Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-11-21-Speech-3-433-000"
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"en.20121121.27.3-433-000"2
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"Mr President, I am honoured to speak to you today in accordance with the Treaty on the Common and Security and Defence Policy on behalf of the High Representative. The four parliamentary reports we are discussing are timely and relevant; they reflect the world we live in, where an action in a far corner of the world could have an impact in our home town.
The European Union and Member States are leading international efforts to enhance climate security by initiating policy dialogue, including at the UN Security Council level and in its bilateral relations and by supporting concrete initiatives in the fields of climate risk management and adaptation. One example is the Global Climate Change Alliance, which has a strong focus on climate adaptation in the most climate vulnerable regions of the world. Another area of work relates to the solidarity clause, which is designed for situations of major emergencies affecting the Member States. The European External Action Service and the Commission are currently working on a joint proposal to implement the clause.
The report presented by Mr Paşcu is again very timely. We concur with the main lines of the report. I would like to underline some points which seem particularly important to us. As far as structures and procedures are concerned, the EU needs to possess crisis response structures with 24/7 monitoring and response capacity, able to provide early warning and up-to-date situation awareness to all relevant actors on all types of hazards and crises or disasters. The European Union situation room and the Commission’s monitoring and information centre are ready to support the process. Also revised EU emergency and crisis coordination arrangements are suitable in this context. Responding at EU political level in a coherent, efficient and timely way to crises of such a scale and nature requires one single set of arrangements.
The four reports at hand today, on a variety of topics, all relate to European security, both internal and external. We look forward to continuing our work with you in our joint efforts to protect the security of our citizens and make the European Union an increasingly effective contributor to global peace and security. I am really looking forward to the forthcoming debate and to your comments.
They demonstrate that our security is interconnected in various ways. Hence I would like to express my appreciation for the amount of work which lies behind these four reports and for their quality. Your suggestions and recommendations are important to us and we are happy to have Parliament on our side as our partner but also as a fair critic. With three new missions on the ground in the Sahel, South Sudan and Horn of Africa and with two more under preparation, for Mali and Libya, we have seen some dynamic developments over the past year. We have also seen clear results from our efforts.
The number of pirate attacks off the Horn of Africa has shrunk significantly. There have only been five successful attacks this year compared to 25 last year and 47 in 2010. Security inside Somalia has also improved and the government has now extended its power over a great part of its territory previously ruled by Al-Shabaab. EUTM Somalia played an important role in this positive development as 3000 Somali soldiers will be trained by the end of this year and they are taking up their responsibility for Somalia’s security.
But despite these tangible results we must not become complacent. The High Representative has said this on numerous occasions and it is worth repeating: we must continue to resource our missions and operations properly and we must continue working towards the goals we have set out for our ongoing missions and our operations. The people that we send into the field are doing a tremendous job often in very dangerous and difficult environments. We are very grateful for their work and for their dedication. Our missions are effective and their results are sustainable only if they are part of a comprehensive approach. The example of the Horn of Africa is a good illustration of our approach. In the Horn, we employ policies and instruments in a consistent and mutually reinforcing manner. In addition to the three CSP operations and on the basis of a jointly agreed strategic framework for the region, there is strong political engagement, support for AMISOM through the African Peace Facility, development cooperation and humanitarian aid.
We also work very closely with a variety of partners, which increases our impact and also leads to a better use of our resources. The comprehensive approach is about defining a correct policy mix and the proper sequencing of instruments, both at EU level and with Member States. It is about overall consistency in our external relations, about bringing security to populations affected by conflict and alleviating poverty. As we are stepping up operational engagement in new crisis areas such as the Sahel, we must continue working in a comprehensive manner.
Let me now turn to capabilities. The CSDP allows the European Union to act, but to act we must have capabilities. Member States provide these capabilities and we all know that the financial crisis is putting a heavy burden on national budgets. Defence capabilities are particularly affected. This is why our work on pooling and sharing is so important. Synergies with wider European policies, research and development, dual use and the defence industry are also crucial.
These themes are prominent in the report by Mr Danjean. Both topics were on the agenda of the Council of Ministers of Defence on 19 November 2012 and Member States are taking a great interest. You are all aware that the President of the European Council has decided to put defence on the agenda of the European Council at the end of December 2013. This offers a very good opportunity to address these challenges at the highest political level.
There are some common themes in the four reports: the need for comprehensiveness, close coordination in-house, but also with partners, full use of the post-Lisbon set up, better use of resources and the efficiency of our efforts. Indeed, in these trying economic times, these cannot be stressed enough.
Cyber security is a case in point. The report by Mr Kelam sets out the imminent need for stepping up EU-wide preventive measures and to improve horizontal cooperation within the EU institutions and agencies. We also need to bolster public-private partnerships in cyber security. The European External Action Service and the Commission are preparing a joint Commission-EEAS communication on EU cyber security to ensure the adequate level of cyber security preparedness, also looking at cyber defence capabilities and training, as well as a coherent international cyber policy for the European Union. We have already started active international cyber security cooperation, with an emphasis on the United States and on emerging markets as well as NATO, the United Nations, OECD, OSCE and other international organisations. They need to enhance collective knowledge of climate-related security challenges, as set out in the report by Mr Tarand. Indeed, it is necessary to pursue efforts at EU and Member State level, as well as in dialogue with external partners and civil society to identify climate security needs and to further strengthen our understanding of interlinkages between climate change development, environmental degradation, natural resources, migration or conflict. The challenge is to enhance early warning and move to early preventive action."@en1
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