Jean-Luc Dehaene (PPE). – (NL) Mr President, I should like to start by saying to Mr Claeys that Belgium has always solved its problems by means of political agreements and has always worked towards a stronger Europe and also stronger regions that are closer to the people.

As you emphasised, Prime Minister, the Belgian Presidency is the first to fully implement the Treaty of Lisbon and set the course for future Council Presidencies with the interpretation of a new institutional agreement. The Presidency must concentrate on the operation of the Council, given that the European Council has become a separate institution with a permanent president. A new circumstance is that the treaty describes the Council’s powers in exactly the same terms as those of the European Parliament. The two institutions exercise the legislative and budgetary functions jointly. Thus, the treaty expressly establishes a bicameral system at Union level. Important exceptions notwithstanding, codecision – the ordinary legislative procedure – is now the general rule. I cannot shake off the impression that the Council is still insufficiently aware of this new circumstance. One illustration of this is the trialogue in preparation for the 2011 budget. The Belgian Presidency can play an important role in this process of raising awareness.

The Council Presidency must function as the Presidency of a parliamentary assembly from now on. It must advance the legislation and the budget agenda of the Union on which the Commission takes the initiative by promoting consensus within the Council and agreements between the Council and Parliament. In the case of this Presidency, this clearly relates to definitive regulation of the financial institutions, a European External Action Service, the budget and the financial perspective. The Community method must be strengthened when regulating all of these. Only this can produce results.

The Belgian Presidency must ensure that the EU actually speaks with one voice at the Climate Change conference in Cancún. The most efficient model is that of the World Trade Organisation, where the Commission speaks and negotiates on behalf of the Union. The Belgian Presidency should build a consensus on applying that model at the Climate Change conference, too. I believe in a strong, efficient Belgian Presidency, particularly given that a caretaker government can occupy itself with it virtually full time.