Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-07-07-Speech-3-019"
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"Mr President, Mr Leterme, ladies and gentlemen, Belgium is taking on the rotating Presidency of the Council at a crucial time for the European Union, and I would like to thank Mr Leterme for setting out such a clear and ambitious programme.
It takes growth to create jobs, and a large part of our future growth will have to come from innovation. The flagship initiative entitled ‘An Innovation Union’, coordinated by Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn, will thus be one of the key issues of the Belgian Presidency. The main aim will be to facilitate the marketing of innovation, to identify a certain number of European partnerships for innovation in order to resolve society’s challenges in areas where the European Union can bring added value, as well as to improve the effectiveness of European, national and regional innovation systems. Above all, it is important to make progress on the issue of the Community patent in the coming months. The Commission has just presented a proposal on this issue.
Moreover, the flagship initiative on ‘An industrial policy for the globalisation era’, the preparation of which is being coordinated by Vice-President Tajani, and which we will present in October, will aim to improve conditions for businesses, particularly SMEs, and to support the development of a strong and sustainable industrial base, capable of dealing with global competition.
In addition to these flagship initiatives, I would like to mention two other projects of major importance. Following the publication of the report that I asked Mr Monti to prepare, the Commission will present an initiative on strengthening the internal market, including in view of the 20th anniversary of the internal market in 2012. We expect to present it under the Belgian Presidency. Commissioner Barnier is hard at work on it. Other contributions will come, such as, for example, those of Vice-President Reding and Commissioner Šemeta, to mention just two other colleagues. By its cross-cutting nature, the work on the internal market is at the heart of our collegial approach.
I would also emphasise the importance of considering the future of our trade policy, which Commissioner De Gucht is working on, and which will be presented in the autumn in the form of a communication. At the same time, it will be a matter of continuing our work on reforming the financial markets, in cooperation with our G20 partners.
As regards financial services, we have to continue along the road of reform. The Commission communication adopted on 2 June stresses that all the necessary measures will be proposed by spring 2011. The bulk of the work, however, will be done under the Belgian Presidency. The next six months will therefore be very busy, Mr Leterme.
These measures are our response to the financial crisis, and we have presented them in a coordinated and coherent manner. I am counting on the Presidency to make as much progress as possible in the Council, and on Parliament to make this area an important priority.
In direct connection with this European Union development strategy up to 2020, the Commission will, in September, present the budgetary review document. It is difficult to discuss policy without considering, at some point, the measures to be implemented for its application. This document, to which Commissioner Lewandowski and myself are paying particular attention will enable the European Parliament and the Member States to decide on the key principles for the next financial framework. The Commission welcomes the Belgian Presidency’s intention to assess it, in parallel with the work to draft the 2011 budget.
Ladies and gentlemen, the importance, seriousness and urgency of these economic, social, financial and budgetary issues must not lead us to withdraw into ourselves. We have very important international responsibilities. The G20 summit in Seoul is a major meeting. That will be the time to check if the commitments undertaken by all the parties have been put into practice. In this regard, I hope to maintain European leadership. Consequently, the Commission will thoroughly embark upon preparing for this summit and we will do everything for Europe's voice to be heard clearly.
Of several important international meetings, such as the one on biodiversity in Nagoya, I would like to highlight the Copenhagen follow-up conference, which will take place in Cancún in December. We must make very practical progress in implementing the Copenhagen Accord while, at the same time, working with industrialised countries and with developing countries. That is what we are currently doing by means of the in-depth and increased contacts that the Commission is embarking on, particularly Commissioner Hedegaard, to prepare the ground with a view to a balanced and binding international agreement, which remains our main objective.
We should also redouble our efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, as we said at the G8 summit. We must speak with a strong and united voice at the United Nations General Assembly in September, and at special events organised at the summit, on this occasion, to assess how we, the international community, are progressing towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals. I expect to represent the European Union there.
The challenges of the months ahead are very clear. In particular, these challenges are to implement new coordination mechanisms for our economic policies, to stabilise the economic recovery by implementing the Europe 2020 strategy for jobs and growth, and to ensure that Europe shoulders its responsibilities on the international stage.
The coherence of our external action will be strengthened by setting up the External Action Service. The commitment of the High Representative and Vice-President of the Commission, Mrs Ashton, has enabled our three institutions to lay the foundations for a quick start, supported by a sound basis. It is now up to us to come to an agreement on the detailed texts that must be implemented as soon as possible and which we will discuss with Parliament.
We have therefore, ladies and gentlemen, a very full agenda in front of us, but with the determination and the community spirit that are driving and uniting this Belgian Presidency, the European Parliament and the Commission, I am certain Europe will be up to these challenges.
The history of European integration has proved that it is usually in times of crisis that Europe shows that it can face up to its problems and overcome them for the good of all our fellow citizens.
The June European Council supported the proposals presented by the Commission in its communication of 12 May on strengthening fiscal discipline and macro-economic surveillance, issues that have also been discussed within the task force chaired by Mr Van Rompuy. The task force’s final report will be presented by October.
In the meantime, the Commission has stepped up its work to turn these guidelines into concrete proposals, more specifically in its communication of 30 June. This means strengthening macro-economic surveillance, including through the use of sanction and alert mechanisms, as well as the Stability and Growth Pact, by focusing, in particular, on the issue of the level of debt and deficits.
Lastly, the European Semester will enable us to achieve more effective
policy coordination. It is vital to finalise this as soon as possible, and Commissioner Rehn is sparing no efforts to submit the necessary legislative proposals without delay. I am counting on the Belgian Presidency, as well as on the European Parliament, to make progress with the work so that we have a new system in place by the end of 2010.
The Belgian Presidency must enable decisive progress to be made in implementing the Europe 2020 strategy. That requires each of the Member States to take ownership of this strategy and to integrate it into their various policies: finance, budget, employment, innovation, environment, energy, education and social policy. The key to achieving that is each Member State preparing its national reform programme in the coming months. All the institutions seeing this exercise through is a prerequisite for the success of the strategy.
The various Community policies prepared through the collegial work of the Commission will support and build on the initial steps taken by each Member State. In that respect, the flagship initiatives that the Commission will present by the end of the year will be critical.
I would like to talk to you about three of these initiatives in particular, namely, those focusing on employment and education, on innovation and on industrial policy.
The issue of employment is still highly topical, and I welcome the priority given to employment by the Belgian Presidency. In this context, the initiative entitled ‘An agenda for new skills and jobs’, prepared under the coordination of Commissioners Andor and Vassiliou, will strive to create favourable conditions for modernising the labour market with the aim of improving employment rates and to ensure the viability of our social models."@en1
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