26/03/2015 colleghi, sono lieto di essere qui con voi oggi. Vorrei innanzitutto ringraziare Business Europe per l'invito e per l'organizzazione di questa conferenza tempestiva investire in Europa.
Investire in Europa è, naturalmente, sui soldi e figure. Si tratta di colmare il divario di investimento e mettersi al passo con i nostri concorrenti. Ma investire in Europa è molto più di soldi e figure: si tratta di dimostrare il nostro impegno alla nostra Unione, si tratta di fiducia in se stessi e ottimismo. Investire in Europa, sia esso un privato o un pubblico rogo del titolare, sta mostrando fiducia in Europa e costruire ponti per un futuro comune.
Negli ultimi anni, abbiamo più volte dimostrato la volontà politica per difendere la nostra moneta comune contro tutte le minacce;
Abbiamo costruito un firewall per proteggere l'Euro - e permettetemi di dirlo chiaramente oggi: Euro c'è di rimanere come una valuta forte e affidabile del mondo;
Abbiamo costruito un'unione bancaria per tenere le nostre banche e i soldi dei nostri cittadini sicuro;
abbiamo rafforzato il nostro coordinamento economico per ottenere una maggiore stabilità, abbiamo intrapreso dolorose riforme strutturali e progredito verso una maggiore responsabilità fiscale - ma ora siamo chiamati a promuovere gli investimenti.
Oggi, i livelli complessivi di investimento pubblico e privato sono ancora ben di sotto di livelli pre-crisi.
Nel 2013, 325 miliardi di euro meno erano investiti della media annuale durante il decennio passato.
La quota comunitaria degli investitori stranieri è anche caduto.
Accesso ai finanziamenti rimane una reale preoccupazione, soprattutto per le piccole e medie imprese.
Nei paesi più colpiti dalla crisi, gli investimenti sono crollati molto semplicemente.
Il problema non è la mancanza di opportunità di investimento o la mancanza di capitale privato. Ci sono molti progetti interessanti non meno nell'Europa meridionale. E molte aziende e individui hanno eseguito fino sav
Testo integrale
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am delighted to be here with you today. Let me first thank Business Europe for the invitation and for organising this timely conference on investing in Europe.
Investing in Europe is, of course, about money and figures. It is about closing the investment gap and catching up with our competitors. But investing in Europe is about much more than money and figures: it is about demonstrating our commitment to our union, it is about self-confidence and optimism. Investing in Europe, be it as a private or a public stake-holder, is about showing trust in Europe and building bridges to a joint future.
In the past years, we have repeatedly demonstrated the political will to defend our common currency against all threats;
we built a firewall to protect the Euro - and let me say this very clearly today: the Euro is there to stay as a strong and reliable world currency;
we constructed a banking union to keep our banks and the money of our citizens safe;
we strengthened our economic coordination to achieve greater stability,
we undertook painful structural reforms and made progress towards greater fiscal responsibility - but now we are called upon to boost investment.
And we must do so urgently.
Today, overall levels of private and public investment are still well below pre-crisis levels.
In 2013, 325 billion Euros less were invested than the annual average during the past decade.
The EU's share of foreign investors has also fallen.
Access to finance remains a real concern, especially for small and medium-sized companies.
In countries worst hit by the crisis, investments have quite simply collapsed.
The problem is not a lack of investment opportunities or a lack of private capital. There are many attractive projects not least in Southern Europe. And many companies and individuals have run up savings. Butuncertainty is still holding back investments. And low consumption is dampening growth prospects.
Clearly, we must return to sustainable investment levels, improve the flow to the real economy by encouraging private investment and by better targeted public spending.
The challenge therefore is to unlock capital by creating an investment-friendly atmosphere - by ensuring stability, completing the internal market, including through the establishment of a capital markets union, increasing competitiveness and private-public partnerships.
Commission President Juncker's Investment Plan plays an important role in unlocking investment. The 315 billion Plan is a strong signal that we are committed to a new path for Europe towards growth and jobs.
In the end the plan's success will doubtlessly depend on factors such as the level of leverage and an efficient governance setup. But the key will be to regain investor confidence - to regain the confidence that Europe is a place worth investing in.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The European Parliament believes that, as part of an overarching European infrastructure program, we must foremost invest in energy and telecommunications, build bridges and roads, improve our broadband networks and power grids, and fund research projects and start-ups which will develop the innovative products of the 21st century. In short: target investment in areas where, in the short term, it will stimulate the economy and create jobs and, in the long term, safeguard our children’s future.
Please allow me to go into more detail on some areas where we urgently need investments.
First area: research and development. In this area we are clearly lagging behind our competitors. While we Europeans spend two per cent of our GDP on research and development - the United States of America spend almost three per cent. China is set to overtake us. Today they outspend us to out-compete us tomorrow.
Investing in European research means building on a success story. European research policy has halted the brain drain of talented young researchers from Europe - and even succeeded in reversing this trend.
To give you a concrete example: We need a digital infrastructure. Broadband networks are essential to modern life.
And we must give European start-ups even more support, in particular to help them gain a footing on the world market. I believe, we have something to learn from the United States when it comes to funding start-ups and risk-taking. In Europe the following thinking prevails: someone has an idea and draws up a business plan, gets a bank loan and when he fails, he is done forever - no second chances. In the United States someone has an idea, draws up a business plan, gets a loan, fails - and gets back on her feet again with a new idea and a new business model, for which, of course she gets funding; because failing is seen as part of learning and not as being doomed for life. I am convinced that we Europeans must develop a more risk-friendly attitude to allow businesses to thrive.
One of the biggest challenges for Europe in the coming years will be to bring our cartel, data protection and copyright laws into line with the new economic realities, in an effort to ensure that our firms remain competitive, but without watering down our fundamental rights and standards. I am convinced that in the long run high data protection standards will prove to be a competitive advantage.
Third area: energy. Last week the European Council decided to move forward with the energy union. And it's high time we do so: we finally must reduce our energy dependence from third parties, most notably from Russia.
Every year we import energy worth 400 billion Euros! Instead of paying billions for energy coming from outside our Union it is certainly preferable to invest this money into an energy union:
- into merging our fragmented market into a fully integrated energy market;
- into research and innovation, in available and new technologies, in particular in the area of renewable energy and energy efficiency, as well as storage and transport of renewable energy. The European renewable energy businesses already today have a combined annual turnover of 129 billion €, and employ over a million people.
- into making our houses and buildings more energy efficient. Today three quarters of our houses are not yet energy efficient.
- and, finally, into fully connecting our internal pipelines and grids, which would ensure that our energy can flow freely within Europe, and reach the places where it is most needed at fair prices.
The energy union is a historic project on par only with the internal market and the banking union. If we succeed, the energy union will make Europe energy independent, create jobs and growth, and lower energy prices for our companies and consumers.
Ladies and gentlemen, to conclude,
A word on our biggest advantage, our people. Europeans are skilled workers and innovative businessmen. To capitalise on this advantage we have to now invest in education and training, in transport, energy and digital projects to ensure that Europe will continue to be a global champion in the 21st century. Let's show the world that Europe is a place worth investing in.
