EU Parliament Political Group Leaders to EuroFora on Sarkozy's ECB for Growth call: Nobody against?!

Among 5 main EU Parliament's Political Groups' leaders, replying to "EuroFora"'s questions, during this week's Plenary Session in Strasbourg, on French President Sarkozy''s recent call to strengthen the  recently initiated European Central Bank's support for "a New Model of Growth", (See earlier "EuroFora"s NewsReport from Paris' Concorde square meeting), despite their usual differences between them from other points of view, nevertheless, nobody excluded explicitly such a perspective, nor contested its usefulness. Their diffferences focused rather into what supplementary Measures eachone of them believed necessary to accompany and complete such ECB action for Growth, while, also, at the same time, they didn't exclude, no more, a possible Franco-German compromise on that issue after the forthcoming French Presidential Elections (voting on April 22 and May 6) :

(NDLR : This inevitably hasty checklist, in the few Time available at the eve of the 1st round in the 2012 French Presidential Elections focused only on those Political Groups whose Leadership is part of €uroZone, and, therefore, doesn't include neither the Conservatives and Reformists, nor the Freedom and Democracy Groups, because, despite their interest from many other EU points of view, they are both headed currently by MEPs from Countries still out of €urozone, such as mainly the UK, but also partly Poland, etc).
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- "Recent proposals to boost Growth, include not only EuroBonds, but also a better and stronger use of the European Central Bank's action, well beyond of what has already started to be done just a few Months ago. Do you think, according to your experience, that a kind of Cross-Parties' agreement could become possible in this direction, in one way or another ?", "EuroFora" asked the new President of the SocialDemocrat Group of MEPs, Austrian longtime MEP Johanes Swoboda.        

- Indeed, "it's a fact that ECB has recently gone beyond what had been expected from some Restricted views about its competences". And, "if there is an Institution that did a lot to save €uro, that's the ECB, again and again, despite Criticisms", he acknowledged.  +"And the ECB could probably do more, (particularly) if we make it clear that one sentence, often neglected, which says that ECB should not only keep Inflation down, but also support EU's Economic Policy, becomes more underlined in future", he agreed.

- And it's precisely in this direction, i.e. about "EU's Economic Policy regarding Investment" able to generate Growth", that Swoboda's main "criticism" claimed that there is a need to add something really new, as he pointed out in conclusion to his Reply to the above-mentioned "EuroFora"s question. Thus, while not rejecting at all the overall idea, the new SocialDemocrat leader practically challenged Sarkozy, together with Merkel, to prove that what he recently said is not "just a pre-Electoral" trick, but reflects a really Growth-oriented policy.

=> "Let's have a reasoned Discussion about the ECB", Swoboda apparently accepted, at least the principle. F.ex. "I also proposed, some weeks ago, that the attention of the ECB should be stronger on Macro-Economic imbalances, because that's the main reason (for the recent Global Crisis), not just the Budgetary policies, but also the MacroEconomic imbalances. Here I could imagine to go forward and have a larger framework for the ECB by strengthening that sentence, which is already in its Statutes, on supporting Economic Policy, and give it more importance", he suggested, as one among various possibilities.
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    - "This might be an opportunity to discuss about what ECB could really do". F.ex. "last year, ECB started to do something remarkable", started Positively also the co-ChairWoman of the "Green" Party, German MEP Rebecca Harms, speaking to "EuroFora" on the same issue.

     -"But now, we found that, even if it (ECB) gave a lot of Money to Banks, nevertheless, they didn't yet really do what we wanted. I.e. Banks didn't really help yet EU's Private Economic Sector, nor (EU Member) States", she claimed critically.

    + So that "we (EU) have to imagine a New Stategy for the ECB,  concerning, f.ex. the European Solidarity Fund, which should be strengthened. We shall ask that", suggested Harms in particular. F.ex., what I think it's "better, is to give a Banking licence to the European Solidarity Fund (ESF), and to use EuroBonds, she insisted, in reply to "EuroFora"s Question on ECB.

    - "ECB for me has to figure out the Lessons from the experience of its activities during the last few Months, : .. They really pumped Huge Amounts of Money into the Banking sector" she acknowledged. "But the Banks didn't really help the Real Economy in the Countries in crisis", and served more as "a Strategy to Buy Time", Rebecca Harms told "EuroFora".

    => "So, now, we (€urozone) have to figure out what are the Lessons to be learned by that recent experience of the ECB, when it trusted more the Banks, than the (EU) Countries, the States, and what should be the Next Steps", she advised, apparently open to debates, at least on this important point.

    + In other words, until now, recently "ECB has been Buying Time" succesfully, but "without Decisive Actions" yet, "No (real) Strategy" for Growth, she criticized, pleading not only for more, but mainly for Better in the foreseeable Future, as she added afterwards.

    But, "for the Greens, we need more Money in the Rescue Funds, where it's still far from being enough, particularly if Spain might ask next", as she speculated, (while €urozone has already agreed, in principle, to augment ESF's funds in the middle of 2012 : See "EuroFora"s NewsReports from 1/2012 EU Brussels' Summit, etc), "and more possibilities to intervene for the ESF", she added.
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    => So, he launched a call for  "a Public Debate to start, with EU Commission, (EU) Member States, MEPs and NewsMedia", in order to "help Change" the current situation for the better.

    >>> Forecasts attribute "to the EU a weak Growth of just +1%, while USA might get + 3%, and several Emerging Countries even + 7% up to 10% of Growth... This is clearly Not Sustainable", so that "we (EU) must Act in a More Serious Way", the leader of the biggest EU Parliament's political Group of MEPs declared earlier today, speaking to Journalists in EU Parliament in Strasbourg, including "EuroFora".

    - One of the means could be "No more Social expenditure", "Nor more Labour Costs", but "rather a Method of Auto-Financing", that "Businessmen know quite well, when they don't count on External resources, f.ex. don't expect everything from Banks", but by using intelligently "other ways to Pull forward SME's and Employment", as Daul added in particular, at least for the Short Term, until the progressively returning Growth becomes Stronger enough.

    (.../...)
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    = "ECB played for Time", (by its first action at the End of 2011 and at the beginning of 2012), and, indeed, succeeded to Win that, "thanks to many Millions € injected in the Financial Sector". So, "I am not against this", said also the President of the Liberal Group, former Prime Minister of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt. . + "But it's not the Real Solution", he criticized.

    Today, - "We can't say that ECB is not used" yet, reacted Verhofstadt in reply to "EuroFora"s questions. "They've already made 2 Operations" recently, he observed.

    + But, "in order to really solve the (Global)  Financial Crisis, it goes well Beyond just letting ECB Print more Money. We (€urozone) need also Structural solutions", Verhofstadt added, on a point on which Sarkozy and Merkel, as well as Bayrou and other Top Politicians are notoriously in agreement, at least as a matter of General Principle, (i.e. regardless of the paticular, concrete measures that eachone puts forward as more preferable than others).

    - "This can go for a Year" or so, but "I think that it might be dangerous to let ECB continue to do many such operations, simply because the (Political) Pressure on EU Politicians to really do some decisive Reforms in Europe might be reduced (I.e. precisely because ECB succeeded to "Gain Time") : That's what is going on", Verhofstadt found, as he said to "EuroFora".     

     + But the Liberal leader admitted, at least, that the particular question of ECB's possible contribution in the way that Markets determine €uro-Currency's exchange value vis a vis the US Dollar $, and/or the Yen, etc., affecting Imports and Exports, (as Sarkozy has stressed since his landmark July 2007 Strasbourg speech on Europe, and reportedly his aides recently reminded after the Concorde square, April 2012 speech), is something which "should be examined", as Verhofstadt concluded his replies to "EuroFora", smiling apparently positively in principle...     ----------------------------------------            

 + A sharper and shorter, but positive reaction, was added by the New (2012) ChairWoman of the EuroLeft Group, German MEP Gabi Zimmer, to a similar "EuroFora"s question :     

- "Recently, concerning this week's Debate on the (Global) Economic Crisis, there were proposals from various political horizons, to try to better use the ECB, which has already started to act, a little bit at the end of 2011 and at the beginning of 2012. Obviously, it's not intended to be the only one, but just  one of the means to boost Growth. What's your opinion about this ?", we asked her.   

 - "Yes, I think that it's Urgent for the ECB to start working on the basis of such Criteria !", positively replied from the outset, in a crystal-clear way, the New EuroLeft Group's President to "EuroFora"s Query.  

    +In this regard, "I think that it doesn't make sense at all, to make endless declarations which point the finger at specific Countries, and to say that the Causes are behind certain Countries" only, she added, pointing rather at a joint and coherent, overall €uroArea struggle for Growth now.

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