Berlin, 19/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - In a speech he made at the Humboldt-Universitat in Berlin on 18 October, Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson said in particular (in anticipation of Friday's debate at the Ghent Summit: see above) that the European Council and Council of Ministers "will continue to play the central role in the governing of Europe", and considered that, "in a Union where the Council remains in charge, the Presidency will assume increased importance". According to him, the Council must have a greater role, being "the body that can take the (…) decisions needed, and be held accountable by the citizens". We must have a "General" Affairs Council in the true sense of the term, Persson considered, for whom, each Member State could decide "who they would like to send to such a Council: deputy prime minister, foreign minister or minister for European affairs: the important thing for the Union is that all Member States are represented by personalities with a clear political mandate". As for the European Commission, it "has an important role of looking after the interests of the Union as a whole, in taking legislative initiatives and in monitoring the implementation of the Treaties and Community rules", he remarked, adding: "We agreed about changes in the appointment of the Commission in Nice, less that a year ago, I do not see any need for changing it again".
Mr. Persson moreover turned to: - the status of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, stating that the wording of this text "is not sufficiently precise for incorporating it in the treaty as it is". According to him, it would be better for the Community to sign up to the European Convention on Human Rights: - simplification of the treaties, which "would certainly be of great help in gaining greater popular support for the Union", but "will not be easy to achieve, without changing the substance" (reason why "we should do our utmost, but should not make any premature promises about fundamental improvements"); - a European Constitution, but "what kind of Constitution?" Persson wonders, for whom, "an essential question will be the legal status of that document, and what it will take to amend it". Whereas, he would not be prepared to accept "that a transfer of competence from the national to the European level could be made without ratification by national parliaments" (and he believes this to be the case for other Member States); - the division of competences, considering that a clear distinction between national and EU competences would be useful but that "it must not lead to a dismantling of what the EU has achieved over the years", and nor has the Union to "barter away tools that we may need in the future".
The Swedish Prime Minister also turned to: co-operation regarding justice and home affairs, noting that these were issues that "in most cases are best solved inter-governmentally", but without opposing passage to qualified majority voting in certain areas, like immigration and asylum; - enhanced co-operation is an "excellent instrument", he said, predicting that it would be used, and that the EU will especially need it in view of enlargement; - the euro, stressing that "it is important also to Sweden" that "the euro becomes a success", as "it will have a profound impact on the economic situation in Sweden, even if Sweden has not yet joined". Mr. Persson recalled that his party, the Social-Democratic party had taken a position in favour of joining the euro, that the opposition parties were divided, but that a majority of parliament was in favour of it, whereas "public opinion is uncertain for the time being, but what matters is the answer when the issue is put to the Swedish people, in due time". "The force of integration that flows from the EMU is tremendous", he acknowledged.