Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-12-03-Speech-3-028"
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"en.20081203.12.3-028"2
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"Mr President, President of the Commission, honourable Members, first of all Mr President, I should like to add my condolences, feelings and solidarity to yours for the victims of these barbaric acts in Mumbai, for the Indian people, who were also victims of these tragedies.
You will understand that I cannot speak on behalf of the Irish authorities. However, as far as the Presidency of the Council is concerned, we are very keen to help our Irish friends, to understand their possible requests in the various areas, to see what legal guarantees they need, while of course respecting and considering the fact that twenty five Parliaments have already ratified this treaty, that we are expecting a twenty-sixth ratification at the start of 2009, and that we wish to provide a clear and positive signal with regard to the actual entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon. This is the entire thrust of the road map that we will propose, and which we will be discussing at this European Council.
With regard to the economic and financial situation, we have already held numerous debates in this Chamber. I would therefore like to reiterate the main issues, since Europe is being severely hit by the economic slowdown. Confronted with an exceptional situation, we have to show that we are able to respond. We have to demonstrate unity, the same decision-making capacity we exhibited last October when a coordinated response had to be found to the risk of the entire financial sector collapsing. It is in this spirit that the Presidency will lead the work of the Council on 11 and 12 December.
The President of the Commission, Mr Barroso, will express this better than I can, the Commission adopted proposals for a European recovery plan on 26 November; these were examined at Monday’s ‘Competitiveness’ Council and at the Council of Economic and Finance Ministers. This constitutes a coordinated European response to the economic crisis which makes use of the Community instruments available and allows Member States to take the measures most suitable for their situations in close coordination with one another and respecting certain principles.
I should like to say that the Commission’s proposals are a move in the right direction as far as the Presidency of the Council is concerned. We must try to release marginal funds from the Community budget, wherever they are available, with regard to the European Social Fund, the Globalisation Adjustment Fund, and the Structural Funds. We must also make use, as proposed by the Commission, of more funds from the European Investment Bank and we are counting on your Parliament to fully participate in the mobilisation of the Community institutions in response to the crisis.
It is chiefly the responsibility of Member States to deploy every means possible to support economic activity over the coming year, taking account of the forecasts produced by the Commission as well as by other institutions. The Commission proposes a joint effort between what can be done at Community level and what is done in Member States, of up to EUR 200 billion, that is to say 1.5% of Community GDP. I know that there is some apprehension with regard to these figures. It seems to us, as the Presidency, that the effort proposed by the Commission responds to the problems that we must confront and the necessary stimulus.
We are well aware that the Community authorities cannot guarantee everything since their instruments are limited, particularly in terms of the budget, particularly with regard to allocations and that not everything can be done at Community level. The authorities, however, must guarantee that national recovery actions are consistent and coordinated so that the greatest overall effect for economic recovery to the benefit of the Union is achieved.
Along with the Commission, we believe that we need targeted sectorial and transitional support measures. These measures must be compatible with the Union’s long-term priorities and the Lisbon Strategy, and they must be rapidly implemented. We believe that a priority action must target the European industrial base, particularly the ‘backbone’ industries such as the automotive sector which, as you know, is very seriously affected by the economic slowdown. In association with the European Investment Bank, Member States ought to be allowed to provide support to their manufacturers in order to support efforts to develop new technologies, particularly clean cars.
We must also, as highlighted at the ‘Competitiveness’ Council, obtain more room for manoeuvre in order to support small and medium-sized enterprises which are particularly adversely affected by this crisis, and in particular, are currently threatened with credit restrictions, bearing in mind the continuing state of the European financial sector. We are determined to obtain the most ambitious possible overall plan at this Council at its forthcoming meetings on 11 and 12 December.
With regard to the climate and energy package, Mr President, we will be holding a debate tomorrow in this Chamber. On behalf of the Council, I should like to thank Parliament once again for its extremely constructive attitude in the dialogue that we have had on the energy and climate package. Our aim is and will continue to be a first reading agreement between now and the end of the month. This is not a vanity project for the French Presidency, nor is it a question of finding out whether it will be one more feather in the cap of the Presidency. That is not the issue. The issue is that Europe, I repeat, must be ready to meet international timescales, bearing in mind the 2009 timetable, and must be ready to take the desired initiatives in Poznań, at the conference which has just opened, and in Copenhagen next November.
Your rapporteurs are very aware of this. There have been a large number of substantial exchanges between your Chamber and Jean-Louis Borloo in order to successfully complete this negotiation. What we wish, the aim of the Presidency is clear: there are targets and there is consistency in the package proposed by the Commission. These targets and this consistency must be protected. We must not deviate from the initial reasoning proposed by the European Commission.
I should also like to say that, having welcomed Mr Guardans when he arrived at Roissy Airport, at European level, we must all learn lessons from our cooperation between the various consulates, and I echo your words Mr President; we must definitely improve coordination in this area at European level, even before a single diplomatic service is established.
We must incorporate two components: the first comprises being sufficiently flexible towards those countries that, bearing in mind their geographical situation and economic development, have to make efforts in the area of greenhouse gas emission reductions, and I am thinking in particular about our Central and Eastern European friends; the second component comprises finding, bearing in mind the economic crisis, the necessary flexibility for the industrial sectors that are most severely affected by these energy consumption problems. These are the lines along which we are working very closely with the Commission and with other Member States, and we must all be united so that concrete results can be achieved and this package adopted between now and the end of the year.
So, Mr President, Mr Barroso, honourable Members, this is a crucial Council. Europe is now at a crossroads in several areas, namely, the institutional, economic and energy areas. This will be a difficult Council. It must be able to deal with the situation in the European Union. This is why in the Council, Commission and Parliament, we must do absolutely everything within our power to reach these various goals successfully. We are of course aware, however, of the difficulty of our task.
I should finally like to add my words of condolence for the Spanish victim and confirm our solidarity on behalf of the Council, with our Spanish friends and the Spanish authorities.
Mr President, President of the Commission, honourable Members, the forthcoming European Council on 11 and 12 December – my apologies, I did not mention the Vice-President of the European Commission, Mrs Wallström – is extremely important. They have a very full agenda: the future of the Treaty of Lisbon, Europe’s response to the international economic and financial situation, the battle against climate change and the energy package are all due to be discussed.
With regard to the Treaty of Lisbon, we are in contact with the Commission, with our Irish friends. Transpartisan work has been carried out in Ireland over the last few days, at which you were present, Mr President, representing the European Parliament. You were also questioned by the Irish Parliament on this issue. I believe that the work of this group is leading to three outcomes.
The first is that the Irish Members of Parliament believe that Ireland risks being marginalised to a certain extent in the European Union, and will subsequently suffer in the short and medium term.
The second element is that the full and complete participation of Ireland in the European Union still remains, in their opinion, completely desirable.
Finally, the third element, which is that a solution must be proposed by Ireland so that it can remain at the heart of the European project, while providing a response to the concerns expressed at the time of the referendum on 12 June.
As you know, the Irish Government has not yet formally adopted a position to indicate whether or not it approves these recommendations and whether or not it wishes to implement them, or by what method. We have been in contact, and between now and the end of the week there will be further contact with the Presidency of the Council, between Prime Minister Cohen, and President Sarkozy."@en1
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