Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-04-05-Speech-3-024"
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Mr President, Mr Schüssel, ladies and gentlemen, contrary to the prevailing scepticism and contrary to a certain cynicism that is taking hold today, I believe that it can be said that, despite the difficult times it is experiencing, Europe is making progress, and the European Council of 23 and 24 March demonstrated that an enlarged Europe can also make progress. The momentum initiated last autumn has put Europe and our institutions back at the centre of the debate.
There was vision in this European Council, but it was also a practical European Council. It left everyone with an in-tray of work for the coming months. Not least, it gave the Commission a clear mandate for action over the coming months, and I want particularly to thank Chancellor Schüssel for his team work, team spirit, the way he understood, the way he supported the role of the Commission and the need to give consistency and continuity over time for the work that will follow different presidencies of the European Council. That approach of partnership between the Council, the Commission and Parliament is essential. Without that spirit and cooperation we will not be able to achieve real progress.
One area where Parliament’s role has already been decisive in finding a compromise was and is precisely that of the services directive. It took some time to convince the Heads of State and Government, but eventually the European Council backed the line that Parliament agreed and that also received our support.
If you remember, since the beginning I have said, and the Commission has said, that if there was a real, clear consensus from Parliament, we would be ready to work with you to resolve this services directive issue. Yesterday, we presented to you our amended proposal and you see that it fully reflects the compromise endorsed by a large majority in this House in February. The revised text preserves the balance between the urgent need to unleash the full potential of the internal market for services and the preservation of our European social model.
In parallel, we presented the communication providing clear guidance on the application of Community rules on the posting of workers. As to freedom of movement for workers, I also want to commend the announcement made by several Member States following the Commission report in terms of anticipating the end of the transition period for the free movement of workers. After Ireland, Britain and Sweden, we now have Finland, Spain, Portugal and most recently the Netherlands, which have announced their wish to anticipate such freedom of movement for workers, so that is the way for us really to have an enlarged Europe that works.
We will also follow this amended version of the services directive with a communication on social services of general interest. We are also working hard on health services. On the basis of the text now presented, I expect the Council and Parliament to conclude the legislative procedure rapidly.
I would also like to mention three areas where I believe the European Council took decisions which will have a real and lasting impact. First, business: we all know that for new jobs we must look to business and small and medium-sized enterprises, because they create most of the jobs. The decision to cut red tape for new business is a sign that Europe is now becoming open for business. As for SMEs, I was glad that the Commission received support for its approach on state aid rules and for cutting administrative burdens. We will take this work forward swiftly.
Secondly, knowledge: the proposal for a European Institute of Technology excited some debate. Good. I take it as a sign that the EIT has real importance. A flagship for European excellence in education, research and innovation is a genuinely new idea which needs imagination and drive to work. With the green light from the European Council, we will be working to flesh out the plans and to show how the European Institute of Technology will be an effective catalyst for knowledge and growth in Europe.
As I said in my introduction, the European Council paid particular attention to energy. It put the Union on the path to a real energy policy for Europe. It endorsed the triple goals of our Green Paper: sustainable, competitive and secure energy. It also set out the practical measures to be taken, including some of the 20 specific proposals set out in the Commission Green Paper: a real internal market for energy, a coherent external policy, effective support for energy efficiency and renewables. The Commission’s forward programme for energy is now very busy. As a result, I really believe that specific measures will be delivered. It was important for this not to be a one-shot show. Now it is very fashionable to speak about energy, and now Member States accept what – let us be frank – two years ago would have been impossible to accept: that we need a common strategy.
So, for the June European Council, as Chancellor Schüssel said, the Commission and the High Representative will come up with some ideas on the external dimension of energy policy. We decided to put that matter under constant review, monitoring it every year at the spring Council. That was important in terms of consistency.
After all those internal points, the European Council was also able to send a strong message of commitment on the Belarus situation. The Commission is working with the Council very actively to promote the reinforcement of civil society in Belarus and to support the independent media so that the citizens of Belarus have access to media that is not censored and not controlled by a government that does not respect the fundamental principles of a democratic state.
The message emerging from the European Council is clear. Europe needs to tackle the main problems linked to economic growth and employment. The week before the Spring European Council, I presented to you, in this Chamber, the issues at stake in that meeting, which was a crucial meeting because it represented the first occasion on which the revived Lisbon Strategy for growth and employment was to be implemented. I can tell you today that the objectives set by the Commission have been attained. I am thinking not only of the excellent reception given to our Green Paper on energy, but also of other practical proposals, including the one concerning the European Institute of Technology. In saying that, I am not speaking merely on behalf of the Commission, I am also speaking on behalf of the general European interest: I believe that we can unreservedly congratulate ourselves on the outcome obtained by this Spring European Council.
We are now moving in the right direction. We are putting words into action. We know what we should do; we agreed to do it, and now we are doing it. We are doing it in partnership with the European Parliament, the European Council and Member States, and also with businesses, trade unions, consumers and citizens across Europe. I believe that is the only way to deliver more growth and new jobs. I believe that is the right way to get out of a very negative situation for Europe.
As I said earlier, there is now a feeling in Europe of scepticism, sometimes cynicism. The right way to change that is to deliver concrete results, to resolve the services directive issue, as we have been doing, to settle the financial perspectives, as I hope will now be done. I will not comment on that now, because I did that in my introductory remarks. So, if we can achieve results, we will create the best atmosphere for settling the institutional problems that have to be settled and for creating a new impetus for this Europe. That is our duty. We should do more to achieve it.
Guided by the excellent work and the perseverance of the Austrian Presidency, the Heads of State or Government have accepted the principle of partnership for the new Lisbon Strategy. They have declared themselves ready to move into top gear and they have also taken major decisions paving the way for the actual implementation of our commitments under the new Lisbon Strategy.
We now have monitoring mechanisms. We have 25 national reform programmes. From now on, the European Parliament, the national parliaments, the political forces, the social partners and public opinion in general can embark on a course whereby measures take the form of results: they can move on from the stage of rhetoric to the stage of practical measures in the form of results. The key word in English was ‘delivery’: the practical presentation of results.
The main example taken up by the European Council concerns the move towards a genuine energy policy for Europe. The person who recounts the history of European integration in 20 or 25 years’ time will be able to say, without any exaggeration, that an energy policy for Europe was launched in March 2006, under the Austrian Presidency. We are only just at the beginning with this, and it will not be easy. There will be resistance, but there is resistance because there is change. If there were no change, then there would be no resistance. On this matter, I can assure you, on behalf of the Commission, that it will exercise all of its powers in relation to integration, because – and we wish to state this firmly – there is no reason why Europe should have 25 energy markets. There is no reason why, in this day and age, Europe should have 25 national energy policies. We need a common strategy for Europe in relation to energy. There is no room for nationalistic reflexes. The Member States have reaffirmed their desire to work together in seeking common solutions and acknowledge the Commission’s central role in terms of setting up open and competitive markets at Union level.
As regards the Lisbon Agenda, we have no time to lose and we now need to get results. It was in this spirit that, immediately after the European Council, Mr Verheugen and I met the national coordinators overseeing the implementation of the Lisbon Agenda. We informed them of the Commission’s desire to thoroughly fulfil its role not only in terms of providing support and assistance, but also in terms of monitoring the implementation of the national reform programmes. I wish to congratulate Mr Schüssel, who has just announced his desire to increase the level of representation responsible for monitoring the Lisbon process in his own country, Austria. We should also like to take advantage of this to launch an appeal to all of the Member States to do the same. Sound technical preparations are obviously important, and we are very pleased with the technical level attained for this exercise in the various Member States. That being said, we also believe that it is important for the programme’s success that we increase its standing in the political hierarchy, as Mr Schüssel just announced in relation to Austria.
Furthermore, the Commission will continue to provide impetus at European level. We also agree on the need to launch exchanges of practical experiences. We believe that the time has come to hold meetings in the various Member States, something that we are going to do from autumn onwards. This close contact with the Member States is crucial when it comes to making progress with our programme, but it is not enough. Allow me, in this Chamber, to lend my support to Parliament’s powerful message concerning the need for the greater and even more extensive involvement of all of the actors concerned at this crucial stage of implementation.
We have made efforts to clarify the levels of responsibility and competence of the various institutional, economic and social actors at European, national and regional level. We must now promote a genuine kind of ownership of the Lisbon Strategy by all of these actors. I call on you to focus all of our efforts on the crucial reforms with a view to preparing Europe to rise to the challenges of globalisation, together with that of an ageing population. We can win the globalisation battle.
In order to do so, every one of us must also participate in the communication efforts and in the public debate. I welcome the partnership that exists between the European Parliament and the national parliaments. As recently as January, you debated the Lisbon Strategy in this context. I can only encourage you to pursue this dialogue and offer you the Commission’s support. Your Parliament and the national parliaments are the key actors in this debate because, together, they all represent the people of Europe. We will be unable to make a success of the necessary reforms without the broad support of the people, who will ultimately benefit from our efforts."@en1
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