mr president i used to say that we had a triple crisis in europe with financial markets jobs and climate
but now sadly we have a quadruple crisis if we add the state budget crisis
it has made it painfully clear that the european union is in dire need of vision
european integration has until now focused on creating new projects without making sure that they work properly
i believe that the time has now come for us to deal with our problems and instead work hard to deepen the existing institutions
the mistakes that have been made can be corrected and the union can still work for and with its citizens
europe needs a forward-looking union
for me the direction is clear i want a europe which is open inclusive and green
the flagship proposals in the commission's europe twenty twenty strategy are important tools to create that europe provided that we can make them come true
and here i have some question marks
firstly the overarching goal of the strategy is to create a more dynamic and competitive economy
in some countries the participation of women in the labour market is as low as forty and this is shameful
a gender-equal labour market is a precondition for boosting jobs and for tackling the demographic challenges
i hope that the council and commission really take seriously the fact that the council's conclusions have included gender equality for a couple of months
an inclusive society needs more jobs
unemployment is the main reason why poverty exists
youth unemployment in spain at forty-four is devastating
we have endless opportunities to create green jobs but our policies must be aimed in the same direction
an energy-efficient europe is also a driving force of innovation and the energy equivalent of fast trains supergrids and high-tech smart grids is needed to improve europe's competitiveness
i must commend the liberal commissioner neelie kroes on being the first to really outline a clear flagship proposal on the digital agenda and i am looking forward to having the same kind of in-depth material on the rest of the flagship platforms before june so that we can also cooperate in the decision making
but mr commissioner we have the eu strategy pointing in one direction and your budget proposal is to be truthful pointing in another direction
as well as regional funds social funds and the agricultural fund we have to streamline and have coherence in our common tools
we need transparency and we need the same kind of statistics and we need sticks and carrots for member states not only to sign up to promises but also to keep them
this is important for the european citizens and for us in parliament
we need to strengthen the growth and stability pact and we fully support the package of commissioner olli rehn
to re-establish trust as you mentioned commissioner we need the indicators on the rest of the flagship proposals
that would re-establish our trust in you as a commission and maybe if we can cooperate on decision making citizens trust in us
