Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-10-11-Speech-3-070"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20061011.14.3-070"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
".
Mr President, the informal European Council next week comes at a good time. I should like to thank the Finnish Presidency, Prime Minister Vanhanen and all his team for their very important contribution.
Finally, energy efficiency is another crucial element of this strategy. I can announce to you today that next week Commissioner Piebalgs – the Commissioner for Energy – and I will propose an ambitious action plan to fulfil our commitment to save 20% of primary energy use by 2020.
Naturally, with 25% of the oil and gas consumed in the European Union coming from Russia, energy cooperation with Russia is crucial. The President-in-Office of the Council just explained why it is important. We must have a reinforced energy partnership with Russia. Such a partnership must be based on reciprocity, transparency, non-discrimination and openness to competition, including a level playing field for upstream and downstream investment. This is the only way to have a stable and secure platform for our energy relationship. The meeting with President Putin will be a chance to deliver a clear and hopefully coherent message from European Union leaders.
We see three long-term objectives in our relations with Russia: we want to see a functioning democracy and market economy in which Russia lives up to the international commitments it has undertaken; we want to see a broad and strategic EU-Russia relationship based on interdependence – Russia needs the European Union and the European Union also needs Russia – and we want to enhance our cooperation with Russia on international issues. When we talk about effective multilateralism, this is what we mean. We have set our goal of a wide-ranging agreement to follow the current partnership and cooperation agreement. There are mutual benefits to be realised in areas such as investment and market-opening, as well as in energy and energy efficiency. We both have so much to gain from a real partnership.
I also take this opportunity to express my deepest sympathy with the family of Anna Politkovskaya, who was so brutally murdered last week. I want to pay tribute to her relentless pursuit of truth. She was a great defender of freedom of expression in Russia.
I sincerely hope that the perpetrators of this heinous crime will be found and brought to justice.
Another point we are going to address is that of immigration. The massive arrival of illegal immigrants at the frontiers of the European Union’s southern Member States is a European problem that requires a European solution. In November 2006, the Commission presented a communication with a series of practical proposals for the European Union to respond to this challenge. On that basis, the European Council adopted a global approach to migration, outlining in detail how to respond in its internal and external policies. In less than a year we have seen the start of a lot of practical action: joint operations in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic under the coordination of the borders agency, Frontex; enhanced cooperation among the law-enforcement services of the Member States; better coordination of the work of the immigration liaison offices in Africa; and dialogue with key African countries of origin and transit, both bilaterally and multilaterally. For the first time, Member States are working together in joint operations protecting the European Union’s external borders under the coordination of Frontex. However, let us be frank: it is not enough; much more is needed to tackle the illegal flows effectively.
In order to strengthen the European Union’s response capacity, it is of the utmost importance that all Member States of the Union work together in a spirit of solidarity, not least to assist those Member States that are, let us say, in the front line. With a view to the informal European Council to be held in Lahti on 20 October, I have written personally to the Heads of State and Government underlining the need for such solidarity. Of course, the ideal would be to have already established the Community instruments, but we have not got them yet. Of course, the ideal would be to have a European migration policy. It is absurd to have 25 or 27 migration policies in an area in which people can move around freely, because decisions taken by one country have a direct effect on the other countries. But before we have a true Community method to tackle these issues, we at least expect Member States to cooperate well among themselves.
We believe this is also a practical example of European solidarity.
Since the Minister made such a comprehensive presentation on behalf of the Presidency, I will focus on innovation, energy policy and immigration. I will also make a few remarks about relations between the European Union and Russia. These are all issues in respect of which the challenges we face require not just a national response, but a European response; challenges which show why, more than ever, a strong European Union is necessary, and why we need the Union to equip Europeans for globalisation.
We also need to work much more intensively with the countries of origin and transit. The implementation of the action plan agreed in Rabat in July is a key priority. The Commission will work hard to ensure proper implementation in close partnership with the countries concerned. Let us also be frank about this. Security matters are not enough. The solution to this problem will come only with our support for sustainable development in Africa. By the way, I think we have to engage in a high-level dialogue with African countries. Is it not strange that the European Union has dialogue with Asia and Latin America at the level of Heads of State and Government, but not with Africa? Is it not about time now for Europe to make a commitment to establishing a high-level dialogue with Africa? I believe we have the right and the duty to do so. That was the message I took recently to our counterparts in the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa. That is why we are also actively engaged – via our cooperation with our African partners – in looking collectively at this issue.
In European terms, we also need a European Union decision-making process. When there are urgent and serious problems, the European Union needs to be able to react appropriately. This means using the bridging clause in Article 67 of the Treaty. We cannot deny ourselves the means to deliver effective action.
To conclude, the informal European Council meeting in Lahti provides a good opportunity to take stock of the current European Union actions in the fields I have outlined and in several other fields as well. We are looking for a renewed commitment from the Heads of State and Government to deliver solutions to the real and pressing problems of the citizens of the European Union, and to deliver a Europe of results so that we can have more confidence to solve some of the very important problems in our Union.
Let me give you a final thought. A week ago I was in Darfur. Amidst the terrible conditions experienced by the people there, I saw something that I resolved to tell my friends back in Brussels: in the NGOs and other humanitarian organisations, there are so many young Europeans, so far from their homes, putting their lives at risk every day to help Africans. This is the kind of Europe of which I think we should be proud; a Europe that is ready to deliver solidarity and help, showing great courage. That is the kind of Europe I believe we all want: an open, outward-looking, generous Europe. That is the Europe we should strive for.
I welcome the Presidency’s decision to focus on innovation. Finland is a prime example of how innovation can boost economic growth. However, it is more than that. It is only by unlocking people’s imaginations that we can tackle the major issues facing us today, such as climate change, social exclusion, demographic change and unemployment.
Even though I know you know the figures, they are worth repeating. European Union spending on research is equivalent to 1.9% of its GDP, whereas the United States currently spends 3% of its GDP. It is indicative that most of the recent Nobel Prize winners come from or work in the United States. In Europe about half of all researchers are employed by business. In the United States, that figure stands at over 80%. The truth is that Europe is falling behind in terms of innovation and research. The status quo is not an option: we need to do more in this matter. We urgently need a strategic approach which focuses on each link in the innovation chain, from the birth of new ideas and knowledge right through to their exploitation and marketing in the economic sphere.
The communication which the Commission will present at the informal summit in Lahti sets out such an approach. It pinpoints the weak links in the chain and puts forward solutions. We need financing, we need the right intellectual property framework to bring the right rewards and we need to tackle obstacles to innovation sector by sector. Above all, we need to start with a strong political message of commitment: innovation deserves encouragement, and we need a European approach for it.
Size matters on this issue. One of the big differences between us and the United States is that we have no pan-European institutions for innovation and research. The United States is much more committed to a real global approach. There are great institutions supporting innovation throughout the United States, not just in one or two states. Until now, we had nothing in Europe. Now we have the European Research Council and we are proposing the establishment of a European institute of technology. We are proposing a network system to lend a real European dimension and a real European mission to those institutions. That is why we are insisting on this approach. That is the importance of the European institute of technology. It will bring the private and public sectors closer together for cutting-edge research, become a centre of international excellence, bring together the top brains, provide a stream of top class PhDs and promote spin-offs of innovative small and medium-sized enterprises. In short, it can become a symbol of Europe’s ability to work together and innovate. We have been developing the finer details of the EIT over recent months and we will bring forward a detailed proposal next week. I am confident that the Heads of State and Government and the parliamentarians here in the European Parliament will look at it in the spirit in which it is designed: yes, it is something a little different, but something which can provide an example of Europe taking a fresh direction and finding new ways to work together.
One of the fields in which I think we as European leaders can give a mission to a European institute of technology is that of energy and climate change. When we have a problem that we need help to solve, we should ask the best scientists, the best brains on our continent. Energy is one of the most important challenges we have today.
Let me now turn to the issue of energy and let me make it plain: we need to create a truly European energy policy, not 25 energy policies. It is absurd in the 21st century to go on with 25 or 27 energy policies. We need a truly European energy policy. The problems we face – high energy prices, climate change, increasing dependence on imported hydrocarbons – are global and European problems. They need European solutions. National solutions will not be enough. At Hampton Court last year, European Union leaders agreed to develop a common approach. In our Green Paper of March 2006, the Commission defined clear objectives for a European energy policy, long-term sustainability, security of energy supply and economic competitiveness. The Member States have endorsed our approach, and the reaction from stakeholders to our Green Paper has been overwhelmingly positive. The next step is a strategic energy review which the Commission will propose at the very beginning of next year. I look forward to reading the European Parliament’s report on it.
It is obvious that we need coherence between the internal and external aspects of energy policy. We clearly need an effective internal market in energy. Having 25 or 27 different energy mini-markets is not the answer to the European energy challenges. However, we must link internal and external policy. Our paper for Lahti will look at the three external challenges: Russia, which I will return to; developing our energy relations with our neighbours; and creating a network to deal with external energy shocks. It is essential to build up energy cooperation with strategically important supply and transit countries. This is already happening with initiatives such as the new Energy Community Treaty and the memorandum of understanding on energy cooperation with Ukraine. We need to extend the principles of the internal energy market gradually throughout our neighbourhood. We also need to join the different areas of expertise which exist around Europe to create a more effective network to deal with external energy shocks. Of course, in the medium term, the best way to cope with energy shocks is through diversity: diversity of energy sources, of country of origin and of country of transit. Indeed, we need to mainstream energy to make it a major focus of our relations with partners worldwide."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples