Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-01-18-Speech-3-233"
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"en.20060118.20.3-233"2
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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, it is a great joy to me to be speaking today in your plenary and meeting you, both of these things for the first time. I am particularly glad that the mandatory dialogue between the institutions has reached a topic that is particularly demanding of cooperation. As both the rapporteurs have already said, it is true to say that 2005 was a difficult year; Mr Voggenhuber went so far as to use the word ‘crisis’. We are indeed going through a crisis of confidence where the European public are concerned. We must answer those questions that they have every right to ask of us. I also agree with Mr Duff that this crisis of confidence and these misgivings about the European project present all of us with an opportunity, of which all of us together – the Commission, Parliament and the Council – must make use.
It is at this point that I would like to extend most especial thanks to your House, for you were wrestling with this issue at a time when the governments were not yet willing to make a serious start on debate. The Duff/Voggenhuber report has been the occasion, in this House, for a debate that will help us to move on. The Austrian Presidency has, from its very first day, endeavoured to engage in this debate, to carry it further and develop it. You will all have been able, as you followed it, to note how very vigorous it has been from the very outset, with the whole spectrum of opinions being given voice, and the report adopted by the Constitutional Affairs Committee reflects that.
One thing that does come across clearly is that there are no quick fixes, no tricks and no shortcuts, whereby we might, so to speak, throw a bridge across the confidence gap between Europe and its citizens. Only a real and serious engagement with the problems will be credible and effective in the long term. Our belief that this debate must be a wide-ranging one reflects the view expressed in your report, which we are debating today. What we need is not just a debate about the constitutional treaty or the legal dimension, but a broad debate on what sort of Europe we want, where we want to go, where Europe’s borders are, and how we can address the European public’s fears and worries.
We, in the Council, want not only to continue with this debate, but also to conduct it in greater depth. We have planned a series of events at which we want to have broad-based discussions with the European public. Only yesterday, we were discussing with the Commission and with your House the methods and strategies whereby we might communicate this Europe of ours and what it stands for to the public and by what means, in what discussion forums and in what depth we might best meet the expectations that people have of Europe.
As the President of the Council said today, we do intend, at the same time as we kick off the debate, to consider the issue of European identity. On the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth, in Salzburg, we intend to address the question of ‘What is Europe, what is the European identity?’
Right through to the end of the Austrian Presidency, there will be a whole series of other events, for the debate on Europe’s future is a many-sided one, and it is only when all of its sides are lit that all the dimensions with which we have to do become apparent. Important though this public debate is, there will also have to be practical work done in order that it may be clearer to us which way we should go, and it will have to be done by the governments of the Member States.
The Council Presidency’s most important task is to get all the Member States on board, for it is only together that we will be able to move forward. As the Chancellor has already said, what we want to achieve is to be able, at the end of our Presidency, to produce a sketch of the way ahead and to agree on how we can best cooperate in achieving our common goals.
I hope that one consequence of our joint effort over the coming months will be an increase in positive thinking in Europe, and I agree with Mr Voggenhuber that we must discuss Europe as a
as something that really is to the benefit of all its citizens."@en1
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