Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-02-13-Speech-2-102"
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"en.20070213.16.2-102"2
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".
Mr President, Commissioner Wallström, ladies and gentlemen, this spring summit of Heads of State or Government will, as in previous years, be primarily devoted to economic issues, the Lisbon Strategy in particular. We are of course delighted that this year’s spring summit is being held at a time when the economy is in a good state and good things are happening on the labour markets. From this we arrive at the cautious conclusion that the Lisbon Strategy’s first-fruits are appearing, but we are also persuaded that it would be quite inappropriate to rest on our laurels. Far from doing that, we want to put the overall favourable trends and the incipient mood of optimism to work in the interests of further structural reforms, to join together in undertaking further efforts at securing for the long term, and building on, the successes of recent months, for it is important that we get Europe in top form ready for global competition.
Following intensive preparatory work, which was characterised by very close and very fruitful cooperation with the Commission, the meeting of the European Council on 8 and 9 March is ready to be hammered into shape. The General Affairs and External Relations Council yesterday discussed the annotated agenda for the Council that the presidency had drafted, and I am glad to be able to tell you that the Member States wholeheartedly endorse the list of topics proposed by the presidency.
Over the coming weeks, COREPER will coordinate the contributions of the various sectoral Council formations and do further work on the draft conclusions for the Council in the light of their essential comments. Perhaps I might remind the House at this point of the dates on which the various specialist Council will finalise their contributions. The Energy Council will be meeting the day after tomorrow in order to discuss the Energy Action Plan, which is one of the really big issues for the European Council; the Education and Youth Council meets on 16 February, followed by the Competitiveness Council on 19 February and the Environmental Council on 20 February. This round is concluded by the Council responsible for employment and social issues and the ECOFIN Council, which meet on 22 and 27 February respectively.
Although your House is not directly involved in these preparatory activities, I am able to assure you that the Presidency will be taking account of the opinions you have adopted in connection with the themes of the Summit.
Perhaps I might now go into rather more detail about the Presidency's plans for this year's spring summit. I will also refer back to what the President of the Council said in this Chamber this morning. We will endeavour to ensure that the European Council performs its essential role, which involves it in concentrating on core issues, setting general directions, taking decisions about the future and issuing policy guidelines to the responsible entities at European and national level. Today’s exchange of views and, of course the in-depth dialogue with the President of your House in the course of the session are, of course, important elements in performing this function. With these general considerations in mind, we have tried to focus the European Council’s deliberations on topics in respect of which action is generally recognised as being necessary and areas in which further efforts need to be made.
Our specific concern is with supporting the structural reforms embarked on in the Member States and moving them forward by integrating recommendations specific to the country in question. Within the area of the internal market, we want to strengthen the shared desire to close loopholes, identify weak points, and make the EU more competitive against third countries, while at the same time pushing for the relaunch of the Doha Round. We are no less keen to encourage innovation, research and education than to promote job creation and the further development of the European social model, central to all of which are ‘flexicurity’ and demographic change.
As the Federal Chancellor said this morning, better regulation is important to all of us, for there is, in it, considerable potential for making the European economy more competitive, and so the reduction of bureaucracy is a priority issue for the German Presidency. We have set ourselves the goal of sending out ambitious messages from the meeting of the European Council; in practical terms, our main concern is with the simplification of existing laws and consideration of how the impact of new ones might be better assessed. As the lawmaking authority, the Council and Parliament have a particular responsibility for ensuring that proposals from the Commission for the simplification of legislation are both thoroughly scrutinised and promptly processed. Our main concern is that the reduction of bureaucracy be driven forward, particularly through clear quantitative targets being laid down.
Finally, the European Council, as decided last year, will give its attention to the EU’s comprehensive plan for energy, which is committed to the EU’s three fundamental goals in this area – security of supply, competitiveness, and environmental compatibility, the latter of which is always to be emphasised. It is evident from the Strategic Energy Report, which the Commission presented in January, that only an energy policy that addresses all three points of this triangular objective will be equal to the challenges that face the EU, and that is why we are pushing for a bundle of measures without which – being taken together – the desired effect will not be forthcoming. This package includes measures that reinforce competition on the internal energy market, that attach greater importance to renewable energies and help to develop better energy technologies and greater energy efficiency, and it is of great significance in this respect that greater weight is being given to the foreign policy components of energy policy. I would like to make it clear that Europe must increasingly speak with one voice where energy issues are concerned.
The issue of climate protection is inseparable from that of energy. Since climate change presents us with the challenge of the century, we are firmly determined to bring about ambitious and forward-looking resolutions, including quantitative targets, in this area too, and the proposals put forward by the Commission for full coordination on energy matters provide us with a good basis for this. The European Council must work towards sending out a strong signal in favour of the further development of the international climate protection regime after 2012. Only if the industrialised countries, led by the European Union, take the lead with commitment to demanding targets and measures will it be possible to expect the emerging countries to show the willingness to accept undertakings appropriate to their own circumstances to limit their own rapidly increasing emissions."@en1
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