Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-11-15-Speech-2-072"
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"en.20051115.7.2-072"2
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".
Mr President, I will start by making a few general comments, and I will then try to answer the specific questions that I have been asked.
Coming to the concerns expressed by many of you, especially Mr Crowley, regarding agriculture and the multilateral negotiations, I can assure you that Europe will not allow itself to be forced into a defensive position in this context. We do not think that we need to take any more lessons on the opening up of markets from those whose markets are much more closed than ours, which is one of the most open markets in the world, if not the most open. We will be there to defend the interests of Europe.
Children’s rights were also a problematic matter brought to our attention by Mr Crowley. We are fully committed to this agenda. Vice-President Frattini is now preparing proposals – to be discussed in the Commission very soon – for a communication that we hope to present in March 2006. Admittedly, the legal basis for legislation in this matter is not very clear, but we believe that we should not refrain from looking forward to better coordination between the European Union and Member States on children’s rights. You can count on our commitment to children’s rights and on all issues relating to civic rights, including the non-discrimination concerns that you have expressed.
I should like to comment on Mr Rasmussen’s remarks. We agree that we need both elements: economic reform and investment. Indeed, we are starting to do that, and Hampton Court was a first important step in that direction. Member States, at the highest level, agreed there that we should now choose some specific areas for investment and a coordinated approach at European Union level, trying to combine the European Union level with the Member State level, for instance on energy and research.
We now have some areas in which we can give a strong signal of commitment and a coordinated approach towards economic governance in Europe. We agree on that. The difficulty, Mr Rasmussen and colleagues, is largely that we are now working in the last year of the financial perspectives for this period. Now it is impossible to rearrange all the priorities for this year. As regards our analysis of the national reform programmes of the Member States, what we are doing now and – I promise this to you – what we will be doing is within the framework of the new Lisbon Strategy; we are trying to forge ahead not only based on an approach that reinforces our efforts in terms of economic and structural reform, but also based on a more common and integrated approach for investment so that we can boost growth and employment in Europe. I want to underline it because it is a good example of an approach at European Union level bringing added value to the efforts of the Member States. This idea of partnership between the Member States, the Commission and Parliament is the very basis on which we want to continue working with you for a renewed, stronger, more committed European Union project.
First of all, I am delighted, as Mr Daul said in his capacity as Chairman of the Conference of Committee Chairman, at the cooperation that has been established between the Commission, on the one hand, and Parliament and its various committees, on the other, during the preparation of this work programme. This is important, because we have endeavoured to respond to many of your expectations. We must recognise, as one Member of this Parliament said, that this has resulted in 96 specific measures. You thought that this was too many, but, listening to you all this morning, it seems that some of you would have liked even more. On this subject, we must be honest. We must reach a balance, and this balance means that, whilst setting ourselves clear priorities – and we have clear priorities for the renewed Lisbon Strategy – we must respond to the very varied nature of the expectations expressed here in our discussions with you.
I have called on the Commission as a whole and all of the commissioners to be serious, realistic and objective in preparing this programme. I want a much higher implementation rate than in the past, and I am proud to be able to tell you that, this year, we are already going to achieve a much higher implementation rate than in the past with regard to the Commission’s work. We have concentrated on certain objectives that we really want to achieve. Of course, our general programme extends over five years. We are now going to present the programme for 2006. Not everything will be achieved in 2006, but what I would ask is that you analyse our work in terms of realistic, concrete objectives.
I would also like to thank you for the generally favourable reception that our initiative on ‘better regulation’ has received. This is a concern, as has just been said, that is not restricted to the Commission, but must be shared by all the institutions, including Parliament.
Now, ladies and gentlemen, I will turn to your specific questions. With regard to the sustainable development strategy, Mr Jonckheer, I must tell you that it is not my poor child, quite the opposite. When, at Gleneagles, I, on behalf of the European Commission, submitted to our US partners and to others the importance of climate change as a major priority, it was certainly not a poor child to which I was referring. When we announce a new strategy for sustainable development, which we are going to present in December, that also shows our commitment to this problem. When we adopt, as we have just done, a set of thematic strategies for the environment, that once again shows our commitment to environmental protection. That, therefore, is what we are going to do. We will do so whilst of course attempting, as I have already said, to make our various objectives compatible with each other and to ensure that they reinforce each other.
Mr Swoboda, you raised, amongst other things, two questions: one on tax harmonisation and one on the European Institute of Technology. On tax harmonisation, we must of course respect the consensus reached between our Member States: namely that we must work to draw up a common tax base. That is why we are endeavouring to reach an agreement on a common base for taxation in Europe. We are convinced that this will enable us to make significant reductions in the costs of business and investment in our countries, whilst still giving each Member State the freedom to set levels of company taxation. That is the European Commission’s position.
With regard to research, we believe that centres of excellence in research must be strengthened throughout the EU. We believe that European universities should be at the top of the global rankings in terms of research, education and innovation. We must work to make our universities more attractive so that the best minds in the world turn to Europe, instead of going to the United States, as is the case today. We can have centres of academic excellence in Europe. That is why we must establish a stronger mechanism for cooperation between European universities, so that we can make the most of the potential of knowledge in Europe. That is why the efforts invested in creating a European Institute of Technology constitute an important aspect of our strategy for growth and jobs.
With regard to the questions you raised on enlargement, Mrs Grossetête, we respect the commitments made unanimously by the Member States, by the European Council. That said, I want Parliament to know that the Commission will be rigorous and systematic in its evaluation of the progress made by all the candidate countries.
With regard to the policy on demographics and the family, we are the ones who put this subject on the agenda of the Hampton Court summit and we now have a clear mandate from the European Council to contribute to these considerations, or, even better, to the specific measures that we are planning to announce. Thus, we will be taking action in this field, too."@en1
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