Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-02-19-Speech-2-158"
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"en.20080219.28.2-158"2
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"Mr President, Prime Minister, I am pleased to be able to welcome you to Strasbourg. I do not know whether Mrs Malmström is equally delighted at having had to come to Strasbourg with you, but perhaps we can discuss that on another occasion.
You delivered a good speech, Prime Minister. I also believe it was a wise speech, because you pointed out that our vision of the future of Europe will only be attainable if we equip the European Union to play its part in addressing the challenges facing this continent in all parts of the world. The debate on the global climate is not a European debate but a global debate. That is true. Consideration of the role of the European Union in world trade should not be confined to the debate on the internal market, but must also serve to identify ways in which this huge single market with its great economic power can contribute to prosperity, not only in Europe but in other continents too. The fact is that prosperity in other continents – and this brings me to a third point that you raised – is conducive to world peace. As a force for peace that has established stability and harmony within its territory, Europe must be able to contribute to making the world a more peaceful place. This does not mean that Europe should try to teach the world, but the European model can be an option.
Supranational integration, integration across the deep divides of religion and ethnic conflict, bridging the gulf of a bloody past by abandoning nationalism in favour of a supranational approach, will always lead to greater prosperity and will always nurture peace. This is why the future of Europe depends on the ability of Heads of Government like you to be prepared, when it comes to the crunch, to surrender a degree of national sovereignty in order to contribute to a supranational framework, which is the basis for more prosperity in the world and hence for more peace within our own countries. That is the logic you set out here today, and I subscribe to it. It is a different logic from that of the ultra-nationalists we shall experience again tomorrow, who keep telling us that more nationalism is needed. More nationalism invariably means more wars. Let us make no bones about that. For this reason the message you conveyed to us today was a good one.
Those who are reacting are the very ones to whom I was referring, so my message has clearly hit home.
What I missed, Prime Minister, was the idea of a social Europe. Someone told me you have to watch Reinfeldt, because he is the next best thing to a Socialist. That, at least, is the impression you gave in the election campaign in Sweden. Admittedly, the Swedish people were quite quickly put right about your Government’s real intentions. But you did not refer once today to the concept of a socially responsible Europe. Now I know you take the view that social policy is a national matter, and rightly so. I must say, however, that if the internal market you seek to develop is perceived by people in Sweden and other countries as a threat to the social standards they enjoy at home, they will reject that internal market.
In that case, your global trade strategy would be worthless too. You must appreciate that, while there is a need to develop the internal market, the process must be accompanied by the parallel development of a European social model. Otherwise, if such a twin-tracked approach is not adopted, a misshapen European internal market based on free trade alone will be a genuine threat to the social stability that we have struggled to achieve in our respective countries. Let me therefore give you some good advice, Prime Minister: go ahead on the global climate, go ahead on world trade, and go ahead on international peace-building, but go ahead on the European social model too. Since I know, however, that you are a man who is capable of learning, I am fairly sure you will redress the balance a little.
Prime Minister, I was very pleased with a remark you made concerning Turkey. You are a fair man, just like our President. He granted my fellow Member, Mr Doyle, an extra minute and a half. He will grant me that too, which means that I can add one more point. You spoke about Turkey. Tell that to your European Council colleague, President Sarkozy, for it is not right that people in the European Union constantly pop up with conflicting messages. If I were the Prime Minister of Turkey, I would never cease to be astonished. Mr Reinfeldt visits the European Parliament and tells us not to batten down the hatches but to keep the prospect of Turkish accession open. The next President of the Council to appear here after Mr Janša will be saying the opposite. I am pretty sure of that. The fact is that President Sarkozy told us here in the European Parliament that Turkish accession to the European Union was not on his agenda. This issue cannot be kicked back and forth like that. Clarification is essential. There is a clear EU strategy for Turkish accession, and we must stand by our declarations. Or am I wrong? You put it plainly today, and I hope Nicolas Sarkozy will do likewise.
One final remark: what pleased me most was your announcement that you intend to come back in the summer of next year as President-in-Office of the Council. That was good. There are some who believe that the next President of the Council to address us here will be the permanent one, who will then present the programmes of all the rotating presidencies. In other words, Mr Blair or Mr Juncker, or whoever the horse-trading might give us, would be the one who presented your Government’s programme, which you had adopted in Stockholm. But it is you that the European Parliament expects to see here next year in the rotating presidency with your programme, which will then include the concept of a social Europe."@en1
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