10 quotes on the European economy

Below are key quotes from the session Europe’s Twin Challenges: Growth and Stability at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos. You can watch the session in full here. 

Sigmar Gabriel, Vice-Chancellor and Federal Minister of Economic Affairs and Energy of Germany

“The task for Germany today is – through its own policies and its own structural reforms, its own investments – to support the EU and the Commission… but every nation has to have the courage to broach such structural reforms and speak clearly about them without making people be afraid.”

“Maybe it is the last chance for Europe to influence standards for world trade. Next it will be between the US and the Asia-Pacific region.”

Enda Kenny, Taoiseach of Ireland

“We were able to maintain political stability in the country despite the unprecedented economic circumstances we inherited – that was because we were able to set out a very clear plan, a very clear strategy to explain to people that the challenges we all face as a people were unprecedented and it meant that instead of choosing a path of confrontation, we actually chose a path of constructive negotiation with the Troika and the European institutions.”

“Our countries, and all other countries, actually need to work more closely together with the institutions that the treaty set up, to deliver prosperity, hope, opportunity and jobs for our people.”

Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Netherlands

“This goes back to the main challenge we are facing, because Europe at the moment is not competitive. We have many imbalances and my big worry is that we will slow down in Europe in terms of fiscal consolidations and reforms, whilst we have to step up…”

“We are extremely vulnerable because we take too much time to implement the necessary measures. This is a painful process. When you go through a painful process – make it as short as possible”.

Laimdota Straujuma, Prime Minister of Latvia

“The main issues are speed: speed of decisions and speed of ownership. Our reform was drafted in Latvia, it was our own reform.”

“We have three priorities, competitive Europe, digital Europe and engaged Europe. If we speak of competitiveness… it is a necessity.”

Alexander Stubb, Prime Minister of Finland
“We must continue to liberalise the single market, cut red tape and basically create a digital single market. We have not completed the single market yet, there is not sufficient free movement of goods, labour, services and money. We have to keep on working at that against all the protectionist tendencies that we have right now.”

“I think we should, as the public sector or politicians, stop creating an illusion that it is the public sector that drives growth and jobs. It is not. It is the private sector that does it. There is no growth without entrepreneurship.”

Image: Latvian Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma speaks during the Europe’s Twin Challenges: Growth and Stability event in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos January 22, 2015. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich