Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-02-18-Speech-3-083"
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"en.20090218.20.3-083"2
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".
Mr President, as quickly as possible and given that the contributions of the various speakers have, in general terms, been along the same lines, allow me to mention to the House three or four issues that come to mind having heard the speeches.
To begin with, resources and means. The rapporteurs of the various reports have said that it is true that we have problems with resources and with means, and that better utilisation of national resources could be a good route for us to take. However, I would say that we also have available to us some means of which we are not making the best possible use, and I would like to highlight this for you.
I believe that it was a good idea to create the European Defence Agency by agreement of the European Council, without the need to apply or adopt the Treaty of Lisbon. I believe that the Agency can carry out great work in coordinating national policies, to give greater added value to all policies that are put in place.
Someone spoke about helicopters. Helicopters are needed for all kinds of missions: civilian missions, military missions, all sorts of missions; for transport. The helicopter has today become an essential crisis management tool.
Better coordination of what we have, both in terms of hardware and in terms of making better use of software for helicopters, would allow us to make better use of them and would, in fact, give us more than we have in day-to-day use.
I would also like to say that in recent weeks, our strategic relationships with the United States and with the Russian Federation have taken great steps forward.
Mrs Beer spoke about the Munich Security Conference; it was, I believe, an important event, at which progress was made in unscheduled talks because it was not a political forum for decision making, but an extremely important forum for reflection. I believe that the issue which will be under discussion in the coming years and months will be our relationships both with the United States, from the point-of-view of strategy in the coming years, and with Russia. That was the case in Munich, as well as later on when Mrs Ferrero-Waldner and I were in Moscow, discussing the fundamental theme of new ideas on European security with the leaders of the Russian Federation.
Europe does not want to be a military power. I believe that Europe – the European Union – is a civilian power with military means, which is very different from a military power, and I believe that this should continue to be the case. This work and all the documents that we produce, and which both Parliament and the Commission – or I myself – produce, are working towards that goal.
A few words about the police in the Palestinian territories, which is a subject we looked at in the previous session. EUPOL is one of the most important assets we have as regards credibility and work in the field of security with the Palestinians and in the occupied territories, and it will continue to be an important asset of the European Union, winning recognition from all: from the Palestinians, the Israelis and the surrounding countries. Therefore, be sure that we will do whatever we can to continue working towards that goal."@en1
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