Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-12-11-Speech-2-017"
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"en.20011211.2.2-017"2
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"Madam President, Mr President of the Commission, ladies and gentlemen, the presidency welcomes this debate on the Commission work for the 2002 programme. Last year, there was still a great deal of disapproval from Parliament with regard to the Council’s absence during this important debate. Mr Poettering, in response to your claim that European policy is being neglected by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, I can assure you that this is not the case and that we do not shy away from public debates, but you know this by now.
Having said that, this debate is not a matter of course for the presidency. First of all, we are giving our verdict on a document that is only a few days old and which the presidency has received for perusal only very recently. Secondly, participation in this debate is a difficult balancing act for the presidency, while needless to say, your Parliament can, and, I would even so far as to say, must, focus on the implementation of its supervisory role.
I fully agree with you that the policy of the Council and the Commission must be as coherent as possible. This concern about coherence is also shared by the Council and the Commission and is, moreover, borne out in the facts. As you know, that is exactly why the Belgian Presidency has started to present status reports on the other Council divisions to the General Affairs Council. Our presidency has done this to enable the General Affairs Council to coordinate all activities of the various Council divisions, and thus to guarantee internal coherence and compliance with the Union’s general objectives.
Despite this, each institution is, of course, autonomous in drafting its own work schedule and deciding upon its own emphases. Moreover, the institutions must respect each other’s autonomy. Mr President of the Commission and Commissioners, the purpose of my visit today is therefore not to assess the Commission and its work document critically nor to weigh it up against the Council’s past achievements and future priorities.
We were very interested to read the work programme, since the Commission has focused on its core tasks and core objectives and therefore no longer gives a full overview of its activities, as the President pointed out, which – and I have been witness to this in the past – used to result in a long list of legislative and policy measures. In its current form, the work programme has unmistakably gained in clarity. We are delighted that the Commission is largely on target with the realisation of the strategic objectives for the 2000-2005 period. Indeed, with regard to the internal reform operations, such as in the field of enlargement negotiations and negotiations regarding the new multi-lateral trade round, the reconstruction of the western Balkans, as well as negotiations regarding climate change, the Commission has indeed taken its role of driving force very seriously over the year which is now about to end, and has acted each time Community action was crucial."@en1
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