Brussels, 22/06/2005 (Agence Europe) - During its debate on 22 June on the lessons to be learnt from the European Council of 16 and 17 June, the European Commission took a series of "concrete decisions", President Barroso announced to the press. Stating that the Commission is "disposed" to play a "special role in the debate to open after the break in the process of ratifying the European Constitution, Mr Barroso said that the College would: visit the Member States to meet the governments, the parliaments, the social partners, the people, to listen to them and exchange "a few ideas"; hold an internal seminar in September; -draft, if possible ahead of the Summit in June 2006, a "strategic future-orientated document" (what will Europe be like in 10 to 15 years, Mr Barroso wondered); -in the meantime, carry out a reflection on the "sustainability of the European model of society".
José Manuel Barroso stressed that the Commission's role is to "unite, not divide", and he called for action "in a spirit of unity", instead of pointing the finger at "the good and bad Europeans". Against this backdrop, the Commission "will do all in its power to support the UK Presidency" in seeking a compromise on the financial perspectives, he said, warning: this is a matter of "urgency", because without an agreement "as soon as possible", there is a "risk of paralysis". The main responsibility lies with the Member States, and the Presidency of the Council must lead the debate to reach this compromise, Mr Barroso pleaded. When pressed by journalists, Mr Barroso said: "if our friends from the United Kingdom think they will have everything they want, then they are quite mistaken; if our French friends think that they will have everything they want, then they are also mistaken!". The Presidency must "reflect the overall search for a compromise", he insisted. During today's discussion within the Commission, he added, we noted the importance of the "revision clause" for the financial perspectives, which I proposed for 2008 at the summit. This clause could "take the discussions of the European Council as its basis" and also be based on the results of the reflexion carried out during the break on the Constitution, he said. When pressed about agricultural expenditure, Mr Barroso said: "for us, an agreement is an agreement, and agreements must be respected, in line with the principle of good faith. In our view, the 2002 agreement on agricultural expenditure on till 2013 remains valid", adding: "obviously, if everyone agrees, we can make efforts and reach compromises", but everybody must avoid sticking to their guns "rigidly and inflexibly". I can accept the idea that in the medium term, the EU's budget could be revised, but "it is not reasonable to want a bottom-up revision of the common agricultural policy right now", said Mr Barroso (who referred to the "highly courageous reform of the sugar market", which the Commission has just proposed in order to demonstrate that the CAP has been reformed: see other article). If we had changed the initial proposal of the Commission by reducing expenditure destined for competitiveness, the package on the financial perspectives would have been better balanced, said Mr Barroso (it is worth noting that in order to facilitate an agreement at the summit, the Commission agreed to the proposal tabled by the Luxembourg Presidency). And, pointing out that in December 2003, there was the letter of the six countries wanting to set a cap on the budget at 1% of the GNI (Germany, United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, Sweden and Austria), Mr Barroso said: "the letter of the 1% club was a mistake: they had agreed to say no, but when it came to finding a solution, and again at the summit, they were completely divided, three on one side of three on the other!".