Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-10-26-Speech-3-143"
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"en.20051026.17.3-143"2
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".
Mr President, Mr Blair, ladies and gentlemen, the informal meeting at Hampton Court will, I hope, be an opportunity to hold a genuine debate on the economic and social challenges confronting Europe. I hope that it will not only be a debate, but also – as the President of the Council, Mr Blair, has just said – an opportunity to make decisions about the path to follow in the future.
I believe that the European Union has a central role to play in pushing forward these ambitious reforms and the modernisation of our social systems. Success depends on getting the right combination of action at European and national levels. We need to make full use of all the instruments at our disposal: legislation, as Prime Minister Blair said, and we are pushing for better regulation. There are cases where we need more legislation and others where we need less bureaucracy and less legislation. We cannot deliver the future European Union budget without the instruments, along with multilateral surveillance, shared experience, and all the mechanisms that we have at our disposal. The Commission’s executive powers, the right of initiative of the Commission, the effective use of competition rules: we have the instruments to complement and to add value to – not to replace – what we do at national level.
At international level, too, Europe is the right level for action. Let us be frank: even the biggest Member States in our Community do not have the leverage to manage globalisation or to speak exactly on the same footing with other global powers. We are a successful example of globalisation on a regional scale. Our deep integration, our common policies and our shared values give us an added strength that no individual Member State can claim.
That is why, in order to tackle poverty around the world, to project European values worldwide and to negotiate in the interests of our Member States, it is better to reaffirm clearly that we need a strong European dimension. I state very clearly: we need now, more than ever, a strong European Union in this globalised world.
These instruments are mutually reinforcing; they depend on each other for success. In the paper that the Commission prepared for the informal summit, we put forward some lines of action. Let me underline some of those aspects.
First, the creation of the globalisation adjustment fund to cope with the consequences of globalisation on those people who, for instance, are affected by restructuring. As Prime Minister Blair said – and it is precisely the original idea of the Commission as well – the purpose of this fund is not to protect firms that are not competitive or not economically viable, but to help people. At the same time as we are in favour of opening our economies, we should show that we also care about people. People are not statistics. We have to have an active policy to meet their concerns and aspirations.
I am very thankful to Prime Minister Blair for the support he has given to this fund.
We have also identified some areas where the partnership between the Commission and the Member States can be further explored and strengthened – areas which primarily fall within the Member States’ domain, but where the Commission can play a major role, either as an honest broker, a catalyst or as a focal point of benchmarking, of mutual surveillance, of collective action. For instance, as the Prime Minster said, and as we have said in our paper, we are in favour of a common approach at European level on energy. I will add just one more to the very good examples he gave: the important area of bioenergy. I believe we can do much more in that area, bringing together the fields of environment, agriculture, research and the funds we already have at our disposal. So there is a possibility of work between the European institutions and the Member States.
Another area is research and development, and we hope to get the funding necessary for that to have some action at European level because we need that dimension. We need to ask ourselves why the best minds in Europe, and also in China, in India and in many parts of the world, go to study in the United States when we know that the best universities were founded here. Universities are a European creation, so why are they going elsewhere when they could be here? We also need to complement action at national level with a European action for universities, for research and for innovation.
Last week, in Brussels, I presented to you the decisions that had been taken that very day by the Commission for the benefit of the Hampton Court Summit. I will not go back over that presentation. I will just point out that, in addition to a document on the economic and social challenges linked to globalisation, the Commission has also approved an initiative aimed at restarting negotiations on the financial perspectives and has contributed to a political agreement that we consider to be necessary and urgent.
Finally, the Commission is ready to present to the European Council a roadmap setting out the path to a modern Europe capable of delivering economic prosperity and social justice.
So my message to the summit will be clear: if we want to keep our European values, we must modernise our policies, and it is better if we do that together. We should call for a personal commitment from all European Union leaders. We, the European institutions – Parliament, the Council and the Commission – have to do it together. Also the Member States, regional and local authorities and the social partners – we have to work for this change. I know change is never easy, but let me tell you: inaction is much worse and much more costly. If we do nothing it will be much more painful than if we change now with our values and with our determination.
I think that Hampton Court should also provide a positive message to our citizens on the role Europe can play in the world in terms of security and the projection of our values, be it in terms of development aid or the management of globalisation. It is important that we also define this new role of Europe in the world.
I hope that our discussions tomorrow will allow a consensus to emerge on the scale and urgency of the challenges we face and the need to move ahead. I think this consensus, this common vision, is necessary. This new consensus is necessary to reconnect Europe with its citizens and also to prepare the ground for further progress in our European project.
This consensus and this sense of urgency are necessary to reach agreement on the budget and the Financial Perspective, hopefully, by the end of this year. I thank Prime Minister Blair for the renewed personal commitment he gave to these goals here today. It is difficult, but it is possible and it is necessary. The task of responsible politicians is to make possible what is necessary. That is why we are now working very hard. We have been working very closely and very intensively with the UK Presidency. I want to thank Prime Minister Blair and all his staff for the very competent work they are doing and I want to reaffirm to you, the European Parliament, and to Prime Minister Blair, that we will be working hard to ensure the success, not only of tomorrow’s summit, but also of the December summit, so that we have Europe on the move again.
I should like to thank you for the support you have given to the document prepared by the Commission and I want to reaffirm in this Chamber, before you and Mr Blair, that we want to help find a solution to the budget issue, because if we truly want to show that Europe is moving forward, then we need to have a decision on the financial perspectives.
In Europe, as we know, there have historically been high levels of prosperity, social cohesion and environmental protection, and a high quality of life, compared with other regions in the world. However, it is also true that there is a lack of social justice. Today, there are 19 million unemployed in the Member States of the Union. The gap between rich and poor is too great.
In many of our large towns, we have serious problems relating to integration, which require emergency measures. The truth is that this situation is in danger of worsening in the face of the simultaneous challenges of an ageing population and of globalisation. Without doubt, globalisation creates great opportunities, but it also threatens certain sectors of our Europe.
One thing is certain: maintaining the status quo is not an option. There is an urgent need for reforms to be undertaken and for Europe to be modernised. If we want to retain our European values, then we have to modernise our policies. That is why we are proposing ambitious reforms by emphasising the need to avert two dangers.
On the one hand, there is the danger arising from those who believe that Europe is only, or principally, a market. They are mistaken, because an enlarged Europe – the Europe of 25, and more than that in the future – has to rely on a structure of social cohesion and political coherence, both internally and towards the outside world, if we want to support this project. We must never take for granted our great European project, but we must fight each day to strengthen it.
On the other hand, there is the danger arising from those who believe that it is possible to make Europe a power at the same time as there are 25 micro markets for energy and 25 micro markets for services. If we want to make Europe a genuine power, then we have to fully implement the internal market. Our competitiveness in the globalised world depends on our doing so."@en1
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