Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-06-14-Speech-3-089"
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"en.20000614.4.3-089"2
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"Mr President, I must very quickly highlight the usefulness of this debate and the importance of all the interventions in terms of better preparing the Council on this issue. Mrs Lalumière’s report is excellent, particularly in its balance and the relevance of many of its observations. The report to be presented by the Portuguese Presidency to the Feira European Council next week will dispel many of the doubts and clarify many of the aspects which we have addressed here. This report is the result of our commitment to carry out in full the mandate established in Helsinki. Regardless of certain differences which are evident here in terms of security and defence cultures, and more so in the defence culture than in the security culture, we believe that we all agree on the need for the European Union to rapidly acquire a crisis management capability at either military or non-military level. We must determine the extent of these mechanisms and the appropriateness of these various dimensions in terms which express the different sensitivities indicated here.
I must mention one specific point which was raised with regard to amending the Treaty on European Union and other possible amendments to this Treaty at this stage in order possibly to enshrine in law the EU’s current military mechanisms. The Portuguese Presidency’s and the Council’s reading of this issue is that there is no need for an immediate amendment of the Treaty and that the provisions of Article 17 are sufficient to cover the current mechanisms. In any case, the way is clear for future discussion of this issue bearing in mind future developments and what will be enshrined in terms of the definitive structures.
As for the EU-NATO link, all the concerns expressed about how the creation of a common European security and defence policy may reflect negatively on the relationship with NATO are unfounded. On the contrary, we believe that this mechanism will allow us to independently reinforce a particular dimension without creating any type of barrier in our relationship with NATO. Moreover, the mechanisms which we are implementing to link Member States who are in NATO with those who are not and, at the same time, the formulas which we are using to link the European Union in terms of security and defence with NATO partners outside the EU seem to have found the right balance. We hope that the Feira European Council will enshrine these as the definitive model in this area.
On the issue of parliamentary representation, we obviously appreciate the sensitivity of this House with regard to its greater involvement in these matters. However, we believe that this issue of representation precedes that of security and defence and in fact lies at the level of the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the well-known claims made by Parliament with regard to its involvement in this wider policy. This point has been and is being discussed in the Intergovernmental Conference and we will see to what extent these claims are accepted. In any case, it is essential, particularly with regard to the national parliaments, to guarantee their association with any future development in this area. We too share these concerns.
Civilian crisis management has been one of the aspects highlighted by the Portuguese Presidency, particularly bearing in mind the concerns felt within the Council and also expressed in this House about this dimension. The day after tomorrow the first meeting of the Committee for Civilian Crisis Management will take place. This Committee was specifically created during the Portuguese Presidency.
Finally, on the last issue of the Armaments Group, this group is continuing its work and will remain active within the WEU."@en1
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