Strasbourg, 16/01/2002 (Agence Europe) - The President of the European Council, José Maria Aznar, promised the European Parliament on Wednesday in Strasbourg, that the Spanish Presidency would be ambitious, and would come under the slogan "More Europe". One of the priorities of this Presidency is the continuation of the Lisbon Agenda, recalled Mr Aznar, pointing out that, in Barcelona, the candidate countries will "participate, for the first time, in a working session of the European Council". The participation of candidates in the work on "economic and social modernisation is, to my way of thinking, the best political signal of backing for enlargement that the Union can give", stressed Mr Aznar, speaking of a second President priority - enlargement. He took stock of Spain's "political will" to ensure that "all countries that are prepared will be able to conclude their negotiations by the end of this year". He specified, however, that the conclusion of negotiations would depend above all on the effort made by Member States, and also the ability shown by Member States to compromise, and on whether the Commission will submit its proposals in time. Another top priority is the fight against terrorism. "Therefore there is a need, within the framework of the rule of law, to reinforce the European Union's Action Plan against terrorism, in order to eliminate any terrorist sanctuaries inside our borders", said Mr Aznar, who felt that the instruments adopted by the EU to combat terrorism will not be effective without "greater cooperation between the Security Corps and Forces of the Union's States". For this reason, the Presidency considers it of the greatest priority to "rapidly form joint investigating teams, to increase the efficiency of Europol's work, and to prevent the financing of terrorists and those who shelter and support them". Another objective is "close cooperation in matters of criminal law with the United States, in accordance with the principles that govern the legal system of the European Union".
These issues (as well as progress in common asylum and immigration policy and the control of external borders or the fight against drugs trafficking) "require close institutional cooperation" said Mr Aznar. Furthermore, he mainly insisted on:
The development of an economic zone of greater prosperity. The "solidity" of the Euro, "requires closer co-ordination of economic policies, asserted Mr Aznar, so that it could be translated into, "encouragement of the role of the Euro-group, the enhancement of the General guidelines of Economic Policy and strict compliance with the Stability and Growth Pact". As well as the greater visibility of the Euro-zone, the introduction of the Euro would, "oblige the Presidency to ensure that the Union's opinions are taken into account in the international fora".
Mr Aznar mentioned five areas where there was a need for "more Europe": an authentic opening up of "the European transport and communications systems" (a re-examination of the Trans-European Transport Networks, the European Single Sky and the liberalisation of rail transport); the opening up of the energy market (and the building of infrastructure and interconnections between the national markets); integration of the financial markets (the application of the Lamfalussy Report as soon as possible, "while safeguarding the necessary respect for institutional balance"; employment strategy (placing greater emphasis on the analysis of structural rigidities of the labour markets, on fiscal and social protection systems); Working Programme on the systems of education.
"the important external profile" required by the EU. Mr Aznar repeated that Spain intended to convert the debate on the fight against terrorism into an objective of the European Security and Defence Policy (see yesterday's issue of EUROPE page 7) and further develop relations between the USA, Russia and Latin America (on Argentina. He explained that the European Union would co-operate with the authorities of the country in, "finding realistic solutions based on dialogue that will restore the competitiveness of the Argentine economy". He mentioned the Middle East, ASEM (Spain, China, Vietnam had worked together to ensure that the ministerial meeting on immigration between the EU/ASEM would be a success) and the fight against poverty.
The Convention will begin its work at "the European Parliament in Brussels" in recognition of the importance of the Parliament's work on the future of Europe. The success of the Convention would depend on , "both the consolidation of the process of progressive Constitutionalisation of the Treaties"…rather than whether it, "will serve in the future as the method for the preparation of future Intergovernmental Conferences".
Co-operation with the Parliament. Mr Aznar welcomed the election of Pat Cox and expressed his wish for the Parliament to become "more of a protagonist" in European policy. He asserted that the Spanish Presidency would do its best to ensure that the eight areas for conciliation over the next six months were rapidly concluded.
Romano Prodi focuses oh the social and economic agenda
Once again Romano Prodi explained that the introduction of Euro notes and coins was a tangible sign of a United Europe's great project. He claimed that this was a symbol of the emotional impact resulting from the ending of identity controls at the community's borders. In reference to the Spanish priorities that coincide with those of the European Commission in 2002, he reaffirmed that the same goal that had allowed them to successfully launch the new single European currency must now be used for progressing with the Union's social and economic agenda. Following on from Monetary Union, Mr Prodi said that they now had to concentrate on the economic Union. Referring to the spring report adopted by the Commission for the Barcelona summit, (see yesterday's edition of EUROPE page 11) he hammered home the fact that it was now the time to keep to the commitments for speeding up reforms. According to Mr Prodi, there was no choice but to continue with the implementation of the model of society that was both possible and desirable in Europe but without selling off their cultural heritage but by rather making it a permanent fixture. He said that the progress achieved in the Lisbon Strategy had been encouraging but in some fields certain important aspects of the Commission's proposal regarding financial integration, transport and energy, the Community Patent and Galileo had been blocked and the deadlines set by the Council itself were in danger of not being met. Mr Prodi stressed that the priorities that the Commission had identified in 2002 in its report were employment, completion of the internal market, education, training and research. Mr Prodi added that after Barcelona the General Economic Strategy would need strengthening in order to take into account the economic interdependency of the Euro-zone. Whilst addressing Mr Aznar, Mr Prodi warned that he was sure that Mr Aznar would support him at Barcelona but Member States had to make a determined effort to push through the reforms agreed to at Lisbon, as the cost of failed reform was unacceptable in economic terms and in terms of political credibility".
As far as the Convention is concerned, Mr Prodi pointed out that he had assured President Giscard d'Estaing of the Commission's "full support", and that the European Commission planned to cooperate just as closely with the European Parliament. It will be an opportunity for the Convention to "write a glorious page in European history", he concluded.
Debate: broad consensus on programme, but criticism from the Left and above all from Spanish regionalists
The debate on the programme of the Spanish Presidency was broadly consensual, despite criticism from the Left in particular and from those defending autonomy in the Spanish regions. Spanish Socialist Rosa Diez Gonzalez, though reserving her judgement on certain essential points, assured José Maria Aznar that he had the loyalty of the European PSOE members. In the same way, Enrique Baron, President of the Socialist Group, expressed the full support of his political family in the aim of combating terrorism. Mr Baron stressed that the success of the euro is first and foremost a success by the peoples and must be completed by true economic union. The work of the Convention, he said, should not be too hard for the Spanish Presidency, as the EP will deal with the administrative side and the Convention "will meet at our place".
Many Spanish European elected members are from regionalist parties. With slight differences, they have all invited the Spanish Presidency to take the regional dimension of European construction into account. Before them, the new president of the Liberal Group, Graham Watson from Scotland, had remarked on the "rather Castillan" nature of the Aznar declaration. "It does not entirely reflect the Spain that I know and that is represented in my group", said Mr Watson (for example, Carles-Alfred Gasoliba i Böhm, member of Convergencia Democratica Catalunya, and Isidor Sanchez Garcia, of Coalicion Canaria, who played a critical part in the debate). Several regionalists are in the Greens/EFA Group: Carlos Bautista-Ojeda, from Partido Andalucista, who stressed that the autonomous communities "are also the Spanish State"; Josu Ortuondo Larrea, of Partido Nacionalista Vasco, convinced that the Spanish Presidency could usefully follow the example of the Belgian and German Presidencies when it is a question of taking the rights of regions into account; Camilo Nogueira Roman, of the Bloque Nacionalista Gallego, who goes further still criticising "Mr Aznar's authoritarian obsession against diversity"; and Miquel Mayol I Ray (Esquerra republicana de Catalunya) who, speaking in French, invited the new Presidency to recognise the great enrichment that can come from the regions. "Mr Aznar, could you give a glimmer of hope that you'll work on a political settlement of the Basque conflict", asked Koldo Gorostiaga, elected member of Euskal Herritarrok, speaking in English as usual (after giving a few words in Basque).
"Here we speak of Europe", said Inigo Mendez de Vigo of Partido popular, addressing his regionalist colleagues, while, in substance, he mainly evoked the Lisbon Process and hoped that the EP constitutional committee would next week adopt the von Wogau report on the institutional aspects of the Lamfalussy report, thus giving a positive message to the financial markets. Socialist Manuel Medina Ortega invited the Spanish Presidency to work towards lifting the obstacles against adoption of effective measures to counter money laundering, and linked the debate on the theme of controlling illegal immigration to that of border regions, which are particularly exposed to this phenomenon. Salvador Jové Peres, of Izquierda Unida, urged for his part for greater flexibility in the Stability Pact and for democratisation of decision-making on economic matters. He spoke against aberrations of liberalisation (and was not the only one to do so - similar remarks were made by, among others, Austrian Social Democrat Johannes Swoboda, who demands liberalisation accompanied by true social conscience). One must not transform public monopolies into private oligopolies, he said.
Progress in the fight against terrorism, in transparency, in coordination of economic policies, this is what EPP-ED President Hans-Gert Pöttering hopes to see during the Spanish term of office. Regarding the Convention, he welcomed the choice made by Jacques Santer as representative of Luxembourg. The other governments, he said, should also send to the Convention "personalities who carry political weight and who can speak and negotiate on behalf of their government" (we recall that Gerhard Schröder has chosen Peter Glotz, to represent him. Mr Glotz was the author, in the eighties, of the book on the "Two-Third Society". EDD Group President Jens-Peter Bonde asked Mr Aznar whether he were willing to secure the presence at the Convention Presidium of representatives of "the 48% of the French who said 'no' to the Maastricht referendum and 50% of the Danish", who also voted against. The SOS Democracy Group, which is a "counterweight to the Federalist MEPs" will soon be inviting you, he announced to Mr Aznar, pointing out that SOS Democracy had already discussed with Guy Verhofstadt, and that the latter had said he agreed with holding referenda in the Member States on the next EU reform.
For the UEN group, Irish MEP, Gerald Collins warmly welcomed Spain's stand against terrorism. With regard to the Convention, Collins said that the result had to avoid being "an unattainable wish list" and needed to be balanced, fair and "achievable". He also hoped that the Spanish Presidency would obtain the decisions on the seats on the agencies, which had not been possible at Laeken, especially the food safety and maritime agencies. Antonio Tajani, MEP for Forza Italia, fully supported the Spanish programme and hoped that the Next IGC would be finished by the end of 2003 so that it would not impact on the European election campaign in 2004. He also used the occasion to reaffirm the unambiguous pro-European stance of the Berlusconi government. Northern League representative, Mario Borghezio said that the Italian government was on board the European project but that the freedom and identity of each country had to be respected. He also launched an attack on the "technocratic and illegitimate oligarchy" that lays down the law in Europe. British Conservative, James Elles, said that the long-term credibility of the institutions were at stake. Tory, John Evans, called on the Spanish Presidency to respond to the situation in Zimbabwe and impose sanctions on the Mugabe regime.
Practically all MEPs agree on the need to combat terrorism but Graham Watson, President of the Liberal group expressed his profound unease at the USA decision to set up military courts. Italian Radical, Emma Bonino, explained that if they did not want their American friends to feel obliged to invent military courts, they needed to ratify the need for a permanent international tribunal on war crimes and crimes against humanity. Ms Bonino explained that this was the greatest wish of her "political family", which believed that the only really serious things were ideas. The war against terrorism could not only be fought by repressive measures, asserted Green/ALE MEP, Monica Frassoni, who feared that her Spanish government was not distancing itself enough from the United States in this field (she also condemned the Spanish hydraulic project, which benefits the rich areas and damages the environment).
At the end of the debate, Mr Aznar stated that it was necessary to talk about criminal and legal issues with their US partners, while insisting on the position against the death penalty, which Europe has reaffirmed. Ms Frassoni, Mr Pöttering and others also criticised Russia's intervention in Chechnya.