Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-05-11-Speech-3-023"
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"en.20050511.3.3-023"2
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".
Mr President, I would firstly like to express my agreement with all the speeches that have referred to the need for closer coordination of the Member States of the European Union in the activities, in the decision-making, in the orientation of the policies and in the strategy of the World Bank.
By means of the instruments available to it, the Commission tries to influence and guide the policies of the World Bank in line with our objectives in terms of development policy and official development aid. In my initial speech I spoke about those memorandums of understanding, those trust funds, by means of which we take action, combining the resources of the World Bank with the budgetary resources of the European Union in a whole series of activities and regions of the world, whenever we consider that those actions are in line with the objectives set by the European Union and with our priorities in the field of development aid and our policies for supporting development in the poorest countries of the world.
Secondly, I will repeat what I said in my initial speech and something that has also been taken up by many of you: the need to make progress towards creating a single voice for the European Union in the World Bank and in other international institutions.
Some of you have said that the entry into force of the Constitution will act as a lever for moving towards that objective, and it is true that the entry into force of the Constitution, the single personality for the Union and the political impetus represented by the implementation of the Constitution must help us to progress towards that goal. But it is also the case, as the Presidency-in-Office of the Council has just pointed out, that, under the current Treaty, with the provisions currently in force, the Union should already be speaking with one voice in many bodies, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, at least in relation to the Eurozone.
There is, however, another element that will help us. I do not know if it is in line with the will of all the Member States, but I do believe that it is in line with the collective will of the Union, of this House, of the Commission and of the Council. Europe wants to be a global player, as Mr Karas has said, but there are certain countries which are going to be global players and which are demanding reforms within the governing bodies of the way in which the different countries and regions of the world are represented in the international financial institutions and, in particular, in the World Bank. Faced with this pressure, the European Union cannot respond in a divided manner, it must respond in a united fashion, moving towards that single voice.
I would like to make a comment on the appointment of the new President of the World Bank. As you know, the European Commission does not participate in any way in that procedure, but Mr Wolfowitz will become President of the World Bank on 1 June. From that date, we want the World Bank to continue working on the positive aspects that have characterised the presidency of Mr James D. Wolfensohn over the last 10 years. And on the two occasions I have been able, as a member of the Commission, to speak personally with Mr Wolfowitz over recent weeks, that is what I have said to him: from 1 June, the European Commission and the whole of the Union wants the World Bank to continue in the positive direction taken during the years of the Mr Wolfensohn’s leadership. And I must tell you that, so far, Mr Wolfowitz’s response indicates that he is committed to continuing to work on these positive aspects. I hope that, after 1 June, we will see that that is the case."@en1
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