Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-11-14-Speech-2-203"
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"Mr President, Mr President of the Commission, Commissioners, in drafting these few lines on your work programme, I wanted, in the brief time allotted to me, to draw attention to the draft Constitutional Treaty’s motto, 'Unity in diversity', as I think that, in the current international and European political context, we have more need of unity than of diversity in the European Union. We need unity, and it is for the Commission in particular to be the standard bearer for this unity. I also believe that, in view of the current weakness of a divided Council - I am thinking, for example, of the failure of the Working Time Directive - we do not expect the Commission to anticipate the divisions of the Council but to be bullish in the proposals it is to put to us.
When objectives are not achieved and when self-imposed obligations to produce results are not met, there must be no question of lowering one's sights or reducing one’s targets. On the contrary, more resources have to be demanded and, in these conditions, I think that you will have Parliament’s support. Of a number of areas to which the strategic priorities shared by ourselves apply, I want specifically to quote the example of the subject on which my group has probably worked most during the last two and a half years, namely that involving the climate, energy and transport. We have sent to your department and to the departments of your colleagues details of an energy policy strategy that would enable us to achieve a 30% emission rate for CO2 and greenhouse gases between now and 2020.
Mr Barroso, the European Union must fulfil its commitments under the Kyoto Protocol, but it is not at present doing so. That is why we think it necessary to put restrictive arrangements in place, similar to those with which we are familiar in connection with budgetary discipline. By that, I mean that the European Union should not only assume obligations in terms of results but also give itself sufficient resources. That is why we think that the emissions trading system needs to be improved and to be coordinated by the Commission and that it needs to be possible under the system to impose sanctions on Member States that do not respect their own objectives.
In the case of renewable sources of energy, we think that the Commission needs to propose sectoral objectives and not only general objectives. As for energy efficiency, we are waiting for the Commission to propose a revision of the ‘Buildings’ Directive to cover all buildings. As Mrs Grossetête has indicated, the construction industry also creates economic activity, as you well know.
In this area of the climate, energy and transport, we must, in other words, reduce gas emissions, reduce dependence on energy imports and reduce the risks. It is because of this last concern that we continue to be opposed to nuclear power. We must finally, in Nairobi, make serious preparations for ‘Kyoto 2’.
I should like to quote another example where European unity should be in evidence: the imperative need to introduce common minimum social standards at European level. We cannot give up this commitment. That is why we want the Commission to propose a framework directive on services of general interest."@en1
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