Mr President, I would like to thank the Commissioner, who is standing in for his colleague, for being here. I welcome the initiative of the Commission with regard to collective redress, which is a long-overdue initiative. It is also mentioned in the report, and I think it is in the interests of the consumers – provided it is well defined and well legislated. I think it is good. We will start with the Green Paper to see what the different opinions are. I welcome this.

In other countries, the states are trying to disengage from the banking sector, and here there is the danger of a dowry. I expect that you cannot reply to this issue of a dowry – it is something for the Commissioner – but it would be very unfair to other banks that did not get state aid if some that have been recovered or needed resuscitation suddenly got one. So here we have to look at the issue of the level playing field.

Finally I come to the follow-up, because there were a few remarks by Mrs in ’t Veld, Mrs Gáll and Mr Bütikofer which were spot-on. We had a report last year, we have a report this year and we will probably have a similar report next year. It all stays the same. It looks a bit like a Vatican-based ritual where we have the same things over and over again. I think that we have to look into the follow-up to the questions we have asked, and I propose that the rapporteur and the previous rapporteur get in touch with the Commissioner and with the Director-General of DG COMP to see what happens with the request we made.

We need to have a report that is properly implemented in terms of information provision. This is why I propose that we have a proper follow-up, in which Mrs in ’t Veld will certainly support me, to see what the Commission is doing.

Strasbourg, 20 January 2011

The former Dutch journalist, senior official and the current politician on behalf of Belgium, Derk-Jan Eppink, has become the fifth laureate of the Michal Tošovský anti-bureaucratic prize. According to eStat.cz – Efektivní stát (Effective State) think-tank that bestows this already traditional prize, Eppink has earned this prize by his literary works Life of a European Mandarin and Bonfire of Bureaucracy in Europe.

In his book Life of a European Mandarin (published in 2007) Eppink describes aptly backstage of European institutions and reality of their functioning, which is miles away from the generally known schoolbook axioms, from the insider’s point of view.  Two main factors, affecting activities of the European Commission, permeate through the whole work, namely the bureaucratic culture of the staff and the political backstage struggle which - besides the Brussels policy even the international and a very strong national policy in individual member states - is reflected into.

A new book Bonfire of Bureaucracy in Europe, written by Eppink as the MEP already, describes inter alia seven capital sins of the EU, which the Union should get rid of, provided it wants to survive in the forthcoming decade. Eppink fittingly reveals the gaps between     the rhetoric of the European Union and the inconvenient truth. Eppink points out how the European institutional elite tries to conceal differences between their conception and the unpalatable reality by using the semantic language, long declarations and intemperate idealism. Everything culminates by the naive vision of the European elites that Europe is the source of the “great good” and the “more Europe” can be created, the happier the people will be.

The prize for the year 2010 has been awarded festively in the Senate. The appreciated Derk-Jan Eppink has exploited the festive event and presented the Czech version of his book Bonfire of Bureaucracy in Europe / Ohňostroj evropské byrokracie.

MediaDerk Jan Eppink MEP Speaks Out Against EU Tax Plans               

Derk Jan Eppink, MEP for Belgium and a member of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group, has hit out strenuously at plans for EU taxes, revealed today by the EU’s Tax Commissioner, Janusz Lewandowski. Mr Lewandowski told the Financial Times Deutschland that “the door is open to think about revenues that are not claimed by (national) finance ministers.” He said that the current system whereby 76 per cent of the EU’s budget is paid for by national contributions “was not the intention of the founding fathers."

But Mr Eppink, a former Commission insider whose recent books “Life of a European Mandarin" and "Bonfire of Bureaucracy in Europe” predicted calls for EU taxes earlier this year, said: “Unsurprisingly, the Commission’s main entry gate may be open to EU taxes, but I am sure ordinary taxpayer’s will close all doors and windows. No wonder the Commission launches it as its mid summer night's dream''.

Mr Lewandowski’s spokesman, Patrizio Fiorilli, told the media today that "the time is now to look into alternative sources of income for the EU budget," adding that in late September the Commissioner will set out a series of options for EU taxes, including a levy on air transport, a tax on financial transactions and the allocation of some of the funds from the planned auction of greenhouse gas emissions permits.

Mr Eppink saw the irony of the remarks. “The time is now only because the Commission is taking people by surprise when they are in the middle of their summer holidays, while tanning their bellies. It’s a well-known bureaucratic trick for announcing unwelcome things.” 

With the fear of financial collapse hanging over Greece, Eurozone leaders are trying to make sure the sovereign debt crisis doesn't spread across the continent.

Wolf Klinz, Derk Jan Eppink, Gay Mitchell and Vital Moreira discuss on BBC.  

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