Brussels, 16/06/2006 (Agence Europe) - “Today, not only have we agreed to follow a twin track approach” with the extension of the reflection period on the Constitutional Treaty and the implementation of “Europe of Results” (see related articles), “we have also launched very concrete projects” in areas which directly interest citizens (security, justice, competitiveness and economic growth, tackling organised crime, transparency, sustainable development, emergency aid for crises and natural catastrophes, foreign policy, subsidiarity, research into rare diseases) Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel told press on Friday. The Austrian Presidency brought forward a list of over thirty five concrete projects which had just been launched or which were on their way to completion at European level and which would provide “the EU agenda for the next four years”. The first results of the new approach were already visible, because “the Union today is in better health than a year ago” following important agreements (financial perspective, REACH, services, etc.) and “the creation of two million new jobs since March 2005,” said Mr Schüssel.
The 35 concrete projects “confirm that the European Union is on the move and that it is in no way paralysed” by the issues around the European Constitution, said José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission. Europe has “moved ahead of the period of reflection to a period of active engagement into political achievements,” he said, pointing out that “ten of the twelve” proposals made by the Commission in its communication of 10 May on the future of Europe had been approved by the European Council. Mr Barroso spoke warmly of the particular style of the Austrian Presidency, which reminded everyone “that Europe is not only paperwork and a market, it is also a culture and a commitment to fundamental values”.
After summarising the Council debate on enlargement and EU absorption capacity (see related article), Mr Schüssel sent a warning to Turkey: the EU expected Ankara to accept, by the end of the year, all the obligations springing from the Association Agreement and the additional protocol on the extension of the EU-Turkey Customs union to the new countries - including the requirement to open its ports and airports to Cyprus. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned on Friday that Turkey would “never” open its ports and airports to Cyprus as long as the Turkish part of the island remained in international isolation. If Mr Erdogan's statement were to prove true, “there would be a problem” which the EU would have to deal with during the Finnish Presidency, said Mr Schüssel.