Europe is not doing enough and we will all pay the price with worsening public deficits due to falling tax revenue and increased welfare payments
PES president Poul Nyrup Rasmussen
PES president Poul Nyrup Rasmussen has said the deal reached by EU leaders to tackle the financial crisis is "simply not enough".
He said after the summit on Friday that "Europe has been let down" by its leaders.
The summit saw an agreement to allocate €5bn of unspent EU funds on projects to generate growth, described as "peanuts" by the former Danish prime minister.
Other deals brokered at the summit include an increase in the community facility loans by €50bn and an additional €75bn loan to the International Monetary Fund.
However, Rasmussen argued the actions decided in Brussels over the last 48 hours fall far short of what is needed.
"The fire is spreading but there are no more fire fighters on their way," he said.
He added, "Europe is not doing enough and we will all pay the price with worsening public deficits due to falling tax revenue and increased welfare payments."
The summit comes a week before many of Europe's most economically powerful nations meet in London for the G20 talks aimed at tackling the global aspect of the financial crisis.
Rasmussen is also pessimistic about the outcome of this meeting saying, "It is hard to be optimistic about the G20 if Europe’s attitude is that it has done enough. It looks like that once again Europe is relying on America to come to its rescue."
Commission president José Manuel Barroso also came under fire from the PES president for his supposed efforts to lobby for a second term in office during the crisis talks.
In a sharp aside Rasmussen said, “Pity he was just looking after his own employment rather than doing something extra for the millions who will become unemployed."
Greens vice chair Claude Turmes was equally unhappy with the result.
"To our disappointment but not our surprise, the EU summit has once again failed to set the right course for the European economy and environment," he said.
"Barroso and Merkel have set out to deceive on the level and direction of their ambition."
Turmes said the recovery plan was a "placebo", claiming the "commission promise of €5bn is a cheque that largely can't be cashed: not more than a third of the €3.9bn for energy projects can be invested before the deadline".
Leader of the ALDE group Graham Watson was more positive on the outcome. He said, "Unlike the 1930s when recession was met with protectionism and xenophobia setting one nation against another, this time EU countries have recognised that they are all in it together and that solidarity is the key to future prosperity."
Watson also noted that the numbers involved in the EU's growth stimulus package were small, but called the move a "welcome signal" that investment could go into key areas and "rather than returning to national capitals".
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