Brussels, 27/05/2008 (Agence Europe) - The EU is expected to seize the “historic opportunity” provided by the presidential elections in the United States to present itself to the future US Administration with its own priorities so that, in future, the position of Europe and European values will have more sway with regard to the major challenges of globalisation and international policy, said Bernard Kouchner, French Foreign Minister, who will be president-in-office of the EU Council at the time when Americans go to the urns in November. “The US election opens up a historic opportunity, allowing us (the EU) to prepare for giving the new administration an agenda - a roadmap - that corresponds to our priorities, to frameworks for analysis of crises and solutions that we can work on together. On the major political issues, also, the world expects us, the European Union, to show the courage and creativity that only we can embody”, Mr Kouchner said in a speech before the annual assembly of the European Policy Centre (EPC) on 26 May in Brussels. “I am convinced of it. Europe, and only Europe, can make possible and sufficiently humane a globalisation that is in line with our history, our values and our projects. Globalisation that is not carried out at the expense of the poorest (…) Because of its democratic foundation, its experience in compromise, and the transparency of the way it works, Europe alone is able to make globalisation an opportunity for the different peoples together - a shared progress”, he stressed.
The future French EU Presidency during the second half of 2008 will seek to ensure that the EU is able to play this role, Mr Kouchner said. To this end, it will focus on three ambitions: - a) Preparation for entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty: “It will be necessary to designate the president of the European Council and the future high representative, lay down the foundations of the new European External Action Service as of 1 January 2009, find effective articulation between the presidency of the European Council and the rotating presidency, and also define the role that will be given to the foreign ministers in this new scheme of things”, he said. Nominations will be decided “by the 27 before end 2008”, Mr Kouchner stressed. When asked about the most promising candidates for the post of president of the European Council, he replied: “Tony Blair is a good candidate. Jean-Claude Juncker is a good candidate. Felipe Gonzales is a good candidate”. - b) Developing answers to globalisation that are “impregnated with the ideals, the rules of law and the values of humanism that make up the European model”. In concrete terms, for the future French EU Presidency, this covers several areas including research for competitiveness (implementation of the renewed Lisbon Strategy adopted in March) together with “renewed solidarity through quality public services that contribute to growth, a renovated social agenda, and the fight against discrimination”. If such objectives are not defended, the “EU would not only lose its identity but also its effectiveness and its reason for being”, Mr Kouchner said. Other areas in which the EU must give answers to its citizens are: - migration policy (the aim being to adopt a European pact for immigration under French Presidency), climate change (Paris hopes to reach a political agreement on the “climate energy package” at the European Council in December), and the regulation of financial markets; - c) Strengthened European diplomacy. In ten years “political Europe has already made considerable progress” (17 civilian and military operations have been conducted so far throughout the world) but it is essential for the EU to have a real defence policy. There will be “no political Europe without a defence Europe”, the minister said. “Our aim, on the basis of concrete progress already recorded, is to set in place a shared vision and objectives, common capacities and credible civilian and military means of defence. Objectively, the means currently available to us do not live up to what Europe really is, either politically, economically or technologically”, Mr Kouchner said. He went on, however, to end on an optimistic note, saying that, although today, “the Sudanese president is still blocking deployment” of a joint African Union/United Nations force for the protection of the population of Darfur, “in ten years' time, I think the EU will be able to conduct such a protection mission all on its own”. (H.B.)