Brussels, 02/07/2001 (Agence Europe) - This morning, we noted that the Belgian Presidency and the European Commission are on the same wavelength, said the new European Council President, Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, on Monday afternoon. He was speaking at the joint Belgian Presidency/Commission press conference held in the new press centre of the Presidency, in the "Residence Palace" building, after the traditional meeting each new EU Council Presidency has with the College of Commissioners.
Illustrating the seven main lines of action of the Belgian Presidency, Mr Verhofstadt (who noted that the ministers had discussed the programme "line by line" and "action by action" with the different European Commissioners), mainly spoke of the Laeken Declaration on the future of Europe. He insisted on the need, during this exercise, to take into account the "feeling of malaise" and the "fears" of citizens that should be reconciled with the Union. The declaration, said Mr Verhofstadt, will analyse the criticisms made of Europe, which must be answered, and will pose the problem of a European Constitution ("the question must be raised", he admitted, noting that there is increasing talk in speeches by political leaders of a Constitution, saying "OK, let's do it"), as well as the powers at different levels. It is a matter of "organising powers" not limiting powers, remarked Mr Verhofstadt, who used the German terms ("Kompetenzeordnung" not "Kompetenzenabgrenzung"). There should also be reflection on how appropriate it is to have direct EU financing by citizens, added the Belgian Prime Minister, who, in response to a question, added: I have never spoken of an additional European tax. I have always specified that any tax at European level should go hand in hand with a reduction of the citizens' taxation at national level. The Laeken Declaration will also set out a method and a timetable and, if possible, will cautiously give a direction for the debate", he added. Romano Prodi, for his part, felt that Europe is at a "crossroads" and that it is reaching a destination that, from certain aspects, is highly important. Laeken will be the "end of the era of ambiguity", he said. He stressed that the Commission and the Presidency "fully share the aims and the hierarchy of values" with a view to Laeken. The Commission will as planned adopt its White Paper on Governance in which it will set out the changes "that we must undertake ourselves" to better take into account the questions asked by citizens, said Mr Prodi, for whom: this document will be an instrument for better achievement of Laeken. One journalist told the Belgian Prime Minister that he had said he would have to "pedal against the wind", wishing to know where the counter wind for the two cyclists, Verhofstadt and Prodi, was coming from. The wind has changed, admitted Mr Prodi, and Mr Verhofstadt also recognised that "the wind has slightly turned" for some time now, but he also noted that, at the present time, ideas are being proposed (like that of a Constitution) that would have seemed unworkable a few years ago. There is also a wind "behind us", he therefore said. And he considered as "idle" the semantic discussions on a federal or confederal Europe: "Europe has a name, the European Union, and that's enough", he said.
The other lines of action cited by the President of the European Council included foreign and security policy. He pointed out that an effort should now be made, at EU level, for Central Africa, the Great African Lakes, and the Congo. "I know that, politically, the Balkans are more important, that the Middle East is more important, but there is no comparison as far as human suffering goes in these countries where there have been several million deaths in recent years", he exclaimed. Announcing that the Belgian Presidency will use the mandate given by the Council "to take an initiative", he added: "Seven countries are at war over a territory that is larger than Western Europe. It is a continental war".
The other lines of action evoked by Mr Verhofstadt were:
- Follow-up of the Tampere Summit (October 1999) with a view to realising a common areas of freedom, justice and security. In Laeken, rather than having just a progress report, we would like to be able to announce progress on issues such as common standards on asylum rights, the fight against the trade in human beings, the setting in place of Eurojust and, "why not, a European extradition mandate", said Mr Verhofstadt, for whom such a European mandate would be "normal" for countries sharing the same values.
- Enlargement, for which the Presidency will "strictly follow the Commission's road map", trying to "do just as well" as the Swedish Presidency. We shall ensure it is "quality" enlargement, said Mr Verhofstadt, who announced for the informal summit in Gent (19 October) an assessment report (while the Commission will present its own report in November).
- The development of the European social model, which mainly means that it will be necessary to define quality indicators for labour and social exclusion, said Mr Verhofstadt, who also spoke of the adoption of the directive on worker participation and consultation and the report awaited from the Ecofin/Social Affairs Councils on retirement. Romano Prodi also emphasised the importance of "quality work" and the "sustainability" of retirement schemes.
- The introduction of the euro and the "new economic agenda" of the EU. Mr Verhofstadt announced that the Gent summit will look at a progress report on the distribution of notes and coins in euros. He said "we must be sure that everything is going as it should". Furthermore, he stressed the need to make progress on the taxation issue, to continue with liberalisation in many sectors and to take a decision on the statute of the European company ("when I was a student, he said, it was said that the matter would be settled in just a few weeks …").
- Sustainable development, which requires we should move along the road taken in Gothenburg. "We shall also try to relaunch the Kyoto process", by making contact with other countries, said Mr Verhofstadt, who finally recalled that the future European Food Agency should be in place early 2002.