By Martin Banks - 15th October 2009
I do not want the committee to produce something that sounds and looks nice but that is worthless
Wolf Klinz
The chairman of parliament's new special committee on the economic crisis says it will have a "much broader" remit than was initially intended.
The committee on financial, economic and social crisis (Cris) was set up on 7 October to assess the extent of the downturn and its impact on the EU.
But Wolf Klinz, a German ALDE member, told a news conference the committee would also look at other "macro-economic" issues, including the impact on developing countries and "inequalities" in world trade.
"It is a broad remit and, although, it has a 12 month mandate this could be extended," said Klinz, who was formally elected chairman at the committee's first meeting on Thursday.
He said, "I do not want the committee to produce something that sounds and looks nice but that is worthless.
"One of the questions we will address is whether the EU could have acted sooner to deal with the crisis.
"Member states have acted alone but there has been no attempt to come up with a pan-European response.
"It would have been better had we pulled together but this did not happen and we will want to know what, as a result of this, additional damage was caused to our economies."
He pointed out that 20 of the 27 member states currently have budget deficits and that the EU's much-vaunted Lisbon agenda - to enable the EU to become the world's most dynamic economy by the end of this decade - now appeared "unlikely".
Klinz said the new 45-strong committee aims to come forward with "some fairly specific" proposals, including possible legislative measures, by next summer.
"These must take us beyond measures which have already been taken by member states," he said.
He added, "What we must do is get away from what has been a 'bitty' approach to tackling the downturn.
"It is what I call a patchwork of ideas and measures, such as credit rating agencies and alternative investments.
"It has all been done on an ad hoc basis with member states acting in isolation."
Meanwhile, a new report has said that Europe's chemical industry has been "seriously affected" by the crisis.
The report, by the European Chemical Industry Council, said that EU institutions, including parliament, have a "crucial" role to play and could be "much more active".
"The EU economic recovery plan focuses too much on the coordination of policies of member states.
"We believe parliament should urge the commission and member states to improve the business environment by reshaping EU and national policies and make these an integral part of the recovery plans," it said.
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