Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-06-08-Speech-3-183"
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"en.20050608.17.3-183"2
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"Mr President, a few months ago, we debated the strengthening of transatlantic relations. It followed the visit of President Bush to the European institutions and came after what could be termed the ‘relaunch’ of those relations.
The next EU Presidency – our Presidency will be over by then – will advise you of the results of this summit. I am confident that the strong revival in transatlantic relations, achieved during the visit of President Bush, can continue during this summit and that we can achieve solid results which will place the future of these transatlantic relations, a vital pillar for the European Union, on a sounder footing.
We are now in the preparatory phase for the forthcoming Euro-Atlantic summit, due to take place at the end of this month. It is important that this summit should achieve concrete results so that the relaunch of dialogue, achieved during President Bush’s visit, can become a reality. For that reason, I should like to raise a number of points which appear of particular importance for the development of stronger transatlantic relations.
Firstly, there is the issue of Iran, which was an important item on the agenda during President Bush’s visit. Not only have the Americans supported the European initiative, they have also agreed to open negotiations with Iran with a view to its membership of the World Trade Organisation, and Iran’s WTO membership is today an integral part of European strategy. I therefore believe that on this extremely sensitive and delicate issue, we have been able to show that cooperation between the US and Europe can provide solutions, and above all that it can produce a consistent strategy, which is, incidentally, first and foremost, a European strategy.
The Union and the US are organising, and will jointly chair, a conference on the reconstruction of Iraq, to which I referred this morning. This decision was announced during the visit of President Bush. The announcement gave us the opportunity to show that we had left our disagreements on Iraq behind us. The US and the Union have the same aims for that country, namely to help the Iraqi Government in its huge reconstruction effort and, above all, in reinforcing its security. It will be a conference at ministerial level with over 80 delegations, a large number of which will be from the region concerned. The Iraqi Government, which will be at the very heart of that conference, will therefore have an opportunity to set out its plans and discuss the economic, political and security aspects with the international community represented there.
In relation to Sudan, the European Union did not merely insist that those responsible for crimes against humanity should be punished, but also that they should be punished through the International Criminal Court. As you know, the Union is one of the leading bodies supporting that Court. For us, the case of Sudan is an important precedent. The Court was set up for precisely that type of situation. If the matter were not referred to the International Criminal Court, however, that would create an unfortunate precedent which it would be difficult to overcome in the future. After several weeks of intense negotiations, we reached a solution acceptable to everyone, enabling the situation in Sudan to be referred to the International Criminal Court – and this without a US veto. Here was yet another situation in which the European Union exercised a wholly positive influence in transatlantic relations, at the same time rendering multilateral action more effective.
Political dialogue between the European Union and the US has also become more frequent and more strategic on economic issues. However, we must stress that major problems remain. We are all aware of the case of Boeing and Airbus, and hope that, in the context of the forthcoming summit, we can still reach a satisfactory solution, thereby avoiding this matter being referred to the WTO and thus putting a damper on future Euro-Atlantic relations.
Additionally, a strategic dialogue on Asia has begun. It is true that discussions on the lifting of the embargo on arms exports to China have revealed a lack of debate on strategic changes in Asia. The start of this dialogue, therefore, must show our common interests and help the Union to strengthen its own strategic thinking on that important region, now emerging both as a political and, above all, as an economic force. In the US Congress, a European Union Caucus has recently been created. We hope you will seize this opportunity and take advantage of the increasing interest in the European Union on the part of your US counterparts. Dialogue between legislators is important and should be strengthened, particularly in view of the importance of the Senate in the sphere of foreign policy. I therefore believe that the development of relations between this Parliament and the US Congress must be a goal of particularly high priority.
Mr President, these examples show the healthy condition of transatlantic cooperation in the last few months. It is vital to work with our American partners on the challenges now facing us. These various examples show that we can overcome our differences and adopt a shared approach. Major preparatory work is therefore now underway for the forthcoming EU-US summit, due to take place in Washington on 21 June. We are counting on a substantial and strategic summit, because it will be focused on vital issues of international relations.
At the beginning of this month, the troika met the US Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, for that purpose. We are working on a number of draft declarations: the Middle East, international peace and security, the promotion of freedom, democracy, the rule of law and human rights, but also Africa, the environment and economic relations. In the same way as last year, we are hoping to use these declarations as a basis on which to work. During the summit, we shall deal with the most important strategic issues, in particular the Middle East and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the Kosovo situation, but also – and we have just debated it – reform of the United Nations. We can only reform the United Nations with the support of the US, and we know that there is still a long way to go on this issue. Like us, the Americans undoubtedly support the proposal to create a peace-building commission, but it now has to be given a more concrete and, above all, operational remit. The European Union is ambitious in the field of economic relations, as I have just said."@en1
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