Report by: Viviane Reding, European Commisioner for Justice,
Fundamental Rights and Citizenship
To
The Nations in the European Union:
This
memo is intended to address the recent, fortunate situation that the European
Union Commission has found itself in. We have long been faced with opposition
from certain countries when trying to solve the economic crisis in the European
Union. It is our belief that we are doing the best that we can to protect the
interests of individual countries while looking out for the economic future of
our great union. It is frustrating to be forced to deal with this opposition as;
it creates roadblocks in our path to success.
Recently
however, our greatest “road block” countries have ceased their fight and agreed
to let us take control of the economic crisis. These countries include Germany,
Great Britain, Spain and Portugal. Prior to this point, nations such as France
and Germany held the belief that fiscal austerity (a raise in taxes and less
government spending) was the only answer to economic problems. Furthermore,
they have threatened to abandon the euro, which would have negative
implications for the worldwide economy.
The people of these nations have decided to stop with their criticism of
our proposed bailout thereby decreasing the pressure on our commission to
fulfill their absurd requests and allowing us to move forward.
As
you all know, we need the support of 17 countries in order to move forward with
bailouts. Now that we have that support and complete authority to address this
crisis, the Union would like to suggest that all member
countries currently facing debt, which is greater than 40 percent of their
national gross-domestic product, receive a bailout that is equal to half the
amount of their debt. All the member states are required to increase taxes
however; I am choosing not to mandate that spending be cut. With this bailout
money, countries are expected to spend it wisely, paying back foreign debts and
bonds. Should a country need more money, they are to submit an application to
the European Union Commission with a detailed plan of how they will be spending
the additional funds.
The
increase in taxation is absolutely vital to our economic restructure. I
am leaving it up to individual nations as to which taxes they are planning to
increase, however, countries that request more bailout money without sufficient evidence
that they have increased taxes will simply be denied. It is solely up to the president of the European Union to decide if sufficient taxation has occured. I understand the
concern from some that taxes are invasive and unfair but frankly, it is unfair
that the commission has to deal with the economic failures of our member
states. We all should have been more careful initially.
After
a three-month period, debt packages will be doled out to those countries that
have received bailout money. These packages will outline how member countries
will pay back the European commission and hopefully, will serve as an impending
incentive to productively change the economy. Major creativity should be
employed in combination with the tax increases and bailout money as, we expect
good results. Overall, I am pleased to see that we are all finally unified and
there are no more dissenters holding us back from a prosperous future.
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