PM: Poland is ready to assume responsibility for implementation of the fiscal pact
Tags: european union
- Poland is not going to accept the fiscal pact if it threatens shared decision-making within the EU - said Prime Minister Donald Tusk prior to the European Council summit devoted, inter alia, to the fiscal pact. The pact is aimed at strengthening the financial discipline in European Union Member States.
After a meeting with Martin Schulz, the President of the European Parliament, the head of the Polish government stated that Poland was aiming for a fiscal pact that would reinforce and not weaken the European community. - We shall not accept a fiscal pact in a form which threatens, in our opinion, the shared character of the decision-making process in the future - noted the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister and the new EP President met in Brussels a few hours before the commencement of the EU summit. - Poland, like many other countries, is willing to fully share the responsibility for the implementation of the fiscal pact, but under one condition: all states sharing the responsibility will also be participating in deciding how the implementation of the pact is going to proceed - continued Donald Tusk.
The head of the government stressed that Poland was in favor of strong economic governance in Europe, budgetary discipline and efforts facilitating growth, but the current provisions of the fiscal pact concerning these issues are not sufficient.
- Poland considers the related provisions of the fiscal pact not ambitious enough. From our point of view, they are not courageous enough. Therefore, we expect more serious effects of strictly political character, and those effects will be, in our opinion, negative - stated Donald Tusk. He stressed that the Polish standpoint was welcomed with full understanding by the new President of the European Parliament.
The Prime Minister added that the current President of the European Parliament was known as an advocate and supporter of Europe as a community. - Therefore, the Polish people did not consider the change in the seat of the European Parliament’s President a distressing development, despite the fact that it was a Pole who had to step down - he explained. Martin Schulz replaced Jerzy Buzek as the President of the European Parliament.
The new EP President mentioned, inter alia, European Parliament’s involvement in two major issues. - We are the main legislators for all instruments going further than introduction of the golden rule into national constitutions. Secondly, the fiscal pact must not create any divisions within Europe - explained Schulz. The golden rule states that annual structural deficits must not exceed 0.5 per cent of nominal GDP. - What we need is a European Union that is not divided, but united - he added.
EP President noted also that he shared, with Poland, a view that the recession required stimulation of economic growth, instead of focusing solely on reducing budget spending. In this context, he referred to the EU’s 2014-2020 budget, currently under negotiation.