Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-02-01-Speech-3-044"

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"Mr President, we have listened with great interest to Mr Solana’s speech, particularly the first part in which he listed what had happened over the course of January. I hope that this will not set a trend for the rest of the year and hope that, each month, we will see new elements constantly being added to the foreign agenda. What stood out for me were the observations he made, particularly at the beginning, about the situation that has come about in Europe following the problems involving the gas supply to Ukraine and other countries. I think that one effect of what happened at the beginning of January has been to push energy policy up our list of priorities. I have drawn a few conclusions from those recent events. First of all, I have to conclude that we may not have organised ourselves very well as consumers, because our energy supply is so vulnerable, too vulnerable, if you ask me, since the effects of an unexpected energy shortage can be nothing short of devastating. Secondly, I have noticed that some Member States are more vulnerable than others, which somewhat contradicts the notion of solidarity that we nurture in the European Union. There are certainly countries in our immediate vicinity that are vulnerable – that much has become apparent – and the question of mutual solidarity, not least among our neighbours, is clearly an issue. This is also a technical matter, of course. We can invest in better and more diversified means of providing ourselves with energy. The third point I would like to make, which is actually the most important one, is that energy supplies and access to them are being deployed as political weapons, in this case against Ukraine, but also against Moldova and, in some respects, against Georgia as well. We have issued warnings about this in the past. The Russians have threatened to do this before and I think that, in this respect, we have to come down hard on them, for that is unacceptable. We too must ensure that we do not become dependent on Russia to an extent that we no longer dare say anything to Russia and keep quiet because we have become too dependent. I should like to make one final remark about this year’s agenda. This agenda sets itself. The European Union cannot ignore its responsibility. I will, above all, ask the Council and Commission to reconsider the question of how it is possible, following such a success in Georgia, but before that in Serbia, and in Ukraine, that things are now at risk of going the other way again. Have we made mistakes? I think that this, too, is something we should analyse."@en1

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