Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-07-05-Speech-3-008"
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"en.20060705.2.3-008"2
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".
Mr President, I am delighted that, after the excellent Austrian Presidency, we can now work in tandem with the Finns. In Helsinki a few days ago, Prime Minister Vanhanen and I agreed that our two teams should work as one. Let us join efforts between the Presidency, the Commission and Parliament. Europe needs the clear, dynamic harmony which Finland brings.
Next week Prime Minister Vanhanen and I will travel to St Petersburg for the G8 Summit to determine, I hope, a new framework for the global energy challenges which require a global response. For energy, as for climate change, we need this global response. We will follow this up in turn at the October and December European summits. It is clear that on Russia – as on so many external issues – Europe has greater power when it works in a united and coherent way, and I hope the Member States will approach this issue precisely in that way.
The Commission looks forward to the Finnish Presidency taking forward the negotiations on the next generation of Northern Dimension partnerships. The ultimate result should be a shared policy with common ownership by all players, including Russia. The Northern Dimension will become a permanent forum on northern issues and concerns. In this context, the Commission has taken good note of this Parliament’s aspiration to establish a parliamentary forum.
The European economy is picking up pace. This is good news and we should build on it. I welcome the Finnish Presidency’s intention to drive forward the new Lisbon Strategy and to focus on research, innovation and education – the knowledge triangle. In this area, as well as in others, we must move from reflection to engagement, to real delivery. Political support must now be translated into concrete actions which create a more innovative climate in Europe.
My Commission will prepare a short paper on innovation to prepare for the Lahti informal summit. We must promote the European Research Area, including the European Institute of Technology, which should be a flagship project and symbol of the knowledge-based European economy. We must accelerate the drive to ensure open and interoperable standards and promote those standards worldwide. We must promote effective mechanisms – like venture capital – to finance innovation by European companies, having in mind also small and medium-sized companies.
Last week the Commission adopted proposals for an ambitious programme for increased security and more efficient justice for Europe’s citizens in a way that respects and protects their rights. This is a key feature of our Europe of Results agenda. I share the Finnish Presidency’s determination to move this dossier forward. The European Union will return to Tampere for the informal Justice and Home Affairs Council in September, to deepen European integration in this crucial area.
The case for deeper and more dynamic European action is clear: against those who plot against our values, freedom and democracy; against those who traffic in human beings, especially women and children; against illegal migration and those who exploit people in the workplace. We should not wait for the next tragedy in order to advance European integration in these areas: we must act now to prevent it.
We must implement better what already exists. For example, everybody agrees that sexual exploitation of children is a repugnant crime, yet only five countries have transposed the framework directive. Everybody agrees on the need to act against terrorism and organised crime, yet several Member States have not transposed effectively key legislation, such as the framework decision on terrorism.
To achieve our goals, we must improve our procedures. It is not coherent to proclaim the ends – on the fight against crime, terrorism, illegal immigration – but not provide the means.
The Commission believes the Community method, including proper European democratic scrutiny by this Parliament, should be spread to police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters and legal migration. That is what we said in our Citizens’ Agenda paper of 10 May. We are therefore now proposing to use the existing Treaty articles to make this change. The Commission is opening the interinstitutional debate and based on the results of that debate we will present formal proposals. I very much welcome the clear remarks made just now by Prime Minister Vanhanen.
We know there are political sensitivities, and we are ready to address those political sensitivities, but our procedures must catch up with reality.
I welcome the presentation by the Prime Minister, Mr Vanhanen. He has shown that the next six months present an opportunity to demonstrate what we mean when we talk about a Europe of results, to deliver on important dossiers of concern to our citizens, to move towards the next stage in the constitutional question, to steer the discussion on enlargement. In short, to follow the twin-track approach which I outlined to this House last month – an approach that was endorsed by the European Council – to move from a period of reflection to a period of engagement.
Any step we take to improve our cooperation in security and justice matters must be matched with an extended protection of the individual citizen’s human and civic rights. This is for us a question of principle.
Law is the source of strength of the European Union, not intergovernmental backroom deals outside Parliamentary scrutiny and judicial review. That is why I also welcome the commitment of the Finnish Presidency to everything associated with the transparency agenda. Transparency, subsidiarity, better regulation should not be seen, as sometimes they are seen, as just technical matters; they are political matters. It is the democratic accountability agenda of our Union and we, the European Commission, stand ready to move forward on all those issues – transparency, better regulation and real subsidiarity – because this is a question of democratic accountability.
I have picked out only a few of the priorities of the Finnish Presidency. There are other priorities we fully share, including matters of immediate concern such as the deadlock in the Doha trade round.
The last few presidencies have helped the European Union resolve internal problems or lay the path towards their resolution. Now we need a change of gear from reflection to engagement, to a Europe which is looking forwards and outwards.
I welcome this. An open Europe, a more self confident Europe, a forward-looking Europe is what we need. Let us renew our energies to engage more deeply, more coherently and more effectively with the world around us. By exporting our values, by promoting our interests in the world, we can strengthen our identity and confidence. I look forward to doing just that in the next six months with the Finnish Presidency and with Prime Minister Vanhanen.
Let me pick up just some of the themes raised by Prime Minister Vanhanen.
I shall start with a simple, important point concerning enlargement. It is one of the most successful policies of the European Union, an extraordinary achievement in exporting freedom and opportunity across our continent. Many of us here today have benefited from this policy. We should be proud of our enlargement policy. I was very pleased that the last European Council reaffirmed that we will honour existing commitments.
However, on enlargement, as on so much of European policy-making, there is a popular debate with which we must engage. I welcome that debate. I want that debate. It is important to show that Europe does not enlarge by default, that enlargement is a conscious choice that is of benefit to all, that far from being a negative factor, an enlarged Europe is a precondition for a powerful Europe, for a Europe that really counts in the world.
That is why this autumn the Commission will report on the enlargement process as a whole, to set up the debate at the December European Council. This will include the analysis of the capacity of an enlarged Europe to function properly. This will be a serious, rigorous exercise. Nothing else will satisfy the public demand for more certainty and confidence.
We must take the same serious and correct approach to Turkey. I welcome the fact that negotiations are under way. It will be a long road, sometimes a very bumpy one. What matters is that we are open, honest and fair. Turkey must fulfil its commitments, just as the European Union must fulfil its commitments. Turkey’s commitments include respect for the Ankara Protocol.
Each Presidency brings its own particular expertise to the European Union. In Finland’s case it also brings a deep knowledge of and cooperation with its neighbours, including Russia.
I strongly support the emphasis placed by the Presidency on the relationship with Russia. Earlier this week the Commission adopted a recommendation for a comprehensive agreement that we hope will bring – because we believe it is in our interests as well as Russia’s – a new quality to the European Union’s relations with Russia, building on the existing partnership and cooperation agreement. We are proposing to move towards a free trade area to be completed once Russia accedes to the WTO. At the same time, we propose a partnership approach for energy, based on mutual interests and agreed principles."@en1
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