Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-06-24-Speech-2-031"
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"en.20080624.3.2-031"2
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"Mr President, Slovenia is the first of the new Member States to hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The six-month Presidency was certainly an enormous organisational undertaking for Slovenia, but it has to be said that the three years of preparations, together with the support of the European Commission, Germany, Portugal and France, were very successful and Slovenia has led the work of the Council very efficiently over the past six months.
The programme for the Presidency contained a number of priorities that were certainly not easy to achieve and which will be carried over to the next Presidency. The primary point in the programme was of course the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. Taking into consideration the fact that ratification of that document depends on individual Member States, the most that Slovenia could do is to set a good example, which it did. Unfortunately the referendum in Ireland threw cold water onto the optimistic vision of the Lisbon Treaty’s entry into force prior to the French Presidency. The spectre of yet another crisis loomed over Europe and the summit of the European Council, which took place last weekend in Brussels, was unable to answer the question of where Europe should go next. This question is still open and we shall await some answers not just from France or the Irish government, as this is a task for all supporters of the joint European project. The Polish left has called on the government of Donald Tusk and President Kaczyński to ratify the treaty without delay.
Another very important priority for the Slovenian Presidency was issues relating to energy and climate change. In March 2007 Member States undertook to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions by 20% by 2020, increase the amount of energy generated from renewable sources by 20% and increase energy efficiency by 20%. It so happened that the preparation of a consensus as regards the regulations prepared by the Commission in this regard also fell within the Slovenian Presidency. This was not and is still not an easy task since, and this is deplorable, the majority of European Union Member States have not been able so far to fulfil their obligations under the Kyoto Protocol.
European energy security and the ability to withstand financial crises in the age of globalisation: these are, without doubt, among the most important challenges facing the EU. Rising materials and food costs, uncertainty in financial markets which, for many companies are the only source of financing for growth as well as for specific projects, are not just a threat to Europe’s economic growth, but are damaging to households and endangering the realisation of the European social project."@en1
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