Madrid, 08/01/2002 (Agence Europe) - The fight against terrorism remains the "very top priority" of the Spanish EU Council Presidency, restated Spanish Prime Minister José Maria Aznar during a press conference with Romano Prodi on Tuesday in Madrid after bilateral meetings between himself and the European Commission President and between his ministers and the different Commissioners, as well as a plenary meeting of the Spanish Government-Commission. The "extraordinary progress" made over recent months in this field must be "transposed into the national legislations" and we must intensify our cooperation in the fight against terrorism with all countries, and especially with the United States and with Russia, he said. In response to questions put to him, Mr Aznar reiterated Spain's hope that there would be a move forward towards concluding an agreement with the United States regarding legal and judicial cooperation in order to fight more effectively against terrorism. In answer to questions on the death penalty, he acknowledged that there were difficulties and said that, if Spain has an agreement with the United States ruling out extradition in cases where the death penalty is applied, why should this question go on being asked? He assured that they continue to seek an agreement comprising "all the legal guarantees".
Furthermore, for the new European Council President, it is "absolutely indispensable" for the successful introduction of the euro to go hand in hand with intensified economic reform, in the EU Member States, in order to reestablish European growth and competitiveness and create more jobs in the aim of reaching "full employment by the end of the decade". Mr Aznar, who believes the European peoples' reaction to the euro has given the sceptics an "extraordinary lesson" (in his view, introduction of single currency is "almost more important than the foundation of the Union"), thus confirmed the priority that his Presidency attributes to the Lisbon process, with a view to the European Council of Barcelona in March 2002. Romano Prodi affirmed on this subject that the meeting in Madrid, just a few days before changeover to the euro, had taken place in a "moment of great optimism". He also felt that, now that the euro is here, "we must draw the logical consequences of it", namely progress towards "major modernisation of Europe", which is to make a "leap forward" in Barcelona, and the necessary revision of "economic coordination mechanisms". Such revision will not be made in one day but must "have our full attention". (See EUROPE of 4 January, p.4, for remarks made by Mr Prodi on this subject in Brussels).
Messrs Aznar and Prodi told the press that the President and Commission had also discussed:
- The Convention that is to prepare the next EU reform. Mr Aznar pointed out he is to receive Chairman Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in Madrid on Wednesday. He hoped that the Convention would work with the greatest "intensity and vitality possible" towards this reform. In this context, Mr Prodi, answering questions on his ideas about the future sharing of powers within the EU, stressed that this was, for him, only a breakdown between the Union and the States, as, he remarked, each Member State defines its internal organisation according to its own history, and its own traditions. This obviously pleased Mr Aznar, who said he fully shared this vision of things. "The European Union is a Union of States (…) there are federal States, centralised States, autonomous regions (…). That is the reality, that is what is possible", the Prime Minister hammered home. He reaffirmed the well known position of the Spanish government concerning the demands made by certain of its regions. Mr Prodi also commented that "France and Germany will never be organised in the same way!".
EU enlargement. Negotiations will continue in respect of the timetable set and Agenda 2000, and the Spanish Presidency will give it "decisive impetus", so that the largest possible number of candidate countries may complete negotiations by the end of the year, stressed Mr Aznar.
Security and Defence Policy. Mr Aznar hopes, above all, that it will be possible to define "certain missions" of the future Rapid Reaction Force during Spain's term of office.
The situation in Argentina. Spain intends to be "very close to Argentina" and insists that it adopt an improvement plan that is "credible and acceptable to the Argentinean society and the international community", a plan that is the result of dialogue and which makes the country able to receive foreign investment ("strategic, not economic" investment), Mr Aznar affirmed. Mr Prodi insisted on a plan that is "compatible with the commitments regarding international trade". He noted that "a return to protectionism would be a disaster for Argentina".
The EuroMediterranean process. There are enormous expectations in the countries in the Mediterranean region, which straddle the border between war and peace and which criticise us for ignoring them because of enlargement, explained President Prodi, recognising that some areas of criticism were justified but that this was how things had panned out in history. He mentioned the proposal to set up a Mediterranean Bank, possibly as a subsidiary of the European Investment Bank (he said he was not interested in the technical details) noting that what he himself was interested in was an area where politicians from either side of the Mediterranean could meet. Mr Aznar emphasised the scale of the challenge of developing the Mediterranean region - where it would be necessary to create 40 million new jobs in the next few years alone simply to keep unemployment and income at their current levels given the rate of population growth in the area.
Italy - Aznar and Prodi opt for prudence
Messrs Aznar and Prodi were asked about the situation in Italy by several journalists who were unable to raise much of a comment from either politician. Jose Maria Aznar said he was absolutely convinced that Berlusconi and his government would take a direction in favour of European integration and they had no doubts about Italy's European orientation, while Romano Prodi said that over the past few months he had worked very well with Renato Ruggiero. He hoped the same would occur with Silvio Berlusconi during his interim period and with Ruggiero's successor as Foreign Minister.