Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-04-12-Speech-3-054"
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"en.20000412.2.3-054"2
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"But it will soon be time for a decision to be taken, and, on behalf of the Commission, I would like to put forward three points for consideration.
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, let me conclude by repeating that I and President Romano Prodi are prepared to continue and intensify these joint discussions so that, together with the Council, indeed all together, we will succeed in achieving a genuine reform at the end of this year. As the Conference progresses, I believe it will become ever more necessary for us to take concerted joint action.
The first point concerns European defence. Since the Cologne Council, and in particular the Helsinki Council, the necessary structures are being set up, on an interim basis, within the Council’s General Secretariat. As provided for by the Treaty of Amsterdam, the Union is now preparing to carry out the Petersberg tasks and missions, i.e. humanitarian and evacuation missions, peace-keeping, crisis-management and, where necessary, peace-making missions.
Discussions are under way on relations between the European Union and Nato. The European Union Defence Ministers met on 28 February. The first working documents have now been drafted on civil crisis management. So we can see some progress and certainly a political will to move forward. My friend and fellow Commissioner, Chris Patten, can confirm this assessment of the situation as regards these questions. In a few weeks’ time, the European Council in Feira will have to decide whether the Treaty should be amended with a view to building on the guidelines of the Helsinki European Council.
Our group of representatives has not considered these questions yet, but let me share a few ideas with you. Ladies and gentlemen, after matters relating to justice and the police, a security and defence policy is without doubt the last major common policy we have to establish. The existing Treaty, as amended at Amsterdam, has enabled us to make significant progress. We can see that today. But can we resolve everything purely within the framework of that Treaty? Let us leave aside, for today, the question of future of the WEU Treaty with the collective defence commitment it contains and the different statutes of the EU Member States and of Nato and WEU member countries.
Looking only at the Petersberg tasks, I do not think the European Council has given enough thought to the organisation within the Union of a political authority that will give instructions to the chain of command that is being set up. It may be that, before it concludes, the Intergovernmental Conference will have to consider the structures and appropriateness of the existing Treaty. I do not have all the answers to this question but I think it needs to be asked, and to be asked in the context of the Conference. I think it would be premature to close this file at Feira. Instead, President Gama, I hope the presidency will give an even stronger political impetus on the question of defence.
My second point concerns the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the EU’s democratic values. The negotiating body is making good progress, or so we are told by Antonio Vitorino who is representing the Commission in it. The interest that is being shown in this draft Charter and the support for its incorporation in the Treaty confirm what I regard as the need to reaffirm, over and over again, the fundamental values of the EU, to set down once and for all the principles shared by all the citizens of Europe. It is the same need that inspired your Parliament’s report drafted by Mr Duff and Mr Voggenhuber. One could say that these principles are self-evident. But, as we know, what seems self-evident sometimes still needs reasserting, for all the existing Member States and for those that want to join us, because democracy and respect for citizens’ rights are never won once and for all, but need to be fought for and defended again and again.
Your Parliament has considered these questions, as it has considered the existing Treaty provisions that would penalise any violation of the fundamental principles of the Union. The Commission is prepared for this debate, which I believe is a necessary one, provided we keep it clear of any polemics.
My third and final point concerns the reorganisation of the Treaties. The report before you discusses the constitutionalisation of the Treaties or, as we sometimes rather more modestly term it, the reorganisation of the Treaties. That is a question of terminology. Let me say a few words on this. The Commission, as you know, has asked the Robert Schuman Institute in Florence to carry out a feasibility study on separating the Treaties into two parts: the essential provisions on the one hand and the applied provisions on the other. This work is making good progress and I hope to be able to tell you the outcome soon. But just as a mountain grows larger the closer you approach it, let me stress that this exercise involves major technical and legal difficulties.
The Treaties are not complicated in the sense of deliberately wanting to discourage the reader; they are complicated because the expression of the common resolve of 6, 9, 10, 12 or 15 Member States, over the efforts of 40 years, is not a linear operation, nor is it always as logical and simple as might be imagined after the fact, unless you start again from scratch. But who would seriously suggest that? We have to start out from what we have. We must seek the best while remaining within the realm of the possible. Then, if this reorganisation of the Treaties proves possible and convincing – as I personally believe it will – it will be time to examine the procedures for amending these restructured texts. But the Commission wants to proceed one step at a time and for the time being we are sticking to the pragmatic and meticulous job of reorganisation. I hope to present the results in May."@en1
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