François Hollande in the European Parliament
François Hollande clearly won the primaries on the French left. Let me recall that the presidential candidate is elected from among those who are willing to vote and the party suggests the candidates.
Hollande is therefore the unquestionable rival number one to the current Head of State. The left wing hopes for success in next year’s election because Sarkozy for almost the entire term focused more on his image than on specific actions.
Yesterday Hollande visited our political group at the EP and… I am disappointed by what he said. To be brief – the Frenchman wants to do what was intended to do so far but with no results. He also postulates that the policy should be stronger than the market – hence the following steps:
- strengthen the European Financial Stability Fund
- issue the Eurobonds
- activate the European Central Bank to fight speculation
- introduce the Financial Transaction Tax
Today from all these actions only the Eurobonds do not exist.
Francois Hollande warned yesterday against a new European treaty, fearing that it would deprive the European people of democracy. Frankly, this sentence could easily fit in the rhetoric of many European right-wing parties…
The presidential elections will be held next spring. Their result, however, will be determined much more by the state of finances than by any fiery speeches.
Marek Siwiec, Polish Member of the European Parliament, writes about European Neighbourhood Policy, defence policy, Polish Presidency of the EU Council, Polish politics and other topics related to European and international affairs.