Speech
delivered by the President of the European Parliament
Mr José María Gil-Robles,
to the European Council
on Monday, 15 June 1998
in Cardiff

As Delivered

Mr President,

The European Council beginning today is one of the last significant acts of the British Presidency, which will undoubtedly occupy an important place in the history of European integration on account of three milestones for our common future. I am referring to the launch of the single currency, the opening of accession negotiations with the applicant countries, and, above all, the approval and the people's subsequent ratification of the Northern Ireland peace agreement, a matter outside the sphere of responsibility of the Community institutions but very close to the hearts and hopes of all Union citizens and to the goal of peaceful coexistence on which the Union is founded.

The European Parliament, which vigorously supported the efforts to secure the agreement and did its utmost to help through the Community programme for peace and reconciliation, greeted the outcome with heartfelt joy. Let me extend my congratulations once again to two of the persons who contributed most to the success of the negotiations and who are here with us today, Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern.

Mr President,

In recent months the European Union has made substantial progress on a number of different fronts at once. In some cases, such as the Treaty of Amsterdam, the effects have yet to be felt. Fundamental political decisions have been taken on enlargement, and, within a few months, the single currency will become a reality, a development which will have far-reaching consequences in both the economic and political spheres.

Now that the Union's monetary policy is on track and the strategy for the gradual incorporation of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and Cyprus has been drawn up, the time has come to equip ourselves with the resources needed to tackle what is undoubtedly a colossal task. With that end in view, it is essential to bring to a successful conclusion the agricultural and structural policy reform package, the pre-accession measures, and the future financial provisions known as Agenda 2000.

The European Parliament recognizes that reforms are necessary and hopes that they can be adopted before the next European elections, if the Treaty of Amsterdam enters into force in time. We consider it vital that the Union's new financial framework should enable us to meet the cost of enlargement without jeopardizing either the continuity of our solidarity and cohesion policies or the means which the Union has devised to guarantee the well-being of its citizens, two hallmarks of European integration. Our life together would be much more difficult without them. The solidarity which has enabled us to open up the euro to almost all of the Member States must continue to hold good as the European enterprise takes shape in the next stages, since it is a vital element of that process.

As far as methods are concerned, we believe that the Agenda 2000 proposals must be part of a coherent global approach. It would be politically absurd to take a piecemeal approach. These are interdependent questions that can be discussed only from a global standpoint. For the European Parliament, a disjointed legislative procedure would be virtually impossible to contemplate. We have therefore already introduced a working method which, regardless of the different complex legislative procedures applicable to each of the proposals, will enable us to hold a joint first reading this autumn, followed by general conciliation with the Council and a final overall second reading to be concluded in March 1999.

I trust that the Council will approve this procedure, since that is the direction in which we have been moving and which will enable Parliament to fulfil its role as co-legislator and make a decisive contribution to the success of the reforms.

It is unlikely that the first accessions of new Member States will be concluded before the end of the next parliamentary term. We therefore have sufficient time to adopt all the legislation required to enable the new accessions to take place and to have adequate information available to calculate the percentage of Community GDP actually needed to meet the costs of the process. This will depend on variables such as the Union's growth rate, the success of agricultural reforms, and the scale and speed of enlargement, which are difficult to predict.

Mr President,

The historic advance brought about by broad monetary union implies that we must now translate success into jobs. Contrary to some prophecies of doom, the most recent figures published in several Member States show that the economic reforms introduced in order to meet the convergence criteria are creating jobs. It is important to consolidate this initial success.

The European Parliament believes that the approval of the various national employment plans reflects a common desire, as expressed in Luxembourg, to move ahead in an area which is vital to everyone, although a number of defects will have to be overcome, such as the lack of a systematic link between the various Community measures and programmes or the fact that there are no firm quantified indicators for employment policies. It is important that the plans should come into force as soon as possible so that an initial assessment can be made during the Austrian Presidency.

Now that the third stage of economic and monetary union has begun, it is more vital than ever to coordinate the Member States' economic policies and hence agree on the significance of the main lines of action in this field. Because of their growing importance, policies should be drawn up as transparently as possible, after consulting the European Parliament. It is also important that they should not be deprived of substance, since this would otherwise undermine the principal tool for the coordination of Member State economic policies.

Members of the European Council,

I should like to congratulate the British Presidency because one of the items which it has included on the agenda for today's meeting is an initial exchange of views on the institutional reform that Parliament and various Member States believe to be essential. A further welcome step is the joint letter from President Chirac and Chancellor Kohl, in which, as well as explicitly acknowledging the need for this reform to take place before the next enlargement, they also suggest that a timetable should be laid down.

In our view, the method and the timetable are two vital issues. In its resolution of 19 November 1997, the European Parliament called on the Commission to draw up an initial reform proposal. We believe that the Commission is the most appropriate institution to undertake the initial overall thinking on the subject, which should not be confined to listing possible alternatives. It would be useful if the European Council could now confirm this brief and set a deadline which would enable us to have a blueprint available for the December 1998 European Council.

Parliament, which fully shares the desire expressed in the Chirac-Kohl letter to bring the Union closer to its citizens, does not believe that proper enforcement of the subsidiary principle is a sufficient means to achieve that aim. It is equally important that citizens should be able to play an active part in the key decisions on the future of the Union.

The forthcoming European elections offer a golden opportunity for them to give their views on the kind of reform they want to see. We therefore wish to be in a position to put firm proposals before our citizens before the end of the current parliamentary term. In so doing we shall certainly help to bring the Union closer and enhance its legitimacy.

In our opinion it is essential that citizens should have the opportunity at the elections to give their verdict on the reform that has to happen. In this way, when the European Parliament, under the new system endorsed at Amsterdam, is called upon to approve or reject the nominee for the office of Commission president, it will be able to pay heed to the vision of the future which citizens have chosen to advocate.

If they are to express a preference, the electors will need to be familiar with the general thrust of Commission thinking and the initial assessment of the European Parliament, drawn up in collaboration with the national parliaments. If the Commission is unable for any reason to carry out the task entrusted to it by Parliament, it should choose any other method which will enable it to secure a comparable result without resorting to piecemeal action.

Now that monetary union and Agenda 2000 are under way, after the forthcoming European elections the Union will be able to focus on making substantial progress in institutional matters, by convening a new intergovernmental conference once the debates and preparations for the reform are sufficiently advanced.

One task left unfinished at Amsterdam but which should be completed as soon as possible is to build an effective Union in touch with the concerns of citizens, for that is the outcome which we all wish to see. The European Parliament agrees with the view of President Chirac and Chancellor Kohl that the operation of the Council needs to be improved substantially.

Parliament likewise supports the finding in the letter that greater integration is required in the common foreign and security policy. The Kosovo crisis is demonstrating for the umpteenth time that the Union still cannot respond in a fully independent and effective way to such serious situations so close to home.

In its resolution of 12 March 1998 Parliament appealed to various international bodies, including the Union, to make preparations with a view to sending a preventive deployment force to the region and also called on the Council to adopt a joint action. The latter procedure, established by the Maastricht Treaty, has not been used in this instance. It is perhaps on occasions such as this, and was certainly the case with regard to Bosnia- Herzegovina, that citizens become most acutely aware that the Union is helpless to deal with what in their eyes are powerfully emotive issues, given that what is involved is nothing short of genocide.

Mr President,

The tasks which the European Union must address in the next few months are not only important, but also delicate and complex. In short, it must show by its actions that a further enlargement will not jeopardize deeper integration or continuation of the policies of interregional solidarity which have been so successful in binding us together.

The progress made in recent years is undoubtedly greater than we are now able to perceive. The Union is sailing in the right direction and moving ahead at cruising speed. However, it needs to change its current engine for a more solid and more powerful one and make sure it has enough fuel. Both these things must be done without losing speed. These are the tasks - by no means easy - for which you must provide the necessary impetus today and in which I wish the Austrian Presidency every success.

You may rest assured that you can rely on our close cooperation.

Many thanks.

© European Parliament: 16 June 1998