26th January 2012 --- European Greens asked President Barroso today for a European Party Statute, stressing how in the current crisis of legitimacy and credibility, the European Parties dimension is increasingly important. 

The European Green Party Co-Chairs welcomed today’s opportunity to meet as European parties with the President of the Commission Barroso. In this long overdue first meeting, they stressed that it is crucial to obtain the legitimate status for European parties, and the means to bridge the gap between citizens and the European Institutions, to foster the European debate and to mobilise the European electorate. 

The EGP Co-Chairs Monica Frassoni and Philippe Lamberts also pleaded for a more credible European recovery strategy - for which cross-cutting austerity is not a substitute.

What is currently put on the table by the so-called Franco-German ‘Directoire’ falls dreadfully short of the goal of a fiscal and economic stable Union: not only does it maniacally focus on fiscal retrenchment as the cure to all ills, it does so by dramatically reducing the democratic accountability of the executives at national and European levels, where parliaments and social partners are sidelined. A credible recovery strategy requires that no shortcuts be taken with democracy.

“Pursuing on the same course increasingly appears as the surest way to ruin sixty years of efforts by Europeans to unite their destinies. In the interest of all Europeans, the euro crisis demands strong answers, more responsible than what Europe has been able to deliver so far”, said Philippe Lamberts. 

“The crisis has furthermore brought to light that the shared European project needs  European and national initiatives to relaunch  a real European public space”, said Monica Frassoni. “The construction of a European political union represents an unprecedented historical opportunity to bring democracy out of its national context and become a true transnational democracy based on the federal model”. 

The battle for European democracy is not over yet. In the light of the recent events in Hungary, Greens fostered the President of the Commission to go beyond a too legalistic approach: media freedom is under attack in Hungary and there can be no rule of law -necessary precondition for EU members- with the current parliamentary regulations which allow for a law to be adopted in 24 hours without debate.

Note to Editors:

(1) To effectively resolve the financial part of the crisis, the European Greens envisage immediately:

• To implement the Economic governance package “6-pack” that has been agreed in 2011 by the European Parliament and Council, including the macroeconomic surveillance.

• Measures restoring calm in the markets, consisting of a temporary pooling of Member States debt over 60% of GDP in conjuncture with strict debt reduction targets (proposal of the German Sachverständingerat). Beyond this immediate measure, the creation of a European Monetary Fund remains a priority.

• Propose a roadmap towards the introduction full-fledged Eurobonds

• Let the ECB in all independence step up its action and/or provide the EFSF/ESM with a banking licence and the ability to purchase bonds.

• A new growth strategy is needed. It must be based on this federal budget and financed a by massive use of bond investment ("Project Bonds"). These "Project bonds" will provide funds for investment in the modernization and ecological transformation of the European economy and should focus on areas such as transportation (rail, road, river), energy (smart grid, green energy, energy efficiency) and scientific research projects on a large scale.