Der Präsident. - Als nächster Punkt der Tagesordnung folgt die kurze Darstellung des Berichts mit der Empfehlung des Europäischen Parlaments an den Rat, die Kommission und den Europäischen Auswärtigen Dienst von Alojz Peterle zu den Verhandlungen über ein Abkommen über eine strategische Partnerschaft zwischen der EU und Japan (2014/2021(INI)) (A7-0244/2014).
Alojz Peterle, poročevalec. - Vesel sem, da končujemo naš mandat z odločanjem o enem najpomembnejših aktualnih političnih projektov Evropske zveze.
Sporazum o strateškem partnerstvu, za katerega potekajo intenzivna pogajanja vzporedno s sporazumom o gospodarskem sodelovanju, prostotrgovinskem sporazumu, je izraz skupne volje Evropske zveze in Japonske.
Oba partnerja globalne pomembnosti, ki se zavedata pomena globalnega in regionalnega miru, drugih globalnih izzivov ter svoje odgovornosti v zvezi s tem, želita močno nadgraditi dobro razvijajoče se sodelovanje, utemeljeno na skupni deklaraciji iz leta 1991 in akcijskega načrta iz leta 2001.
Sporazum o strateškem partnerstvu je zavezujoč sporazum, ki se nanaša na politična, globalna in sektorska področja sodelovanja.
Določbe tega sporazuma bodo postavile trdne temelje za bodoče globlje in širše sodelovanje na področju političnega dialoga, človekovih pravic, varnostnih vprašanj, kot so obvladovanje kriz, neširjenje orožja za množično uničevanje in boj proti terorizmu; globalnih vprašanj, kot so klimatske spremembe, razvoj, humanitarna pomoč, civilna zaščita, okolje; ekonomskih vprašanj, kot so industrijsko sodelovanje, carinske dajatve, obdavčitve, turizem in konkurenčnost; sektorskega sodelovanja: energetika, promet, kmetijstvo, ribištvo in pomorstvo; socialne politike, kjer sem posebej vesel, da smo vključili tudi področji zdravja in zaščite potrošnikov; sodelovanje na področjih sodstva, svobode in varnosti: kibernetski kriminal, boj proti mednarodnemu kriminalu, migracije in azil; in sodelovanje na področjih raziskav, inovacij, vesolja ter izobraževanja in kulture.
Vse skupaj je bilo določenih doslej okrog štirideset področij strateškega sodelovanja. Strateško lahko sodelujejo samo partnerji, ki zares delijo temeljne vrednote, načela in skupne interese.
Zato je pomembno, da oba partnerja s skupnim jezikom izrazita na kredibilen način, sledeč svojim demokratičnim izhodiščem, vse tisto, s čimer se bosta zavezala za bodoče skupno sodelovanje.
Poročilo pozdravlja sklenitev sporazuma in doslej opravljeno delo ter se zavzema za nadaljevanje projekta z ambiciozno dinamiko. Štirje krogi pogajanj so dali dovolj podlage, da Evropski parlament izrazi odnos do nastajajočega sporazuma.
V njem ne vidimo samo priložnosti za sodelovanje najodgovornejših inštitucij z obeh strani, pač pa izredno pomembno spodbudo tudi za zbliževanje med državljani obeh strani.
Ta sporazum izraža v prihodnost usmerjeno ambicijo obeh partnerjev, zato se v poročilu, ki v Odboru za zunanje zadeve ni doživelo glasu proti, ne ukvarjamo z vprašanji preteklosti, niti s specifičnimi aktualnimi vprašanji, ki zadevajo tretje strani.
V tem duhu se zahvaljujem poročevalcem v senci in vodji delegacije za Japonsko gospodu van Baalenu, kot tudi njenim posameznim članom za sodelovanje in koristne konzultacije.
Posebej bi se rad zahvalil njegovi ekscelenci veleposlaniku Japonske pri Evropski zvezi gospodu Kožiru Šiožiriju in njegovim sodelavcem za intenzivno sodelovanje. Zahvala gre tudi glavnim pogajalcem za strateški sporazum in njihovim sodelavcem na obeh straneh.
Glede amandmajev, ki so se pojavili v zadnjem trenutku, menim, da niso potrebni potrditve, ker smo dosegli tako stopnjo enotnosti v Odboru za zunanjo politiko.
David Martin (S&D). - Mr President, very briefly, firstly to welcome what we have just heard about the progress on the strategic partnership agreement, but to emphasise that over the summer we are going to have to decide whether we move on to a free trade agreement with Japan.
I very much hope that when the Commission does its assessment of the current state of negotiations with Japan it will be able to come forward and say that we should move on and start negotiating a free trade agreement. Japan shares many of our values. It is a market that is very similar to ours, a mature economy with a number of elderly people, significant debt, unfortunately again not unlike us. I think there is a win-win situation in improving trade between Japan and the European Union, but we can only move ahead with a free trade agreement if Japan is serious about tackling non-tariff barriers and actually making it possible for European companies to operate in Japan on the basis of a level playing field.
I hope that when we get the assessment that is what it will say: that it is feasible to go ahead and enter into detailed free trade agreement negotiations.
Catch-the-eye-Verfahren
Ioan Mircea Paşcu (S&D). - Mr President, I would only add one more dimension which I would like to strengthen and which has been mentioned, which is that the relationship with Japan is a strategic relationship, not only economically and commercially but also now – all the more so – politically, in the current circumstances of the geopolitical shifts of great magnitude which are happening in the international system, particularly in our part of the world.
Zita Gurmai (S&D). - Örülök, hogy ezen a délelőttön köszönetet mondhatok Almunia biztosnak nemcsak ezért, hanem az előző időszakért is, de most konkrétan Alojz Peterle képviselőtársam munkáját szeretném elsődlegesen megköszönni. Rendkívül fontos az, hogy az Európai Unió számunkra meghatározóan fontos tagállamokkal stratégiai partnerségi megállapodást köt. Én mindenképpen úgy gondolom, az elmúlt időszakban én nagyon sokat dolgoztam azon, hogy milyen helyzetben van az adott partnerország a nőkkel, tehát ennek megfelelően engem rendkívüli módon elkeserített az az Economics cikk, amelyben a nők helyzetét elemezte Japánban. Tehát én mindenféleképpen úgy gondolom, hogy ha valamit, akkor a legjobb gyakorlatokat érdemes átvenni az Európai Uniótól, nem csak azzal, hogy jóval jelentősebb számban kellene hogy nők legyenek a döntéshozatalban, hanem azzal is, hogy például az egyenlő munkáért egyenlő bér elvét mindenképpen érvényesítsék. Köszönöm szépen, és köszöntöm a látogatói csoportomat, akik itt vannak velem. Köszönöm a munkájukat még egyszer.
(Ende des Catch-the-eye-Verfahrens)
Joaquín Almunia, Vice-President of the Commission. - Mr President, let me thank very much all the Members of this Parliament who have intervened in this discussion and, of course, I want to thank Mr Peterle very much as the rapporteur of this report on the strategic partnership agreement between the EU and Japan. The Commission very much welcomes Parliamentʼs engagement in this important upgrade to our bilateral relations with Japan.
Since the Joint Declaration signed in 1991, ties between the EU and Japan have deepened and cooperation now extends to almost every conceivable area from political, economic and sectoral specific matters – and some of these specific matters are extremely important, such as nuclear safety, climate change, research and innovation, and people-to-people exchanges.
Nevertheless the comprehensive package of the strategic partnership agreement and a flanking free trade agreement should enable both us, the EU, and Japan to significantly enhance the cooperation between our strategic friends and partners.
This should have a significant benefit for our businesses and citizens both in terms of growth and jobs via market openings to be negotiated in the free trade agreement, as well as in the political, economic and sectoral areas under the strategic partnership agreement which is the focus of this excellent report that we are discussing today.
While we obviously cannot predict exactly what will flow from the negotiations, as the negotiations are still very much a work in progress, given the range of common societal challenges that the EU and Japan both face – ageing, remaining competitive, non-traditional security threats such as international terrorism, pandemics and cyber-attacks, exploring space for the benefit of all mankind, and others – we are confident that we will be able to negotiate an agreement which will respond to the current and future needs of our citizens and thus significantly increase our visibility in probably the most dynamic area in the world.
Our combined economic, technological and increasing political might will be the engines of this cooperation, but it will continue to be underpinned by the bases of shared values and principles that lie at the core of the ties between Europe and Japan. Japan is a stable democracy that shares our attachment to global norms and standards in the area of democracy, human rights, gender equality and the rule of law.
I recall, and very much welcome, Japanese alignment with the EU’s position on Ukraine, an issue that Presidents van Rompuy and Barroso discussed with Prime Minister Abe during the recent nuclear security summit in the Hague. It is this common basis which allows us to maintain very close ties with a significant player in the ASEAN-Pacific region and which will shape our discussions at the next EU-Japan Summit to be held in Europe later this spring.
We will continue to work with the new Parliament to ensure that our common goal of achieving a mutually beneficial upgrade in relations with Japan can be negotiated in a reasonable time frame, in line exactly with the recommendations contained in Mr Peterleʼs report.
Der Präsident. - Damit ist dieser Punkt abgeschlossen.
Die Abstimmung findet heute, Donnerstag, 17.[nbsp ]April 2014, im 12.00[nbsp ]Uhr statt.
Da ich das letzte Mal in dieser Wahlperiode den Vorsitz führe, möchte ich mich bei Ihnen allen für die hervorragende Zusammenarbeit fraktionsübergreifend bedanken. Ich wünsche Ihnen schöne Osterfeiertage, viel Erfolg für die nächsten Wochen und ein hoffentlich baldiges Wiedersehen. Danke für die Unterstützung!
(Die Sitzung wird um 10.55[nbsp ]Uhr unterbrochen und um 12.00[nbsp ]Uhr wieder aufgenommen.)