Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-07-11-Speech-3-011"
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"Mr President, Prime Minister, honourable Members, I should like first of all to extend a very special greeting to the Prime Minister of Portugal at the start of the Portuguese Presidency. The programme outlined for the Portuguese Presidency is ambitious and demanding, and the Intergovernmental Conference will naturally occupy a prominent place, particularly until the European Council meeting in October, but the Portuguese Presidency involves more than the very important issue of the Treaty. Other tough assignments include foreign relations, with important summit meetings being held with many of our partners, the relaunched Lisbon Agenda for Growth and Employment, and innovation.
To achieve the objectives we have set in the context of European energy and climate policy, we have prepared an ambitious and consistent strategy to ensure sustainability, security of supply and European competitiveness. It should be emphasised, however, that for the success of that strategy we must warmly applaud the conclusions of the March European Council, which mark a turning point in the history of energy and the fight against climate change.
In order to achieve results now we must step up our efforts in the areas of scientific research, technological development and innovation. The technological plan in the area of clean energy technologies is a cornerstone of that strategy. The creation of the European Institute of Technology, which is now so well received in the European Parliament, also constitutes an essential means of increasing European competitiveness by mobilising efforts on a European scale and better liaison between knowledge and innovation.
Mr President, Prime Minister, ladies and gentlemen, as the Commission states in the opinion we adopted yesterday, the reforming Treaty will reinforce the capacity for action of the Union in external relations, which is highly symbolic: two of the central pillars of the Portuguese Presidency are institutional reform and the Union’s external relations. The active cooperation between the Presidency and the Commission in this latter field is obvious. Last week, Mr Sócrates and I myself went to the final session of the African Union Summit in Accra, and on the following day we attended the first EU-Brazil Summit.
With Brazil, our latest strategic partner, we share an ambitious agenda that includes energy, mainly biofuels, which we want to be sustainable, the fight against climate change, and trade relations. In the case of international trade, we have made a very strong appeal to President Lula to reach an agreement at the Doha negotiations. The Commission emphasises the commercial importance of Doha because trade drives economic growth and development. Trade has lifted millions out of poverty in Asia and it can go on doing so, not only in the Asian countries, but also in South America and Africa.
International trade must, however, be based on multilateral rules and institutions and the European Union has a vital role to play in the consolidation of international rules and governance. Doha is therefore an essential issue. It has to do not only with trade, although trade is important in itself; it has to do with our multilateral vision. We cannot actively support multilateralism and then defend unilateralism when it comes to trade. We also need to make progress on this matter because it is not only an agenda for trade, it is an agenda for social development, an agenda that can strengthen our links with developing countries.
In the case of Africa, the strategic partnership between Europe and Africa is also essential for international stability. The EU is the main source of financial, economic and technical aid for Africa. Europe is the major trading partner of the African continent, importing more than all the other G8 countries. From the beginning of its mandate, the Commission I have the honour of chairing has made relations with Africa one of its most urgent priorities. For example, the Commission has opened its first EU history college outside Europe in Addis Ababa, where we held a working meeting with the Commission of the African Union. Yet there is still much to be done in relations between Europeans and Africans. The imminent EU-Africa Summit, to be held under the Portuguese Presidency, is a unique opportunity to set an ambitious agenda, including practical issues such as energy, migration, the fight against climate change and, obviously, democracy and human rights. We have a duty to talk with our African partners about issues of democracy, human rights and governance. We have talked with the rest of the world, it would be incomprehensible for us not to talk with Africa. There are, admittedly, certain political and diplomatic problems to be resolved, but those problems, the relevance of which we have to acknowledge, cannot and must not become obstacles to an essential strategic partnership for the future of globalisation. Africa and Europe must work together.
I have said more than once that the EU has a mission for the 21st century, namely the promotion of justice, freedom and solidarity throughout the world. The EU cannot and must not be a group of countries dedicated to looking inwards. It can and must be a force for reform and stability in the world, and for the defence of European interests and the promotion of European values. We are a community of values, particularly the values of freedom and solidarity. The African continent is undoubtedly a region that needs our support and commitment. The European Union cannot close its eyes to the drama that is being acted out so close to it.
Before I finish, I should like to wish the Portuguese Government every success and reaffirm the Commission’s absolute willingness to work with the Presidency. I may say that I have total confidence in the ability of Portugal – a country that has proved its commitment to Europe – of the Portuguese Government and authorities, and of all the country’s political forces to work for Europe. We share with the Portuguese Presidency the excellent slogan it has chosen for this period: a stronger Europe for a better world. Together we shall succeed in working to this end.
Yesterday the Commission adopted its opinion for the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC). As I have already stated in this House, the IGC about to begin will be of a very different kind from its predecessors. Thanks to the work that has already been done, to the efforts, in particular of the German Presidency, which I would also like to commend, and to the fact that we have been able to make such clear progress, we can say that the degree of detail in this mandate is unprecedented. Never has an IGC begun with such a precise mandate. In certain areas, in fact, that mandate adopts the wording of the 2004 IGC, while in others it uses highly-developed legal and technical language. As a result of that degree of precision, we can now say that the central question is no longer about its political substance, since that was essentially resolved when we met in the European Council, but rather about keeping faithfully to the content of the mandate.
We therefore need to be clear on this. I want to make the position of the Commission clear: we fully support the mandate and consider that the issue does not need to be discussed again. The crux of the matter, as Mr Sócrates has told us, is to transform the mandate into a Treaty. It is not to create a new mandate. That would be very much a backward step, and in my view, it would be inconceivable for us to go back on what has unanimously been agreed. It would be a sign of a serious lack of confidence if we were now to try to renegotiate a mandate to which everyone has agreed. It is impossible to build a strong Europe without confidence in the value of the commitments we have made.
It is also true that, from the Commission’s point of view, the mandate is neither ideal nor perfect. On many points we would have been more ambitious. Nobody finds the mandate absolutely ideal, and that is how the European project works and has always worked. Since 1957, our integration project has always moved forward by means of political compromise and not with ideal solutions. That is once again how it will be. Nor should we forget that the agreement we reached at the European Council was hard won, based as it was on a delicate political compromise. Our responsibility is to maintain that compromise at the IGC, all the way to final ratification.
The Commission fully supports the Portuguese Presidency’s intention to hold a short, condensed IGC. It will begin on 23 July and, if all goes well, and we shall do everything in our power to ensure that it does, it may be concluded at the informal European Council in October. The Commission does, however, reserve the right to express its opinion on positions and proposals of governments of Member States during the IGC and, in particular, we shall be vigilant to ensure that the mandate is duly fulfilled. We think it is our duty to do so.
Mr President, Prime Minister, honourable Members, as we have already mentioned, the Portuguese Presidency goes beyond this vital matter of the Treaty and I am pleased to note that the Prime Minister and President of the Council intends to give particular attention to the Lisbon Strategy. The Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Employment, which we collectively relaunched in 2005, is now producing some quite encouraging results. Unemployment in the European Union has fallen from 10% in the mid-nineties to 7% last June.
Our analyses prove that structural unemployment is also falling, which is fairly encouraging for Europe in the medium and long term. Our data also show that there has been a 50% increase in women’s employment. These figures are most welcome in a Europe we want to make more competitive, fairer and more inclusive.
Economic growth has also reached its highest levels since 2000, in a context of the higher potential and growth of the European economy, which leads us to believe that the recent growth is structural and not merely cyclical. It is fair to say that this progress is largely due to the reforms inspired by the relaunched Lisbon Agenda for Growth and Employment. The fact is that, by giving the various governments of the Member States a common reform framework, Europe is facilitating, supporting and strengthening precisely that movement to reform which, admittedly at varying speeds and with different scopes, all European governments have been implementing in one way or another.
It is therefore appropriate to emphasise here that the much-maligned Lisbon Strategy is a crucial factor in the economic and social modernisation of Europe. The fact is, however, that there is no room for complacency. There is still a lot to do to make the European economy more competitive and European society fairer. In particular, we must increase the contribution of innovation to economic growth. I know this is one of the priorities of the Portuguese Presidency and this is something I applaud. Innovation is the driving force behind the triumvirate of the Energy Technology Plan, the European Technology Institute and the first Innovation and Technology Community, which we intend to see specifically targeted at energy issues and the fight against climate change, and which we hope will be launched during the Portuguese Presidency. This is the clearest example that the relaunched Lisbon Strategy is seeking to connect the different aspects, such as this key central aspect of the fight against climate change and energy security. To achieve success in that area, we must do more in the field of innovation and that is why I am pleased to note that the Portuguese Presidency intends to include innovation as an essential topic at the December European Council. Education, scientific research and innovation are essential elements of the European society we want to build in response to the most pressing concerns and challenges posed by this new century."@en1
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