2013-06-20T00:14:23-04:00 Martin Schulz http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/author/index.php?author=martin-schulz Copyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Martin Schulz Good old fashioned elbow grease. tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.2487742 2013-01-17T11:56:39-05:00 2013-03-19T05:12:01-04:00

Martin Schulz http://www.huffingtonpost.com/martin-schulz/
By attempting to revisit major parts of the European Union's established acquis and picking and choosing the bits the UK approves of is a dangerous precedent - it could lead to piece-meal legislation, disintegration and potentially the break-up of the EU. However attractive repatriation may seem on the surface it would involve long and complex procedures with no guaranteed favourable outcomes. Ultimately, attempts to repatriate competences and eventual exit from the EU are decisions of the British government and the British people. However, it is my strong belief that full UK membership is in the British and European interest. The single market benefits the British economy hugely and the EU remains by far the biggest destination for UK trade accounting for almost 50% of total exports.

In a globalised world, it is not in the UK's interest to seek to downgrade to some kind of 'second class' membership and so choose to weaken its own influence on European and global affairs.

In recent days, the US administration has rightly warned that a possible referendum risks the UK "turning inwards", while Ireland's prime minister has sounded the alarm bell saying that a British exit from the EU would be a "disaster." Leading British business figures have cautioned PM Cameron that he risks destabilising the UK economy and inadvertently taking Britain out of the EU, if he tries to seek a wholesale renegotiation of EU membership. Their voices, however late in the day, should be heeded.

The eurozone is integrating more deeply and more rapidly out of necessity. The UK has chosen to remain outside the euro with a clear opt out. The UK's support for deeper integration of the eurozone is welcome, but doing so from outside means that the eurozone cannot and will not be shaped according to British interest.

The UK is not in a position to block the other member states from deeper integration nor does it necessarily want to; the political will of most other EU member states is to move forward. The negotiations on the Fiscal Compact demonstrated the difficulties of attempting to exercise the so-called national 'veto.'

The UK has shaped EU policy

The UK has played a leading role forming many key EU policies including on the single market, overseas development aid, trade and climate change. UK leadership in these areas has been highly appreciated and would be sorely missed should the British decide to exit.

In the specific field of justice and home affairs, the UK has so far played a major role in shaping EU policies. In less than two years from now, these policies become fully-fledged EU policies, meaning that any member state failing to apply them properly can be brought to court.

Surely it cannot be expected that the EU institutions and the other 26 member states will stand idly by whilst the UK moves increasingly closer to opting out of more than 130 of those measures - in essence re-erecting national borders in the fight against cross-border crime - and then seek special agreement to rejoin a select few which are considered to be in the 'national interest.'

The European Union is much more than a set of rules governing the internal market and the free movement of goods, services, capital and people. It is a unique and historic project that has unified the European continent. Nation states voluntarily have chosen to come together to pool sovereignty because they believe that together they are stronger. I believe the UK's role to lead this project in the British and European interest.

Attempting to repatriate competences from the EU may well play well in parts of the notoriously eurosceptic media and in parts of the Conservative Party but I would question whether it is truly in the British and European long-term interest.

I suspect however that David Cameron is playing a dangerous game for purely tactical, domestic reasons. I personally do believe him when he says that he wants the UK to remain a member of the EU. But he increasingly resembles Goethe's poem The Sorcerer's Apprentice who cannot get rid of the spirits that he summoned - the spirits who want to leave the EU for ideological reasons to the detriment of the British people.

The 1 January 2013 marked 40 years of British membership of the EU. The European Union is likely to become even more significant in the next 40 years and this why the UK should remain fully committed to shaping the EU of the future.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.2163647 2012-11-20T05:30:01-05:00 2013-01-20T05:12:01-05:00

Martin Schulz http://www.huffingtonpost.com/martin-schulz/
The EU budget is not large but it is important, it represents only some 2% of total government expenditure in the union, and is more than 45 times smaller than the sum of government expenditure in the member states. The EU budget is primarily an investment budget and that 94% of its total returns are invested in the member states themselves or for external priorities of the union. For many regions and member states, public investment would be minimised or impossible without the contribution of the EU budget.

The EU budget is a part of the solution to enable Europe to emerge from the current crisis by promoting investments in growth and jobs and helping member states tackle the present structural challenges, in particular loss of competitiveness, rising unemployment and poverty. If we are serious about a master plan for growth, we need to provide the necessary means. The EU budget is an investment vehicle that boosts economic growth and creates jobs. For example it finances crucial pan-EU transport and energy links. It helps to foster innovation and boost research and development. The EU budget leverages investment, allows for economies of scale, and cannot run a deficit.

The Europe 2020 strategy for re-launching the European economy, approved by all the EU member states requires that the EU does more at European level. The heads of government cannot keep giving the EU more and more tasks to perform and, at the same time, cut its budget; that is simply asking the impossible. Put simply, an ambitious EU needs an ambitious budget. All European Union member states and the European Parliament have committed to a common growth strategy. It is called Europe 2020 and it is a comprehensive response to the challenges the EU is facing. The Multiannual Financial Framework is one of the main tools for delivering the Europe 2020 strategy. It is a budget for growth and investment. We can not speak all the time about the need for growth and afterwards not be coherent when proposing the means for investment.

Part of the solution to growth is a strong EU Cohesion Policy. It should remain a key investment tool for our countries. Furthermore, cohesion policy benefits the entire union by strengthening the internal market and increasing economic convergence as well as channelling investments to areas of potential growth and supporting structural reforms in member states.

What about the revenue side?

The European Parliament strongly believes that the divide between opposing camps of EU member states led by the net contributor countries to the EU budget, on the one hand, and by the net beneficiary countries of the EU budget, on the other, in a system which creates a purely accounting-based vision of 'fair return' is incomprehensible and unattractive to the European citizen.

The financing of the Union budget should return to a genuine system of own resources. In the medium term, we must end existing rebates and other correction mechanisms. The proposals on a financial transaction tax (FTT) and a new EU VAT as own resources, which are aimed at reducing the share of member states' GNI-based contributions to the EU budget to 40% by 2020 are welcome. The financial transaction taxation is not only just for society but could constitute a new revenue stream which would reduce member states' contributions to the EU budget.

The negotiations on the Multiannual Financial Framework are a test of the European Union's ability to act in the interests of European citizens and are a test of whether the union can live up to is promises. EU government leaders in proposing an ambitious budget at the summit on 22 and 23 November, not only will they be doing the right thing for Europe, they will find support in the European Parliament and in the Committee of the Regions, they will also be showing to the wider world that Europe is capable of taking tough decisions.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1498968 2012-05-08T05:32:07-04:00 2012-07-08T05:12:08-04:00

Martin Schulz http://www.huffingtonpost.com/martin-schulz/
Remarkably, a new European demos and public sphere are emerging from the economic crisis. Europeans are recognising how interdependent they are. One country's failures can threaten the entire European economy, and can call into question the fruits of 60 years of integration. Peace, solidarity, and prosperity are not irreversible achievements; only 27 countries working together can guarantee them.

François Hollande's victory is a fresh chance for Europe. It should spell the end of a policy oriented exclusively towards austerity, which has paralysed our economies and divided the EU. The new French president's commitment to a European growth policy has brought hope to citizens, and should not alarm anyone - certainly not the financial markets.

Hollande's plans for a growth initiative fall on fertile ground, especially in the European Parliament, which has repeatedly called for such measures. I am delighted that this message is increasingly echoed by the political mainstream, including most recently by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi. Likewise, the European Commission is working on a 'growth pact' to be discussed by EU leaders in June. Indeed, Europe needs a master plan to avoid a tailspin of recession, growing unemployment, and weakening banking systems.

A new master plan for growth would not be about printing money. Fiscal discipline remains essential, as are deep structural reforms. The growth pact can be properly financed by new sources of revenue, such as a financial-transaction tax and joint project bonds for infrastructure investment, or by curbing tax evasion and tax fraud and eliminating tax havens, as well as by more efficient and intelligent use of structural funds.

What is to be done? First, targeted investment should be given priority. The European Investment Bank would be a good vehicle - in addition to new project bonds - to boost spending on major infrastructure projects (for example, in the energy sector). The EIB could be given significantly more resources to boost its loan programs. In the longer-term, we should revisit the idea of joint Eurobonds.

Channeling EU structural funds towards innovation is essential, given that spending on research and development is alarmingly low compared to our global partners. Fundamental reform of the Common Agricultural Policy should not remain a taboo. Indeed, the CAP is ensuring neither sustainable agriculture nor decent incomes for all farmers. Undoubtedly, tough negotiations lie ahead on this front, including with Hollande.

Second, young people must be a top priority. Our responsibility here is twofold: to put growth back on track, but also to respond immediately to the human tragedy that has hit our youth. The eurozone's unemployment rate, at 10.9%, is at its highest level since the euro was introduced, and young people everywhere, as the first to suffer the consequences of the crisis, are paying a disproportionally high price. Youth unemployment in Spain, for example, is above 50%.

We cannot afford to sacrifice a generation, or, rather, risk creating a lost generation that could destroy Europe's social fabric and stability. We need an immediate contingency plan: investment to finance job training, improve educational opportunities, and, crucially, create incentives for employers to hire young people is money well spent.

The ECB has been offering long-term loans to banks at a favorable rate. This money should be loaned out to small and medium-size enterprises, which are the lifeblood of Europe's economy. The EU also needs common initiatives to replace piece-meal bilateral agreements on tax evasion and tax havens, which undermine the goal of a fair society.

Third, member states should not cut the EU budget indiscriminately during negotiations on the Union's long-term spending plan for 2014-2020. If we are serious about a master plan for growth, we need to provide the necessary means. The EU budget is an investment vehicle that boosts economic growth and creates jobs. It finances crucial pan-EU transport and energy links. It helps to foster innovation, research and development. The EU budget leverages investment, allows for economies of scale, and cannot run a deficit.

The EU's lack of solidarity, imagination, courage, unity, and vision in recent years has made Europe a symbol of division for some, if not many. We cannot let this continue. Hollande's election offers us a valuable opportunity to meet the challenges that the EU faces. Alternatively, we can allow growing poverty, fear, and anger to give rise to xenophobia and racism, and thus place at risk the EU's greatest accomplishments.

But let us be optimistic. It is not too late. Europe can still emerge stronger from its current economic woes. The EU is changing direction at last, and Europe's leaders will find an energetic partner in the European Parliament.]]>