Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-11-25-Speech-3-069"
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"en.20091125.6.3-069"2
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"Mr President, I will answer a few short questions. There was a question about Turkey. We are, of course, pleased that Turkey continues to have European integration as an overarching objective. The negotiations with Turkey are progressing – perhaps not as quickly as we would like, but progress is being made and we hope to be able to open the environment chapter at the end of the year.
Naturally, we also support the negotiations between Turkey and Cyprus and the talks that are being held on the island to find a solution to its division. It is the parties concerned who are responsible for this process and the UN is providing assistance, but the EU, of course, supports this and I was in Cyprus very recently to talk with the various parties involved in this matter, as it would be fantastic if a solution could be arrived at soon. There will also be a debate on enlargement in respect of Turkey and other candidate countries this afternoon with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Carl Bildt, when Members will have the opportunity to ask questions about this and other issues.
I will say a brief word about the Baltic Sea Strategy. I would, once again, like to thank the European Parliament for the support it has shown to the Swedish Presidency with regard to this matter. It was, of course, here in Parliament that the idea of the Baltic Sea Strategy was born, so we are very pleased that it is now in place and in force. It will be a very important factor in being able to tackle the environmental problems in the region, but also in increasing cooperation for prosperity, innovation and security, among other things.
The European External Action Service is one of the biggest and most important changes resulting from the Treaty of Lisbon. At the summit in October, the European Council approved a general framework for this Service. Mrs Ashton will now continue to work on this framework together with the European Parliament and will submit a final proposal by April next year at the latest. The External Action Service will, of course, be phased in gradually and it is important for this to be carried out in a competent and constructive manner. The European Parliament will have the opportunity to discuss the form that this will take.
As regards the budget review, Mr Färm, I fully share your view that, now that we will finally have the Treaty of Lisbon in place in a week’s time, with new modern ground rules for the European Union, we clearly also need a modern budget that is able to meet the challenges involved. I hope that the new Commission will be able to table such a proposal as soon as possible. I believe that President Barroso also mentioned this yesterday during question time.
Eight years after Laeken, we are now on the threshold of a new treaty. It is an historic moment, the start of a new era for the European Union. I am very pleased that the Swedish Presidency has been able to play a part in putting this in place. We can now put the institutional questions behind us to a certain extent and concentrate on the major political challenges that we know the citizens of Europe – because it is, of course, the citizens’ Europe that we are all fighting for – are concerned about.
Many of these issues will be discussed at the European Council meeting in December. With regard to the climate – the key issue for our generation – the European Council meeting will be held at the same time as the climate meeting in Copenhagen, and the summit will give us the opportunity, where necessary, to fine-tune our negotiation position in Copenhagen.
As regards the financial issues and the economic crisis, we can put a number of instruments in place and also draw up long-term guidelines for how we can make Europe competitive once again to provide prosperity and social cohesion and, in particular, look ahead to the new Lisbon strategy which, in the long and medium term, could be very helpful to Europe in this regard.
Finally, the Stockholm Programme will bring safety and security to Europe’s citizens, and it is extremely important that we get this programme in place. All of these issues will remain after the summit and on all of these issues we will need very close cooperation with the European Parliament. Prime Minister Reinfeldt will be here for the December sitting and will then report the outcome of the summit and also provide a general summary of the Swedish Presidency. Thank you very much for a very good and constructive debate."@en1
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