Seanad debates

Thursday, 27 November 2003

Address by President of the European Parliament.

 

However, we now come to a different question. John Maynard Keynes used a wonderful phrase when someone said he had changed his mind because he had said something else at a lecture some years ago. He said: "Yes, for the facts have changed, dear boy. When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?" Using that Keynesian expression, let me arrive at this point. France has just avoided recession and is in a low growth phase. Germany is just crawling out of recession. It is in our interest as a small trading state that they lift and grow. Does it make sense, therefore, to kick that dog when it is down? It seems that on the basis of economic analysis and interest the right choice was made. Half of the European Parliament will be deeply angered by what I have said because they want it to be rules only. However, if the rules – this must be for Europe, not only for this type of case – become so obsessive that we are asked to leave our common sense outside the door, there is something wrong with them. Common sense must come into play when making judgments. I make a 50:50 call on that.

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