Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-12-16-Speech-2-193"
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"en.20081216.31.2-193"2
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"Mr President, the qualities of this French Presidency have been almost fairytale: a bold prince riding out on the mythical white stallion of EU military deterrence to save our Lady of Georgia, the Cinderella from London finally admitted to the ball and a fair princess in Berlin learning, in response to a note from the Kanzleramt to the Élysée, that, if she wants to be with Prince Charming, she must be ready to kiss a frog.
President-in-Office, I imagine you would not have chosen the challenges which confronted your presidency, but you have tackled them with energy, with enthusiasm and with creativity, and you have shown the power of European solidarity. We congratulate you on the success of last week’s Council. Your timetable for economic recovery will help restore confidence in the markets. Your parrying of protectionism is admirable. Your concessions on state aid and public procurement are reasonable, alongside your commitment to accompany them with the structural reforms laid down in the Lisbon Strategy.
The summit’s conclusions allow scope to reduce VAT. Liberal Democrats urge Ecofin to cut VAT now on energy-saving and renewable energy equipment, in order to help industry and the environment. We also welcome the renewed commitment to sustainable public finances and a rapid return to medium-term budgetary targets. Our response to the recession must be based on solidarity and sound economics.
You appear to have found a practical answer to Ireland’s worries about the new Treaty. It may not be elegant, but it is worthy of Henry IV of France:
. On security and defence policy, real progress has been made: the creation of a single planning structure for ESDP missions, a structured form of cooperation with NATO and a declaration of our aims and objectives in the struggle for security.
It is, however, on climate change that you may be more harshly judged. A blizzard of corporate concessions has been written into the Council conclusions; new Member States will be bought off with a solidarity slush fund; cap-and-trade emissions permits will be given away when they should have been auctioned, and major players like electricity companies will get derogations that amount to super-subsidies. All of this pushes down the cost of carbon, cuts the cash raised and makes the emissions targets harder to hit. What is more, the emissions trading system will not even come into effect until 2013.
Nonetheless, my group recognises your achievement in reaching that deal. We welcome the agreements on energy saving, on earmarking half the revenues from emissions to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions and on carbon capture and storage. We will support it in tomorrow’s vote.
One can always wish for more from any presidency. On CAP reform, we have seen movement. We wanted to see opening-up. On immigration, the Blue Card comes wrapped in red tape and, on trade, the cancellation of this week’s Doha talks leaves little hope for progress. But this presidency has been a success for Europe, and you, President-in-Office, deserve the credit.
After these six months you probably also deserve a break. You do not need to do everything. Leave the finance ministers to Jean-Claude Juncker. Leave the euro to Jean-Claude Trichet. End a fairytale presidency with a fairytale ending. Follow the advice of your favourite singer:"@en1
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"C’est le temps du départ, retournez à d’autres étoiles et laissez-nous la fin de l’histoire."1
"Si Paris valait une messe, Dublin vaut un commissaire"1
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