Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-06-18-Speech-3-340"
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"en.20080618.25.3-340"2
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"I shall be very brief in view of the late hour. I think it was Mr Severin who said – I shall quote this in English – ‘Russia is a divisive issue in the European Union’. Nevertheless I think that during today’s debate in this Parliament I heard above all two elements of very broad consensus, very broad.
Firstly, that we need good relations between the European Union and the Russian Federation. I can only agree with this, of course. The Russian Federation, as has been said several times, is a world power, one of the key players in the international scene, as Mr Millán Mon said, and it is moreover our neighbour. In short, we are condemned to coexist with the Russian Federation, and this coexistence will be high-quality only if it is based on partnership and cooperation. This Presidency is determined to cultivate dialogue towards enhancing this partnership and cooperation, a dialogue that includes all issues of interest to both sides, including those over which we do not agree and about which I spoke in my introductory speech.
The other important element of very broad consensus, which I have discerned here in this Chamber, is the importance ascribed by MEPs to the common position of the European Union. Here I could not agree more. The area where this has been especially highlighted and most frequently highlighted is the area of energy. The fact is that no individual Member State could achieve in separate talks with suppliers like the Russian Federation as good an agreement as the Union as a whole can achieve. It is therefore high time for the common European energy policy to come truly to life.
In this context mention was also made of gas and oil pipelines. May I say just this: if in the European Union we had been capable hitherto of establishing a true, proper internal energy market, it would be entirely immaterial where some gas or oil pipeline ran.
Allow me to conclude with the following remark: the Slovenian Presidency is delighted that its Presidency is ending with the EU-Russian Federation summit, a summit which this time, owing to certain new circumstances, a new president in Russia and the mandate that we finally succeeded in obtaining after lengthy negotiations, promises much, and I hope that these expectations will be fulfilled."@en1
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