Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-05-16-Speech-2-011"
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"Mr President, honourable Members, the first message I would like to deliver today is that the Commission is listening to citizens. We want to base our actions on and deliver on their expectations and concerns. Listening is at the very heart of Plan D. The Commission has implemented a series of activities to stimulate the debate in all Member States and has given support to those countries which requested it.
Last but not least, the Commission is willing to improve the coherence and efficiency of the European Union’s action in the international arena. We will present concrete proposals next week.
In all of our actions, our commitment to subsidiarity, openness and transparency, as well as our efforts towards better regulation, will be vigorously pursued. We will seek to involve national parliaments more in the process of policy formulation. However, the Commission’s main interlocutor remains the European Parliament.
Let me now turn to the institutional issues. Five countries that had not ratified the Constitution before the start of the period of reflection have now done so. Furthermore, Estonia’s Parliament voted in favour of the Constitution on 9 May, which brings the number of countries to have ratified to 15. We are pleased that Finland, which will hold the incoming Presidency, is also planning to ratify the Constitution. We welcome the new ratifications. They show that Member States are attached to the principles and values of the Constitution. We have to listen to the views and the positions of the countries which said ‘no’, but it is equally important to listen to the voices of those who say ‘yes’.
I hope that there is no misunderstanding among us on the following point. The Commission continues to endorse the principles and improvements the Constitution would bring. The Constitution would definitely make the Union more effective, more open and more democratic. This is natural for a Constitution where parliamentarians were the majority voice. Of course we would like to see the Constitutional Treaty ratified in all 25 Member States. We stand with Parliament on this.
Many options have been floated on how to overcome the current deadlock. Many ideas are being discussed. Yet no consensus exists on the way forward. Is the time ripe for a solution to be presented? To use wording that is familiar to us, is it now time to work on the text or still time to work on the context?
We need to rebuild a climate of confidence and trust. We need to reconnect with citizens and prove, with firm results, that the Union can address citizens’ needs and aspirations. Let me be clear: delivering results for citizens through key policies is not an alternative to tackling the institutional issues. It is part of a twin-track approach, where progress on one track makes it easier to move ahead on the other.
We propose that, next year, the three institutions should jointly adopt a declaration. This should serve as a basis for European Council decisions on a process leading to a future comprehensive institutional settlement. I see the declaration as firm proof of Member States’, Parliament’s and the Commission’s firm will to solve the constitutional deadlock. I expect the European Parliament to play an important role here. Like you, I hope that together we can achieve a constitutional settlement by the 2009 European elections.
The listening exercise proved to be successful and should continue. Plan D was not a one-off operation. I have promised the Commission that after the June Summit I will address what our next steps should be – if you wish, the second phase of Plan D.
Our citizens’ agenda will demonstrate the added value of the Union and thus help to restore citizens’ confidence. It is by reconnecting with citizens that we can create the conditions for a future comprehensive institutional settlement.
Looking forward to the debate with you today, I would like to thank the political group chairmen for their contribution to the Commission’s policy formulation.
We can draw some important lessons from the national debates, which are fully supported by the Eurobarometer surveys. Firstly, citizens are concerned about the high rate of unemployment and the negative effects of globalisation. This is no surprise to most of us. Social protection is at the very core of the debates and the request for comparable living standards is high almost everywhere.
Enlargement is the second predominant issue. More and more citizens question, if not the principle itself, the scope and pace of future accessions. We need to show that enlargement does not happen by default and why it is necessary.
The third lesson we can draw is that Europeans want more not less Europe. But they want to see results and to be more involved in the policy process. They perceive the Union as an entity that can protect them. They are asking for more security, as well a higher level of environmental protection, food safety and a more stable energy supply. The Commission intends to respond to these concerns. That is why we have adopted a citizens’ agenda for Europe.
We are not suggesting a completely new strategy. Our work remains rooted in the three building stones of prosperity, solidarity and security, with a continued emphasis on jobs and growth, in line with the Lisbon Strategy. We are, however, focusing to a greater extent on citizens.
What do we propose? Deeper economic integration should go hand in hand with solidarity. Europe is not just a marketplace; it also has a social dimension. Next year, we will therefore launch an agenda for access and solidarity. We have also discussed the idea of an ‘entitlement card’, to facilitate citizens’ full access to their rights and to make these rights more visible. We will also continue to implement the sustainable development agenda.
In addition, we will launch a comprehensive review of the single market, to be completed next year. The single market has brought huge benefits for citizens, but it is still unfinished business in the areas of energy, banking charges and roaming fees, for instance. We need to remove the remaining barriers.
European Citizens rightly expect Europe to be a fair and safe place to live in. But Europe is not always capable of combating terrorism and organised crime. The existing decision-making tools create undue delays and, even more regrettably, do not ensure proper democratic scrutiny. The Commission proposes improving the decision-making process in these areas. We can do that by using the provisions of the current treaties.
Before addressing the institutional questions, I would like to mention two more areas where further action is proposed. While honouring our commitments on enlargement, we must not lose broad public support for this important part of the EU project. The Commission will take forward the debate on enlargement and its added value, and this will be part of the Commission’s enlargement strategy report, to be submitted in the autumn."@en1
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