want to fix the shortcomings the crisis has brought in the daylight and we want to exit the economy out of the crisis and work towards smart, sustainable and inclusive growth”.
In this regard I identify three important issues: rebuild the financial sector, strengthen economic governance at the European level and implement the EU2020 Strategy.
First of all the financial sector still requires our attention. After the emergency measures taken by governments to prevent a total collapse of the economy, we spend all of our energy in improving the regulation and supervision of the financial sector. It is of crucial importance to further restore the confidence in our financial institutions in a way that they can normalize their lending to consumers and businesses alike. I am therefore pleased that last week the European Parliament approved the package on financial supervision that the Belgian Presidency has conducted.
Secondly, to increase the confidence in our economies we need to build up a real economic governance at the European level. The credibility of the euro itself has been threatened due to the Greek crisis. We were at the brink of the abyss. The heads of states and governments took strong measures to contain the danger of a currency out of control. Now it is time to invest in a real economic governance aiming for better budgetary discipline, healthy public finances and credible sanctions as big sticks. The European Council of October will precisely adopt recommendations in those fields on the basis of the conclusions of the so called Task Force.
Those first and second priorities should provide for a better economic environment which is conductive to do business. Structural measures are indeed necessary to overcome economic bottlenecks, to make up for lost markets and to increase our economic growth potential. However the crisis resolution and the conductive environment only serve to stimulate business itself.
Here my third issue comes into play. To boost our economies we need to reconnect with sustainable growth. Therefore the European Union initiated its ambitious EU2020 strategy.
So, what does this Strategy mean in concrete terms?
At European level, the Commission will - in the weeks ahead - publish a number of proposals for concrete projects in areas such as innovation, energy and industry, the so called flagship initiatives.
In the meantime, the Member States are further committed to identify the main bottlenecks hindering their progress towards reaching the five targets and to establishing a comprehensive reform programme. The economic and fiscal situation is such that complacency is not an option.
In line with this EU2020 agenda the Belgian Presidency is calling forth all of its skills to make progress in three concrete projects: the EU-patent, the increase of venture capital and the further liberalization of trade. The EU-patent must help Europe not to miss out on the green revolution. We have excellent researchers, but the United States and China outstrip us when it comes to transforming research findings into industrial output. The time to market is still far too long in the EU.
To address this particular bottleneck, the creation of such a European patent is crucial. This dossier has been under discussion for over 30 years. It has seen many setbacks and failures. Today we have a good opportunity to finally eradicate this flaw.
We must think of our businesses. The absence of a European patent makes our companies lose a lot of money. As you know a company pays ten times more for a patent in Europe than it does in the United States. As a result, the US has around twice as many high-quality patents per capita. And Japan even has five times as many.
A fair amount of venture capital is another necessity to stimulate business all over the EU. Today Europe has much less venture capital than the US. As the Monti report points out we need to deepen the single market in this area for example with regard to double taxation. This deepening would increase the amount of capital available for young and promising SME’s. Those businesses would then be able to grow much more rapidly. Through innovation, by producing high quality, high value added, we can always make the difference. Such a knowledge economy rooted in an industrial tradition must form the basis of our economic future.
A third priority of the Belgian Presidency on the business climate is the further liberalization of trade. Only two weeks ago the EU and South-Korea concluded a vast Free Trade Agreement. The EU has been the single largest foreign investor in South Korea since 1962 and Korea is the EU's eighth largest trade partner. Nevertheless up till now, EU companies had significant problems accessing and operating in the South Korean market due to stringent standards and testing requirements for products and services often creating barriers to trade. The Trade Agreement has now taken down those barriers allowing trade to blossom. For a country such as Belgium which is so heavily dependent on export and foreign trade it was only natural to put the full weight of the Belgian Presidency behind this Agreement. Let’s hope that the Union will be able in the near future to conclude other such agreements with important commercial partners.
Europe has become the strongest economic power in the world not by fearing new competition, but by rejoicing it. We can certainly be proud of our great achievements. But we cannot simply sit back and enjoy what we have. The rest of the world does not owe us a living; we have to work for it. We have to work harder for it. We must rebuild Europe's confidence and revive our ambitions for the European Union. The Belgian Presidency is taking action in line with those ambitions.
I thank you for your attention.