Mairead McGuinness Fine Gael MEP

Tuesday, 22 November.   

The Eurobonds issue will be top of the agenda this week with the publication tomorrow (Wednesday) of a Green paper on the issue, which remains deeply contentious.

Yesterday one of the most vociferous opponents of eurobonds, the European Central Bank’s Jürgen Stark, was in Dublin saying he believes that such bonds should only be considered in a situation where there was greater political union between member states.

This weekend the financial crisis saw yet another European government topple. The people of Spain joined a list of indebted European populations to remove their government and vote in a new one. And the list looks set to grow as Europeans become increasingly frustrated by the lack of progress being made to solve the on-going debt crisis.

The turmoil in the eurozone has also brought about the removal of two Prime Ministers – Silvio Berlusconi in Italy and George Papandreou in Greece. Having reached agreement on the austerity measures his country would take Papandreou changed his stance by announcing back home that he would hold a referendum on it. However, the very public dressing down he received at the Cannes G20 summit from both Sarkozy and Merkel, marked a very uneasy moment for many across Europe.

His going was quickly followed by that of Berlusconi.

For some this “interference” in domestic political life has deepened suspicion and concerns about the degree of control being exerted by Germany and France.

However, for others it is the inevitable consequence of the failure of the respective governments involved to get to grips with the economic crisis in their countries.

The key is to ensure that the people of Italy and Greece agree with the developments and get a chance in the near future to vote for a government of their own choosing. It is some indictment of politics in Italy that there is no politician in the Italian cabinet.

A realignment of power in the European Union is needed. France and Germany must recognise openly that it was wrong to attempt to blame countries on the periphery for what is now clearly a systemic European problem. Indeed the divergence between the two countries is now to the fore, particularly in relation to the role the European Central Bank should play into the future.

When our Taoiseach met Angela Merkel in Germany last week he was firm in his views about a solution and expressed concern about a rush to treaty change. We will not shy away from what is necessary once it’s shown to be essential for cohesion of the EU. It must be necessary.

The issue of journalism and press is to the fore with the recent high profile libel case against RTE, where a priest received an apology and compensation for a wrong done to him by the Prime Time Investigates programme.
We need to know more about this case – how did it happen?

A free and open press is important in a democracy but we see where in the UK the press is being scrutinised for inappropriate and in some cases illegal activities.

The media industry has a major public service remit to inform, educate and entertain and to make a profit. Standards are important.