Yves Leterme at CEPS event 20 September 2011 - part 1

Yves Leterme was the guest of honour at a CEPS meeting chaired by Staffan Jerneck, CEPS, on September 20th. Speaking about the eurozone crisis, his opening remarks
reflected a strong pro-European sentiment in characterising the current crisis as a common European responsibility and in urging that everything necessary should be done to stabilise the situation.
The general address to the audience, very rich in economic content, highlighted the benefits of the single currency for Belgium as well as the sound performance of the country relative to the EU average, including its achievement of the targets set for domestic public finances. Leterme stressed the urgent need for a robust European strategy for growth and warned about the risks if the EU will fall short on its 2020 objectives.
He concluded by emphasising that economic integration in Europe has made more progress in the last year than in the last decade and claiming that, in the longer term, a transfer of national sovereignty to EU level, leading to a fully-fledged system of European economic governance, is inevitable.
In the ensuing debate, the strong pro-European position of Belgium emerged as well as the crucial role of national politicians in affecting national public opinion towards the EU institutions.

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