Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-11-17-Speech-3-049"
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"en.19991117.2.3-049"2
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"Mr President, Mr Solana, it is with very great pleasure that I can welcome you here in your new role, and I am delighted that in a few days you will be combining this role with that of Secretary-General of the WEU. This all augurs well, and represents real progress. An equally good augury is given by the desire for mutual cooperation expressed by yourself and by Mr Patten, who has also just made some very rational statements.
Let me address you in my capacity as rapporteur for the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy, regarding security and defence policy. This means I have listened to you with the utmost concentration. In brief, today, permit me to stress the timetable or, to be more specific, the rate of the innovations and reforms which you are responsible for.
The Kosovo crisis has made Europeans aware of the gaps in the political and military resources available to them. Furthermore, they have become more than ever aware of the risks they are running in letting a system continue which was designed at the time of the Cold War and which is no longer in any way suitable for the instances of instability which are proliferating around Europe and even within Europe.
This increased awareness provides an opportunity for innovation, as the Cologne Summit showed. But I am afraid that this window of opportunity may close again all too soon under the pressure of national conservatism and budgetary constraints. This is why my view is that things must get done quickly, as quickly as possible. Institutional reforms still need careful consideration, of course. It would be a mistake to rush. The same goes for the fundamental question of the respective roles of Europe and the United States. The solutions are not yet fully mature, but there are certainly already some practical steps which can be taken quickly.
For example, the enlargement of the General Affairs Council to include Defence Ministers, a formula which was already tested last Monday; setting up a permanent political body, “COPS”, responsible for monitoring all matters relating to common foreign and security policy, including defence; setting up a Military Committee; creating a rapid deployment task force of approximately 50,000 men, and so on and so forth. And I should take care not to forget the task which the Finnish Presidency, quite rightly, considered to be of great significance: improving our non-military security resources, particularly for preventive purposes.
All this may be achieved quickly on the lines of the guidelines established by the Fifteen. I think the old adage of testing the ground by walking on it would be particularly wise in this case, Mr Solana."@en1
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