Friday

29th Mar 2024

Barroso: Crisis inspired EU-wide debate

  • Barroso says there is a risk that moderate political parties in some member states like Britain may take on extremist positions (Photo: europarl.europa.eu)

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said his State of the Union address laid out a pro-European narrative for political groups to follow in the lead up to the European elections.

Speaking to a group of reporters on Thursday (12 September), one day after his speech in the EU parliament, he conceded that the message may have been lost in some media coverage.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

“I thought I was making 28 different speeches,” the Portuguese politician said after reviewing press clips.

“In my own country the debate was about the issue of flexibility in terms of the correction of the deficit, almost exclusively, something I did not even mention,” he noted.

He said the speech received extensive TV coverage, but less so in the written press.

“It is probably true that in the written press it got less coverage and has less impact, probably it was not attractive what I said, probably it was my fault,” he said.

With the EU parliament election in May, campaign strategies are already being discussed among the groups.

He said he is confident that the more moderate and mainstream parties will come out on top despite the rise of eurosceptic forces in some countries, which he attributes to simplistic messages and their manipulation of people’s emotions in times of difficulty.

The anger felt among people about the crisis is justified and has paradoxically helped kick-start a wider European public space, he said.

“We have seen in the last months and years in the coffee bars of Athens people discuss the internal politics of Germany and in the popular talk shows in Germany people discuss the public finances of Cyprus,” he said.

He added: “I understand them, they are very angry when they see what happened in the financial sector, there is a resistance for the bonus for bankers and at the same time there is a resistance to a financial transaction tax that is a kind of a way of responding to the equity principle.”

But moderate political parties should resist the urge to redirect that anger against Europe because the EU cannot implement solutions without the member states, he said.

“Very often Europe takes the blame but it is not Europe, it is national capitals that put obstacles and that is why I said, once again, that there is a tendency of national politicians to nationalise the successes and Europeanise the failures,” he said.

For its part, the European Union is on the path to deeper political and monetary integration, he said.

He pointed out that the single supervisor mechanism, which was presented one year ago, was approved earlier this week by heads of the European Parliament and European Central Bank (ECB).

The rules lay the ground for a new bank supervisor to oversee the eurozone’s 150 largest banks.

“A few years ago that would have been unthinkable with the arguments even among countries considered the most European would not have accepted that an entity outside their competence would supervise their banks. It’s done, it’s fantastic,” he said.

The next step, he said, is to adopt a single resolution mechanism before the end of the parliament’s mandate.

“I think we have to do it because it is something essential to create confidence which is indispensible for establishing the mechanisms of the monetary union and to avoid the disintegration of the financial market,” he said.

Asked if he would consider running a third time as European Commission president, he said it was too early to discuss.

“I still have my mandate until next October and a political year is an eternity. For the moment, like I said, I am concentrated on what I have to do. One thing I can say is that two mandates is already a lot in terms of responsibility.”

Ukraine slams grain trade restrictions at EU summit

Restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural exports to the EU could translate into military losses in their bid to stop Russia's war, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warned EU leaders during their summit in Brussels on Thursday.

Difficult talks ahead on financing new EU defence spending

With the war in Ukraine showing no signs of ending any time soon, EU leaders will meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday (21 and 22 March) to discuss how to boost the defence capabilities of Ukraine and of the bloc itself.

Opinion

Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

Latest News

  1. Kenyan traders react angrily to proposed EU clothes ban
  2. Lawyer suing Frontex takes aim at 'antagonistic' judges
  3. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  4. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  5. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  6. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  7. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  8. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us