A glimmer of unity

“Exiting from the crisis is possible. And it is our duty”; “Greece will remain a member of the euro area”; “we will continue with Tobin Taxes and Eurobonds”; “State’s veto power must be streamlined, as it hinders the progress of the Union”. José Manuel Barroso was particularly inspired and combative. His speech “On the State of the Union” delivered on October 28 at the European Parliament in Strasbourg triggered enthusiastic rounds of applause. In the ensuing debate MEPs plied him: “Pass from words to facts”.Faith in Europe. Barroso’s speech was carefully prepared, so as to tackle the main items up for debate at this stage of Community life, marked by front page news reporting on the risks of the single currency, street protests in Greece, the risk of a clash between Turks and Cypriots, the ongoing political transformations in the Mediterranean, the next G20, the relations with partner countries from Eastern Europe… On Greece, Barroso said that the EU “has pledged to support Greece, that will remain a member of the euro area”, but Athens “must successfully implement the requested reforms, and deliver” concrete results. According to the Portuguese politician, “this is not a sprint but a marathon. We need to act in the short, in the medium and the long term”. An “Action Plan for Greece” has been launched, supported with EU structural funds. It is necessary “to rebuild confidence and trust in the euro and our Union as a whole”, solving “the sovereign debt crisis” and creating “credible firewalls” for the euro. Barroso re-launched the financial stability fund and the “six pack” legislative proposal for governance, that underwent Parliamentary vote on the same day. Heading towards the Tobin Tax. The European Commission has drawn up a plan for a financial transaction tax (the so-called Tobin Tax, also presented on September 28 in Strasbourg by Commissioner Algirdas Semeta), that “will generate revenue of €57 billion a year”. “It is a question of fairness. If our workers, if all the sectors of the economy all pay a contribution to the society, also the banking sector should make a contribution to the society”. Barroso told MEPs: “If we need more revenues the question is where these revenues are coming from. Are we going to tax labour more? Are we going to tax consumption more?” The answer is thus to tax financial activities. According to Barroso “all member states need to promote structural reforms so that we can increase our competitiveness in the world and promote growth”. Accordingly, it is necessary to create a facility to connect Europe – in energy, in transport, in digital. Not only rigour, but also development is proposed to exit the financial and economic crisis.Employment for the youth. The speech tackles social issues, the fight on unemployment (“in some countries the situation of the youth is dramatic, one out of five is unemployed”), the value of inclusiveness. José Manuel Barroso calls upon Commission and Parliament to solve the knot of food aid to the poor. He focuses the attention on the commitments to ensure the fundamental rights of European citizens, provided for in the Lisbon Treaty: “European renewal can be successful if it meets citizens’ interests and if it involves social partners”. Barroso has in mind a “Europe of opportunities”. He goes on to introduce the problem of the enforcement of Schengen regulations: “We will defend the freedom of circulation and all the freedoms in our Union”, he declared, with ample consensus by the Assembly. Curbing veto power. In his analysis of EU performance, Barroso attacked the “intergovernmental method” that ascribes excessive powers to the governments of member state countries, “while we need a true community approach”. The president believes that the time has come to change “the constraint of unanimity” -namely veto power – within EU Council, as “the pace of our joint endeavour cannot be dictated by the slowest. The other that want to go further” towards integration “they should go further. Barroso once again points at the nationalisms that are once again posing a threat to “the common home” of which some governments and political forces of the European Assembly are currently the institutional expression. The speech on the state of the Union also addresses foreign affairs: “There is the need for a single representative on the global political scenario”, to give Europe a louder voice along with its commitment for democracy, peace and development, in regions such as north Africa and Eastern Europe. The “Arab Spring” is also present in his speech (Europe – he underlines – must continue siding with the Libyan, Tunisian, Egyptian populations that are fighting for freedom, with immediate aid and a strategic partnership), and as regards the Holy Land: “We are in favour of a Palestinian State that lives in peace near an Israeli state”.