Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-06-13-Speech-3-049"
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"en.20010613.1.3-049"2
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".
Mr President, enlargement has been the main focus of this debate, which I believe is quite natural. I am very pleased about the widespread support in Parliament for enlargement. Parliament has played a vital role so far, for example with its requirement that the applicant countries will be able to take part in the European Parliament elections in 2004. You will also continue to have a key part to play in moving enlargement forward.
I regret that we are unable to meet Mr Trajkovski today in Parliament but, on the other hand, I believe that he has made the right choice in these difficult times of ensuring that he takes the negotiations in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia forward towards a peaceful solution.
I also believe that we have good instruments, and will have good instruments, from the Union for future work through the European programme for conflict prevention which Mr Sakellariou brought up. This is also something which we in Sweden are keen to do further work on, even after the Presidency.
Finally, I would like to thank everyone for the kind words on the Swedish Presidency. I would like to reply with my own thanks for excellent work and constructive cooperation with the European Parliament. Unfortunately, this is the last time I will be speaking in this capacity, but I hope to enjoy continued cooperation with Parliament as an “ordinary foreign minister”.
I will now return to Gothenburg bearing your stated wish for clear signals from Gothenburg, including a clearer timetable. I will also return with the large majority in favour of ratification of the Treaty of Nice continuing. I would like to say that I particularly appreciate Mr Poettering, Mr Barón Crespo, Mr Cox, Mr Collins and other group leaders expressing this view.
Of course we will take the referendum in Ireland seriously. We must become better at obtaining more grassroots support for European issues and the European project. We must take the referendum result seriously. It is a common responsibility and common lesson for us all. We will naturally all offer Ireland whatever help it and the Irish government decides it requires. However, in order not to damage the European project any further and not to weaken faith in the Union, we must also move forward on ratification of the Treaty of Nice and enlargement.
I would like to say how fortunate it is that group leaders Mr Wurtz and Mr Bonde do not have a majority either in the European Parliament or in the national parliaments when they argue against ratification of the Treaty of Nice, for it is precisely this that is causing concern in the applicant countries. The Treaty of Nice is, of course, the precondition for enlargement. A
to the Treaty of Nice is a
to enlargement and, with friends like that, the applicant countries do not need any enemies.
It is also important for enlargement that the process of addressing the points at issue continues. President of the Commission Prodi and several others have today emphasised the importance of addressing the seriously difficult issues and starting to deal with them, e.g. issues concerning the environment, free movement of people and free movement of capital. I believe it is important to state before Parliament that, following the negotiations which we had at the start of this week, we have now not only created common positions among the Member States on these difficult issues but have also started negotiations with the applicant countries and even completed negotiations with several applicant countries. We have successfully addressed the environmental issues with four applicant countries. We have also successfully addressed free movement of people with a couple of applicant countries and free movement of capital with a couple of applicant countries.
Let me particularly comment on free movement of people, as this has been a very sensitive issue. In this area, we have sought a flexible solution which entails our providing the opportunity for transposition periods for those countries which are absolutely sure that they need them, while allowing flexibility for others. The Swedish and Dutch governments have recently declared that they will open themselves up to the labour force of new Member States right from the start, so that the labour force from new Member States will have the opportunity to work with us on the same terms as the labour force of current Member States. I hope that many other countries will follow suit and give equivalent declarations as soon as possible. In this respect, I also believe that you European parliamentarians can help bring pressure to bear on your national governments.
Many people have also mentioned sustainable development and the environmental issues. I can guarantee that we will stand by the Kyoto Protocol. We will be addressing climate issues at the summit and discussing them with President Bush. We will do our best in Gothenburg to ensure that we take important steps forward on environmental issues. At the same time, I think it is important to take up social issues, as Mr Barón Crespo and some others have suggested, and establish that we have made progress on these issues and the situation of the labour force.
With regard to foreign policy, we will continue to work with the Western Balkans and the Middle East. We have seen the way the EU
play an important role. Naturally, this work must continue."@en1
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