Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-07-05-Speech-2-010-000"
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"en.20110705.5.2-010-000"2
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"Mr President, President of the Commission, ladies and gentlemen, it is my task today to give you a brief summary of the achievements of the Hungarian Presidency. My task is easy, because when you kindly invited me here six months ago, I had the opportunity to present the programme of the Hungarian Presidency, which can be found in this volume. There were, there are concrete objectives set out in it. Six months later it is easy to compare the accomplishments with those objectives. If we were to base the evaluation of our work on this alone, we could say that the Hungarian Presidency has fully delivered on the objectives set out by ourselves and confirmed by you.
Another reason why the European Union is stronger today is because we can now protect our borders more efficiently than six months ago. We have made the decisions that create the necessary capacities for the European Union for border protection and migration prevention, and we have made important steps towards deepening and enlarging the Schengen Agreement.
Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to remind you that the tasks of the Presidency also include playing an important part and being an efficient means in the course of interinstitutional cooperation and sometimes conflicts arising between our complicated legislative bodies. I would like to remind you that we have done this work as well. As regards cooperation between Parliament and the Council, we brought several dozen dossiers and codecision dossiers to a conclusion. I would also like to inform you that we have come to an agreement on how to involve Parliament in the preparation of the multiannual financial framework. I personally made efforts to ease cross-institutional tensions. I met with President Rompuy 13 times, I had official talks with Mr Barroso 13 times, and met with President Buzek nine times with the specific purpose of facilitating interinstitutional cooperation. During our Presidency I personally visited every Prime Minister, and I strove to pave the way to prepare joint decisions during these bilateral negotiations.
Finally, ladies and gentlemen, let me express my hope that Poland, the country that takes over the Presidency from us, will continue to enhance the reputation of Central Europe. Let me express my hope that Hungary did great preparatory work for the Polish Presidency. Taking all into consideration and looking at us from a mid-term historical perspective, let me conclude without the slightest immodesty that the Hungarian Presidency may, and the Polish Presidency following us certainly will convince you that the decision taken 10 years ago and implemented seven years ago, that is, the enlargement of the EU to include Central Europe, was a wise decision. It made the EU, our community, stronger, more colourful, more viable and more creative. Thank you very much for your kind attention.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my thanks to Belgium, who took the Presidency before us, for doing an excellent job and for doing excellent preparatory work for our Presidency. I would also like to express my thanks to President Jerzy Buzek, because as I mentioned here in January, our aim was to have a Parliament-friendly Presidency. Friendship needs two parties, and I received unfailing support, cooperation and friendship from your President, Mr Jerzy Buzek. I would also like to thank the President of the Commission, Mr Barroso, who is present here today, because for a presidency to be successful, the current Council has to do a huge amount of work. I would like to thank Mr Barroso for giving me the opportunity to have very open and honest meetings and professional cooperation on the most difficult issues. I would like to thank the Members of the European Parliament in general, but Mr Daul and the members of the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) in particular, because you all know that although the Presidency aims to separate its work from political affairs, and especially from home affairs, this cannot be fully achieved at all times. For this reason the Presidency always needs a kind of political background, and the PPE Group and Mr Daul provided the necessary political background for us to be able to focus on our work. Thank you for that.
Ladies and gentlemen, you may remember that the Hungarian Presidency set a strong Europe as one of its primary objectives. I have always believed that Europe can be stronger than it is now, or was six months ago. When 13 years ago, I was able to participate in a European Council meeting as Prime Minister for the first time, I can recall that those meetings were held in the spirit of optimism; ambitious plans were drafted, and the meetings were full of vitality and momentum. Remember that 13 years ago, we were excited by the fever of reunification; we celebrated the creation of the single market and single currency, and the idea to make the EU the most developed region in the world by 2010 did not seem at all ridiculous; in fact, we took it very seriously. I personally remember a European Union that was not on the defensive, was not tormented by crises, was not tormented by itself, and was not full of doubt, but had a clear vision of the future and worked purposefully towards it.
Ladies and gentlemen, fellow Members, as a short summary of the Hungarian Presidency, I can say that today the European Union is indeed stronger than six months ago. It is stronger, although it received three blows in the solar plexus during these six months, namely the deepening crisis in the eurozone, the Japanese nuclear disaster, and the challenges resulting from the changes in North-African countries. These all required rapid responses and dedication from the Hungarian Presidency The EU was able to respond swiftly and effectively to these situations without us having to amend our six-month programme.
I claim that Europe is stronger than six months ago. However, our voters strongly disagree with this statement. In my opinion, the reason for this is that we, who are working diligently in the inner sanctuary of the EU, can feel the progress we have made in the past six months; the citizens, on the other hand, only encounter the deepening crisis of the eurozone and the Greek crisis in news headlines. Europe may become stronger, but it will still not make the impression of a strong community, no matter how much we consolidate the foundations of the EU, until we can provide a solution to the Greek crisis, one that is clear and comprehensible to the citizens and ensures success instead of only taking measures and decisions to gain a few weeks or months. This is why I encourage you and I hope you can find a solution to this issue as soon as possible.
Ladies and gentlemen, the European Union is stronger now than six months ago, mostly because it now has the necessary means to avoid future crises, means that it did not have six months ago. The European Semester, one of the big challenges of the Hungarian Presidency, is up and running, and we can proudly say to European citizens that we now have the means in place which will help us prevent the single currency from running into difficulties such as those of today.
I should mention here the history of the ‘six pack’, as well, which is more than 95% ready at this stage, and if we manage to dot the i’s and cross the t’s, we will complete the crisis management mechanism as well. We set up the ISM system required for crisis management, and the most important relevant decisions were made in the last six months. Europe is stronger today also because we have a Roma strategy, a strategy which did not exist previously within the EU, and which is not only important from humane and human rights considerations – although it is important from these points of view as well – but also because it gives us the opportunity to involve millions of EU citizens in the EU labour market, and become economically stronger this way. The Roma strategy is the first document which not only sees a challenge in the existence of the Roma community, but also a great opportunity and a power resource for the European Union.
The European Union is stronger now than six months ago, because the second macro-regional development programme, the Danube strategy was born. This is the first of its kind that not only includes Member States, but also establishes the framework for cooperation between six non-EU countries and eight Member States. If we can put flesh on the bones – and we stand a good chance to do so because the intellectual preparations are completed – then it can become a success story of the EU.
And the European Union is stronger now than six months ago, because five hours before the end of the Hungarian Presidency we managed to conclude the accession negotiations with Croatia. I would like to inform you that this decision not only concerns Croatia, but opens up a promising perspective for other countries of the West Balkans. To summarise our partly presidential, partly neighbourhood experiences with the region, I prepared a memorandum regarding the issue of the West Balkans and the enlargement of the West Balkans, the enlargement of the European Union in the West Balkans, which I have already submitted to the leaders of EU institutions, to President Buzek and the Prime Ministers as well."@en1
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