Sharon Bowles MEP on CNN

To hear Sharon's views re Eurozone debt crisis click on this link:

http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/business/2011/08/30/qmb.sharon.bowles.cnn?iref=allsearch

Or read the trasncript:

CNN, Tuesday 30^th August 2011

Transcript of Sharon's interview

Sharon: "Well, I think it's always been a mixture that some of what I have referred to as the continental politicians, as against UK-based, have tended to want to do things independently of the markets and disregard the markets. I take the view that while you can't be a slave to the markets and you can't be ruled by it, you do have to take some notice of it because after all, at the end of the day, many of them are looking after money of investors and those investors are pension funds and the general purpose, people, so I think we have to keep an eye on the markets and what they're doing but at the same time not succumb to their every whim because markets are a greedy baby and if you give them too much they'll just ask for more, more, more."

Presenter: "Are you suggesting when finance ministers meet up, for example, they should, as one of the considerations, look at the markets that day because this could be a very dangerous route couldn't it because the markets on a particular day aren't necessarily what they should be reacting to when they're considering structural reforms, for example?"

Sharon: "Yes, I don't think they should be looking at the markets of the day but I'm sure they do have an eye on the pattern of the market but they also have a job to try and impose the political will because some things have to be dealt with and markets also do have to recognise that we are dealing with a union, whether it is a currency union of seventeen, or an EU union of twenty-seven, that some decisions require ratification by national parliaments and that is not something you can do at the drop of a hat."

Presenter: "Is there a concern though that politicians could be rushed into a decision by the markets? Once you get into that process of responding to the markets, or at least assessing the markets when making a big political decision, then that will rush politicians into a decision. There's certainly a sense of politicians, as you know, that they don't want to be seen to be responding in any way to the markets?"

Sharon: "I think that's the case which is why many in the Parliament applauded Jean-Claude Junker yesterday when he said: 'we can't be ruled by the markets' and on my committee there are many who have that view but I would say that I am not ruled by the markets, although I say you have to take them into account in essence as they are looking after the money of citizens and at the end of the day you can't be totally ruled by them. I don't think to shut your eyes and say 'dare you' is the best response either. Markets can get into a death spiral and be self-defeating and there is time when the markets themselves have to realise that if they do that just to test how deep are the pockets for theoretical reasons, rather than for real reasons of risk, then that is something where they'll end up doing themselves harm too."

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