Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-01-17-Speech-3-208"
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"Mr President, President of the Commission, ladies and gentlemen, it is, of course, not possible for me to comment on all the views, but I can discuss some of the main features of several of the speeches. Naturally, I will not go into questions relating to Swedish domestic policy, since we can deal with such matters in other contexts. Instead, I will concentrate on the major European issues.
In conclusion, I would like to say that those of us involved in the Swedish Presidency will frequently be in your beautiful building to conduct talks and discussions, but we would also like you, for your part, to get in touch with ourselves. We will also be happy to receive you as guests in our somewhat cold and distant country, a country which, however, will be full of warmth and fellowship on such occasions. Of that I can assure you. You are all very welcome. I am looking forward to cooperating with all the political groups in Parliament with a view to developing the European Union.
I sense a strong desire on the part of several of the representatives – not least on the part of the representatives of the large political groups – to work together with the presidency towards greater transparency. This is an issue on which, as you all know, there are different approaches within the Union, which is why we are going to have a difficult and complicated task on our hands over the next few months. Nevertheless, we think that one of the essential prerequisites for building confidence in the European Union, in its policies and its institutions is that there be transparency; that it be possible to follow the way in which an issue is dealt with; that accountability can be demanded; and that debate can be engaged in. In that way, a European political space can be created for conducting a debate, which in turn is the prerequisite for building institutions which will go on to create increased democratic legitimacy. What has been said by Mr Poettering, Mr Barón Crespo and others on this subject is, of course, excellent and something to which I subscribe.
Many have referred to enlargement, especially Mr Barón Crespo in his powerful visionary speech. I have also been asked by Mrs Malmström whether we can specify a date for when the first applicant country will gain accession to the Union. This is something which I – which we – wish to see, but we are not going to give that indication. We will not conduct that debate until we know that the substantive negotiations which will have to be held are also to be successful. I think we would be giving the wrong signal if we were to indicate a certain point in time when the first of the countries currently negotiating membership were to join the Union. It would be the wrong signal because we would first like to see the difficult negotiations with which we are faced result in a breakthrough. Such a breakthrough can take place during the Swedish Presidency and we may then very well be able to specify a date in Gothenburg. I hope that this will be the case. I would like it to happen, but I am not sure if it will.
When we talk about the major issues and enlargement, it seems that we are more or less in agreement. There is no firmer support for enlargement than that offered by the European Parliament. This is more a project of the European Parliament than of any other institution. It is Parliament that has been responsible for enlargement. Naturally, I am extremely anxious that it should also be possible for the Treaty we signed in Nice to be approved, because that in turn is the prerequisite for its being possible to implement enlargement. I hope we can resolve the differences on factual matters which exist between the Commission, the Council and Parliament so that we can make some progress on the issue of enlargement. Enlargement is our common responsibility, an historic opportunity to put an end to the division of Europe into East and West.
I agree with what Mr Andersson said in his speech, to the effect that the Treaty of Nice – despite its flaws and shortcomings – nonetheless opened the door to enlargement, something which it is important to mention.
In their speeches, several Members have also talked about the environmental issue. I attach great value to the statements of Mrs Hautala and others. In my opinion, the environmental issue should not be seen as a brake on economic development but, instead, as a driving force. All the major environmental problems we see at present will be resolved by new technology. This is something of which I am convinced. I am also convinced that we, in practice, already have the technology. It is available. We know what, in all likelihood, needs to be done. When our citizens see what is happening, for example on the climate issue, and that we cannot get together and produce some kind of joint response, that is naturally something which will undermine confidence in our institutions. I therefore believe that the Gothenburg Summit will be an important point of departure, enabling us to show that there is a path to success whereby new technology, research, development and faith in human ability are in actual fact promoted through political investment. If we place the emphasis on this, we shall also be at the cutting edge of the technological development which is a prerequisite for a competitive Europe. Look at environmental concern as a driving force and not as a brake and as nostalgia for a time which has passed. Look at environmental concern as a visionary contribution to a better and more modern Europe. We ought to be able to adopt that approach alongside the creditable work Commissioner Wallström is doing with her environmental care programme for issues relating to chemicals and the way in which the use of these is regulated. Add all this together, and we should be able to obtain a promising outcome in Gothenburg. I take note of what you have said about the environmental issue and I share your views to a great extent.
Employment is, of course, largely a policy which already is, and for the foreseeable future will remain, a responsibility of the national parliaments. In the open coordination which is a feature of the Lisbon process, we have found a way of jointly pursuing the development of employment in the Union. I fully share Mr Rocard’s view that, if we are to come closer still to full employment, the macroeconomic discussion is going to become ever more central. To put it more simply: how can we make use of the fact that we are cooperating within a European union in order, for example, to provide more stimulation for economic growth? Our situation is such that we are not vulnerable to outside influences. An isolated country is vulnerable, but not so a union of countries. This is something we should discuss, and – I freely admit this – it is particularly important in the case of those countries which are already cooperating over the euro. They have more opportunities of taking advantage of their situation or of stimulating more robust economic growth and, in that way, increased employment. I am quite sure that discussions of this kind will take place in the group of euro countries. After all, the work which forms the core of the European Union has to do with the internal market and that method of working in terms of community legislation that is in the spirit of Monnet. That core has, of course, already been built. What has now been added is cooperation within another field, something which we, for instance, call the Lisbon process. There are different expressions. Irrespective of which form of cooperation we choose, the same requirements for openness and transparency apply. I do not wish to see a situation in which States and governments hold discussions between themselves which could be considered as being closed and secret and which make public control impossible. Irrespective of which methods we apply, openness is of fundamental importance.
Many other things have been said which I feel strongly about, but let me just say that there are two contributions which I find to be of a special and exceptional nature, but which are of central political importance and which, I want to emphasise, I have subscribed to. What Mr Olsson says about food policy, food quality, the interest of consumers in their right to protection and the renewal of consumer confidence is very much in line with my own thinking regarding the presidency’s approach.
Mr Olle Schmidt talked about policy on refugees and about a generous attitude on the part of the European Union towards those who turn to us in search of safety and protection. The Geneva Convention must, of course, form the basis of any thinking about this subject, but we should also have ambitions over and above this. As a wealthy section of a global community, we really should be able to afford such a policy. Together, not individually. These are ambitions we could very well have arguments and discussions about, and it is an area in which we could take the Union forwards. I am very sympathetic to what Mr Olle Schmidt said in his speech about a humanitarian refugee policy."@en1
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