Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-07-02-Speech-2-033"
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Mr President, President of the Commission, honourable Members, when I presented the priorities of the Spanish Presidency of the European Union to you, I undertook to come to the European Parliament to present the results of the Seville European Council and to make a final assessment of this six-month period.
As part of the development of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice, Spain had proposed, as one of the aims for its Presidency, the creation of a common immigration and asylum policy. Europe needs immigration and the majority of Europeans understand this, but in recent times we have seen the emergence of criminal mafias trafficking human beings. In order to combat illegal immigration, the Seville European Council decided to adopt a comprehensive and balanced package of measures seeking to:
fight illegal immigration and the trafficking of human beings;
establish a coordinated and integrated management of the Union’s external borders;
speed up work on defining a common asylum and immigration policy; and
integrate immigration policy into the Union’s relations with third countries.
Allow me to expand on the last two points, which attracted the most public attention.
The European Council decided to speed up the legislative work in progress on defining a common asylum and immigration policy by carrying out a series of specific actions within a specific timetable:
by December of this year, we will adopt the conditions for determining which countries are responsible for processing asylum applications in the European Union;
by June 2003, we will adopt rules on refugee status, reuniting families and the status of long-term permanent residents; and
by December 2003, we will adopt common standards for asylum procedure.
I would like to begin my third appearance before you by expressing my satisfaction with the work done by the institutions throughout the Presidency, and the good relations between Parliament, the Council and the Commission during the past six months. This good atmosphere of understanding is largely due to the efforts of President Pat Cox. The European Parliament and its President have made a substantial contribution to the work of the Presidency. This House has adopted the legislative approach proposed by the Lamfalussy report, the Fourth Framework Programme on Research and the Financial Regulation.
We think that immigration needs to be incorporated into the Union’s policies towards third countries, taking into account various factors: increasing economic cooperation, expanding trade, development aid, and preventing conflicts, as these are the methods chosen by the European Union to reduce the causes of migration. The Council has therefore declared that it is willing to increase cooperation with the countries of origin of immigrants and countries of transit. If we want the Union’s aid for combating illegal immigration to be effective and also credible, we must be capable of evaluating and revising it according to the results obtained, in order to be able to react in the event of a clear lack of cooperation in curbing illegal immigration. In this case, and in exceptional circumstances, the Union reserves the right to adopt measures, as part of the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Union’s other policies, while respecting the agreements it has made.
The entry into circulation of the euro was an impetus for the Barcelona European Council to decisively resume the process of economic and social modernisation. As you will recall, the results of the Barcelona European Council were examined by this House when I attended on 20 March. I would just like to expand on the economic elements of the Seville European Council.
The recent European Council approved the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines, reaffirming the commitment to achieving a budgetary balance by 2004 and the need to continue with economic reforms, as the only way for the Union to increase its growth and achieve full employment, an objective that we agreed in Lisbon for this decade.
Following the milestone of the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol by the Community and Member States, and the good results of the Monterrey Summit, we now have two solid foundations from which to approach the World Summit on Development in Johannesburg. This Summit will be an opportunity to fulfil our objectives of fighting poverty and environmental degradation and to promote the development of the less advanced countries. These goals will be a reality if in Johannesburg we adopt a balanced vision of all the facets of sustainable development. This is why the Seville European Council highlighted, among other things, the efforts made by the Union to promote initiatives in the areas of water, energy and health and to play a leading role, from a constructive angle, in Johannesburg.
Another of the Presidency’s priorities was to move forward in enlargement negotiations. The timetable for the negotiations given to the Spanish Presidency was very demanding. By the end of this six-month period, the chapters on regional and cohesion policy, the policy of the institutions, financial issues and agriculture had to be closed. I think that the results can be described as positive. The Spanish Presidency has negotiated a total of 96 chapters, 52 of which have been provisionally closed, and 22 of which have been opened for the first time. This means that the negotiations have entered their final stage and I hope that the next European Council in Brussels will be able to nominate which countries will be able to complete the negotiations this year.
Allow me to dwell for a moment on the issue of direct payments in the agricultural chapter. This was the most complex subject in the negotiations, given the particular sensitivity of some Member States. The Seville European Council came up with a compromise formula that enables us to begin to negotiate with the candidates on the vast majority of the agricultural issues. The remainder of the elements in the financial package of the enlargement negotiations will be communicated to the candidate countries by November at the latest. The European Council in the autumn will therefore be able to decide with which candidate countries the negotiations can be completed at the end of 2002. In this section I would also like to mention the progress made by Bulgaria and Romania, and encourage Turkey to continue with the necessary reforms and comply with the economic and political requirements, which apply to all the candidates.
Honourable Members, as President-in-Office of the European Union I inaugurated the work of the European Convention on the future of Europe on 28 February. In Seville, Chairman Giscard d’Estaing presented a report on the progress of the Convention and the various forums in which civil society has expressed itself. The European Council supports the general approach of the Convention.
Another matter that the Seville European Council dealt with was the ratification of the Treaty of Nice by Ireland. The ratification of the Treaty of Nice is a necessary condition in order to move forward, and I consider the Declaration on the ratification of the Treaty of Nice by Ireland to be important, confirming that this Member State’s policy of neutrality will not be affected by that ratification.
As you are also aware, the Laeken European Council asked the Secretary-General of the Council, Javier Solana, to present a report on the reform of the Council. Based on this, and in accordance with the Barcelona European Council, in Seville the Presidency presented three groups of proposals on the reform of the Council. The first group was aimed at substantially changing the preparation, development and decisions of the future European Council. The preparation work of the European Council will be the task of the new General Affairs and External Relations Council. Other measures were also adopted that will simplify the work of the European Council and make it more flexible. Meeting times will be limited and clear and concise conclusions will be adopted. In Seville a fundamental step forward was made in admitting that, in extraordinary cases, the Council may use the direction of the discussions of the European Council in order to continue to make progress on particular matters, in accordance with the procedures established in the Treaties.
The second group of proposals was aimed at making the structure and functioning of the Council of Ministers more efficient and transparent. In order to achieve this, the Council has created this new General Affairs and External Relations Council. This new Council will prepare and monitor the work of the European Council, will be responsible for horizontal coordination and will guide all of the European Union’s external action. The Seville European Council also decided to decrease the number of Council of Ministers formations from sixteen to nine, adopted the rules for cooperation between Presidencies and adopted rules enabling Council sessions to be open to the public when it is acting in codecision with the European Parliament.
Also, during the last six months the Council and Parliament have adopted a definitive text on access for the European Parliament to Council documents on foreign, security and defence policy, and we have reformed the European rules on the common electoral procedure. Regarding the first matter, the Seville European Council welcomed the significant boost given to interinstitutional dialogue during the Spanish Presidency. A good example of this is the creation of the High Level Technical Group for Interinstitutional Cooperation, which represents a qualitative leap in those relations. That group should be the foundation for the future interinstitutional agreement on simplifying and improving the regulatory framework, to be adopted in December 2002.
Finally, the Spanish Presidency has launched the debate on the six-month presidencies of the Union. Changing the current six-monthly system of presidencies means reforming the Treaties. This decision needs to be taken by the next Intergovernmental Conference. In any event, the Copenhagen European Council must continue and expand on this discussion, based on the principle of equality between Member States.
During the Spanish Presidency, the Union has also pursued intense external activity. The European Union summits with the United States and Canada helped to strengthen the transatlantic link. The Summit with the United States reaffirmed the special political commitment that the Union has to the United States, by adopting the agreement on the negotiation of an agreement on judicial cooperation in criminal matters, extradition and mutual assistance.
Europe must support Russia in President Putin’s clear commitment to defending democracy and starting on the road to reforms. It was important that the European Union Summit with Russia was successful. The inclusion of the fight against terrorism as a new sphere of cooperation between the European Union and Russia, the recognition of Russia’s status as a market economy and defining the bases for an agreement on Kaliningrad are all reasons to be optimistic about the future development of relations between the European Union and Russia.
In mid May, the second summit between the European Union and the Latin American and Caribbean countries was held. One of the objectives of this Summit was to promote regional integration in the area. It was therefore agreed that political and cooperation agreements would be negotiated with Central America and the Andean Community, and the formal document concluding the Association Agreement between the European Union and Chile was signed.
Spain also proposed, as a priority objective for its Presidency, driving forward the Barcelona Forum, the only process in which Israelis and Palestinians directly meet. For this reason, the fact that the Euro-Mediterranean Conference, where the European Parliament was represented, was actually held, can be described as a success. In Valencia the Association Agreement between the European Union and Algeria was signed, and recently the Association Agreement between the European Union and Lebanon was also signed.
The Summit also adopted the Euro-Mediterranean Framework Programme on Justice and Home Affairs, adopted the reinforced Facility within the European Investment Bank and the Action Programme for the Dialogue between cultures and civilisations, and created the Euro-Mediterranean Foundation to promote that dialogue. The Spanish Presidency was particularly attentive during times of serious crisis in the Middle East. This is the reason for the two declarations adopted during the European Councils.
The Spanish Presidency has worked constantly to step up its cooperation with other international players. The importance of the Quartet, which met for the first time in Madrid, and of the Declaration adopted by the European Union, the United States, the Russian Federation and the United Nations are proof of that effort, which is continuing today, as Special Envoys of the Quartet are meeting to continue coordinating their actions.
Strengthening the European Security and Defence Policy was also one of the priorities of the Spanish Presidency. The Seville European Council adopted the Declaration on the contribution of the Common European Security Policy to the fight against terrorism. That is a first step for integrating the fight against terrorism into the Security and Defence Policy.
During the Spanish Presidency, the European Union has also confirmed that it is prepared to take on the task of policing in Bosnia-Herzegovina, on 1 January 2003, and has expressed its desire to take over operation “Amber Fox”, in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
Finally, I would like to point out that the Spanish Presidency has conducted all the negotiations in order to reach an agreement on the participation of European allies that are not Member States of the European Union in European defence. Spain and the European Union need to continue to work actively on this matter.
Ladies and gentlemen, when I presented the Presidency’s priorities to you, I said that Spain would work to:
Honourable Members, today I came to the European Parliament to explain the results of the Spanish Presidency of the European Union, and in particular of the Seville European Council. I think that we have moved forward on each of the Presidency’s priorities, despite the problems and uncertainties that we have faced during past months. The euro has entered into circulation without problems and was extremely well received, the European Council has decisively resumed the process of economic and social modernisation of Europe, the Union has played an important political role in the world and, finally, we have faced the problems arising from illegal immigration and succeeded in responding firmly to the threat of terrorism.
All of these steps should increase our confidence in the European plan, which is a formula that has been verified and is based on success. That success is based on two principles that we should not forget: respect for different points of view and constantly seeking a balance and the Rule of Law. It is only from this twofold perspective that we will be able to face the two most immediate tasks that our future holds: enlargement and the reunification of Europe and the forthcoming Intergovernmental Conference, which will define our institutional system.
I do not want to finish without offering my best wishes to the Danish Presidency and assuring it, of course, of Spain’s support throughout the next six months, just as they have actively cooperated with us.
Finally, I would like to end as I began, by thanking you and President Cox for the work that you have done during the Spanish Presidency. I would also like to thank the Commission and its President, Romano Prodi, for their cooperation. Without that cooperation, many of the results that I have come to present to you today, would simply not have been possible.
strengthen the Union’s response to terrorism, from the point of view of building an Area of Freedom, Security and Justice;
increase modernisation of the economy;
help complete the enlargement negotiations; and
lay the foundations for the future European Union.
I think that I can say that progress has been made in each and every one of these areas. The Presidency has moved forward with the measures in the European Union’s plan of action against terrorism. This objective would not have been possible without the support of Parliament and particularly without the support of the Commission. I remember very well that my last appearance in this House coincided with a terrorist attack in Italy. I am confident that such acts will be increasingly difficult to carry out as a result of the measures that we have adopted over recent months. We have managed to step up the European Union’s fight against terrorism by formally adopting, among others, the Framework Decisions on the Fight against Terrorism, the Framework Decision on the Arrest Warrant and the Common Position on the Freezing of Assets. All of these measures strengthen cooperation between the security bodies and forces of the Member States, help to increase the Union’s international cooperation in the fight against terrorism and extend the scope of that fight to the whole of its support structure."@en1
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