Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-07-03-Speech-2-010-000"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20120703.4.2-010-000"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, I would like to thank Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt and her whole team, particularly Europe Minister Wammen, for a very engaged and dynamic Presidency. The Presidency programme was called ‘Europe at work’ and I think it is fair to say that you were a Presidency at work. You made a real effort to contribute to ensuring stability for Europe in these difficult times. I particularly congratulate you, Prime Minister, for your personal commitment to competitiveness and growth and to the green agenda, areas in which your country, Denmark, is a great inspiration for many of us in Europe, and indeed in the world.
Europe should be a global standard setter. Therefore, I also welcome the agreement reached on reform of the standardisation system, which will enable more efficient standard setting in Europe. Furthermore, the general approaches agreed in the Council on the accounting directives, on venture capital funds and social entrepreneurship funds, and on alternative dispute resolution will hopefully prove to be a good basis for reaching agreement with Parliament very soon. On the matter of professional qualifications, we could have wished for more progress, but work will continue.
It is, of course, necessary to make special mention of the debate on the European patent, something which has been under discussion for decades. There was a compromise on this between the participating Member States, but unfortunately it comes at the price of the deletion of important Community elements of the original Commission proposal. While recognising the great efforts made by the Danish Presidency on this difficult issue, and indeed thanking you sincerely for those efforts, Prime Minister, the Commission has therefore reserved its position, and I made this very clear to the Heads of State or Government during the European Council. The situation will now require an assessment by the three EU institutions. We are ready to work with you on this.
A central theme of the past semester was the effort made in bringing forward the multiannual financial framework (MFF). Last week, the European Council considered that the negotiating box prepared by the Danish Presidency provided a basis and orientations for the final stage of negotiation during the Cypriot Presidency, with a view to reaching an agreement by the end of 2012. In this respect, let me reiterate that the Commission is fully aware of and will call for full observance of the institutional prerogatives of all the EU institutions. It was the Commission, by the way, which strongly insisted on this point during the preparation for this European Council and, indeed, when its conclusions were adopted.
The debate on the MFF will now enter its decisive stage. The Commission considers that the negotiating box is still missing some important elements or, in our view, is not the appropriate answer in some areas. While fully recognising the very serious work done so far, the Commission will therefore continue to defend its proposals under the incoming Presidency. I believe it is now clearer that the European Union budget is an essential instrument for achieving sustainable growth and jobs through investment.
I am particularly happy that we managed to agree on a new Financial Regulation. I want to extend my thanks to the relevant players in Parliament and the Council who have worked closely with the Commission. I know we went through a process of long and difficult negotiations. The final adoption of the Financial Regulation before the end of the year will allow for proper implementation of all the sectoral programmes of the MFF. Thus, I strongly hope that the Council and Parliament, with the support of the Commission, will manage to reach agreement on the MFF by the end of this year. The European Union needs to send a signal that, until the end of this decade, it will have a strong budget for growth and cohesion. The European Union needs to show that it is able to take difficult decisions in difficult times.
In the area of justice and home affairs, there has been good progress on important issues. Let me mention the asylum package, notably the Dublin II Regulation and the Reception Conditions Directive. Negotiations have also advanced on the Asylum Procedures Directive, and reform of the Visa Regulation is on track.
However, the same cannot yet be said of another important issue, namely, the legal basis and nature of the Schengen evaluation mechanism. We are all aware of the sensitivity of this issue. As far as the Commission is concerned, we want solutions that can work. That is why we believe, together with this Parliament, that we need a Schengen evaluation mechanism with a strong European dimension. We are convinced that an intergovernmental peer review model does not deliver on the mandate set by the European Council of March 2011, and that it would have limited added value in practice. Since the Lisbon Treaty in particular, free movement of people has been a genuine Community concern. As I have said before, the Commission cannot accept the current outcome as final, and it will continue to work for a better solution.
Let me end with a look at the external dimension. The focus on internal European issues has always had to be combined with a broader perspective on Europe’s role in the world, and never more so than in relation to the preparations for, and decisions in, the Rio+20 Summit for sustainable development. Although a number of our most ambitious objectives were not fully achieved, the European Union remained committed and constructive throughout the negotiations, and our positions had a very important impact on the debate. I would like particularly to welcome the very good cooperation between the Commission and the Danish Council Presidency. In fact, both Prime Minister Thorning-Schmidt and I were present at this Rio conference. And let me tell you that without European leadership in this conference, we would not have achieved what appears to me to be a significant outcome. Green growth is now explicitly and formally accepted by the international community as an indispensable part of our sustainable development agenda.
Important progress has been achieved during the past six months of the Danish Council Presidency. I wish to reiterate my thanks for what has been very good cooperation. However, we are only too aware of how serious the situation is and how much we still need to accomplish in the time ahead. I therefore count on the ongoing commitment and ambition of all the EU institutions in meeting our common challenges.
The results of this work are, to a large extent, reflected in the conclusions of the European Council and cover the full range of the Union’s activities. Since we will be discussing the results of the European Council and the euro area summit in the following debate, in this speech I will only highlight a number of specific issues.
Let me start with the economy. We have almost completed the second European Semester. Very serious and in-depth work has taken place on the Commission’s proposals for country-specific recommendations and I am satisfied with the consensus that has emerged around them. This work cannot, of course, be separated from our agenda for economic growth. As the Commission has made very clear, growth can be achieved only through the combination of structural reforms and targeted investment. The Growth Compact, which has now been approved, recognises this and, indeed, paves the way for determined pro-growth action.
I therefore appreciate, in particular, the speedy and constructive manner in which the proposal on the pilot project bonds for transport, energy and telecommunications infrastructure has been handled. I am very happy that we have reached a final agreement on the Commission proposal. The initiative will stimulate investment in infrastructure at European level.
I also appreciate the efforts to reach an agreement on the so-called ‘two-pack’, which is a central element in the EU-level drive to strengthen economic and budgetary surveillance. This would also represent a first step towards implementing important elements of the fiscal treaty. Thus, I welcome the general approach in Council and I strongly hope that Parliament and the incoming Cypriot Presidency can come to a final agreement before the end of this year.
Equally important is our progress in the area of financial markets and financial services. Agreement could be reached on our proposals on derivative markets and on the single European payment area. Very importantly, we are making enormous progress on the bank capital requirements package, as well as on credit rating agencies.
While the Commission proposal for a financial transaction tax has, unfortunately, not met with unanimous support from Member States, I would like to welcome the decision to start negotiations, under enhanced cooperation, for all Member States that wish to join the initiative. This is a very important development. After all, we have seen once again in recent months and weeks – both in the United States and in Europe, including in some of the major banking institutions – that practices which fuelled the financial crisis have not yet been eradicated from the sector. Once again, we have been confronted with reckless trading and market manipulation. It is time for these practices to stop once and for all, and for a sector that owes so much to taxpayers’ support to agree to hand back a fair share to society.
Regarding the very difficult negotiations on the proposed directive on energy efficiency, the agreement found by the colegislators at first reading will be a major step in delivering the objective of 20% primary energy savings in 2020. The Commission estimates that the outcome reached would allow the delivery of approximately two thirds of the total energy savings in the Commission’s original proposal. So, while we welcome what has been achieved, we must also say that further work on reaching our 2020 objectives will be needed.
I was very pleased by the agreement reached on the Roaming III Regulation. This is an example of legislation that truly benefits European citizens and consumers. The regulation entered into force on 1 July 2012. By putting a cap on data roaming, we are taking an important step towards protecting consumers against shock bills, and completing the digital single market."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata | |
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples