The EU at G20: "We are not coming here to recive lessons"
European Council President Herman Van Rompuy (L) and Commission President Jose Barroso (R). AFP PHOTO / BERTRAND LANGLOIS
On Monday, 18 June, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso stated clearly that the EU did not come to the G20 summit to “receive lessons in terms of democracy or in terms of how to handle the economy.”
Mr. Barroso emphasized that the Eurozone debt crisis did not originate in Europe: "This crisis was originated in North America, and many of our financial sectors were contaminated by, how can I put it, unorthodox practices from some sectors of the financial market."
Therefore, Mr. Barroso expressed his expectation of the G20 countries to support the European approach to the crisis.
In response to the widely spread concerns that the EU is acting too slowly causing the crisis to spread from smaller countries to larger ones, Mr. Barroso emphasized that "in Europe we are open democracies. Not all members of the G20 are open democracies. We are certainly not coming here to receive lessons."
European Council President Herman Van Rompuy supported this view in less controversial terms by saying that "we are correcting our internal balances and a lot of other countries have to correct their huge external imbalances."
"We are not the only ones responsible for the economic problems all over the world," he added.
Both Presidents encouraged the G20 countries to commit themselves to contributing a certain sum to the IMF’s planned $430bn financial package intended to contain the Eurozone crisis and to prevent further deterioration.
"We ask those G20 countries to be clear on their pledges," said Mr. Van Rompuy.
Thus far, China assured a $43bn contribution and Britain pledged to add a further £10 to the rescue fund.
Brazil, Russia, India, and South Africa, all emerging economies, also offered to increase their contributions if they could gain greater influence in the organization in return.
In sum, Mr. Barroso and Mr. Van Rompuy anticipate a cooperative approach to the Eurozone debt crisis- one that will respect the approach the EU is currently taking. new europe on line
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