Strasbourg, 16/12/2009 (Agence Europe) - If it was not faced with the task of helping to make the negotiations underway in Copenhagen a success, the Swedish Presidency would already be able to take pride in its results. On Wednesday 16 December, the vast majority of the MEPs paid tribute to an active Presidency, which had not stinted and which had succeeded in its principal priorities against a very difficult backdrop. Its reaction to the crisis (recovery strategies, regulations on financial supervision, etc), institutional issues (Irish referendum, entry into force of the Treaty, permanent Presidency and other appointments), Stockholm Programme, preparations for the EU's position in Copenhagen: satisfaction prevails on all of these issues, although a number of MEPs also expressed their disappointment. The largely positive verdict of the members of the European Parliament, however, remains pending until the final results of the climate change conference are known. Although the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon will continue to bear the indelible mark of the Swedish Presidency, many of the MEPs, bolstered by the increased role of the European Parliament, pledged their intentions of standing up to the Council much more.
"My group agrees with the honest and responsible management of European affairs which has been the watchword of the Swedish Presidency", stressed Joseph Daul, who acknowledged that Europe has made no "false promises", regarding economic or social matters in particular. In the future, it is important not to repeat the mistakes of the Lisbon Strategy (2010 version), which, by setting unrealistic objectives, "was a disappointment". We must make sure that the strategy for 2020 is not just more "hot air", stressed the President of the EPP.
"The Swedish Presidency has taken a good deal of trouble", said his opposite number for the S&D group, Martin Schulz, who congratulated a "transition Presidency", which had largely had to be content with a coordination role. The Treaty of Lisbon is progress and the fact that the Swedish Presidency was able to make it a reality is a great feather in its cap. However, this Treaty "cannot be the end of Europe's institutional evolution, to provide solutions to all of the world's problems" and the "Commission would do well to seek a majority at the EP" to get legislation through in the future.
The Presidency does not end today, "it still needs success in Copenhagen", stressed Guy Verhofstadt, who believes that an agreement is "possible". For this, the strategy would have to establish "triangular cooperation" between the United States, China and Europe, to create a "serious basis to convince the others".
In the view of Michal Tomasz Kaminski and the ECR group, "the Swedish Presidency avoided populist policy at a time of crisis". However, it did not really obtain success regarding foreign policy, he said, lamenting the fact that Europe is still not chef de file for Middle Eastern issues, amongst other things.
"This Presidency has been a great success", it has "managed to conclude the ratification process and all of its other objectives have been met", said José Manuel Barroso. Mr Reinfeldt, the 11th person he has worked with under the rotating Presidencies during his time at the head of the Commission, "deserves to be in the Hall of Fame of the best ever presidencies", said Mr Barroso.
Climate change. The Swedish Prime Minister, who hopes to be a "positive force" in Copenhagen, told the press that if the EU's proposal to reduce by 30% the level of its emissions by 2020 was to remain on the table, he was still waiting for a comparable effort from partners such as the United States and Canada. This conditional approach came in for criticism by the Greens/EFA, whose co-president reminded him that it is "hard to understand that the EU is playing a leadership role". Rebecca Harms stated that "leadership is earned by setting the example", and that the 20% reduction objective was not enough. "The Europeans have opened all of the little backdoors allowing them not to make reductions at national level" and many experts have noted that what is being proposed would not lead to a reduction, but to an increase in emissions by 2020, she said.
"We are making our commitment on the basis of a binding text with funding that I have not seen elsewhere", retorted Mr Reinfeldt. Europe has done what it could, it wants to move to 30%, but the other major polluters must also move forward. Where some of them make do with press releases, "we have legislation which takes up our objectives", Mr Barroso argued. Some people say that is not enough, but 7.2 billion over three years "in the current context is really a major commitment", not just an idea which has been put forward, but "a real commitment", he stressed. Therefore "we must recognize that we have been a pioneer".
"From Copenhagen I expect well-balanced commitments, in the short and medium terms, which are verifiable and come with financial penalties in the event of failure to respect them", said Joseph Daul. Rather than criticising, like the Greens and Communists, "who hold responsibility nowhere in Europe", we must be realistic and this is what the Swedish Presidency has been on the climate, said Werner Langen (EPP, Germany). A bit less so, however, on the prospect of accession to the Euro zone, he feels: "you said that he would join the euro; is Sweden now standing at the Euro's door?"
Economy and finance. The Swedish Presidency has done a good job of monitoring the consequences of the crisis, but although its results are tangible, they sometimes lack ambition, the MEPs noted. On behalf of the GUE-NGL, Lothar Bisky criticised the fact that European Council had not sent out any clear messages on the 2020 strategy, making do with following the orientations of the old Commission (Barroso I). "Why did you not send out a clear signal to support the real economy" and the SMEs, asked Mario Borghezio of Europe of Freedom and Democracy. "A number of historic moments" marked the Swedish Presidency, but on other issues, the results have been "half-hearted", said the French Socialist Catherine Trautmann, who regretted the fact that when it comes to financial supervision, the conclusions of the Ecofin Council are still below the level of the proposals of the Larosière group. Even Mr Barroso wanted to go further than what the Council had proposed on this point. "I hope that the European Parliament will reinforce and re-balance the rules in this area in the next phase of negotiations", he said, adding that in his view, "the Commission's text was somewhat too watered down" (for example by introducing the possibility of veto).
Justice and home affairs. The Stockholm Programme could "act as a springboard to modify the situation in terms of liberty, security and justice", which will be "one of the key sectors for the coming years", said Mr Barroso. The Swedish Presidency does not have its greatest fan in Silvana Koch-Mehrin (ALDE, Germany), partly because "you have made the European Council a super-government of the EU", with responsibility for environmental policy, finance, etc, "but behind closed doors", but also because you set the Parliament aside over the Swift dossier, said the German Liberal. An agreement reached just before the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon by the EU ministers allowed the American Treasury to continue to have access to the banking information generated by Swift, even though the Parliament asked for the decision to be postponed so that it could carry out its new competency as co-legislator on the issue. This approach was not to the taste of a number of MEPs, among them Judith Sargentini (Greens - EFA, Netherlands), who described it as a "shortcoming of your Presidency". Åsa Westlund (S&D, Sweden) voiced her fears that the Stockholm Programme could lead to a Fortress Europe rather than guaranteeing people's rights. "Not everything is balanced" in the Stockholm Programme, which will create excessive expenses, whereas these subjects should have come under the domain of the sovereignty of the States, added British Conservative member Timothy Kirkhope. (A.B./trans.fl)