Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-11-14-Speech-2-267"
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"en.20061114.36.2-267"2
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"Mr President, first of all my warm thanks, on behalf of the whole Commission, for all your important and constructive contributions to the debate on next year’s work programme, which I have been listening to since 3 o’clock. My first comment will be a political one and then I would like to say something about the process. But what I have heard is really a common call for sustainable development, meaning that a majority of you have mentioned the need to create jobs and growth. This is the start of the debate, but we have to respect the most important resource we have, people, and make sure that we have a social security and social protection system that reaches out effectively to all citizens.
The different structure you propose makes a lot of sense, but I think this is the way to ensure we can have a real political debate about priorities. That has been our wish from the beginning, in engaging with the European Parliament to discuss the work programme. This reflects the kind of dialogue we have had with the European Parliament for a long time, with contributions from all the individual committees. I think I am speaking on behalf of all my colleagues when I say that we have welcomed this and have enjoyed that debate and interaction with the European Parliament.
I would also like to say that when several of you ask for things that you feel are missing, that is in a way the tip of the iceberg. So much is being done all the time in the Commission and our departments. Here you find the strategic objectives, the strategic initiatives, that we say we will give priority to. At the same time there are a number of things in the pipeline. You are right on that point, Mr Harbour: you have to decide to give priority to a number of them. You will also find a list of communication priorities. That is in response to some of the very important remarks on human rights and anti-discrimination.
As you know, next year will be the Year of Equal Opportunities. That is one of our communication priorities, on which we will definitely engage with the other institutions. Whether or not there should be a directive will be debated constantly with the European Parliament, but we can only present directives when we are ready and the circumstances are right. That will be debated later with the different committees. Anti-discrimination and human rights are part of everything we do and clearly a political priority in all our activities.
We welcome your contributions. I find in your comments support for the high ambitions that the Commission has for 2007 and I also welcome your firm support to work together to achieve them. We are also committed to listening to citizens and to delivery, to becoming more accountable, transparent and effective. We thank you for your support in pursuing and strengthening our efforts towards better communication.
Now the Commission will study the content of the resolution you will be adopting in December. The Commission will respond in the most appropriate and timely manner. The presentation of the annual policy strategy for 2008 could be the moment when the Commission explains how it intends to take account of the resolution on the work programme.
I should like to reiterate that the Commission attaches the greatest importance to our framework agreement. It has proved a solid basis for productive working relations between our two institutions. It should remain our common objective to make the best use of it.
Mr Duff, we meet regularly in discussions about the constitutional treaty and, as you already heard from President Barroso, we have great hopes also for next year. We shall now start preparing to move the institutional issues and hopefully the constitutional treaty forward next year. We will have to work with Member States and engage in a dialogue with them as to how we can do this in a balanced and effective manner. But it is clear that the problems addressed by the Constitution have not gone away. They are there and accentuated by next year’s enlargement. That is why we have to come back to the issue. We have to engage in a debate. However, it has not been a detour to say that we also have to have a period of reflection and that we have to engage with citizens. That has given us a lot in return. It has been necessary, because we can see a change of debate and atmosphere in many Member States. It is important to know that we can mobilise that support in trying to find a solution to the constitutional issue.
It has to be sustainable growth, which means we have to take account of natural resources, energy issues and environmental constraints. That is exactly what sustainable development is all about, making sure that we do it the European way, ensuring that all these three elements are covered by an ambitious policy for jobs and growth in Europe.
I have heard these calls for quality jobs and investment in education and innovation, research and development. As you know, this has been part of our political agenda from the first day of the Barroso Commission.
We propose to respond to this, because it is totally in line with this Commission’s political ambitions, and we propose reforms in this work programme. We propose social cohesion and I think it is important to mention in that context, since there was also a debate about regional policy, that we now have in place all we need – budgets, regulations, etc. – for a regional policy for 2007 to 2013, and that we are negotiating right now with Member States on the programmes.
We hope for close cooperation with Parliament on implementation. The urban dimension is taken very seriously by the Commission. The earmarking takes account of the needs of both more and less advanced regions in Europe, because there have been references to unfair cohesion policy and we say that all three dimensions of cohesion must be taken seriously. This is also reflected in the new regulations, where partnership is in principle obligatory and 82% of the structural funds goes to poorer regions. Investment in people is one of the three objectives of the cohesion policy and I think that point should come out in the debate.
We are also proposing security measures. Security includes making sure we can live free from terrorist threats and crime and from environmental pollution. We say we need to approach this with a lot of optimism and in partnership with all the stakeholders involved, but engaging with Member States.
This has to do with the issue of soft law. Many of you have mentioned soft law, compared with other measures and legislative acts. It is important to mention that this Commission work programme for 2007 contains 34 legislative proposals, representing 36% of the total, 57 non-legislative proposals and one negotiating mandate. That is more than last year’s 24 legislative proposals, 57 non-legislative proposals and five negotiating mandates. This figure shows that the proportion of legislative initiatives has increased from 27 to 36%. At the same time, the proportion of non-legislative proposals has slightly decreased.
With a more diverse Europe, we also have to invest more in working with Member States to ensure that we prepare for good and better regulation and legislation that will be implemented. Therefore we need better consultation and better-prepared proposals in order to see better results, and that also applies to working methods.
Mr Harbour asked about resources. In some cases, perhaps the Commission should ask the European Parliament to give us the resources we need. As you know, at the moment we are discussing how we can have enough resources to do everything Parliament has put on its wish-list. I have heard so many proposals for things that ought to be added to the list and things that you have missed – initiatives or legislative proposals – that should be on this list: energy initiatives, migration initiatives, the single market review, the social reality stocktaking, the emissions trading scheme, a European strategy for social services, a Community framework for efficient health services, etc. These 21 strategic objectives cover exactly the three pillars of sustainable development. If we are to add more of these initiatives or more work, we also need the resources and we cannot pretend otherwise. We are concerned about the budget for the Commission. We have to explain to our auditors, the European Parliament and the other institutions, how we use our money. However, we can discuss the structure until the cows come home, but in the end we have to choose and we have chosen to make this a more political document and explain the priorities of the Barroso Commission."@en1
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