Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-04-13-Speech-3-258"
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"en.20050413.20.3-258"2
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".
Mr President, first of all I should like to thank, and also congratulate, Parliament, and especially the two rapporteurs, for the work they have accomplished, and for the ambitious but also realistic approach which they have developed in these two reports.
I shall just mention briefly the importance of the transatlantic partnership, since it is only a few weeks ago that we held a debate on that subject here in Parliament. This partnership has also been relaunched, in particular since the visit of President Bush to Brussels, and we must ensure that this relaunching is followed up. We have many interests in common – I would go so far as to say an enormous number of interests. We have an enormous number of opportunities for greater cooperation, but on an equal footing. We, together with the Americans, can find solutions to major problems, in particular, as has already been mentioned, to one priority problem, namely the conflict in the Middle East.
The European Union is also busy developing its economic, political and cultural cooperation with its traditional principal partners such as the United States and Canada, but also with partners such as Russia and Japan. I believe that cooperation with Russia, despite the problems, is important to the European Union and to stability and peace in our continent. Having said that, I should also mention that there are also new players on the world scene, such as China, India, Brazil and South Africa. There are also regional bodies, such as the African Union, with which we held talks a few days ago with a view, as the Commission has said, to strengthening our policy towards Africa, the objective being to promote peace and development – two things which are closely connected – on that continent, which is particularly close to the European Union
The strategy also serves to further our relationship with other neighbours to the East and South. We have just held a debate on the Balkans. The Euro-Mediterranean partnership and European policy on neighbouring regions are of fundamental importance in promoting stability in the countries concerned, but they are also in our own interests, both economic and political. I remember precisely what was said. It is not enough to close our eyes in the hope of avoiding contamination by the problems. The problems of these countries very quickly become our problems, either through uncontrolled, illegal immigration or through terrorism or the threat of terrorism.
The importance of human rights from the security point of view also lies at the heart of solving the conflicts, and this aspect has been particularly emphasised by the latest report by the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Without respect for human rights there can be neither development nor peace. It was in this spirit that the High Representative recently appointed a personal representative for human rights, with the aim of improving the consistency and effectiveness of our policy in this area within the CFSP.
As far as the more military aspect is concerned, the strategy suggests that the European Union needs to be more operational in the various areas where it has to play a role. We must provide solutions to the conflicts. We must act, and we must play a more active role in maintaining and restoring peace. We must ensure better consistency between the civil and the military aspects. We must, first of all, have an approach which is based on the prevention of conflicts. In this context, it is important that 7 000 European soldiers are currently deployed, under the flag of the European Union, with the task of safeguarding peace and encouraging the pursuit of reforms and of reconciliation. We have discussed, in particular, the subject of the Balkans, but the European Union has also accepted responsibility for major operations elsewhere, for example in the Southern Caucasus, in Africa and in Afghanistan.
Significant progress has been made in the area of military capacities. The first of the thirteen tactical units has been created as part of the European Rapid Reaction Force. The European Union has also set up the European Defence Agency in order to rationalise the costs linked to defence purchases and in order to increase the quality and the quantity of the military capacities at the disposal of European States. Cooperation between civilian and military circles has been raised to a higher operational level, in particular by the creation of a civil-military cell. All these measures should enable the Union to increase its crisis-management capacities so as to be able to deal successfully with the complex security crises of the 21st century. Cooperation with NATO has been highlighted in particular. I believe that we need to think about developing the ‘Berlin plus’ provisions in a spirit of partnership rather than a spirit of submission. I think that, in this respect too, the role of the European Union is very important.
Thus the European foreign and security policy has strengthened its consistency and its operational capacities, but we cannot afford to relax our efforts. We need institutional back-up, clear commitments, particularly as regards solidarity in the face of potential threats, and greater visibility of the European Union on the international scene. In this respect I think that the future Constitution, once again, will lead to considerable progress in the development of the CFSP and of our policy on external security. The creation of an EU Minister for Foreign Affairs is a major innovation which will allow greater coherence in the Union’s external relations. The fact that the Minister in question will chair the External Relations Council will provide the coherence which we are all so anxious to ensure, and it will also give us greater visibility and at the same time better continuity.
Another important aspect which I should just like to mention – and I know it is something close to the heart of Mr Brok among others – is the creation of the European External Action Service, the practical details of which are still under discussion.
The Luxembourg Presidency is paying close attention to the progress achieved in setting up this European External Action Service, and to the views of the European Parliament on this subject. We do not want the creation of this service to dismantle surreptitiously certain Community mechanisms by giving preference to intergovernmental mechanisms.
This service was designed to signal major progress in the conduct and implementation of the Union’s foreign policy, in particular in the form of greater effectiveness, greater coherence, an increased presence of the European Union, and the better use of all the resources available. We want the institutional rules and respective powers to be observed. The national diplomatic services must become more widely involved. We must make them, as it were, more European, but without producing a sort of renationalisation or intergovernmentalisation of what currently operates in accordance with Community rules. That is the broad outline of what we are defending in creating this service.
Somewhere you quote two figures, the 60% and 70% of support which, according to public opinion, is given to the development of a common foreign and security policy. This is probably one of the areas which receive the highest level of support, according to public opinion. You are the representatives of the European citizens, and that means that this policy can only be developed together with the citizens, which also means together with your support, in the dialogue, as the rapporteur Mr Kuhne has just said.
I should like to say a final word about the information aspect. I believe that the current Presidency, like previous presidencies, wants to have an exchange of views with the European Parliament about the major options and important dates in relation to foreign policy. We want to have this dialogue, and it is important, as I said at the beginning of this speech. On behalf of this Presidency, I can give an undertaking that efforts will continue in this direction and that there will be the contacts and the meetings which you want to see happen in order to achieve precisely this kind of coherent common foreign and security policy, which will have the real support of all the people involved and all the institutions of the Union.
The European Council adopted the European Security Strategy on 11 December 2003. The fifteen months which have passed since then obviously do not allow us to draw up a complete and exhaustive report on its implementation, but they do at least enable us to evaluate the impact which the strategy has already had, and to discuss the path we need to follow in its future application.
The year 2004 was a crucial year for the political development of the Union, whose ambitions and responsibilities in the world have been increasing. The citizens of the Union, like their international partners, have also been demanding a stronger presence for Europe on the international scene. The Union has responded to this appeal by trying to pursue a more active, more consistent and more effective foreign policy based, in particular, on the principles of the United Nations Charter.
The European Union is a player on the world stage, and it is based on political, economic and other achievements. The fact that the ‘European model’ that we talk about so much in the context of the European Constitution is highly thought of throughout the world is something that gives us cause for satisfaction, but it should also be, for us Europeans, a strong motive force encouraging us to do more.
The European Security Strategy to some extent sets out the broad guidelines for the day-to-day running of our common foreign and security policy. It defines the challenges and threats which we have to face, as well as the tools that we need to use to tackle the problems.
Reference has been made to the war on terrorism. This is certainly one of the crucial problems. We have put in place a certain number of mechanisms, and more intensive cooperation between Europol and Eurojust. Therefore the war on terrorism is a good illustration of the fact that the concept of security does not consist solely of a foreign-policy dimension, a military dimension, but that it goes much further than that. There is also a development dimension, and a dimension of defending and promoting human rights. There is also, of course, a dimension which is concerned with solving major conflicts, in particular the conflict in the Middle East, not forgetting a presence in the regions which we spoke about earlier, in particular Bosnia and Herzegovina and other parts of the Western Balkans.
Taking into account the principal threats identified in this strategy, in December 2003 the European Council adopted an EU Strategy against the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, and this constitutes a supplementary measure. This is also an area in which Europe has shown that it knows how to act, particularly in relation to Iran. I believe that in doing this we have achieved an important milestone in the quest to find political solutions to questions which are extremely sensitive and at the same time extremely dangerous to international peace.
The European Security Strategy is based on the idea that most problems can only be solved in a multilateral context. On this point too we agree with the two rapporteurs. The European Union clearly needs to pursue its objectives in this multilateral context, in partnership with all those involved, in particular with the United Nations. Consequently, it is in the European Union’s own interests to see the UN, the multilateral system, strengthened. We must support the Secretary-General’s efforts to modernise the UN system and to make it more effective. The reform of the United Nations is actually a very important aspect of the European Union’s security policy and a very important aspect of its foreign policy. I congratulate Mr Brok on what he has said on this subject, especially in connection with one particular point."@en1
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