In turbulent times a delegation of the Special Committee on the Financial, Economic and Social Crisis (CRIS), lead by ALDE member and CRIS chairman Wolf KLINZ (FDP, Germany), is undertaking a long planned, but timely, journey to the capitals of Portugal and Spain. From Tuesday until this afternoon, the delegation that includes ALDE member Olle SCHMIDT (Folkpartiet, Sweden), has met representatives from both national parliaments as well as social and industrial partners, first in Lisbon now in Madrid.

The overarching aim of the mission is to present the interim report of the CRIS committee. Its second purpose is to collect the parliament's points of view on the CRIS recommendations in order to include them in the final CRIS report and to ensure a uniform European response to the crisis that enjoys wide democratic support throughout the Union.

Following CRIS visits to other EU capitals, delegations from all national parliaments within the European Union will gather on 14 March in Brussels together with members of the European Parliament in order to prepare better coordination on crisis prevention.

KLINZ says: "The answer to the crisis that we face, for the moment with attention focused on Portugal and Spain, must be a European one. All measures to be taken against the continuing dramatic development need to be taken jointly. But these measures will only be sustainable if the national parliaments support them."

"The reform measures have apparently been received well by the markets. However we cannot assume that the worst is over. Over the next quarter both countries need to prove that their reforms and restructuring do actually work. Only then will confidence be restored to the markets."

SCHMIDT adds: "It is interesting to hear how politicians and central banks intend to solve their economic problems. The EU has a strong interest that all EU countries manage their finances and banking system well and follow strict budgetary rules. I therefore welcome the proposals of the EU Commission yesterday, even when they involve steps towards supranationality with macroeconomic monitoring and stricter common budget rules being coordinated from Brussels."

The EP vote on the final CRIS report is expected for July 2011.

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