EU-president Van Rompuy: Eerste voorzichtige tekenen van economisch herstel zichtbaar (en)

EUROPEAN COUNCIL THE PRESIDT

Brussels, 2 October 2013 EUCO

PRESSE 394 PRPCE 175

Herman Van Rompuy i President of the European Council Friends of Europe's tenth annual high-level roundtable: "The State of Europe: tough choices for a troubled Europe"

It is a pleasure to join you once again for this annual discussion on the State of Europe: the tenth edition already, and a rendez-vous incontournable - one of those signs, here in Brussels, that the autumn is arrived! This autumn marks the beginning of an important political time for our Union, towards the European elections at the end of next Spring

In two months, I will start the last year of my mandate as President of the European Council - a mandate that has been dominated, for the best part of four years now, by the financial and economic crisis

During these hugely challenging years, Europeans have had to meet, repeatedly, unprecedented troubles with unprecedented efforts, with unprecedented sacrifices, and -yes - unprecedented solidarity

Today, we can see the first economic results of these tireless efforts. Modest, uneven, perhaps fragile "green shoots", but which should be welcome with caution nonetheless. Welcome with caution, because our efforts are far from over

Next year, economic growth is projected for all but one of our 28 countries. This is partly thanks to a return of confidence from consumers and investors, after we succeeded in turning away an existential threat on the eurozone i. By the way, as a result of this turnaround, the eurozone is no longer a target at G8 i or G20 i meetings. In Saint Petersburg, the euro was hardly mentioned!

But we are still very far from where we want to be. Especially when it comes to winning the battle for jobs - the social dimension 'par excellence'. We know that there is a time lag between the return of growth and that of jobs. Unemployment in many countries is still devastatingly high, and it is also becoming more entrenched

The horizon will not clear until we do win that battle. So our efforts for growth, our efforts for employment, for every member state and for the Union as a whole, remain the absolute priority. We cannot afford to sit back. Our efforts must continue on three fronts -individually as countries and together as a Union

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  The first is increasing structural economic growth through stronger competitiveness. This is a major focus for the European Council, with dedicated discussions this year on energy, on the digital economy, on innovation, the defence industry, and industrial competitiveness
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  Second front: encouraging short-term growth, via using the flexibility in our common instruments on nominal fiscal targets
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  And the third is fighting youth unemployment through specific measures via our Youth Guarantee Scheme. We cannot wait until the economy recovers strongly. The member states are on the frontline, and their efforts will be facilitated by the EU budget. It is, by the way, striking that countries with almost the same economic evolution perform differently as far as unemployment is concerned. National policies matter

I am often asked what is the most important lesson that I draw from the experience of the past four years. To me, there are several but one strikes me above all: the awareness of our interdependence, which is much deeper than it has ever been in the past, especially in the eurozone

It has not been an easy - nor a painless - realisation. But today, we know that what happens in one country, especially in the eurozone, can and will affect all the others. "Economic policies are a matter of common interest" says the Treaty: today, this has become a daily, tangible reality

We've experienced that national choices don't happen in a vacuum. That the eurozone is much more than the sum of its parts. That it is not enough to try to solve each country's situation in isolation. In short, that the overall picture is absolutely key

This deep realisation will change, and is already changing, the way we work together as a Union, as a currency zone. National and European interests coincide more and more

In line with this interdependence, a second lesson to draw is obvious: a common currency needs common policies and a stronger common architecture for the Economic and Monetary Union

All the ongoing work to reinforce the foundations of the euro area derives directly from this realisation. Rebalancing in the eurozone is already under way, in terms of balance of payments and fiscal deficits. The "banking union" is slowly but surely becoming a reality. Economic and fiscal coordination - essential for our Economic Union - has never been so thorough. All these efforts are a key part of our growth and jobs strategy

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In the longer run, turning the EMU into a genuine economic and monetary union will mean even further financial, economic and budgetary integration - significant steps also politically, as leaders are well aware. This was at the heart of my reflection in the Reports I presented last year to the European Council. And for a stronger eurozone, I will make sure this work moves forward, we need an '"ever closer" eurozone

Just as leaders discovered their interdependence, so did the citizens. Within our Union, it means the end of the age of polite indifference between the peoples in our countries (or sometimes impolite)

For the very first time, Europe is now in the heart of the political debate in each country. The integration via the euro is so profound that Europe has become part of daily life. We are not living the nationalisation of European politics, no, we see the Europeanisation of national politics. This is a third lesson. Europe is not a soft idea anymore but a firm reality

Ultimately, I am convinced that this will make our common endeavour stronger. Provided we avoid the ingredients of modern political life: clichés, slogans, caricatures. We may know them all by heart, and we can deplore or demonise them; but we can also consider that it is natural that it takes time for the public to digest the enormous discovery of what it really means to share a Union, a currency. The length and depth of the economic slowdown in many countries have made it more difficult to gain support for our policies

Indeed, to some extent solidarity is a new idea in the Union. Of course, there has been some solidarity in the European budget for some time already, but it is minor compared to what we have to do now. So in fact what we are seeing today is not "less solidarity" or solidarity coming under attack, but rather the first real test of solidarity for our Union

I know the European idea is under pressure in a lot of our countries, if not all. Never in its history has it needed to be defended as much as it does today, politically and at all levels. But ultimately, we will convince people not with rhetoric and words alone (even if words are needed), but with results, with growth, with jobs

In all the immediate action for 'survival', we never lost sight of the long-term. See our efforts to build a stronger monetary union, see our insistence on structural economic reforms to raise our competitiveness to prepare for an ageing population, see how we carefully avoided to fight this crisis by sowing the seeds for the next one. There are no quick-wins

We will come out of this more resilient, I am convinced of that. It is not an easy road, but one that will reward us in time. If not yet by next year's voters, then surely by later ones, and in any case by future historians!

The political will of leaders to preserve Europe's unity, to preserve Europe's future cannot be underestimated. The rest of the world has discovered our determination, a determination that was top often underestimated. We have shown it these past five years, and we will continue to do so in the years ahead

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