Being an MEP is undoubtedly no small feat. Even more so at this particular juncture, when the challenges facing Europe require a clear vision and a forceful determination to weather the storm. Our country requires Europe to be running smoothly, as it were, since we tend to import not only products but also problems from the continent.
It is understood that financial markets are, and will remain for the foreseeable future, the linchpin of functioning social market economies. There is the need, however, to see that these financial markets are transparent, efficient and wholly dependable in order to have a healthy economy in which they interact with the social partners to create jobs, growth and wealth.
The current financial crisis could spark a vicious cycle of declining demand, downsized business plans, reduced innovation and job cuts, pushing the EU into a recession, which could be both deep and longer-lasting.
Undoubtedly, the hardest-hit have been SMEs because these depend highly on credit. One of the effects of this crisis will certainly be rising unemployment, the harbinger of poverty.
The challenges facing the EU are therefore two-fold. On the one hand, financial markets have to be reinvigorated with a view to boosting the activities of SMEs. On the other hand, the European Social Fund and other European social funding have to be directed toward the most vulnerable to avoid unemployment and, ultimately, poverty.
The EU needs to bring prices down for consumers - Europe wide. It needs to pave the way for the so-called "fifth freedom", namely the free circulation of knowledge and innovation in order to fortify SMEs by giving them a comparative advantage on the global markets.
The EU needs to allow its vision to be directed by the needs of the more vulnerable, thus giving a strong social dimension to its activities. Purchasing power has to be increased, possibly by targeted tax cuts and credits. It has to pursue policies to ensure the affordability of basic utilities, such as electricity and gas, and to keep housing available and affordable.
The governments of all member states have to cooperate in order to achieve these aims. However, government intervention should only be temporary. In the long run, we need to have more transparent financial markets, acting according to the principles of accountability and safeguarding consumers' rights. This is something which has to be done on a European level and every MEP should strive to do his part.
At the same time, the EU Cohesion Fund could be used to express territorial solidarity while other funds could provide solidarity against poverty and exclusion. The European Commission has called for a High-Level Group of Independent Stakeholders on Administrative Burdens. It is hoped that this group will help translate lofty principles into tangible aid, particularly to SMEs. This could, in turn, boost productivity and help get Europe out of the rut.
A Hungarian Socialist MEP has spoken of an integrated European Economic and Employment Strategy on the basis of the existing economic policy instruments. She has called for concerted efforts by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission alongside national governments in order to push forward the reforms needed to get Europe out of its sorry state while defending the more vulnerable.
I couldn't agree more: By safeguarding the more vulnerable we are safeguarding all of society. Reinvigorating SMEs means injecting energy in the economy, thus contributing to the well-being and the generation of wealth for all.
I am confident that a vote for Labour candidates in the coming MEP elections will go a long way towards strengthening the Socialist camp in the European Parliament. Ultimately, it will provide Europe with the vision and the will to bring the current economic slowdown, and the woes it brings in its wake, to an end.
Mr Cuschieri is a Labour candidate for the European Parliament elections.
cuschieri@mail.com