Brussels, 12/02/2003 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the European Parliament had a second debate on preparations for the Spring Summit to be held in Brussels on 21 March, in the presence of the Greek Presidency and the President of the European Commission (see EUROPE of 15 January, pages 10 and 14, and 16 January, pages 10 and 11, for the Commission's communication in view of the Summit, and 7 February, p.9 for the joint letter written to the President of the European Council, Costas Simitis, by Jacques Chirac, Gerhard Schroeder and Tony Blair).
Competitiveness, social cohesion, sustainable development: these are goals that, despite a difficult economic and political situation, the Spring Summit should, according to Council President Tasso Giannitsis, provide visible signs of progress. Indeed, much remains to be done for European competitiveness, and Giannitsis cited: investment into knowledge, that has to be open to all, the complete unification of financial markets, encouraging the spirit of entrepreneurship and the reform of company law, takeover bids, pension schemes, services of a general interest, and the liberalisation of the energy market. As for social cohesion and employment, a simplified and more effective strategy should be developed to be presented at the European Council of Thessaloniki in June. The key-words are: bolstering job-creation, women's equal participation in the world of work, balance between flexibility and safety, integration of immigrants, reduction of regional disparities. Need there be further co-ordination between economic policy and employment policy? For Mr. Ggiannitsis the answer is: autonomy, but complementarity. Finally, the sustainable development strategy must be reviewed on the basis of the outcome of the Conference of Johannesburg, and the "environmental" dimension needs integrating in all Community policies, and promote the rational use of natural resources, renewable energies, the prevention of pollution at sea (priority for the Greek Presidency).
The Union's potential for growth and innovation is not being fully exploited, declared European Commission President Romano Prodi, going straight to the heart of the matter: the uncertainties and fears linked to the risk of a conflict in Iraq and the difficulties in assessing the timeframe and consequences have an influence on general strategies and on specific investor decisions. "I'm still convinced that war is not inevitable and continue to hope that it will be avoided, at the same time imposing strict controls on the Iraqi dictatorship and maintaining and strengthening the international alliance against terrorism", said Mr Prodi, noting that the consequences of a conflict were unpredictable, and that "if a war breaks out, it must mean that all political options have been tried and failed". "At this time we must strive for a common ground so Europe's diplomats can work something out". Yet Prodi could, nevertheless, recognise the "contradiction between the need for joint action by Europe .. and the total lack of a European common policy". Without that common policy, "it will be impossible to continue working closely with the United States on a longstanding basis while retaining our dignity", and "unless Europe and the United States work together, there will be no guarantee of world peace and stability", he warned. He then noted: "what people remember is the behaviour they see in times of crisis. That is what they see as a model, an example for the future. At such times trust is won or lost". "What is at stake is our determination to be heeded and to play a leading role on the world stage".
In this context, it is also important to bolster political will and coherence that will allow us to achieve the Lisbon objectives, stressed Prodi. According to him, progress in needed in the Community patent (symbol of the Union's capacity or incapacity to respect its commitments: see EUROPE of 11 February, p.13 for the draft proposal of the Greek Presidency), the "takeover bids" and "Prospectus" directives, and pension funds. Likewise for the employment strategy, that could greatly benefit from the proposal put forward by certain Member States of setting up a high-level "Task Force of experts". On Commissioner Diamantopoulou's initiative, this Task Force will be set up rapidly. But the number one problem, according to Mr. Prodi, is that of poor transposition of Community legislation at national level. Romano Prodi nevertheless remains optimistic: Europe can win, he states, if it can take up the challenge of modernisation, if it can explain to its citizens what it wants and how the instruments it has at its disposal work, notably the broad economic policy guidelines, the strategy for employment and the strategy for the internal market, that form a coherent and effective whole, along with the Stability Pact. Prodi concludes by again pleading in favour of a genuine European culture of research, achievement of which must necessarily pass through the creation of a certain number of scientific centres of excellence. If we want to be tops we need the best brains, says the President of the Commission, finally urging Member States to truly devote 3% of the budget to research (See EUROPE of 15 January, p.5, for his plea before January's plenary session).
The debate! A certain disappointment about making Lisbon objectives concrete
Fewer fancy words and more concrete decision is the watchword of MEPs beginning with W.G. van Velzen, speaking on behalf of the EPP/ED group denounced the "devastating" image of the transposition of the Lisbon objectives in Union countries. The Christian Democrat from Luxembourg also stated that if they wanted to halt the brain drain, then certain countries should stop opposing decisions that could stop this phenomenon. Robert Goebbels from Luxembourg, speaking on behalf of the Socialist group criticised the belief held by some parties that structural problems in Europe were due to excessive social protection. The MEP quoted the example of the USA but where unemployment was high (and the fact that we don't take into account the two million Americans were in prison) and the federal budget deficit, which would prevent the USA from respecting the criteria of the Stability Pact. With regard to Europe, the former Luxembourg Minister of Finance explained that if it wanted to mobilise it would need to invest to create jobs and in connection with the war? Everything would change and the Stability Pact would be the first victim.
The President of the Liberal group, Graham Watson described himself as being "depressed" by the "litany of failure" on certain essential aspects of economic reforms that should have set the course for the Lisbon Strategy and attacked three European leaders (Blair, Chirac and Schröder) who "lecture" others in the very areas where they themselves have failed. Mr Watson called on participants at the March Summit to integrate their financial markets, increase flexibility on the labour market and encourage the spirit of enterprise, notably by way of tax breaks. Ilda Figueiredo (United Left/Nordic Left), on the other hand, declared that it should be neo-liberal policy that should be reformed, pointing out the increasing number of economic sectors that are in difficulty and the unequal distribution of wealth. As for the environment, Theodoros Bouwman, speaking on behalf of the Greens/EFA, criticised those that had focused too intently on the knowledge-based society. She agreed that "we need brains" but also less qualified workers to execute brilliant ideas. Speaking for the Union for a Europe of Nations, Gerard Collins praised the efforts made by the Greek Presidency to involve social partners in decisions on employment strategy and appealed for a reduction in red tape and greater access to all new technologies. Jens-Peter Bonde, President of the Europe of Democracies and Diversities stated that the debate had provided the possibility to once again condemn the behaviour of the Convention Presidium and especially its President, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, who in Bonde's opinion had not respected transparency rules. In the overall context, Bonde pointed out that the documents that are currently being elaborated are not talking about an "innocent constituent treaty" but in fact a "Constitution". Gianfranco Dell'Alba speaking for the Radicals, declared that if they really wanted reform and to relaunch the economy, it had to be done immediately without loosing sight of a certain number of "good and fair things" in the dialogue: reform of the social security systems (a real time bomb"), liberalisation of the key sectors, creation of a genuine European financial market, reduction of charges on SMEs.
MEPs who were disappointed or who were critical gave the tone to the debate. Bartho Pronk (EPP, Netherlands) aid that at Lisbon they had been too optimistic, Othmaar Karas (EPP, Austria) claimed that the internal market was far from really being achieved; Giorgios Saitforis (PES, Greece) said that a genuine "European direction" was not being proposed; Nelly Maes (Greens/EFA, Belgium) remarked that European research did not exist as European researchers were seeking "doctor honoris causae" and then going off to the USA or Japan. Hans Bullmann (Social Democrat, Germany) was worried by unemployment: 20% of young people did not have sufficient qualifications and part-time work did not offer enough security. Mihail Papayanis (GUE) explained that Lisbon was not a failure but that the rhythm was not right. Proinsias De Rossa (Irish Labour Party) and Hélène Flautre (Greens, France) said that the crucial role of the public services had to be defended and that it wasn't just the "brains" that counted but also the "collective intelligence" of citizens. Carlo Fatuzzo (EPP, Italian MEP, Pensionati) defended pensioners, who, like him, "were not sleeping at night" because of the future that was awaiting them. Georges Berthu (Movement pour la France) hoped that uniform European rules would not add to much rigidity and costs that could slow down the recovery; the sovereignist, William Abitbol (EDD, France) believed that the policy of the European Central Bank was the main cause of the stagnation, countries were doing better, he claimed, when they did not have the Euro. The President of the Council, Mr Giannitsis, concluded that citizens were expecting a message of confidence from them and that they should try and send it to them by way of the Special Summit called for on Monday on Iraq, which would prove that Europe was capable of advancing and deciding together. Mr Giannitsis defended the open method of coordination that allowed for greater flexibility and hence, progress. He also declared that citizens wanted action, notably in jobs and respect for balance between the different Union policies, which provided the key to success: no single criterion (competitiveness, social protection, sustainable development) should have priority over any other - all of them were valid. He also called for crucial task to be remembered: the successful integration of the new members.