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President of the European Commission Avrupa Birliği Komisyonu Başkanı We came the half-way stage of a year rich in ambitious projects and intense debate that will determine the face and destiny of Europe. This year has inevitably demanded an amount of spadework, wedged as it is between the introduction of the euro and the biggest enlargement in our history. Iheartily congratulate Prime Minister SIMITIS and all the men and women who have laboured alongside him in coordinating and guiding us towards our political and institutional goals. I should like to focus more closely on four of these goals: conclusion of the work of the Convention; reform of the Commission; the tremendous progress made in implementing the Tampere agenda; the new status of European political parties. But I cannot move on without mentioning some of the other momentous events of the last six months: the winding-up of the accession negotiations and the efforts to deal with the difficult internal and international situation provoked by the war in Iraq. The reform of our Common Agricultural Policy also deserves a special mention, the agreement last week marking the high note of these six months. One of the keys to this success was the opinion issued by this House's Agriculture Committee chaired by Joseph DAUL. Despite this being an extremely complex and thorny issue, the Committee managed to deliver its opinion in good time for us to conclude the negotiations. The decoupling of Community production subsidies, partial though it is, combined with land-management, environment and food-safety measures, is a revolutionary step in our agriculture. We now have a good springboard for entering into the WTO negotiations, and I expect our international partners to match our commitment. In these six months the Greek Presidency has steered us safely through the most troubled waters with that sure touch and gift for debate that has characterised the Greek people since the dawn of our civilisation. 1. Convention Within the Union the first half of the year was dominated by the work of the Convention, which had practically finished work for the Thessaloniki European Council. Once aspect of the Convention that the media seem to have overlooked is that it worked. For the first time ever a wide array of views on our future were debated in a public forum in the light of day. This will be a formula that we can use if ever the Constitution has to be amended in the light of new developments. As to the actual draft, there are positive and negative points in the Commission's eyes. It makes the Union more transparent by simplifying and reducing the number of legislative instruments and by proposing a better division of powers between the institutions. It strengthens democratic legitimacy by making the co-decision procedure almost universal. It gives us an opportunity to make our voice heard in the world through a newly created foreign minister for the whole Union; this is backed up by new provisions on the common foreign and security policy and defence. And let us not forget that the draft Constitution now includes the Charter of Fundamental Rights to guarantee the rights of European citizens. These are the high points, but there are also weak points where the compromise brokered falls short of our expectations. The draft Constitution extends qualified-majority voting but it does not go far enough. The proposed solution carries the risk of paralysis in a 25- or 30- member Union. When it comes to the institutions ordinary people will find it hard to understand why only half of the Commissioners will have a vote in the College. And the potentially overlapping roles of the President of the Council and President of the Commission will be just as hard to understand. Some advances in economic governance are proposed but more is needed for the external representation of the euro. These are not just technicalities; added together they diminish the vision of the united Europe we want to hand on to future generations. We must overcome the misgivings and fears of the present and look to the future. If we do not make the leap today, Europe will have no role on the international stage in thirty or forty years' time. Viewed as a whole, however, the Convention's draft is a good basis for the work of the Intergovernmental Conference that will have the job of approving a final version. The Commission will do its best to make improvements, starting with the opinion that will be published in September in time for the start of the IGC. 2. Reform of the Commission and the staff regulations We are approaching the last year of my Commission's term of office. When I arrived I made Commission reform a priority and we issued a White Paper as early as March 2000. A crucial part of this reform was an overhaul of the staff regulations for EU officials. Change was needed for two main reasons: when overhauling our institutions we could not fail to modernise the staff regulations as well; our citizens expect a lot from the European civil service in terms of efficiency and a sense of responsibility. Here again, I should acknowledge the efforts of the Greek Presidency for driving forward these particularly difficult negotiations. Thanks to these efforts we have reached a consensus on the best possible compromise, a compromise that upholds; let me underline this; the main concerns set out in the Commission's initial proposals. In follow-up to this agreement, the Commission will put forward a second proposal in the autumn that will of course take account of this House's resolution and the negotiations between representatives of staff, institutions and the Member States on the consultative committee. The aim is to bring the new regulations into force on 1 May next year, the date of accession of our new Member States. But above and beyond this immediate aim, I am interested in the ultimate political goal of this exercise, which is to ensure the continuity, independence and quality of our civil service. I have worked with many administrations in my life, and rarely have I known such dedication and first-rate work as I have encountered in the EU institutions. I believe that the new staff regulations will consolidate our civil service and charge it with renewed energy and pride in itself. Especially as it goes hand in hand with the arrival of colleagues from ten new members. I am convinced that all the interested parties will rally to support this objective. 3. Immigration and asylum policy, management of the Union's external borders On this third point the Commission would like to congratulate the Greek Presidency on advancing a consistent and balanced position on immigration and asylum policy and management of the Union's external borders. And I am happy to note that the European Council's conclusions were inspired by the Commission's communications of 4 June. The impetus given by the Thessaloniki Council, coming on top of the progress made earlier at Seville, will, I am convinced, provide a sound basis for our common policy. Community financing in this area should gradually rise to match the scope of our policy ambitions, though obviously within the limits laid down. We have estimated the resources needed at euro 140 million for the years 2004 to 2006, and at euro 250 million for a multiannual cooperation programme with non-member countries over the period 2004 to 2008. This will take us through to the new financial perspective applicable after 2006, which, as the Thessaloniki conclusions reaffirm, must reflect this political priority of the Union. The new programme of cooperation with non-member countries proposed by the Commission on 11 June will be a pillar of the common readmission policy. It is crucial that the Council approve this proposal before the end of this Parliament. Negotiation of Community agreements, with the support of the Council and the Member States, should also be stepped up. Russia, Ukraine and Morocco stand out as priorities. The European Council has asked the Commission to proceed towards integrated management of the external borders. We have repeatedly argued that the best solution is to set up an agency; this will be the best way to implement the Council's strategic guidelines in liaison with the relevant national authorities. We are also laying the foundations of the ambitious Visa Information System (VIS). What we have to do is find the right balance between security and freedom. Efforts to control illegal immigration must go hand in hand with measures to facilitate the entry of legal immigrants. We already have some proposals on the table, notably those on admission and residence for purposes of work, study, vocational training and voluntary work. Parliament has already delivered an opinion on these proposals, which are still being discussed by the Council. It is important that they be adopted because they are key components of our common policy for legal immigration. The Commission welcomes the European Council's call to draw up an overall policy for integrating legal immigrants. We need better coordination of national input at Community level as well. An annual progress report would be a step in the right direction. We must show the same political drive in the field of asylum. I am disappointed to report that the Council was unable to reach agreement on the directive defining the concept of refugee and harmonising other forms of protection. This directive, together with the directive on procedures, is at the heart of the common system. I want to take this opportunity to promise that the Italian Presidency will have the Commission's unflagging support in getting these two directives adopted by December at the latest, as called for by the European Council. 4. Status of political parties and MEPs The Commission welcomes the adoption of the proposal on the status of European political parties by this House. This is the fourth success of the Greek Presidency that I have mentioned. Let me add to the many others my own words of appreciation for your contribution in settling this important issue. A number of factors have helped us get this result: the entry into force of the Nice Treaty, the new proposal drawn up by the Commission, the use of majority voting and, above all, first-rate cooperation between the Commission, the Council and Parliament. This is a perfect illustration of the reasons underlying the proposals that we will make for improving the draft Constitution. The issue of political parties was a complex one that had hung fire for two years. This welcome settlement was achieved only thanks to majority voting and the co-decision procedure. At last European political parties have a clear and transparent framework to work in and can count on a source of financing that will be borne, at least partially, by the Community budget. This is an absolute prerequisite for running a democracy and a measure that is part of the broader process of putting European integration on a constitutional footing. The regulation lays down some clear and simple conditions but avoids being overly restrictive. The aim is to foster an open, pluralist system that represents a wide range of views. Political parties are a key element in the Union's democratic structure. They promote integration and a true European awareness. Through their political parties citizens express their views and desires and spark off Europe-wide debates. Çeşitli projeler üzerinde çalıştığımız ve önemli adımlar attığımız bir yılın ikinci yarısına gelmiş bulunuyoruz. Geçen zaman içinde aşama kaydettiğimiz özellikle dört önemli alan var: 1) Konvansiyon konusundaki çalışmalarımız olumlu sonuçlar verdi. Bu çalışmalar sonucunda Avrupa Birliği (AB) mevzuatı daha yalın hale getirildi ve kurumlar arasındaki güç ayrılığı konusunda yeni öneriler ortaya kondu. Elbette Konvansiyon'un bazı zayıf noktaları da var, fakat yine de şu anki haliyle Konvansiyon taslağı, Hükümetler arası Konferans için iyi bir temel teşkil ediyor. 2) Komisyon'la ve personel düzenlemeleriyle ilgili bir reform çalışması yaptık. Bu reform, ağırlıklı olarak personelle ilgili yasal düzenlemeler konusunda gerçekleştirildi. Kurumlarımızda reforma giderken elbette personel konusunu da ele almak ve aynı zamanda vatandaşlarımızın çalışanlarımızdan verimlilik ve sorumluluk konularındaki beklentilerini de karşılamaya çalışmak durumundaydık. 3) Göç ve sığınma konularını ve AB'nin harici sınırlarının yönetimi konusunu ele almak üzere bir kuruluş kurulması ve ayrıca güçlü bir Vize Bilgilendirme Sistemi oluşturulması kararlaştırıldı. 4) Yeni bir yönetmelikle artık siyasi partiler çalışmalarını net ve şeffaf bir çerçeve içinde yürütebilecek ve kısmen Topluluk bütçesinden karşılanacak bir finansman kaynağından yararlanabilecekler. |