Golden Dawn MEP Lampros Fountoulis: Common minimum salary across Europe - Video
During the plenary of the European Parliament in Strasbourg and in the debate about European cohesion, the floor was given to Golden Dawn’s MEP Lampros Fountoulis. In his speech he asked from the European politicians, if they really want to achieve cohesion and not just only to serve various economic interests, to take bold and really efficient measures, principal among them the common taxation and common basic salary across Europe.
Follows the full text of the speech:
"The so called cohesion inside the Union is existent only in the halls and the offices of the European Institutions and even that is disputable.
A very crucial field in which support and promotion of innovation must be given is the sector of small and medium enterprises. In fact, only because of this kind of companies we have the actual living standards, a lot better than in the so called developing countries.
We cannot discuss about strategies for creation of knowledge base for sustainable growth and high quality job positions, when many of the wrong policies of the Union are to blame for the loss of life quality and the lower living standards, especially in the Southern Countries facing underemployment and very low basic salaries. To make things worse, agreements like TTIP will be a catastrophe for small and medium enterprises.
The general direction is wrong. Again you will give subsidies, based on criteria that have nothing to do with reality or the market needs, through bureaucratic channels and as usual the same persons will receive them.
If you are truly in favour of economic cohesion in Europe, we must take measures. Set a common basic salary, set common tax rates, fair for everyone, and stop the subsidies so to gain money for raising the salaries and to substitute any income loss from the lower taxes.
Be sure that like this, the enterprises will breathe again and a significant growth rate could be achieved. But to take such kind of measures, the Union should be interested in supporting healthy enterprises and for a better future for workers and entrepreneurs and not just to serve capitalist and multi-national companies."