Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-10-09-Speech-4-054"
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"en.20031009.5.4-054"2
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"Ladies and gentlemen, I shall now switch over to English.
How else can the Commission remain a collegial institution that represents the common interests of all its Member States?
Another manifestation of the EU’s deep-rooted principle of equality can be seen in the rotating presidency of the Council of Ministers, which Latvia believes should remain one of the Council’s primary features. This rotating presidency provides each Member State, regardless of its size, with the invaluable opportunity to lead and to coordinate the work of the EU.
The principle of equality among the EU’s Member States is also manifest in several other close forms of European integration, including that of monetary policy – with the implementation of the euro – and that of internal affairs and justice – through the Schengen Agreement. These aspects of EU membership must remain open to all Member States, regardless of the number of inhabitants each country may have or the extent of financial resources at its disposal.
In this regard Latvia has carefully considered the Convention’s proposals concerning a common European defence policy. We believe that all Member States must have an equal say in the adoption of decisions that concern our continent’s security. In Latvia’s opinion, the division of the EU’s constituent Members as a function of their military capabilities would not be conducive to the cohesiveness of the European Union.
Latvia shares the common wish of the EU’s current and future Member States to create a strong and united European Union. It is therefore essential for the EU to work as effectively as possible, to make full use of its existing institutions, and to precisely define the functions of any new institutions that are to be created. Any division of competences between the President of the European Council, the President of the European Commission and the Foreign Minister of the European Union must be clear and quite unambiguous. Otherwise we run the risk of undermining the existing institutional balance of the EU. If the post of President of the European Council is eventually created, then Latvia believes that his or her principal mandate must lie in coordinating the internal work of the Council and in preparing the agenda of the Council’s meetings. In other words, the new Council President should undertake those tasks that up until now have been performed by the Prime Minister of the EU’s presiding country.
Since both the President of the European Council and the Foreign Minister of the European Union will represent the EU internationally, we must ensure that their mandates do not overlap. There must be no doubts whatever about when the Foreign Minister can act on his or her own initiative, and when he or she must consult with the Council of Ministers.
In order for the European Union to operate with a maximum degree of efficiency, it must be equipped with simple and straightforward decision-making procedures. Latvia supports the Convention’s proposal to implement a double majority voting system within the European Council and Council of Ministers. This uncomplicated scheme, where each country is accorded one vote, would also be easily understood by the EU’s inhabitants, unlike the qualified voting system as defined in the Treaty of Nice.
However, Latvia believes that the double majority voting system would manifest itself most effectively with the implementation of parity between the majority of countries and the majority of inhabitants, involving at least half of the EU’s Member States and half of its inhabitants.
Regarding the future number of Members of the European Parliament, Latvia firmly believes that it would not be desirable to reduce the minimum number of Members representing any one country from five to four. Such a measure would significantly reduce the ability of Latvia and other smaller EU Member States to take part in the European Parliament’s decision-making process.
Latvia would like a strong, integrated and united Europe to assume a more prominent role in the international community. We hope that the EU’s Foreign Minister will prove successful in consolidating a common European foreign and security policy, while simultaneously maintaining Europe’s close partnership with North America. Regardless of the differences in opinion that have arisen between several European countries and the United States concerning the crisis in Iraq and other issues, we all share the same fundamental values and ideals, which we must protect by acting together. After all, it is precisely due to this close transatlantic partnership that peace and stability have been maintained in Europe since the end of the Second World War.
The expanded European Union of 25 Member States will be able to flourish and prosper only if the world’s democracies remain united in the defence of their common ideals.
Latvia wholeheartedly advocates the assumption of greater responsibility by the EU in ensuring worldwide peace and security, and believes that the new European security strategy is a step in the right direction. EU crisis control operations have already demonstrated the European Union’s ability to contribute to multilateral security-enhancing efforts. Nevertheless, any comprehensive and serious measures to enhance Europe’s security should continue to be undertaken to the fullest possible extent in partnership with the United States and Europe’s other NATO allies.
The insidious security threats posed by terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, collapsing states and internecine conflict demand a united response by those countries that abide by the principles of democracy and human rights. The EU and NATO Member States, together with their allies, have experienced considerable success in the implementation of joint peace-keeping operations, and have greatly contributed to the re-establishment of peace and stability in the Balkan region. The development of a common European Security and Defence Policy would provide the EU with the additional potential to enhance its cooperation in international peace-keeping and other security operations.
The forthcoming expansion of the European Union underscores the importance of the EU’s relations with its current and future eastern neighbours. The foreign policy of the new and expanded Union must therefore endeavour to enhance the security and promote the prosperity of the EU’s border regions. Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Poland will soon become direct focal points of the EU’s trade and other relations with Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. In developing the EU’s relationships with these three countries, we must provide as much support as possible to democratic reform processes within each of them.
The involvement of Russia in European processes is essential both for the Baltic Sea region and for Europe as a whole. While the relations between Latvia and Russia have sometimes been strained in the past, the positive changes that have already occurred with the expansion of the EU and the NATO Alliance in the Baltic Sea region provide a good basis for a continued rapprochement between Russia and her immediate western neighbours. Latvia certainly wishes to promote increased cooperation between the EU and Russia at the practical pragmatic level.
Besides helping to reduce economic disparities within Latvia’s own national borders, the EU’s expansion eastward, together with the accession of the three Baltic States to the NATO Alliance next year, will have an enormous political and economic impact on the whole Baltic Sea Region, significantly improving its overall investment and business appeal. The union of old and new democracies, of mature and emerging markets, of established structures and new alliances, is going to become a strength and not a weakness.
However, the European Union faces one major challenge – that of reducing the large economic disparities that still exist between the EU’s current and future Member States, and to do so as rapidly as possible. For it is only once the distinction between old and new Europe is eliminated, at least with regard to economic development and wellbeing, that the European Union will be truly and fully complete.
One course of action that the EU candidate countries can take to reduce the discrepancies between 'old' and 'new' is to adopt developmental models that have already proven to be successful. They can learn from both the successes and the mistakes made by the EU’s current Members in order to make full use of the assistance available from Brussels. The mechanisms that the EU is able to deploy for reducing regional disparities are undeniably effective. Its equalisation programmes and development funds have produced viable and tangible results, and have greatly contributed to raising the standard of living of one new Member State after the other, including Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Greece.
The future Members of the EU, including Latvia, have been enjoying remarkably high rates of growth in recent years, as well as healthy increases in trade and investment flows. Nevertheless, most of them still need to continue with the hard work of reforming their institutions, building their administrative capacity, implementing EU norms and fighting corruption throughout the early years of their Euro-integration. This will require serious, focused and continuing efforts on the part of their governments. The rate of progress achieved will depend on the intensity of the effort put forth and on the strength of the political will exercised by each new EU Member State.
Ladies and gentlemen, with the Intergovernmental Conference just under way, it is a true pleasure to see that the EU’s new Member States are participating as full members, and that Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey are also sitting at the negotiating table as observers. We in Latvia see this important gesture as a sign that the principle of equality will remain a primary basis of cooperation among the countries of the European Union. Europe cannot be divided into large and small, old and new, or rich and poor member countries.
For Latvia, one fundamental aspect of the principle of equality lies in each country’s right to nominate a Member of the European Commission. We believe that all Commissioners, without exception, must be equal in every respect, and that all should have the right to vote."@en1
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