Signs of concreteness

The European political week opened in Strasbourg with the plenary session of the European Parliament (26-29 September). It will close in Warsaw with the Eastern Partnership Summit (September 29-30), on the background of ongoing public protests in Greece, of the tug of war involving Turkey and Cyprus, the electoral campaign in Spain, the war in Libya, the UN debate on the future of Palestine… Three themes – among the many possible ones – are hereby presented: MEPs’ vote on the “six-pack”; the Commission’s proposal to tax financial transactions, along with some of the proposals discussed during the Plenary of the European Parliament.Governance is taking shape. “This is a very important day for the European Parliament and for the Union as a whole”. The President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek welcomed the adoption of the ‘six-pack’ on economic governance by the European Parliament in Strasbourg, on September 28. The new legislations provides for the reinforcement of macroeconomic surveillance and governance in the euro zone, which involves all EU27 countries. “At this stage the EU is called to face a demanding challenge. This requires leadership and solidarity”, added Buzek, “for the economic government of the EU”. The “six-pack” – states a release by the European Parliament – gives more bite to the current stability and growth pact (SGP), so as to control deficits and debt levels better and from an earlier stage”; “it innovates, by aiming to oblige policy makers to act swiftly to restore the health of economies that are threatened by macro-economic imbalances”. Both these aims are to be achieved through preventive action, primarily warnings, and corrective action, in the form of sanctions. Moreover, the rules – that many MEPs did not endorse, due to the fact that not enough attention is given to growth, privileging rigour, while social aspects would remain in the shadow) aim to ensure that the statistics vital to sound budgetary policy-making and budget monitoring are more accurate, inter alia by having them gathered more independently.Financial transaction tax. A tax “on all transactions on financial instruments between financial institutions when at least one party to the transaction is located in the EU”. The Commission puts the cards on the table and after the announcement by Commissioner Barroso in Strasbourg on September 28, Algirdas Šemeta, EU Commissioner for Taxation, Customs, Anti-Fraud and Audit, delivered a statement on the so-called Tobin Tax. “The exchange of shares and bonds would be taxed at a rate of 0.1% and derivative contracts, at a rate of 0.01%. This could approximately raise €57 billion every year”. The Commission has proposed that the tax should come into effect from 1st January 2014. The proposal will be discussed by all Member States in the EU’s Council of Ministers and the Commission will present it to the G20 Summit in November. According to the Commission, the decision of taxing financial transactions has a twofold purpose: “to ensure that the financial sector makes a fair contribution at a time of fiscal consolidation in the Member States”; second, “a coordinated framework at EU level would help to strengthen the EU single market. In fact, “the proposal will help to reduce competitive distortions in the single market, discourage risky trading activities and complement regulatory measures aimed at avoiding future crises”. Commissioner Semeta underlined: “In view of the G20 summit”(…) “we are looking forward to see this tax adopted first at European level and then at global level.Other documents adopted in the EP. Other items were also on the agenda of the Plenary. High Commissioner Catherine Ashton focused on foreign affairs, notably the situation in Tunisia, Libya and Cyprus. MEPs discussed the “Food for Free” aid program; voted legislation on road safety, on trade agreements with Palestinian Territories and on a “Europe brand” for tourism. MEPs endorsed with a majority vote the resolution tackling delicate issues such as “human rights, sexual orientation, gender identity in the UN Human Rights Council”. The blueprint focuses primarily on the rights of “gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people”, whereby the theme of the fundamental rights is often confused the need to impose concepts and practices that are not shared by most European public opinions in different sectors, including the juridical, social and health sectors. It should be noted that the term “gender” and “gender identity” is nowhere to be found in the Treaties, (“sexual” identity is referred to instead), nor in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, implying an evident distortion on the juridical plane.