Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-04-26-Speech-3-101"
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"en.20060426.12.3-101"2
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".
Mr President, Commissioner, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, ladies and gentlemen, at the beginning of this debate I would like to make three acknowledgements: I would like firstly to acknowledge the Commission’s excellent communication. The truth is that it has been many years since we had a communication with as much strategic vision and as forward-looking as the one that has been presented to us by Mrs Ferrero-Waldner, and which is in line with what this Parliament had been calling for since November 2001 on the eve of the Madrid Summit.
I would like to acknowledge the generosity shown by the Presidency-in-Office of the Council and, in particular, Mr Winkler — who is not listening to me, since he is having a lively chat with Mr Voggenhuber — at the Bregenz meeting yesterday and the day before yesterday, in allowing the European Parliament to address the Heads of State or Government, thereby acknowledging the role that the European Parliament has been playing in terms of promoting the enhancement of relations between the European Union and Latin America.
Thirdly, the members of the Committees on Foreign Affairs and on Development, because they have approved this report unanimously by means of a very unusual vote ― 51 votes in favour, 0 votes against and 0 abstentions, and with no amendment to plenary on behalf of the political groups ― which demonstrates clearly the will of the whole of Parliament to back the report that will be put to the vote tomorrow. And not because this is an unambitious report, Commissioner: everybody knows that, as I said before, this Parliament has distinguished itself by being one of the great motors for this relationship and by saying that the decisive factor in moving these relations forward over the coming years is first and foremost political will and giving it clear support. We have therefore made some very clear proposals: we are calling for the creation of a Euro-Latin American Assembly which can give parliaments democratic legitimacy as the promoters and legitimisers of this relationship, and, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, we would like the conclusions of the Vienna Summit not just to take account of the will of the parliaments, but also to recommend the creation of that Euro-Latin American Assembly, as happened in the case of the Euro-Mediterranean Assembly.
We are also calling for a renewal and updating of the ministerial political dialogue and we recommend the adoption of a renewed bi-regional political agenda, to include new issues: the threats to governability, the fight against terrorism and organised crime, the preservation of the environment and natural resources, bringing together the positions of the Member States of the European Union with those of Latin America in the United Nations, and many other issues which must be enshrined in initiatives such as the signature of a Euro-Latin American charter for peace and security.
Nevertheless, Mr President, political dialogue and political will will eventually run out and come to nothing unless they are accompanied by actions that move us beyond words, and it is in this regard that summits – and there are too many of them – fail and are much criticised. One area in which we can clearly move on from words to actions is that of the commercial element of the association agreements. It is clear that we must make progress on the Agreement with Mercosur, since none has unfortunately been made before, though not through lack of will on the part of the European Union: in Vienna we must set a realistic timetable for the conclusion of that Agreement.
Commissioner, I would like to speak most frankly: in the European Parliament’s view, the time for cooperation and political dialogue agreements with the Andean and Central American Communities has long since passed, and we recommend that the decision be taken in Vienna to move on to the association agreement stage. I am aware that there may be a degree of uncertainty at the moment given Venezuela’s decision to leave the Andean Community, but now more than ever the European Union must send a clear and well-defined message in this direction, in order not to strengthen the position of those people who are against the integration processes.
I shall end, Mr President, by mentioning two initiatives very quickly, so as not to take up too much time: the Facility of the European Investment Bank, which we would like to take the name of the Commissioner, because of her tenacity, of her having promoted a social cohesion fund that is a complete innovation within the European Union’s history; and an initiative that we do not want to come to nothing: that of the Bi-regional Solidarity Fund, a Fund which is not going to cost the Union any money, because we are not asking for any additional aid, a Fund that is supported by the European Parliament and by our Latin American partners. Though we are not asking for a complete commitment to this Fund, we are asking that it at least be studied and that it can be taken into account in the Summit’s conclusions.
Mr President, the European Union cannot indulge in navel gazing, with a policy of self-contemplation as in the legend of Narcissus: at the Vienna Summit, it must send a clear and well-defined sign of our commitment to a region which expects a lot from us. We also hope that the Commissioner and the Presidency-in-Office of the Council will demonstrate their commitment to ensuring that, through everybody’s efforts, this Vienna Summit is a success."@en1
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