Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-12-12-Speech-2-045"
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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen of the European Parliament, I am delighted to be with you here today to present an assessment of the French Presidency of the Union and also to consider the progress that has been made over the last few months.
I now come to one of the most positive outcomes of the IGC. This concerns the procedure for enhanced cooperation, which has, to a large extent, been made possible under the first and third pillars. This cooperation will always be open to everyone. It will, of course, take place in full respect of Community legislation and the institutional framework. By making this cooperation more flexible, however, we are enabling it to be used properly. This therefore provides us with a guarantee that Europe will be able, no matter what happens, to forge ahead rapidly. The opening up of enhanced cooperation under the second pillar is also a step forward.
I would also highlight the fact that this IGC resulted in an extension of the powers and competences of the European Parliament. The new mechanism provided for in Article 7 on the warning procedure in the field of fundamental rights gives a major role to your institution. A new legal basis has been laid down for the status of European political parties and Parliament has been given the status of institutional plaintiff laid down under Article 230 of the Treaty. These are notable advances, even though I acknowledge that progress in extending codecision falls short of your expectations, and of those of the presidency.
Finally, in addition to the IGC, the need was felt to engage in a rigorous debate on a few issues that are crucial to the future of the European Union. The further ahead Europe moves, the greater duty we have to strengthen its democratic legitimacy, the clarity and transparency of its institutions and to clarify the distribution of competences between the Union and the Member States. Only by so doing will Europe be able to respond to the aspirations of its citizens.
With a view to achieving these objectives, a study on the future of Europe will be carried out, as decided by the European Council. The European Parliament will, of course, be closely involved in this. This study should be concluded in 2004. We will thereby be responding to the concerns that have been expressed very forcefully in recent times. This process will by no means constitute a precondition for enlargement and will therefore not delay this project. These are, in short, the results of the institutional work carried out in Nice. They will take Europe forward and I am delighted that the candidate countries have welcomed them so positively over the last few days. This positive response bears witness to the fact that we have met their expectations.
After all, enlargement is clearly the major issue facing Europe today. It is both a huge challenge and an historic milestone on the path towards the reunification of our continent. The French Presidency has lent all its support to the progress of the negotiations. Thirty new chapters were closed, including some in the most complex areas of Community legislation, and some countries, which have only just entered into negotiations, are already demonstrating their ability to catch up with the longer-standing candidates. In Nice, on the basis of the excellent work carried out by the Commission, we gave ourselves a travel permit for the next eighteen months. This is proof that the Union intends to forge ahead. This is a powerful signal, which was given a very positive welcome at the meeting of the European Conference last Thursday.
In the last six months, Europe has also made progress in the field of growth and employment. We have continued to deepen economic and monetary union, we have improved the coordination of our economic policies within the Eurogroup and have speeded up our joint preparation for the entry of the euro into the daily life of the European public. In the last three weeks, progress has been made in three major areas.
First of all, the conclusion of the long-standing and difficult negotiations on the tax package, including savings tax and, secondly, the adoption of the European Social Agenda following a lengthy consultation procedure, particularly with our social partners. The Union has thereby given itself a working programme that sets objectives and meetings for the next five years in the fields of employment law, social protection, mobility, lifelong training and the fight against discrimination and exclusion.
Finally, the adoption, not without difficulty, of the social chapter for European society took place at Nice. This is the culmination of a project that dates back thirty years. The French Presidency is delighted to have been able to unravel the threads of these negotiations.
Next, the Union has begun to implement the Feira decisions on the new economy and growth. We agreed on a significant lowering of Internet access costs. This has been done. The Union decided to divide up access to the local loop. We wanted to introduce a Community patent and the Union has given a commitment to establishing one and is including the necessary legal measures in the Treaty.
Ladies and gentlemen, France’s ambition for its presidency was also to respond to the concerns of the European public. In Nice, we proclaimed the Union’s Charter of Fundamental Rights, a text of very great political importance. Its significance will be assessed in the future and I wish to pay tribute to your Parliament which contributed so greatly to its drafting. As a result of this Charter, our Union will be stronger and have greater guarantees of the values of dignity, freedom and solidarity that are its cornerstones. We shall now echo this as widely as possible and very shortly consider its status. I realise how much importance your Parliament attaches to this Charter.
You are all familiar with our aims. I discussed them in this Chamber on 4 July. I think that we have been able to fulfil our commitments, although you will be the judges of that. I am also aware that this outcome certainly owes a great deal to the contribution made by the European Parliament. I have just returned from Nice after four days of intense negotiations, led by my Prime Minister and the members of his government. Today I join you, the representatives of the European peoples, to tell you the results of the Intergovernmental Conference on institutional reform.
Under this presidency, the Union has also given a new boost to cultural and student life in Europe. Two months ago, our Education Ministers adopted an action plan for mobility – a forty-two point action plan – and we agreed on a substantial allocation of EUR 400 million for the Media-Plus programme, which is so important for European cinema and audiovisual services and which – as you will be aware – the whole profession was hoping for.
Perhaps you remember that I mentioned in this very Chamber France’s desire to ensure that the Union took greater account of the specific characteristics of sport and its social function. This is the purpose of the declaration adopted at Nice and of the study that has been commissioned to coordinate the fight against doping at European level.
If we are to instil the adventure of European integration in people’s hearts we must also ensure that this union that we are building keeps its human face. We must preserve the things to which every citizen is legitimately attached: a familiar environment, the balance of our territories, and a good quality of life, by which I mean services of general economic interest. The presidency welcomes the fact that the discussion started within the Commission and the Council led to the adoption in Nice of a declaration that emphasises the crucial role of these services in maintaining Europe’s social and territorial cohesion.
Finally, in the course of the past six months, the presidency has firmly committed itself to making Europe respond better to the security needs of our citizens. The presidency has one ambition, which is to be more protective, in the best sense of the word.
In Nice, therefore, we laid the foundations for an independent food safety authority. The consequences of the mad cow epidemic are, of course, on everyone’s mind. What was needed first and foremost was to re-establish consumer confidence by means of immediate measures, which were vigorously advocated by France and adopted at the last Agricultural Council, such as the ban on meat meal in animal feedingstuffs and the widespread use of screening tests for BSE. Nor should we forget breeders and all the professions in the cattle industry that have been profoundly affected by this crisis and we have clearly highlighted this fact.
Something else that is also on everyone’s mind is maritime safety. A year ago, the
ran aground off the French coast and despite the amazing mobilisation of charities and the authorities, the coast is still suffering the consequences of this shipwreck. A few weeks ago, the chemicals tanker, the
sank just off the Channel Islands. There must be no more occurrences of this type of disaster, which is caused by human negligence.
Over the last few months, the study of the Commission’s excellent proposals has made considerable progress. Your Parliament gave a firm commitment, on 30 November, to a preliminary package of measures which, next week, will be submitted once again to our Transport Ministers. The Swedish Presidency, one of whose priorities, I would remind you, is the environment, now has the task of concluding the second batch of proposals, which includes in particular, the creation of a European maritime safety agency. As a quite exceptional case and in view of the urgency of the situation, the Nice Council urged the Member States to implement, in advance and as a preliminary stage, the aspects of this mechanism which will be subject to a political agreement.
As everyone knows, another threat we face is global warming. At the Hague, the European Union rallied together to reach a credible and effective agreement, in line with the urgency and the importance of the issue. We were able to demonstrate our coherence on the Kyoto commitments. We will ceaselessly continue our efforts to convince our partners to commit themselves too. Next year, we are due to conclude an agreement which will finally stipulate the necessary reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
The Union has also made progress in the fight against organised crime: we now have a directive on the fight against money-laundering, concerted action has been taken against non-cooperating countries and territories identified by the Financial Action Task Force, Europol’s competences have been extended to the fight against dirty money and a European Police College has been created. These are the main aspects of a coherent and broad range of measures.
This is the backdrop against which the provisional judicial cooperation unit “Eurojust” was created, foreshadowing the body for judicial cooperation in criminal matters whose creation, due to take place next year, is already included in the Treaty.
The stakes were high and we feel satisfied that we reached an agreement that would have been impossible three years ago. We feel satisfied that we overcame the difficulties blocking the path towards the much sought-after aim of fulfilling the commitments that were given at Helsinki to the candidate countries without destroying the Union, of enabling tomorrow’s Europe to continue to function effectively. I think I can say that we met these conditions.
I am quite aware that the Treaty of Nice does not fulfil all of the European Parliament’s desires, but I do believe that this treaty is the best agreement possible, given the existing constraints. It responds to the challenge we were presented with, which was to provide the Union with the ability to take decisions and to act once Europe has gone ahead with enlargement on an unprecedented scale. It is a balanced agreement and although the negotiations were tough, as you know, there were neither winners nor losers.
In Amsterdam, three and a half years ago, it proved impossible to achieve the tricky balance between being representative and being effective. We were able to achieve this at Nice, as a result of the efforts made by all the Member States. It must be said that some agreed to make more of an effort than others and we must pay tribute to them for that. We must also pay tribute to the European spirit, which finally enabled us to leave Nice having resolved those issues left over from Amsterdam and having paved the way for the future.
As we promised, there are no leftovers from Nice. We were concerned that the Commission should remain a strong institution within the Union, capable of making ambitious proposals. In deciding to abolish a second Commissioner, and in deciding on a varying upper limit for the number of Commissioners when there are less than 27, with a scrupulously fair system of rotation, the Treaty of Nice guarantees both the Commission’s task of embodying the interests of the Union and also its effectiveness.
This effectiveness will also be achieved by means of the new powers that have been given to the President, who will now be elected by qualified majority, which constitutes real progress. I know that Parliament considered the number of areas in which qualified majority voting will apply to be one of the priorities of these negotiations. This also proved to be one of the thorniest issues, but progress was made. I am talking about real progress, even if it does not go as far as the presidency – which, I should point out, has shown great openness at national level – would have wished.
When you consider the results of the Nice Summit, I would ask you not to underestimate what has been achieved. Thirty or so additional measures were switched to qualified majority voting and we made progress on justice and home affairs, external trade and cohesion, all chapters about which several Member States had major reservations at the beginning of the negotiations. The presidency regretted the fact that the same consensus could not be achieved in the fields of taxation and social affairs.
The agreement reached on the issue of the number of Member States’ votes within the Council is a balanced one. Reweighting was made necessary by enlargement, but it also takes account of the legitimate concern to see Member States with a smaller population continuing to make their full contribution to the workings of the Union, a contribution that is crucial. I would add that the democratic legitimacy of the Council’s decisions will be guaranteed and that the Council will be able to function properly. The mechanisms that are implemented, be they the demographic verification clause or the so-called “majority of States” clause, will not affect the Union’s decision-making abilities."@en1
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