The European Parliament’s Socialists and Democrats today led a passionate appeal for a new approach to the financial crisis, renewing their demands for a tax on bankers and speculators to ensure justice.

S&D leader Martin Schulz told the Parliament in Strasbourg:  « Europe is being led in the wrong direction, both institutionally and in substance. »  He called for investment to bring about growth, calling it « the basic requirement to stimulate jobs ».

French Socialist Pervenche Berès, who presented the report of a special parliamentary committee on the social, economic and financial crisis, said the crisis would cost the world 60 trillion dollars or the equivalent of one percentage point of growth every year.

Ms Berès declared:  « We call for a strong commitment to the added value that our European project brings in order to get Europe out of the crisis and ensure that tomorrow Europeans will have work, will escape poverty and will have more faith in our Union. »

In the report, due to be adopted later today, the European Parliament sets out detailed proposals for handling the crisis, including the creation of a European energy community, an ambitious budget, a financial transactions tax, the introduction of Eurobonds to allow better management of debt and investment in infrastructure, and the creation of the post of Mr Euro as a Commission vice-president to improve governance of the eurozone.

Said Mr Schulz:  « Those who caused the crisis, the speculators, have not been made to assume their responsibility by contributing to the states’ coffers — for example, through a tax on financial transactions.

« What we are seeing in Europe is a black-and-white approach in which everything that is spending is bad and everything that is cuts is good.

« We are in a dramatic situation concerning justice.  People are demonstrating in the streets because our heads of state and government are leading us in the wrong direction. »

He added:  « We know it is difficult, but we are going to insist that the EU makes a start on putting the financial sector in order. »

Mr Schulz condemned proposals by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel as « an attack on the institutions of the European Union. »  Their call for changes to the European treaty would open a Pandora’s box, he said, given UK premier David Cameron’s commitment to hold a referendum on future EU reforms.