Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-06-11-Speech-2-186"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20020611.9.2-186"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Council.
Mr President, I think that this debate has been extraordinarily informative because many things have been said, but they are all things that both the Council and the Commission have fully accepted, because we totally share the widespread disappointment felt by everyone at the outcome of the Bali conference and the concern at the almost insurmountable difficulties facing preparations for the Johannesburg conference.
Nevertheless, I should not like to end this debate on a negative note, having mentioned all the injustices inherent in the distribution of poverty in the world and the enormous problems of world trade and environmental problems and not state that Europe has the capacity for leadership. I believe the fact that the European Parliament shares this concern inspires the Commission and the Council, who are responsible for representing the position of Europe and its leadership in all these issues that are so close to us and, naturally, so close to our hearts, because they have a major impact on the conscience of European public opinion.
I should like to say that, despite the fact that the outcome of the Bali conference was not very positive, some very important goals and agreements have been achieved during these months of the Spanish Presidency, which have confirmed that the European Union is moving in the right direction. Let us remember that the European Union ratified the Kyoto Protocol at the beginning of March. Let us also remember that we achieved a compromise in Monterrey, against all predictions, committing ourselves to providing development aid; let us also remember that the European Union has, throughout recent years, maintained its leadership in development aid and in defending courageous policies on trade with developing countries such as the 'Everything but arms' directive.
We do, therefore, have experience and we are fighting for the right idea which, of course, I believe we all share – Parliament, the Council and the Commission – and which is that we have to make an effort to make the world in which we live a better place. This is a very complex world, however, in which, as all honourable Members who have spoken know because you have, of course, considerable knowledge of the dialectic at stake at the moment with regard to Johannesburg, there are great interests and enormous amounts of national self-interest, not only in the developed world, but also in other blocs of countries that have adopted radical positions and which often prevent consensus being reached.
Our thesis has to date consisted of considering that it is better to have a global agreement, even if it is relatively ambitious, than to have no agreement at all. This is the very reason we were not able to achieve anything positive in Bali but, nevertheless, our desire to conclude an agreement remains intact. This week the Committee of Permanent Representatives is debating a set of initiatives that the General Affairs Council will consider on Monday 17 June, and which will become guidelines with which the Seville European Council will continue negotiations.
Furthermore, for his part, the President of the Council intends to take this issue to the highest level at the G8 Summit in Kananaskis, in Alberta, Canada, which will take place at the end of June. The Spanish Presidency will keep up the pressure to the end and the Danish Presidency is also already prepared to take over on 1 July.
Frankly, I believe that we should not be discouraged by the fact that Bali has been a disappointment for us all; all is not lost and much can still be achieved. I also genuinely believe that the Council, together with the Commission, is capable of maintaining its position of leadership; that the Seville European Council will send a clear message to the world about our position and our commitment to the
Johannesburg objectives. Similarly, we will also be working with our partners, particularly within the G8; we still have almost three months before Johannesburg opens and we hope we have sufficient experience to be able to impose, with our strength and our leadership, a solution that is acceptable to everyone in that South African city at the beginning of September.
We do not want Johannesburg, as I have said, to be a further disappointment of the type we saw in Durban and we are, therefore, willing to work on this and are doing so with the satisfaction and the relief that we enjoy the political support of this Parliament that has been expressed so forcefully in today’s sitting."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples