Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-12-16-Speech-3-041"
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"en.20091216.3.3-041"2
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"Mr President, in all fairness, I believe the Swedish Presidency can be satisfied with its achievements, and I think that Sweden can be proud of the performance of the Swedish Presidency. However, as always with the short-term presidencies, when they are good, they leave us with a bitter feeling of a somehow unaccomplished job.
Therefore, I believe the most important question now is: how and what could we further build on the achievements of the Swedish Presidency? The first thing is the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty. A treaty is never enough for solving a problem. Political will is always needed in order to enhance it properly but, in this case, I think that we need even more than will. We need courage and imagination – imagination to fill the gaps or to clarify the ambiguities of the treaty. Therefore, I hope that, starting with the experience it has accumulated, the Swedish Presidency will still remain involved in supporting the building of the new institution which the Lisbon Treaty has created, namely the permanent – or long-term – President of the European Council and the office of High Representative with the External Action Service.
One of the priorities of the Swedish Presidency was, of course, the management of the economic and financial crisis. This was very important. Against this background, I think two phenomena which are quite threatening have been observed: firstly, the temptation of national protectionism and national egoism, and, secondly, the economic and social disparities between our Member States and the lack of economic, social and territorial cohesion within the European Union.
Should we call into question the wisdom of enlargement? Certainly not. These disparities were already there before, and interdependence is valid not only within the Union but globally. Therefore, these disparities were able to undermine or to put in jeopardy the stability of the whole continent and the Union. Therefore, I think that enlargement made it possible for the new Member States to cope with these disparities better inside the Union, for the profit of all Members of the Union.
But the conclusion is as follows, and I will end here. I believe that the next step is to pursue bolder and more substantial policies of territorial, economic and social cohesion in Europe – and not fewer policies of this kind – together with bold reforms, financial and economic reforms which would allow us not to repeat the crisis, and, certainly, with policies for post-crisis rehabilitation. In this context, the last statement of the Commission concerning economic support for eastern countries, as well as the readiness expressed by Mr Barroso to debate the 2020 Strategy, should be commended."@en1
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