Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-03-14-Speech-3-035"
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".
Mr President of the European Parliament, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, ladies and gentlemen.
I should like to say just a few brief words on the subject of better regulation and bureaucracy reduction – a particular concern of mine. The call made by the European Council for Parliament and the Council to make even greater use of impact assessments in the future is important. The quality of legislation is the be-all and end-all of the whole project.
A prerequisite for this is good cost assessments. All parts of the project of better regulation and bureaucracy reduction are now really under way. I am very much obliged to the Council for supporting the Commission’s objective of a 25% reduction in the administrative burdens on European enterprises arising from European legislation by 2012. What is just as important, however, is the commitment made by the Member States to doing the same within their own spheres of competence. This had been in dispute, and the fact that it has been achieved represents a great success. The goal of achieving an overall reduction in the administrative burdens on enterprises of 25% by 2012 now seems tangibly close.
I should like to make it clear once more in this House that, when we talk about reducing administrative burdens, we simply mean less paperwork for enterprises. We are talking about requirements on reporting, keeping statistics, information and documentation. Under no circumstances will standards relating to consumer protection, quality, the environment, safety or social aspects be so much as touched. The aim is not to alter the substance of requirements but to make them such that they free up energy within enterprises rather than placing an unnecessary burden on them.
When Tony Blair said some time ago that, if the EU did not exist, it would have to be invented, he was probably referring to the kind of decisions taken by the European Council just a few weeks after the alarming facts in the latest UN report on climate change became known.
With the support of Parliament, and on the basis of the Commission proposals from January, the European Council has managed to make climate change and the switch to sustainable energy structures a priority of European policy, and to adopt an Action Plan for the coming three years.
The strength of the decisions lies in the fact that we have succeeded in closely interlinking climate and energy policy. The reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases goes hand in hand with a competitive, secure, sustainable energy policy. The strength of the decisions lies also in their credibility, as they will not exist in a vacuum, but are linked with a tangible package of measures.
Binding targets for renewable energy, as well as the targeted promotion of energy saving and the new technology of carbon capture and storage, will adapt the European economy to the global challenges of the 21st century in terms of climate policy. We shall continue to dismantle the remaining barriers to renewable energy and to energy efficiency in all industrial sectors, with a view to achieving a 20% share of renewable energy in overall EU energy consumption and also a share of biofuels of at least 10% by 2020.
I heard what the President-in-Office of the Council has just said about the Commission’s task of presenting a proposal by the end of the year. I can assure you that the Commission will present a fair, well-balanced proposal for sharing out the burden throughout the EU, one that will take into account the prior achievements of the individual Member States, their starting positions and what they need in order to meet this target. I am certain that we can do this.
What is important is that we are making the internal market for gas and electricity work once and for all to the benefit of consumers, which will encourage investment and create a genuine European grid.
The Commission is obliged to the Council and the German Presidency for the far-reaching, bold objectives set at last week’s European Council. We are also obliged to you for the unambiguous signal you have given the rest of the world, which has received great attention worldwide: namely the signal that we in Europe are serious about the fight against climate change, the development of a common energy policy and the preservation of our competitiveness. A particularly important result of this Council was the fact that it proved those people wrong who said that a Union of 27 Member States would no longer be capable of action. This was the first great test for the Union of 27, and I believe we have passed it.
These measures will open up new, global markets for us, reducing the energy bills of all citizens and all enterprises. We in Europe are currently paying too much for our energy – and this is a result not only of the global situation, but of poor organisation of our own energy supply. For this reason, the fulfilment of the Lisbon Agenda also requires consistent implementation of the new EU climate policy.
We have proposed that the highly developed countries agree to collectively reduce their CO2 emissions by 30% compared to 1990 by 2020. In addition, the EU has already committed itself to reducing its CO2 emissions by at least 20% by 2020. This puts us in an excellent position ahead of the forthcoming climate negotiations.
I believe that this dual decision in relation to the climate will lead to a new global dynamic – which we urgently need. We can no longer stand by and watch countries such as the USA and China both pointing the finger at each other and demanding the other make the first move. One of them has to make a move at long last! This is undoubtedly an important point for discussion also at the EU–US Summit on 30 April of this year. This point was mentioned by the Heads of State or Government along with the other external issues.
I should like to say a few words to European industry. The Council’s targets give our industry a clear framework, and also investment security for years to come. It can now plan its investments; it knows what politicians are demanding of it and can develop its strategies. We want to see Europe exporting the best, cleanest products; not its jobs. I do not want to hear only what European industry cannot do and what it considers impossible; I should like to finally hear what it can do and what is possible. We shall see that a great deal more is possible than the industrial community itself would have thought.
For all our contentment, we should not forget that we have seen only the starting signal so far. This strategy must be taken forward – by means of specific Community projects and individual legal projects – by the end of this parliamentary term. In addition, we have the support of the European public. We know from the latest Eurobarometer survey that European citizens are well aware that a change of course is essential. I am sure that they are also aware of the fact that resolute action will not come for free.
To summarise, the Lisbon Strategy is an open, dynamic process. We need a marketplace of ideas, which will then lead to specific policy decisions.
As a report by the Centre for European Reform put it: there is hardly a single European country that is not scrutinising the Danish model of ‘flexicurity’, the Finnish university system or the British liberalisation strategy. I could add more examples, such as the French ‘Pôles de Compétitivité’, the Dutch Standard Cost Model or tax reforms in some of the new Member States. Learning from one another is a key element of this reform process.
It is now a matter of making clear together that the European partnership for growth and jobs is Europe’s answer to the two great questions of our time, namely the great social question as to how to make available sufficient good jobs in the age of globalisation, and the great environmental question as to how to keep our planet habitable.
After all, we know that people are asking questions such as: Will I keep my job? Will I continue to receive benefits if I am ill? Will I be able to put my children through college? Will I be provided for in my old age? We also know they are asking: What will living conditions be like for my children and grandchildren in the future?
This is the answer to these questions – and it is important to point out to Europe’s citizens that it can only be a European answer. If there were ever the need to demonstrate why we need European integration, these are the two issues that show that this integration is essential in the 21st century, too. Thank you.
The Summit was a good one from the point of view of the European policy of partnership for growth and jobs within the framework of the Lisbon Strategy. The Heads of State or Government noted that the new Strategy is delivering the desired results and has made an important contribution to the economic recovery, a recovery that is reflected in an upward trend in GDP, with a growth rate of 2.9% in 2006. It is now expected that, in the next two years alone, seven million new jobs will be created in the EU and we shall come very close to achieving the original Lisbon objectives of 2000.
The Heads of State or Government made it clear that we must not content ourselves with the initial signs of stronger economic dynamics. I agree with what Mr Steinmeier has just said: Europe now has a great opportunity to further increase the pace of reform. We have not yet succeeded in reversing the trend. The downward trend has indeed slowed, but we are not there yet. All we can say is that we are on the right track.
This is also demonstrated by the European Council’s support for the country-specific recommendations issued by the Commission for the first time. The significance of the fact that the Member States accepted country-specific recommendations from the Commission for their national agendas in a field in which they have sole competence, and that the European Council adopted these unanimously without argument, should not be underestimated. This shows that, for the first time, we have a functioning mechanism for economic-policy coordination in Europe.
This year will see preparations for the second three-year cycle of the policy for growth and jobs, and the Commission already sees three clear necessities.
First of all, we shall have to integrate climate and energy policy fully into the European policy for growth and jobs. This must be a coherent policy.
Secondly, it will be essential to strengthen the third pillar of this strategy, namely employment and the social dimension, with particular emphasis on improving the employability of European citizens. After all, what we see before us is a brand-new development. We shall be seeing increasing shortages of adequately trained workers in certain regions and sectors. Employability must be improved, particularly by strengthening education and training.
The third major task in relation to the review of the Lisbon Strategy will be increasing its visibility. As the saying goes, ‘don’t hide your light under a bushel’. It could be that we are speaking rather too little about having a European answer to the global economic challenge. The fact that European integration and a common European economic policy are the answer we have been looking for to the question of how to preserve our competitiveness at global level should feature much more prominently in national policy debate."@en1
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