Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-07-06-Speech-2-051"
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"en.20100706.4.2-051"2
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"Mr President, first of all, I would like to thank all of you, ladies and gentlemen, for the interest that you have shown in the Spanish Presidency of the European Union. This interest seemed to me to be more in line with a desire to be in or speak in the Spanish Parliament rather than the European Parliament during some speeches, which I will not be able to refer to individually given the time limitations. In truth, it may be that some people are nostalgic for that place, and I understand that perfectly well. They have my respect and my esteem, but the current situation is what is important at the moment, and we are in the European Parliament judging other matters, and not in the Spanish Parliament.
Spain has put itself forward to the Commission for assessment, together with Finland, I believe, of its competitive potential and we will be moving forward with the Europe 2020 strategy, which was also approved during this period, with the intention of rectifying the fault that the Lisbon Strategy had: governance. This is because the national objectives will be much more exacting, because there will be monitoring, because there will be recommendations and because there will be, and should be, greater shared responsibility for each state and, of course, for the Commission in the fulfilment of the Europe 2020 strategy. All of this is the situation to date with regard to greater economic union, to which I would add – a consequence of events during the sovereign debt crisis – the financial stabilisation instruments adopted, or the commitments on support for Greece: commitments that Spain has, of course, supported and observed from the start, as we have done with regard to the support for Greece. From the start. We will fulfil each and every one of our commitments.
All of this is fact, and some of you ladies and gentlemen here have put forward some rhetoric, some more, some less brilliant. However, if our intention was to achieve the satisfactory implementation of the Treaty of Lisbon, we have done this. If we decided to move, together with the Commission, towards economic union that is much more solid, stronger and with more common economic policies, we have also done this. With regard to foreign policy, it is true that there was no summit with the United States, but there were two major agreements. It is also true that there were major agreements and summits with Latin America. It is also true that, with regard to the Union of the Mediterranean, prudence counselled that the summit should not take place, which does not mean that plans relating to the Union of the Mediterranean have been put on hold, and there will be a summit when it can contribute to peace in the Middle East. Therefore, with or without summits – with the United States, in this case – there were important agreements.
Of course, although the Presidency wanted to lay down a marker from day one, it did not want to get into an argument over who has the leading role within the European institutions. What was important was that the Europe 2020 strategy was adopted, and it has been adopted; what was important was that a financial support mechanism for countries was adopted, and it has been adopted; what was important was that the financial supervision package was put in place, and so it has been; what was important was that SWIFT was adopted, and I hope that Parliament will adopt it; what was important was that the ‘euro-order’ was set in motion, and it has been set in motion; what was important was the cross-border agreement with regard to health, and this is in place. What is important is the tally of agreements. The Spanish Presidency, through its drive, or through the hard work of its officials, Spanish officials, contributed to all of these and this must be acknowledged in all cases, although there will be some who do not want to acknowledge the political aspects of this, that politicians should encourage and give credit to these officials.
A point was made by one of the Members of this House about the situation of European – basically British – citizens in our country as regards property, particularly on the coast. I have to say that I, as President of the government of Spain, cannot agree with the comparison that a representative of a certain political grouping from Great Britain made, or tried to make, here, actually mentioning Zimbabwe. I cannot agree with this in any way: it is unacceptable so I do not accept it. I reject it utterly. My country is under the rule of law.
My country is under the rule of law, it obeys laws and it ensures that they are obeyed, and it is the courts that have to apply these laws. We would be the first to sympathise with people, in this case British citizens, who may have been the victims of a swindle by some property sector shark and we are working on this with the European Parliament and with the parliamentary groups. We will work and do whatever is in our power. Furthermore, the European Parliament has demanded, on more than one occasion, that Spain protect its coastline and its environment and we have a law for coastal areas designed to protect them from the property crisis: we must apply it. We must also, from this great institution that is the European Parliament, advocate protection of the coastline and the combating of abuses that can affect natural areas, environmental areas and the coastline that we are so determined to defend.
Finally, Mr President, I would like to thank the group presidents and, in particular, Mr Daul and Mr Schulz, for their measured tone during this sitting. The Spanish Presidency has faced up to its commitments with European and pro-European willingness, it has faced up to its commitments with an attitude of loyalty and cooperation with regard to the Commission, the Parliament and the Council, and it has faced up to its period of working with economic and foreign activity objectives, which it has fulfilled satisfactorily, by and large. Clearly not in all cases and with regard to all of the points that we had proposed, but if we look again – and I am speaking most directly to listeners from my own country – at what the Spanish Parliament passed, we can see that it was achieved in a satisfactory manner.
In any case, I would like, as rotating President of the Council, to express my profound gratitude to the European Parliament and, in particular, to the President of the European Parliament, for all of the cooperation we have received during this six-month period. We have felt supported by you, Mr President. We have felt understood by you, encouraged by you. We have felt close to this institution, although, at times, there have been harsh voices. Nonetheless, we have felt close to the European Parliament and we are cheered that it is on the side of those of us who truly have a pro-European vocation, who serve Europe loyally, and who are convinced that there is no better destiny than to journey together, united, and, sometimes, leave the lesser disputes for another time.
There was another speaker who also seemed to me to have this tendency to feel like he shared the responsibilities of colleagues in the Spanish Parliament, or to be intent on getting involved with what they are doing; of lending his political and ideological colleagues a hand. However, in my opinion, we have other things to do here. We are here to judge and assess the main themes of the Presidency and its six-month tenure. It is true that you have been able to ask individual questions, but I will not be able to refer to all of them. During my initial speech, I wanted to adopt two perspectives that I believe should be the common theme of a considered, calm and objective analysis of these six months.
Firstly, it was the first rotating Presidency that had to deal with the application of a new treaty that, more than anything, is a treaty that changes institutional rules and our form of government into a Union of 27, with well known institutional complexity. To my mind, as a European and pro-European government, the first obligation that I took into consideration during these six months was that there should not be a single complaint, a single failure, a single institutional hitch and that, from day one, the new institutions would enjoy all of the political and functional legitimacy required to carry out their role. This would also make it easier for the relationship between the institutions – such as the Commission – which are, shall we say, already consolidated, and the new institutional framework, to work sufficiently well.
I can say with satisfaction that the Spanish Presidency has received nothing but support and recognition for its constructive attitude from the Commission, from the Council and from the European Parliament, and I am glad that not a single criticism of the attitude towards the major institutions has been expressed today. This was our first great challenge within the European Union as we have built it. I have to say with all humility – the same humility with which I would say to Mr Schulz, who is not here at the moment because he has had to go to a meeting on the approach to be taken to dialogue relating to financial supervision, for which he apologises, that we are, of course, hoping that tomorrow night, the result will be a victory for creativity, and that we Spaniards can have a day of celebration that I will share in full with all political representatives, as Mr Schulz will do with Chancellor Merkel if the case arises; at the end of the day, it will all remain in Europe, which is always satisfying – that Spain has played its part in ensuring that the Treaty of Lisbon works satisfactorily and has done so from day one, so that all of the institutions are comfortable in their roles and we can move forward towards a greater degree of union.
The second main objective, Mr Mayor Oreja, was to move forward from day one of the Presidency in terms of economic union and common economic policy. The digital market, insofar as it has moved forward, and the electric vehicle plan, insofar as it has also moved forward, are no more than instruments for encouraging economic union, the same as the internal market. Let us, therefore, make a distinction between the main objectives and those that are instruments for ensuring that this economic union promotes greater competitiveness and combines the synergies of all Europeans within the areas of energy, industry, innovation, research, competitiveness, and also, hopefully, jobs and others.
Now let us see what the result is. It may be that the objective, which is entirely legitimate, is not shared. However, if the objective was, as expressed by the Spanish Presidency, greater union in terms of economic policy, this has been achieved beyond expectations. Firstly, because we have financial supervision, I am hoping for an agreement that achieves the desired objectives, and regulation of all financial products; and secondly, we have a momentum for reform of the Stability Pact, for greater budgetary stringency and rigour, with new instruments for compliance with the Stability Pact. Incidentally, while we are talking so much about rules, I have to say that, since the inception of the euro, Spain has complied much more closely with the Stability Pact than many other countries among those that one of the Members of this House has mentioned.
Let us, therefore, look at the facts. Yes, yes, let us look at the facts. Spain is the country that has complied most closely with the Stability Pact, and there are others that have broken it up to seven times: they have made use of certain expedients up to seven times. However, in the end, that is how things are. What is certain is that during these six months, we have made progress towards new rules within the Stability Pact, with more incentives, more penalties and more requirements. Let us move on to another consideration, and an analysis of the macro-economic situation of countries, including competitiveness."@en1
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