Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-11-16-Speech-3-176"
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"en.20051116.16.3-176"2
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".
Mr President, to sum up, there will be a defining issue for the British Presidency: to get an agreement on the financial perspectives. I think that message was very clearly transmitted to the British Presidency today.
I understand what the Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said before he left about other issues that were very important and that will have strategic consequences. Precisely because of that, it is important to get an agreement on the financial perspectives, because this will be the first test for the enlarged Europe.
Let us be frank. There are some people who believe that with 25 Member States we cannot work and we cannot deliver. There are some people who believe that a greater Europe will be a weaker Europe. I know that is not the idea of the British Presidency, I know that is not the idea of the Commission. We believe in this greater Europe we are now building. We believe it is a great achievement that we now have 25 free, democratic Member States – as we have. However, we cannot do enlargement on the cheap. We need resources for this new Europe that we are helping to consolidate. That is why it is crucially important to have an agreement on the financial perspectives, because if not, if we do not have that instrument for what people are asking of the European institutions, there will be, and I really believe this, a crisis of confidence that will be reinforced in Europe. And this not only applies to the current situation in Europe, but also to the future of Europe, future accessions to Europe, to our capability to build a Europe. However, for a greater Europe we need greater politics.
And that is the point. Are we ready? Are we able to do it? Can we deliver? That is why I urge the British Presidency to do everything in its power – and I well know the energy and commitment of your Prime Minister and indeed of all your officials – to get an agreement.
Of course everyone has to move: it is not only the responsibility of the British Presidency. Of course it is not. But I really believe the key to the problem, or it would be better to say the key to the solution, is in your hands. You can achieve that agreement, at least among Member States. We came very close in the last formal European Council: we can do it. It is crucially important and it is my duty and my responsibility, as President of the European Commission – which has to represent the general European interest – to call on the responsibility of all leaders in Europe to make the best efforts to achieve that compromise.
Let me tell you very frankly, President-in-Office, from my contacts with all the Member States – which, because of my responsibility, I have to keep on a daily basis, especially with the new Member States – I know they look to you and to the role of your Presidency with this expectation. In fact, everything that we have done so far has been, from my point of view, a great contribution for Europe. As I said in my previous statement, I think that the Hampton Court Summit was a good summit, it made a good contribution to that new, emerging consensus about a stronger, more modern Europe. However, the test in the minds of the new Member States, the test for a major proportion of the European public centres around whether we can really show that we are on the move on those concrete questions. That is the great challenge. So let us do our best, let us ask all the Heads of State and Government to be ready to compromise; let us ask the British Presidency to do its very best. I believe it is possible. It is difficult but it is possible, and the real test for our leadership is to make possible that which is necessary and I believe we can do it."@en1
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"Pour une grande Europe, il nous faut une grande politique."1
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