Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-03-26-Speech-3-020"
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"en.20080326.4.3-020"2
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"Mr President, there are much better and far more reasons to support the British Government, but let me come to my subject.
I would like to take up two points where I also believe that the summit's results have rather fallen short of our expectations, namely external energy policy and energy security. Mr President of the Commission, when your Commission was formed, we asked the two Commissioners with responsibility for external relations and energy to take a very pro-active role in this area.
There has been little input from the Council too, and all I see is generalisations here. As I recall, when Thomas Ilves visited Parliament in Strasbourg, he pointed out that Russia has a neighbourhood policy and an external energy policy. Unfortunately, we do not, and that is a disadvantage in terms of our competitiveness. It is time to leave the generalisations behind and adopt practical measures. I hope that by the time the next summit takes place in June, there will be genuine proposals on the table for more concerted action.
The second point, which has already been touched upon by Martin Schulz, relates to the issue of the Mediterranean Union and the Black Sea Union. I am concerned that there is no balance between our cooperation in the Mediterranean region and in the Black Sea region. Are countries like Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Georgia and others such as those in the South Caucasus really less important? Do they have a lesser right, are they less entitled than the Mediterranean countries to more intensive cooperation? I do not believe so.
In common with Martin Schulz and the rest of my Group, I am a strong supporter of the Mediterranean Union as a 'forced' Barcelona union or Barcelona process. However, I would have liked to see the Commission present some finished proposals and make it clear from the outset that a union between the European Union and the Mediterranean countries must and will act, and that the heart of this union, in both administrative and political terms, is the European Union. We are envisaging something similar for the Black Sea region too, for issues such as energy security, migration and the environment all affect not only the Mediterranean but also, and equally, the Black Sea region.
For that reason, Mr President-in-Office, our Group will be submitting our proposals to you, and also to you, Mr President of the Commission. We hope that the summit in June will offer the opportunity to redress the balance, for it is important for you, too, as your country's Prime Minister and the President-in-Office of the Council, to make it clear once and for all that both communities are important. I was rather surprised, Mr President of the Commission, that you only talked about the Mediterranean Union and made no reference to the Black Sea. We believe that both elements are important. We are in favour of establishing neighbourhood policy on a new qualitative footing. Our Group will therefore be presenting a set of proposals in due course."@en1
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