Financial crisis requires also new thinking

7.23.00pm GMT Tue 18th Nov 2008

In today's plenary discussion on Europe's response to the global financial crisis, Graham Watson, Local MEP and president of the ALDE group, congratulated José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, and Jean-Pierre Jouyet, French Secretary of State for EU Affairs representing the EU presidency, for the coordinated manner in which they acted at the G20 summit in Washington: "We welcome the commitment to a shared belief that - as it says in the summit conclusions - market principles, open trade, investment regimes, and effectively regulated financial markets foster the dynamism, innovation and entrepreneurship that are essential for economic growth, employment, and poverty reduction."

"But we cannot go on as we did in the past, as the G20 conclusions suggest: The summit expressed its trust that growth will be restored. Yet, we cannot simply go back to business as before. What we need is a commitment to qualitatively better growth, recognising that resources are finite. A modern day Maynard Keynes would put people back to work and foster innovation by installing solar panels and wind turbines on every building across Europe."