Barroso delivered a very interesting speech yesterday in Lisbon. The link to the Portuguese language version of it is the folloowing:
http://ec.europa.eu/portugal/comissao/destaques/20130104_discurso_presidente_fund_champalimaud_pt.htm
Addressing the annual "Diplomatic Seminar", the EU Commission President discussed a number of "erroneous" myths about Europe. In his opinion, the truth is: 1-The current crisis did not start in Europe; 2- Europe is not the sick region of the world; 3- The Euro (currency) is not the cause of the crisis; 4- The EU institutions did provide proposals and ideas to overcome the crisis; 5- There has been solidarity among the European states; 6- Austerity is needed where there is a serious deficit of public accounts.
His participation in the seminar carried a lot of political meaning in a highly politicized environment such as the one prevailing now in Portugal. It shows he is particularly interested in being perceived as a critical national political actor at a time of uncertainty about the future of the current government. He would like to be seen as a potential "saviour"...Furthermore, his presence side by side with the Foreign Minister, who is not fully aligned with the policies of Prime Minister Passos Coelho, has been considered as giving leverage to minority voices within the government. Particularly if one takes into account that he said that adjustment programmes should be implemented with common sense, not just with determination, and be accompanied by dialogue among all the social actors and good communication packages...These are things that the government has been accused of not paying enough attention to. Now, Barroso seems to have joined the band wagon...
Passos Coelho would certainly have preferred to see the EU President in Brussels. Or the man is back in Lisbon next week again. For another keynote speech.victorangeloblogs.sapo.pt
http://ec.europa.eu/portugal/comissao/destaques/20130104_discurso_presidente_fund_champalimaud_pt.htm
Addressing the annual "Diplomatic Seminar", the EU Commission President discussed a number of "erroneous" myths about Europe. In his opinion, the truth is: 1-The current crisis did not start in Europe; 2- Europe is not the sick region of the world; 3- The Euro (currency) is not the cause of the crisis; 4- The EU institutions did provide proposals and ideas to overcome the crisis; 5- There has been solidarity among the European states; 6- Austerity is needed where there is a serious deficit of public accounts.
His participation in the seminar carried a lot of political meaning in a highly politicized environment such as the one prevailing now in Portugal. It shows he is particularly interested in being perceived as a critical national political actor at a time of uncertainty about the future of the current government. He would like to be seen as a potential "saviour"...Furthermore, his presence side by side with the Foreign Minister, who is not fully aligned with the policies of Prime Minister Passos Coelho, has been considered as giving leverage to minority voices within the government. Particularly if one takes into account that he said that adjustment programmes should be implemented with common sense, not just with determination, and be accompanied by dialogue among all the social actors and good communication packages...These are things that the government has been accused of not paying enough attention to. Now, Barroso seems to have joined the band wagon...
Passos Coelho would certainly have preferred to see the EU President in Brussels. Or the man is back in Lisbon next week again. For another keynote speech.victorangeloblogs.sapo.pt
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