Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-07-07-Speech-3-316"
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"en.20100707.26.3-316"2
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"Mr President, Baroness Ashton, Mr Šefčovič, ladies and gentlemen, with the Madrid political agreement, we have taken the first important step towards the creation of a European External Action Service (EAAS). We know that this is not the final result, because the Staff Regulations and the Financial Regulation provide all the necessary leeway for the codecision procedure, which is a precondition for the final establishment of the service.
However, this agreement has brought a certain amount of security to the planning and preparation process. We in the European Parliament want to make it clear that we are in favour of the EEAS. The European Parliament’s wish to have a High Representative was included in the Convention for the European Constitution. This High Representative would be responsible for coordinating the external relations of the European Union and for managing the external and security policy of the European Union. The High Representative would have a service at her disposal which would enable her to take up a strong position in relation to the Commission, the Council and the rest of the world, to explain the unity and coherence of European foreign policy and to ensure that we are not just a global payer, but also a global player. This agreement, which will perhaps achieve a majority tomorrow in the European Parliament, represents the necessary step forward.
During these negotiations, it was important for us to make the ability of the service to act our main objective, in the common interest of the citizens of Europe. We have also succeeded in the course of these difficult negotiations in guaranteeing that the powers and assignments will not be changed in such a way that what is represented by established Community law and comes under the control and the decision-making authority of the community of Europe turns into intergovernmentalism and renationalisation. Mr Šefčovič, perhaps you will allow me to say that the European Parliament has, on some occasions, done much more for the rights of the Commission over recent months than the Commission itself.
I would once again like to explain that, after some initial hesitation, the Council was prepared to acknowledge the fact that the European Parliament also has a voice in this area, that the combination of the Financial Regulation, the Staff Regulations and this consultation process in fact led to this becoming a codecision procedure and that for this reason, we were able to make important progress in the consultation process.
Therefore, it is extremely important that, as well as guaranteeing the implementation of the Community method and guaranteeing and extending the rights of the European Parliament within the confines of the treaty, not only with regard to justice and internal policy, we find ourselves in a situation with relation to foreign and security policy where, in future and for the first time, we will be consulted and informed before decisions are made. In addition, we will have the opportunity of questioning ambassadors, for example, as part of an exchange of opinions, not in the same way as in the consultation process, but after they have been appointed and before they take up office. For this reason, alongside the opportunities offered by budgetary rights, alongside the fact that treaties with third countries must, in future, be ratified by the European Parliament, we will also have an information and consultation process in the interim phase which will enable Parliament to play a role in structuring European foreign policy.
However, it is not the case that Parliament wants to take responsibility for operational foreign policy. In future, that will be the task of the executive. We want to have control and we want to be able to say no. We want to be able to take sensible decisions on budgets and we want to be able to carry out checks. Therefore, we need the tools and the information to enable us to exercise Parliament’s rights in these areas on behalf of the citizens of Europe. I believe that this agreement represents an important step in this direction.
I would like to thank Baroness Ashton for the fact that we were able to produce good results at the end of the negotiations."@en1
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