Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-02-01-Speech-3-022"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20060201.11.3-022"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:translated text |
".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, in introducing his statement, the High Representative referred to the first 31 days of this year – and hence also of the Austrian Presidency of the Council – as having been a turbulent time, and that they indeed were. Evidence of that could be found on the order of business for the first meeting of the Council under Austrian Presidency two days ago.
It was important that we in the Council should consider the issues, to many of which Mr Solana has alluded, and come to decisions that carried a clear message, for it is indeed important that the European Union should, where today’s important issues are concerned, speak to the world clearly, unmistakeably, and with one voice, and this we are doing, of course, together with the Commission, while also seeking dialogue with you in the European Parliament. I would point out that, in the 31 days of the Austrian Presidency so far, the foreign minister, many other Council chairmen and I myself have had many opportunities to come here and debate many issues of concern to your House, and that I yesterday had the opportunity – for which I am very grateful – to report to the Committee on Foreign Affairs on the foreign policy aspects of the first meeting of the Council under Austrian Chairmanship. The Austrian Presidency wants to continue offering this willingness to engage in discussion on behalf of the Council and wishes to maintain dialogue with your House.
In this brief statement, I would like, in essence, to focus on two points: firstly, the Council’s annual report to the European Parliament on the main aspects of, and fundamental options for the common foreign and security policy – which is what this item on the order of business is all about – and, secondly, relations between your House and the Council as regards the budget for it.
Firstly, the 1999 interinstitutional agreement on budget discipline and improvement of the budget procedure specifies that the Council shall draw up a report setting out the main aspects and basic choices of CFSP, along with its financial implications for the overall Budget, and so it was that the Council, in April 2005, forwarded to Parliament the report for 2004, which is on our order of business today, and in which it endeavours to do as Parliament has asked it to do and reflect on Europe’s security strategy. As a result, the report gives particular attention to important issues in connection with this, notably such aspects of the common foreign and security policy as, for example, crisis management and conflict prevention, combating terrorism, disarmament and the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and small arms, external relations in different geographical areas, and so on.
The Council endeavoured to make the report a comprehensive one that would give a full account of the outcomes and activities in connection with the common foreign and security policy. Its production of these reports is a matter of obligation, and they help to make visible and transparent the work that is done in connection with the CFSP. Efforts have also been made to accommodate the views of the European Parliament, one consequence of which is that the report includes a special chapter with an overview of future activities and suggestions for activities in the coming year and for possible responses to any crises that may occur.
If I might move on to my second subject, the Budget for the common foreign and security policy, I would like to point out that the coming into being of the CFSP, as also of the European Security and Defence Policy, is without doubt one of the European Union’s success stories; the crisis management operations in the Balkans, in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East have helped to make the European Union more visible on the international stage. The continuation of this in accordance with the European Security Strategy is a matter of priority, but that can be done in an effective manner only with the appropriate funding. In the conclusions to the agreement on the next financial perspective, the European Council requests ‘the budgetary authority to significantly increase the funding under the Budget for the common foreign and security policy for the period beginning in 2007 in order to cover the foreseeable need for resources as estimated on the basis of prognoses produced annually by the Council, with a reasonable margin being left for unforeseen activities’.
One outcome of the trialogue was an agreement to add EUR 40 million to the CFSP Budget, bringing it to a total of EUR 102.6 million for the current year of 2006, and, although that is a step in the right direction, there are great challenges lying in store for us. If the European Union becomes active in Kosovo, that will probably require substantial funds that the current CFSP Budget for 2006 will be incapable of providing. Work is in progress on the question of how a situation of this kind can be dealt with.
The Presidency’s report to the European Council on the ESDP invited the Austrian Presidency to continue working towards securing adequate funding for civilian ESDP missions from the CFSP Budget. The presidency looks forward to working constructively with the European Parliament on this issue and will shortly provide it with relevant information in accordance with the agreement reached during the trialogue on the 2006 Budget. It is expected that the Political and Security Committee will, through its representative, report on the subject in March of this year.
Let me conclude by emphasising once again that the Presidency looks forward to working constructively with your House towards the end of an increased and more efficient CFSP Budget in the negotiations on the future inter-institutional agreement and in the 2007 Budget procedure."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples