Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-09-01-Speech-1-175"
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"en.20080901.20.1-175"2
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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I will be brief because Bernard Kouchner has already spoken twice and I know that you too have a lot of work to do.
This is a starting point because it has been decided that an important journey should be made by the President of the Council of the European Union, the President of the Commission and the High Representative, on 8 September, to Moscow and Tbilisi. It is in that context that we must assess the subsequent actions that we will need to take.
Finally, we have agreed on the fact that all meetings on the partnership agreement should be postponed until the Russians withdraw to their previous positions.
This is therefore a starting point. Our aim today was not to solve everything but to show our unity and our determination and for this we need the support of the European Parliament.
As this debate comes to a close, I should firstly like to thank you for your constant involvement in this matter. The resolutions adopted, the fact that Chairman Saryusz-Wolski convened the Committee on Foreign Affairs on 20 August and the fact that Mrs Isler Béguin – as she pointed out – went to the conflict region and gave a powerful testimony on behalf of this institution and, beyond that, on behalf of the European Union have confirmed the European Parliament’s involvement in this crisis.
This leads me to say that I have been surprised to hear certain comments about the European Union: firstly, that it has not reacted; secondly, that it was powerless, and thirdly, that it adopted a position of weakness. If the European Union was not influential, if it did not play a role in this crisis, then I should like to know who did? Who was powerful? Who proved themselves either militarily or in any other way? I saw no power other than the European Union taking action and it was during this crisis that the European Union was possibly seen in a new light as a partner and as a power.
Everyone has their own responsibilities. The European Union has its responsibilities which are not the same as those of NATO or the US. However, through its values and its means – to which I will return – the European Union has fulfilled all its responsibilities.
People say to us: ‘Russia does not have the same values as the European Union’ but, between us, that is old news. It is not a scoop. We know that Russia does not have the same values as the European Union. If it had the same values as the EU, other questions would be asked about Russia. All the questions asked about Russia concern what type of relations we want to have with this neighbour, what type of partnership we want to build, what type of dialogue we want to have, how we can encourage Russia to fulfil its duties and assume its responsibilities and how can we steer it towards an approach more in line with international law. These are the questions. As for myself, I have never believed that we have the same values, whatever respect I may have for Russia, and I have known Russia for some time.
The third thought you have had, and you have all had this thought, is that we cannot go very far, despite a rapid reaction and despite what has been done today, because we do not have the instruments needed, because we will only have these instruments if the Lisbon Treaty is ratified and because this crisis has perfectly demonstrated how much we need this Treaty, how much we need to strengthen our foreign policy and how much we need, also, to strengthen our defence policy. We must be very clear on this and several of you have rightly underlined this.
I now come to the European Council. Today’s European Council forms a starting point. It did not cover everything and it cannot cover everything in relation to the management of this crisis by the European Union and the relations between the European Union and Russia. Today was about reviewing the situation on the ground and assessing the consequences for relations between the European Union and Russia. It was about showing that we are united and that we are active in this conflict.
This European Council has enabled us to show that we are united, that we have acted and that we have firm positions. I would remind you of these: condemnation of Russia’s disproportionate reaction; support for Georgia in the financial, humanitarian, economic and political spheres; confirmation of the strengthening of the relationship between the European Union and Georgia; implementation of the six-point conflict resolution plan including – and several of you have stressed this point – the existence of an international monitoring mechanism; commitment of the European Union on the ground by sending a Special Representative; strengthening of the eastern partnership, particularly with regard to the Black Sea area and Ukraine, which was explicitly underlined in today’s conclusions, and an energy policy which is more diverse and independent and better organised at European level.
I have understood everything you have said this evening. You can be sure that the French Presidency will remind everyone of its wish to have a much more diverse, independent and better structured European energy policy. You can count on the Presidency in this respect."@en1
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