Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-03-14-Speech-3-039"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20070314.4.3-039"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, I was not quite sure when Matthew (Matthäus) was mentioned whether it was not perhaps a reference to Lothar Matthäus. I am pleased that this was not the case.
Mr Schulz is quite right: it was a successful Council summit. You want to make progress on the internal market for energy, you want to slow down global warming, reduce CO2 emissions and extend the use of renewable energies, and you want to strengthen solidarity on energy matters. This is in line with this Parliament’s demands. Some of these demands were even more ambitious, but nevertheless you deserve applause, and this is what you will get from the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.
However, there is no cause for complacency just yet, because you still have the much more arduous part ahead of you. Whether the Summit really was a success will depend on whether the projects are implemented quickly and hopefully deliver tangible results before the year is out. That is also my group’s central message: we want the objectives that have been agreed to be acted on quickly. In this respect the Commission is already making the right noises. The Council is asked to nail its colours to the mast once the Commission proposals are on the table.
Allow me to comment more specifically on one or two individual issues, and firstly on climate protection. You are quite right. Climate protection works at European level or not at all. On closer examination it is also true, however, that climate protection does not actually work at European level either but at global level. Only if we can get the other major CO2 emitters on board will we bring about the global change that is necessary to actually slow down climate change. Basking here in the glory of the role of forerunner will not achieve a great deal. A forerunner without anyone following reminds me a little of Don Quixote, whom we should not be emulating.
Climate policy in Europe must now therefore be followed by climate diplomacy from Europe, because on its success the overall success of the enterprise ultimately depends. Some see the G8 as the appropriate forum for this and think a solution could be found if the issue were taken to the G8. Take it with you to Heiligendamm, but we must also recognise one thing: the G8 may quite conceivably not be appropriate. It does not include China and India. That may also be a reason to reflect on the architecture of the global institutions.
On the issue of the internal market for energy: for us this is not an end in itself but something that we really need. As Commissioner Verheugen said, market failure is something that directly affects the Union’s citizens. I am delighted that the Commission’s action plan has been adopted and should like to offer my congratulations to Mr Verheugen and in particular also to his colleagues Mrs Kroes and Mr Piebalgs, who have spared no effort here. It is now a question of building on this, and my group would expressly encourage the Commission to do so quickly.
Bureaucracy requires better legislation. The proposals that Commissioner Verheugen has made are right and it is also right that they have been adopted. We therefore welcome the progress that has been made here, but believe that the Member States are obliged to follow suit. It is a myth that all bureaucracy comes from Brussels.
The Council has shown that it can agree on a really important subject. Congratulations on this! Now it also needs to be successful on the Presidency’s second important issue. The Berlin Declaration and the June Summit await us. You have our support for them."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples