Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-01-14-Speech-2-138"
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"en.20030114.5.2-138"2
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Mr President, honourable Members of the European Parliament, Mr President of the Commission, ladies and gentlemen, I am both honoured and delighted to be here today, in my role as President-in-Office of the European Council, to present the priorities of the Greek Presidency. As chairman of various Councils in the past, I have been involved in proceedings with the European Parliament and have appreciated at first hand how useful and indispensable this dialogue is.
We also aim to develop relations with the countries of the Western Balkans, so that they can join the process and accede to the European Union at a later date.
I should like to comment at this point on the question of Cyprus. We want Cyprus to join the European Union as a united country. We want it to overcome and resolve its political problem. We want the two communities to share a common future and enjoy the benefits accession has to offer. We felt right from the start that the Annan plan gave Cyprus a chance to resolve its political problem. We have been working along these lines and we hope that a solution will be found by 28 February. Whatever happens, Cyprus will accede to the Union, as agreed in Copenhagen, although the way will still be left clear for the Cyprus problem to be resolved and the
to be applied to the whole island.
Our second priority is to reform the European economy and promote social cohesion. The spring summit in 2003 will be held in a political and economic climate beset with both problems and opportunities. The introduction of the euro last year was an historic process. We believe that, although progress has been made, the Lisbon strategy is now more topical than ever. We need to implement the economic decisions taken over recent years which we have not done enough to promote. This is a vital opportunity to update the European economic and social model.
Ladies and gentlemen, we shall be working on six issues. First, macro-economic policy; we want a reliable European economic policy, an intergovernmental economic policy in Europe.
Secondly, we want to create more and better jobs. This will help to consolidate social solidarity and cohesion. It is important that we review the European Employment Strategy and a debate on the subject will allow us to make more of the social pillar in the Lisbon strategy.
Our third aim within the Lisbon framework is to encourage entrepreneurship and support small enterprises. The presidency sets great store by support for entrepreneurship, which is important to economic development, not to mention employment and regional development.
Our fourth aim is to build up the European economy of knowledge and innovation, because we cannot achieve the Lisbon objectives unless we develop knowledge and technology. As you all know, a number of issues are still pending, such as the Community patent, and we intend to try and wrap them up.
The presidency will also be tackling other issues, such as developing research in cutting-edge technologies, including defence research.
Our fifth aim is to improve links within Europe, by which I mean full and operational liberalisation of the energy and transport markets, extending the trans-European energy and transport networks, promoting the single services market and unifying the financial markets.
Our sixth aim is to safeguard future prosperity through sustainability. This mainly means reviewing the Union’s strategy on sustainable development in the light of the outcome of the world summit in Johannesburg. We want to make more of the Union’s leading role in environmental protection. So much, ladies and gentlemen, for our second set of priorities which relates to the Lisbon strategy.
The Greek Presidency plans to cooperate with Parliament to the maximum possible extent at all levels. It plans to cooperate not merely as a formality, but because cooperation is, I believe, a necessary and fundamental factor in achieving our joint objectives. We shall grab every possible opportunity for fruitful cooperation between us. Greece is one of the countries which believes that developing the European Union will help to strengthen the role and authority of the European Parliament.
Our third set of priorities covers the sensitive issue of immigration, illegal immigration, external borders and asylum. We all know that immigration in one form or another has now taken on such proportions that we are forced to act. And we need to act in two directions. We need to ensure that the Union becomes a genuine area of freedom, justice and security for its citizens, free from any form of organised crime, xenophobia and racism. That it becomes a multicultural area of understanding for man’s problems, that we fight the causes of problems such as poverty, falling living standards and political suppression. We hope here to adopt directives on the reunification of families of long-standing immigrants. In the asylum sector, we want to push ahead with directives such as directives on refugees. The second strand in our action on immigration will be to protect the Member States of the European Union from illegal immigration, share out the costs of protecting our common external borders more equitably, promote repatriation policies and speed up negotiations on readmission agreements.
Our fourth set of priorities concerns a matter which has already taken up a great deal of our time and energy. The future of Europe. We believe that the enlargement of Europe should go hand in glove with greater European unification. Our institutional system needs efficient, democratic functions and policies which reach our citizens. The question is: what route will the Convention on the future of Europe take and how will this fit in with the work of the presidency? As you may remember, the Copenhagen European Council decided that the Convention should complete its work before the European Council in June and that, at the spring European Council, we should focus on the institutional aspects of the future of Europe. So we hope to achieve three main objectives at these two Councils:
First, we want to carry out a review without taking any decisions, because that would prejudge the outcome of the Convention.
Secondly, we intend to hold a substantive debate on the outcome of this work at the June Council and set the starting and/or the finishing date for the work of the new Intergovernmental Conference, because some Member States have already expressed a wish for an interim period and we will need some time between when it starts and the June summit.
Thirdly, we want to lay down the remit for the Intergovernmental Conference; in other words we need to be prepared at the end of June for subsequent procedures as and when they start.
Our fifth set of priorities concerns the Union’s international profile and strengthening its role on the international stage. The European Union has proceeded in leaps and bounds with its common security and defence policy. What we now need is to ensure that we have full operational readiness in the crisis management sector by developing our military and non-military capabilities. We therefore intend to concentrate on achieving the general military objective and finalising permanent arrangements for collaboration between the ΕU and ΝΑΤΟ. We are keen to ensure that European operations in Bosnia Herzgovina and the FYROM, which will be the first field test of the European Union's operational readiness, are properly prepared and executed. Over and above this defence policy, we need to examine relations with the Union’s neighbours in order to ensure that no new divisions are created. A summit meeting with Russia is scheduled to take place in St Petersburg in May, attended by the countries of the Western Balkans, the Ukraine, the Caucasus and the Mediterranean, and we shall be attaching great importance to Mediterranean cooperation.
We may have to deal with war with Iraq over coming months. We hope not. We want peace. However, we are giving this issue our utmost attention, and rightly so; it is one of our priorities. We want to work and we shall work for peace and a peaceful resolution to any differences. We trust efforts by the UN will have a positive outcome. The will and the resolutions of the United Nations must prevail.
Iraq has to respect and apply Security Council resolutions. The presidency wants to speak for Europe as a union of countries with a common, strong voice and opinions. Safeguarding international stability, wiping out the threat of weapons of mass destruction and peace are common virtues; they are what we are all striving towards and the countries of the European Union need a clear common policy along these lines.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is an historic phase in the ongoing development of Europe. All of us, the Council, Parliament, the Commission and our citizens, are expected to help with this phase. To support the move towards European integration, to a Europe of the 25 and/or more Member States, a Europe constructed and developed on the basis of our common values, the values which have informed our actions over the past fifty years. A Europe which creates the potential for everyone to grow and prosper, which strengthens every country’s society, and which promotes cohesion and solidarity. A Europe which, in a multipolar global system, works for peace, cooperation and justice.
We need to break our old habit of having different countries saying different things and seeking different objectives. It is not easy but we must fight for it.
Ladies and gentlemen, I should like to finish by commenting briefly on two or three matters of particular interest to the European Parliament.
First, the status of MEPs. A great deal of work has been done and we have spent a fair amount of time discussing this. I think this issue is ripe for a final solution and we shall endeavour to reach a solution at the European Council in Thessaloniki.
Secondly, the interinstitutional agreement on improving European Union legislation, which has done a great deal to improve the quality of legislation. We hope that there will be agreement here too during our presidency.
Thirdly, and lastly, we shall endeavour to complete the rules on European political parties, which are well overdue.
I have commented on a number of central issues, although there are a great many other important issues. There is too little time to talk about the review of the CAP, the development of the European defence industry or measures on safety at sea, which many of us are working on.
We want the Greek Presidency to give extra momentum to the development of the Union. We want to strengthen every aspect of the Union and convince our citizens that Europe is close to them, that it embraces them all in a society of values and that it offers everyone a common future.
Mr President, honourable Members of the European Parliament, I look forward to the best possible collaboration with you. The success of the presidency depends on it. The success of the European Union depends on it. So let us put our heads together and deal with the problems.
Working in this direction is not our only responsibility. It is important that we make these policies convincing, that we convince people that the Europe we are building is focused on caring for its nations and citizens and ensuring that everyone shares a common future in a community of values.
The presidency’s programme has not been planned solely to meet the challenge of the ongoing development of Europe; it has also been planned to meet the challenge posed by today’s international economic climate, the global recession and all the sources of insecurity waiting to ambush our societies: the lack of competitiveness and stability in the economy, unemployment, social exclusion and so on and so forth. We need to respond to this insecurity with decisive action, to hit at the heart of individual and collective insecurity and to create a more rational, a fairer and freer living environment which offers everyone more opportunity. At the same time, we need to turn our attention to the international crises that create insecurity. International crises which originate in the fragile states on the fringes of the Union, international crises rooted in the Middle East, international crises caused by international terrorism. What we need is a Europe which has a constant presence and speaks with one clear voice on the international stage.
Ladies and gentlemen, under the decisions taken in Seville, we were required to plan the Greek Presidency in collaboration with the next presidency, the Italian Presidency, so that an annual operational action programme could be formulated. We did precisely that and I should like to comment on our five main sets of priorities.
It goes without saying that our first priority post Copenhagen is enlargement. We need to continue with all the basic, procedural arrangements so that the accession treaties can be signed in Athens on 16 April. Your role is paramount in these arrangements because the European Parliament has to assent to the accession of the new Member States.
At the same time, we shall continue negotiations with Bulgaria and Romania in application of the new pre-accession strategy for these two countries. Our aim is to keep to the timetable for their accession in 2007.
We shall be actively working on Turkey’s progress towards accession. Greece believes that Turkey should take its place in Europe on the basis of the decisions already taken by the European Councils. We must give Turkey the opportunity to carry out the reforms its country needs. That is why the Copenhagen European Council decided to follow a strategy, a plan aimed at starting accession negotiations with Turkey. The next two years will be crucial here. Greece, both as the country holding the presidency and as a Member State, wants to help with this new process, which is why one of our objectives is to draft a new partnership agreement with Turkey."@en1
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