Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-04-11-Speech-1-084"
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".
Madam President, honourable Members, the Commission is obviously deeply committed to furthering a real, effective European area of justice, security and freedom. We intend to pursue this commitment in close and loyal collaboration with this Parliament and with the Council.
The Commission is certainly also considering a number of items that have not yet been directly addressed because the Constitutional Treaty has not entered into force; but there are certain aspects which, in the Commission’s view, deserve some preparatory work right now even though they will not be operational straight away. We are thinking of doing the preparatory work by the beginning of 2006, even before the Constitutional Treaty enters into force, an event that we fervently – very fervently – hope will happen.
I shall give just one example: democratic control of Europol and Eurojust is one of the really important aspects marking a step forward for the European area. Obviously, it depends on the European Constitution entering into force, but there is nothing to prevent the Commission from making an early start with a study and a report, so that we can be ready as soon as the Constitutional Treaty enters into force.
The action plan will then include a mechanism that not only Mr Cavada in his question but also, I think, many Member States would like to see: a mechanism for evaluating and monitoring the implementation of the action plan measures. As the President-in-Office of the Council has already pointed out, I believe such monitoring should be constant: it will take place every six months according to a system that has been a success in a completely different area, though it is the principle that counts: the internal market scoreboard ranking system. We are thinking of a model that works out the scores every six months, not with the intention of making threats or of naming and shaming, of course, but with the intention of helping the Member States to keep to the timetable for adopting the necessary initiatives.
Otherwise, ladies and gentlemen, if we set a timetable and this timetable then remains just on paper, the Commission’s work becomes rather pointless. Instead, therefore, we believe we should help, encourage and spur on the Member States through a joint effort between the Commission and the Council, which in this respect is essential.
I shall not dwell on what the main priorities are, as they have already been mentioned: terrorism requires a broad, non-emergency, prevention and reaction strategy, which must certainly respect people’s fundamental rights; personal data protection initiatives will be formally submitted very soon, and in the second half of the year there will also be a comprehensive data protection initiative under the third pillar, as I promised this Parliament.
Organised crime is certainly a priority, with special attention for the victims of crime and of trafficking, particularly trafficking in human beings and particularly children, a group that I consider extraordinarily important: they are the most vulnerable victims of all and in my view deserve the strongest protection.
Next, fundamental rights. I have already mentioned the impact assessment that we are going to carry out: before being adopted, every Commission initiative will be evaluated against the system of fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution; no initiative that is out of line can be adopted by a Commission decision and offered to the outside world – a kind of prior conformity and impact assessment for EU-initiated legislation.
Lastly, a couple of final thoughts on Europe’s external actions in the field of security, freedom and justice. At the beginning of July we shall be putting forward a comprehensive communication on the international dimension of security and justice – of the European area of freedom, security and justice – reaffirming the role that Europe can and must play in the world as the defender and promoter of fundamental rights and of great principles and great values.
Much has been said on the subject of justice: confidence and mutual trust, and harmonisation are the two key concepts. Regarding immigration, I have already mentioned that trafficking in human beings must be hit hard, but we must have a healthy, balanced integration policy for those who enter legitimately. The Commission is of course looking forward with great interest to the results on the unresolved issues that the Green Paper on immigration has brought to the notice of everybody here, without prescribing solutions, as you know, but stating the issues.
This, then, is the spirit in which we want to work with Parliament. We shall work with the national parliaments to reinforce the principle, which we have written into the Constitution, of monitoring subsidiarity, and we shall also of course work with this Parliament, which will be, as it already is, an essential point of reference for us to carry out the initiatives.
There are a few strategic guidelines for our actions, which I shall very quickly explain to this House.
The first principle is seeking a balance – not a legal balance, but primarily a political and institutional one – between the two main demands made by Europe’s citizens: more security on the one hand, and more freedom on the other.
I cannot imagine a European area in which citizens are guaranteed more security but at the expense of their freedom, with a reduction in their area of freedom and safeguards. As Minister Frieden quite rightly pointed out, the added value that Europe can provide is to be found in this balance.
The second major guideline is solidarity, which we see as a principle that will enable us again to develop a European area in the vast field of immigration policy. We shall seek an appropriate balance between a firm stance against trafficking in human beings and illegal immigration on the one hand, and on the other a genuine European area for addressing legal immigration, which I think is an opportunity and not a danger, provided it is accompanied by suitable integration measures, for instance.
These are all lines of action on which the Commission will be working from this year, 2005, onwards, again with the idea that Europe can make a difference, in comparison with action by individual Member States. Consider, for instance, cooperation with non-EU countries – countries of origin and countries of transit – which need to be supported in their policies so that together we can manage the question of immigration and not just look on it as if the issue ought not to affect us directly, in the future or perhaps even now.
There is also a third strategic guideline: strengthening the European area of justice – I mean civil as well as criminal justice. I see Europe’s commitment in this field to lie in promoting and not just protecting fundamental rights, starting with the establishment of an Agency for Fundamental Rights, the purpose of which will be precisely to promote full respect for these rights and not just to enforce them.
In all of this we shall need to work in conjunction with Parliament and the Council, creating those synergies that will be essential for performing all the activities that fall within our remit. First of all, the action plan – mentioned by Minister Frieden and Mr Cavada and others – will be submitted in time to be approved under the Luxembourg Presidency in June; it will of course be submitted before that, but it will take account of the debate which even today is bringing out some important points.
As I have pledged and as the Council has requested, the action plan will contain detailed measures, a timetable for adopting the provisions and an indication of the specific measures that the Member States must adopt, in order of priority."@en1
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