Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-02-09-Speech-2-013"
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"en.20100209.4.2-013"2
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"Mr President, Mr Barroso, ladies and gentlemen, during the course of the hearings, my impression of the Commission was one of Abbot José Manuel with his 26 novices from the order of Trappist monks. That is an order that has taken a vow of silence. It seemed as though the Abbot had said to his novices ‘better to say nothing than to say something wrong’. That was detrimental in the hearings for some of the new people. It was surprising to see someone like Neelie Kroes, who is otherwise so eloquent, suddenly spouting out trite phrases. Others, like Joaquín Almunia, Michel Barnier, the new Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič and even Mrs Georgieva, did not take the vow of silence and, once this vow of silence was lifted, demonstrated that, if you are so bold as to enter into dialogue with Parliament, you can achieve a higher profile than if you allow yourself to be manipulated.
That also applies, incidentally, to the measures in this interinstitutional agreement with which we are in agreement, namely that the future legislative resolutions of the European Parliament will be turned into Commission initiatives within a year. That is also an enormous step forward in the cooperation between our two institutions. A Trappist abbot, who, together with Herman Non-Country, the President of the European Council, is to represent Europe in the world – Mr Daul, that will not do. What we need is effective cooperation between the European institutions.
However, Mr Barroso cannot be blamed for everything. There are also 27 Heads of Government in Europe who believe that the Commission is the extended arm of their government offices. The answer we need to this is close cooperation between the European Parliament and a Commission that feels duty-bound to work for social and environmental progress in Europe. That is what will make the European Union count in the world. If we address this together, then, following your response to this, Mr Barroso, the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament will discuss in the break what we will ultimately decide to do. After the discussion in our group, and following your response, I will then present this decision in the second round.
At the same time, Mr Almunia and Mr Barnier revealed the roles they intend to play in the future Commission. It was interesting to observe the division of the portfolios of the individual members of the Commission, including during the hearings. There are so many contradictory assignments, so many structures that make conflicts of competence almost inevitable and that will require an arbitrator to ultimately decide on the direction in which to go – that was interesting.
On one hand, the commissioners are told ‘I will speak here’ and on the other, ‘in cases of conflicts of competence, I will ultimately decide’. I certainly do not want to do the Roman Emperor a disservice, but this, Mr Barroso, seems very much like you want to operate according to the principle of ‘divide and rule’. This, however, is the wrong approach. You need to understand that anyone who wants to turn a College into a presidential system is undertaking a huge task and, in the end, must be prepared to be told that the buck stops with him and that he must take the responsibility for the shortcomings.
The Commission is strong when it acts as a collegial body. It is strong when it does not see itself as a technocratic administrative leader, but understands that the challenges facing us require transnational European responses. The question that you raised at the beginning of your speech – does the European Union count in the world? – is indeed on the agenda. This question will not be answered by you tailoring everything to your own needs, but by you organising the responsibilities of your Commission so efficiently that, in cooperation with us, the European Parliament, the Commission can provide the answers.
The economic and financial crisis, the environmental crisis and the social crisis faced by this continent require transnational European answers. They do not require renationalisation. That is why we need a strong Commission that can find support from a strong majority in Parliament. However, it must not be tailored to José Manuel Durão Barroso, but must instead reflect the wide range of capabilities that all of the commissioners bring.
An answer to the question of whether the European Union counts in the world could be seen in Copenhagen. If we become fragmented when it comes to environmental legislation and if Europe pursues renationalisation instead of taking an ambitious Union-based approach, then we will also see in other areas what we saw in Copenhagen, namely that the decisions are taken by Barack Obama and Hu Jintao, without European involvement. Anyone who does not want the world to descend into a new type of bipolarity needs a strong Europe and an ambitious Europe. We therefore also need an effective Commission that will take on this role.
Mr Barroso, in the debate on the interinstitutional agreement, you made two concessions, which, in my view, are crucial. The impact assessment, and the social impact assessment in particular, is, for us as Social Democrats and as Socialists and Democrats, an essential element. The Commission needs to realise, and that means all of the individual Members of this Commission, that what made large parts of the European population turn away from the European idea had something to do with the fact that the people of Europe had the feeling that this Commission was only interested in the market and not, for example, in social protection for its citizens. More and more people have the feeling that cold technocracy rather than social welfare is what determines the actions of the Commission. If that trend now changes direction with the social impact assessment that we are agreeing on, then we will have made a great deal of progress."@en1
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