Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-07-05-Speech-3-022"
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"en.20060705.2.3-022"2
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"Mr President, Prime Minister, Finland is taking over the helm of the EU at a time when the Union needs leadership more than anything. That is why it was a pleasure to listen to Prime Minister Vanhanen’s message on Finland’s objectives.
Finland is thoroughly prepared to succeed in its Presidency. That has been visible, for example, in the way we Finnish Members have been contacted. That is a good thing, because it is Finland’s, and not just its Government’s, Presidency.
Finland has proposed that the Union should put time and effort into innovation and competitiveness, transparency, energy, the Northern Dimension and external relations, as well as finding a solution regarding the fate of the Constitution. These are aims that I could not agree with more. After all, a united and competitive Europe has always traditionally been the goal of the Finnish National Coalition/Conservative Party and the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats.
Finland, however, should take a look in the mirror when it comes to progress on the European Common Foreign and Security Policy. The government’s approach in particular to the European defence dimension has been woefully inconsistent. The Finnish Government has normally taken a critical view of closer defence cooperation. Our Government has only yielded when it has realised it was in a minority in the Council. In the end, it was demonstrated in practical terms that the development which the Government had been opposing was the right one and good for Europe as a whole, and not just Finland.
Prime Minister, security is not created through isolation. Closer cooperation is needed if we are to improve the security of the European people and global stability. Our citizens also expect that. As you said, the EU has become a superpower, which cannot afford to pause to reflect in its external action.
What then could the Council do under a Finnish leadership? There are several concrete proposals on security in the Constitutional Treaty. They include a solidarity clause, enhanced cooperation on crisis management, closer defence material cooperation, and the obligation to assist other Member States in the event of a military attack, that is to say, mutual defence. Most of these have already been introduced in one way or another, though not the security guarantee clause. The development, however, has become tangled. It is high time we implemented Maastricht’s lofty goal: a Common Foreign and Security Policy, an essential component of which is also a common defence system. If I can quote the wise words of the Prime Minister, we should not just wait around for a better time to come. That time is here and now."@en1
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