Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-05-14-Speech-3-121"
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"en.20030514.5.3-121"2
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"Mr President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, ladies and gentlemen, the Commission made a detailed statement to this House about the New Neighbours Initiative back on 11 March, and to be honest not very much has happened since then that I can report to you. The Member States have begun dealing with this subject in the Council, and Mr Yiannitsis has just reported on that in some detail. We have discussed this subject with the future Member States, and there has been the very laudable initiative of the Greek Presidency, in connection with the signing of the enlargement treaty in Athens, to discuss this subject with those partner states that will be affected by this New Neighbours Initiative in the course of a European Conference.
I am delighted to tell you that responses to this were thoroughly positive, so we can assume that this initiative can rely on a sufficient level of political support across the board. The starting point for our proposals on a new neighbourhood policy is of course enlargement, but now is not the time to discuss the membership prospects of our new neighbours. What we need for the coming decade is above all a differentiated strategy for intensive good-neighbourly relations that is not linked with any statement about the question of accession. It is our intention to export the stability, security and prosperity that we have created and hope to build upon in the enlarged European Union. President Prodi has already described this objective as a ‘ring of friends’ surrounding us, a ring extending from Russia to Morocco. This will allow us to share with our partners much of what makes the European Union what it is, not least the common market and its rules, our Community programmes and political dialogue, but not our internal institutions.
The Commission has already explained that the countries of the western Balkans and also Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey are not included in this ring, and why that is. These countries already have prospects for future membership, and in the case of Romania and Bulgaria this already involves a specific time frame.
It goes without saying that the intensity and pace at which relations between the EU and individual countries develop will depend on the capabilities and ambitions of the individual partner states. But in this case too, as for enlargement, the principle of differentiation will play an important part. We therefore want to work out an action plan with each individual country based on experience and our present treaty commitments. These action plans will set out our common road map, and will contain objectives, timetables, modalities and monitoring mechanisms binding both sides in the same way. It will emerge from this process whether or not we need new treaty instruments. However, it is in any case intended that work should proceed under the existing partnership and cooperation agreements, and should not be delayed by the prospect of further agreements in the future.
Where do we stand at present with this project? Well, for the time being, in conjunction with the candidate countries and the partner states, we are making our contribution to the discussions and conclusions planned in the Council. We have held our first exploratory talks with Ukraine and Moldova, so as to pave the way for the necessary cooperation. For the EU-Ukraine Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, both sides have jointly produced a detailed analysis of what has been achieved and have jointly determined what further steps are required. Internally, within the Commission that is, we are now in the process of working out the basic planks of the action plans. Each national plan must relate to a comprehensive and coherent framework covering all areas. It must be possible to measure how this has been implemented in practice against predetermined criteria, so that the progress reports envisaged can be drawn up. So you will see that we want to make use of an instrument that has already very much proved its worth during the enlargement process.
We are developing the basis of a new financial instrument and although we have already outlined the general purposes of this instrument, we still need to define it more precisely and to establish the planning principles and the overall financial envelope. We intend to bring forward a special communication on this subject in the autumn. We should then be in a position to start on the practical work, as soon as we have been given the necessary political green light. As you have heard, the Presidency is working on that and the Presidency's approach has the Commission's full support.
Parliament's contribution to the further debate will not only be significant but will also carry weight. The representatives of the people in our partner states must play their part in contributing to further progress. We can take it that the parliaments of the partner states will attach great importance to the views of the European Parliament, and I would also be grateful if the Members of the European Parliament would use their contacts to enter into an intensive dialogue and exchange of experience with parliamentarians in the partner states.
That is why I am very pleased that the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy has already appointed a rapporteur and had its first discussion on this. I wish Mrs Napoletano every success with her task, and I would like to assure her that she can totally rely on the full support and cooperation of the Commission in her work."@en1
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