Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-01-14-Speech-3-057"
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". Mr President, I shall try to respond to a number of issues as quickly as I can. I should like to thank the honourable Members for their comments on the Irish presidency programme, and for their support and good wishes for the success of the Irish presidency. I have listened closely to the speeches by over 40 Members in today's debate and they confirm my belief not only that this is a challenging time for the Union, but also that if Member States and the institutions work together it ought to be a time of great opportunity for the Union.
Mr Watson recalled that one Irish writer once wrote that 'history is a nightmare from which we are trying to awake'. I should like to recall a phrase about history from the most recent Irish Nobel Prize winner for literature, Seamus Heaney. Working together during the Irish presidency and beyond, Parliament, the Council and the Commission 'can look forward to a time when hope and history rhyme'.
I fully agree with Mr Watson on the importance of restoring belief in the Union and its potentials. We will work with Parliament to achieve those potentials over the next six months.
Mr Bonde referred to the position of small countries in the European Union. I am delighted, in that regard, to appear before you at a time when both the President of Parliament and the President of the Council come from small countries.
My colleague, Mr Collins, said that failure by Europe, including the IGC, cannot be countenanced. The next time the European Council is called upon to agree a constitution for Europe it is essential for there to be a successful outcome. We have now embarked upon that process of consultation and assessment and my dearest wish is to bring the IGC to a successful conclusion. Let me assure Parliament once again that the Irish presidency will spare no effort in trying to facilitate a consensus.
I would like to thank Mr Paisley for his genuine and warm if slightly conditional welcome.
I have some bad news for him, in that I have learnt a bit from him over the years. I have always greatly admired him and told him as much on the one occasion we met. He has managed very successfully to combine membership of the Assembly at Westminster with membership of the European Parliament, so it should be possible for me to do my job at home and be here at the same time, to help you out as best I can.
I genuinely admire Mr Paisley and respect the mandate he has received. It would be very unfair if I did not acknowledge that. He made a strong point about democracy in Europe, saying that when we draw up constitutions we should put them to the people to secure a popular mandate. He stressed that point several times in his contribution. All I can say in reply is that we always do that in the Republic. That is obviously a further reason why he feels so dearly about my country.
Our presidency focus, as far as internal policies are concerned, will be to advance work on a range of fronts and make life better for the citizens of Europe; as many of you pointed out, that is what we should be doing.
Mr Wurtz and Mr Collins, in particular, emphasised the need for the Union to actively promote progress in the Middle East, through implementation of the roadmap. Parliament can rely on the Irish presidency to do precisely that. The Union will continue, during our presidency, to express serious concern at the building of the so-called 'security fence'. The Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, in his presidency capacity, will be in the Middle East tonight, engaged in discussions.
I have noted what was said by Mr Poettering, Mr Watson, Mr Cohn-Bendit and others about Chechnya. Again, these are issues that we will be addressing.
I was asked very particularly by Mr Schulz about the European arrest warrant. I should like to make it clear that during its presidency, Ireland will arrange meetings to review the current state of implementation of the arrest warrant across the European Union and issues related to this. Ireland, along with seven other countries has in fact been in a position to put the European arrest warrant into operation since 1 January 2004. We must now try to complete the process.
The human rights situation in many parts of Africa will continue to give cause for concern and will receive our continued attention. Indeed, this presidency will work for a greater commitment to conflict prevention in Africa. There are many facets to this since the causes of conflict in Africa and elsewhere are diverse. The recent agreement in the Council on the African peace facility is an important step forward in Europe's engagement with that continent. We will assist in the development of African peacekeeping capabilities and this presidency will press for early EU action on implementing the commitments made by Member States, with a view to meeting the millennium goals.
I noted when looking at tomorrow's draft agenda that a joint motion for a resolution on the assassination of Archbishop Courtney, an Irishman, is to be considered. I would like to thank Parliament for according attention to this matter.
He was a man who worked hard in many countries but in his latest role, as Papal Nuncio to Burundi, he really believed in the peace process there. I want to thank you for remembering him in the European Parliament.
A number of Members have raised the issue of debt relief. I think you know what the Irish position is on that; but, to reiterate, the Irish presidency position is that the European Union has been an enormously generous donor for debt relief purposes. It has contributed over USD 900 million to the World Bank Trust Fund for debt relief. In addition, the Commission is committed to writing off bilateral debts owed to it by countries qualifying for debt relief.
This is a considerable success and we will use whatever opportunities arise during our presidency to promote debt relief. We have a particular position, and accordingly we can do many things.
I should like to move quickly on to the issue of human rights, because many speakers and all the leaders mentioned it, and many Members made strong and moving pleas for Europe to place human rights at the centre of its external policies. This plea resonates strongly with the presidency because the presidency has made effective promotion of human rights a central objective. We shall make every effort to move forward the human rights agenda across the broad range of the Union's external policy, including the 60th session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva. As I said, my colleague Mr Roche will be making a statement later today on behalf of the presidency.
We will be unstinting in our efforts to make progress on a new constitutional treaty. Perhaps I will come back to that at the end of my speech. If we feel that there is a real prospect of agreement, we will spare no effort to facilitate the earliest possible agreement, and the support of Parliament will be of particular importance.
I was asked by a number of speakers to be precise about the Lisbon Strategy. I shall say three things about that strategy. Clearly, because of the economic situation in Europe and elsewhere in the world, progress on implementing the strategy has not been possible to the extent hoped for by António Guterres four years ago when he was here. Each year, we have tried to highlight issues and highlight what we need to do in Europe. The Irish presidency is determined to focus on the implementation of the core objectives of sustainable growth and employment: they are the two issues we have singled out from what is admittedly a long list.
This is not to say that we should have employment and growth at any cost. We are not saying that. Such an approach would be both short-sighted and counterproductive. To those Members who mentioned social inclusion, I say that this is one of the issues dear to my heart that we are not in any way sacrificing.
We are committed to policies that decouple growth and the use of resources, and to the European social model. I am very committed to the European social model. I am reminded that the Social Charter was brought in 14 years ago when I was President of the Social Affairs Council. We have provided continual follow-up since then, with a successful outcome.
The second point I want to make is that the report by Wim Kok is in my view excellent. He focuses on four specific areas to which we are committed. Many conference seminars and initiatives are taking place, not only in Ireland, but elsewhere in Europe, other Member States having established a tripartite social conference with the social partners – employers and trade unions – to try to build on the Wim Kok report. We shall do our best to implement it.
I shall say a final few words. Everyone except two speakers spoke on the IGC. The two who did not spoke on the Food and Veterinary Office in Meath, which I opened. I very much take to heart what you said. Food safety is an enormously important issue today, and that objective will be pursued by our ministerial colleague Mr Martin.
Everyone else spoke on the European Convention. Admittedly, a minority of those who spoke would like me to forget about it altogether, but about 95% took the opposing view. The reason I am not overstating what the Irish presidency can do is that I cannot carry this through alone. I do not want to come back to the newly elected Parliament in July and make excuses about not having achieved X, Y or Z.
I am fully committed to trying to finalise the constitution. I will do all I can to finalise it. I will follow the mandate given to me by the European Council, which is to consult, make an assessment and report back in March. If we can move on from that to an IGC, I will act accordingly; if I believe that it is not possible to reach a consensus, I will not, because I think a second failure will only make life more difficult for the future. I passionately believe that making progress in the shorter term would be better and safer. I share that view with both the President of Parliament and Mr Prodi. We need the help of Parliament. We need the help of Member States, and of the European Council, so that people shift their positions.
The facts are simple. I said to the leaders in Dublin on 19 December that if all parties maintain their present positions there is no hope that I can bring this matter to a conclusion. I do not want to mention any particular country because it is not fair to do so and matters are not so simple.
I did not say in my opening remarks, contrary to what was picked up by some, that the work of the Italian presidency in connection with the Brussels summit was not useful. It is pointless for me to go back to compromises that were never on the table. The work done by the European Convention last summer, which you can all rightly feel proud of, and the post-Naples work concluded towards the end of November and in early December represents the initial position of the Irish presidency. On other issues agreement has not yet been reached, so that will be our starting point.
I urge Parliament to do whatever it can, and provide whatever support it can give, to prompt people to take decisions sooner rather than later. Mr President, I say to you and to President Prodi that, otherwise, that there will be a new presidency – which is not a problem, as presidencies come and go – but there will also be a new Parliament, a new Commission and a new set of circumstances. Many of the individuals who negotiated the Convention may or may not be around to continue the process. People are at least clear about many of the issues on which agreement has almost been reached, if not in full; in a year's time they will not be so clear. It will be far more difficult to finalise the Constitution.
I have a few remarks on what Members have said. We welcome the new Member States to the Union. We look forward to completing our work with President Prodi by 1 May, and I hope the success of the wider enlargement process will be carried forward as well. We are continuing to press ahead with the necessary reforms to make the European economy more competitive and capable of providing more and better jobs. We will also be working to ensure a safer Europe that will carry forward the Union's agenda in the area of freedom, security and justice. I went into that in some detail at the outset.
I will do my best; I cannot do it on my own. If we work together – Parliament, the Commission and the Irish presidency – and try to get people to shift their positions sooner rather than later, we can complete this task. If we do not, it will become a long, drawn-out issue.
I have noted carefully the many points raised by Members and I would like to thank my Irish colleagues in particular for the important points they raised. I greatly appreciate the opportunity this occasion has allowed me to ensure that the presidency is made aware of issues and concerns. I can assure you that we will reflect on all of them as we take our presidency work forward. My colleague, Mr Roche, will be talking about human rights later on and he will also be taking some of the questions on issues that have been raised today.
I would like to reflect on the advice given to me by many of the leaders of the Groups at the outset. I have carefully noted what was said – not necessarily in order or by whom, though that has also been noted elsewhere. However, they should all recognise their own words. They said that we should insist on mutual respect, restore belief, build solidarity, tell the truth and act in unity. I shall try to do all of that to the very best of my ability.
I want to put on record today that these are values that we share and that we will gear our presidency towards values that are not only important in themselves and fundamental to the vision of Europe, but also essential to the successful functioning of the Union. We might not always succeed in meeting the high standards we have set ourselves, but I want to pledge to you that these values respect, belief, solidarity, honesty and unity are good values, and I certainly will remember them and repeat them to my colleagues, who will be speaking here over the next six months.
I want to thank President Prodi for his promise of support for the presidency. I can say that, as far as we are concerned, the work of President Prodi and his colleagues in preparing for the presidency over many months has been extremely important to us. I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for that.
Mr Barón Crespo, Mr Poettering and others raised the issue of the appointment of the new President of the Commission. I have carefully noted all their comments and can assure you that the views of Parliament will be borne firmly in mind. This is only the 14th day of the Irish presidency, but already one thing of which I am certain is that I will not be short of advice on that particular appointment. I would like to thank everyone for that."@en1
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"Go raibh maith agaibh."1
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