Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-06-04-Speech-3-106"
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"en.20080604.20.3-106"2
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"Mr President, let me say something about the coming EU-US summit. I shall use my own language, if you will permit me.
The document to be adopted at the summit has been the subject of many months of talks between the European Union and the United States. We are drawing up a declaration, to encompass the entire range of transatlantic cooperation. Among other matters, it will touch upon regional issues, global security, transatlantic economic partnership, and global challenges, including climate change and energy. Our intention and the Presidency’s objective is to draw up a brief and concise document with a firm political message, and I hope that we will succeed in doing so.
Even with regard to climate change, on which views differ, we have found, I hope, a compromise solution. The proposed brief and factual text on climate change retains the most important objectives of the European Union and at the same time takes account of the views of the United States – I will not repeat matters which are well known to this Parliament. The declaration is being adjusted in the Transatlantic Relations Working Party – COTRA – and the progress of the talks has also been presented at the Political and Security Committee on 20 May, at the meeting of the Permanent Representatives of the Member States to the European Union at COREPER on 21 May, and at the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) last week, on 26 May.
We are endeavouring to set a the date for the signing of the Air Safety Agreement – adjustment of which is now in its final stage – and we would like to be able to sign it at least by the end of our Presidency, that is to say by the end of June. Furthermore, we support the earliest possible establishment of ‘open skies’, which will represent further liberalisation of transatlantic air transport and a new stage in relations between the European Union and the United States which will benefit people on both sides of the Atlantic.
The Slovenian Presidency is aware of the fact that some Member States have still not been included in the Visa Waiver Programme, which enables visa-free travel to the United States. We have devoted a great deal of attention to this matter in all contacts with the United States and in our preparations for the summit. The Slovenian Presidency has reached a compromise whereby the Member States of the European Union will enter into bilateral arrangements other than where matters for which the Commission is responsible are involved.
Ladies and gentlemen, I assure you that the Slovenian Presidency will invest a great deal of energy in its preparations for the summit and therefore I am convinced that we will be able to deem the summit in Slovenia a success.
Although the relationship between the European Union and the United States of America is essentially bilateral, the results of this relationship have global effects. The transatlantic partnership ceased to be merely economic long ago. The European Union and the United States cooperate closely both bilaterally and within international organisations on settling unresolved issues, including the most pressing regional issues, such as Afghanistan, the Middle East, and the Western Balkans.
As in all relationships, the European Union and the United States do, of course, sometimes have differences of opinion on certain issues, but we resolve them successfully with a constructive approach and mutual understanding. The European Union and the United States are an important, the most important, system which has a considerable effect on international relations. We have our differences but for the most part we work together as allies and friends. We have many common values and a historical link, throughout the twentieth century in fact, and in the end we stood together, side by side, during the end of the Cold War and the expansion of Euro-Atlantic links.
Since the European Union finds it more difficult to reach consensus than the US, relations are, naturally, not straightforward. However, consensus cannot always be reached within the United States either. If we look at the reports from the election campaign we can see that consensus is difficult to reach even within the same party. The European Union is united in diversity and, I should say, proud of it. That is also the starting point of the Lisbon Treaty which, I hope, will enter into force at the beginning of next year.
During our Presidency of the European Council Slovenia has devoted a great deal of attention to strengthening transatlantic relations, in particular the strategic dimension to them. I should point out that we have already held a large number of important meetings such as the troika meeting of EU and US foreign ministers, the meeting of political directors, and the EU-US ministerial troika meeting on justice and home affairs; and in May a meeting between European and American legislators was also held in Ljubljana. However, the most important event in connection with transatlantic relations will be the EU-US Summit which Slovenia will host in Brdo pri Kranju on 10 June.
I am pleased to be able to say that we expect the event to be well prepared, and we have already done a great deal of work. At the summit we will also have an opportunity to explain the importance of the partnership between the European Union and the United States to the public at large and to demonstrate our common values, productive dialogue and compatible interests when dealing with urgent regional and global problems.
The summit will be divided into four parts, namely the meeting of the heads of state, the plenary session, and lunch, which will be followed by a press conference. The heads of state will discuss the most pressing regional issues such as the Middle East, the Balkans, Central Asia and so forth, the Caucasus, and Iran, while other regional issues will be discussed at the plenary session and at lunch. The talks will also touch upon other global issues, such as climate change, energy, the negotiations within the World Trade Organisation, development, health and security, and free trade and the free movement of persons.
At the plenary session, the summit will see the first presentation of the Progress Report of the Transatlantic Economic Council, which was established at the 2007 EU-US Summit in Washington and within which the European Parliament also plays an important role as an advisory body through the Transatlantic Legislators’ Dialogue.
The Progress Report of the Transatlantic Economic Council meeting held in Brussels on 13 May will be presented by the Council co-chairs, the Assistant to the US President for International Economic Affairs, Daniel Price, and the Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry and Vice President of the European Commission, Günter Verheugen, who is present here today. The press conference following the talks will be an important part of the summit since it will provide an opportunity to send a positive message to the European and world public about progress in transatlantic relations and planned joint projects."@en1
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