Günter Gloser MdB - Staatsminister für Europa

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Three more weeks until Germany will hold the EU Presidency. Chairing the EU is always a huge challenge – a challenge the British mastered impressively a year ago.
This Presidency will be a particular challenge for Germany. The expectations in many Member States are very high - sometimes I have the feeling they are growing every day.

Obviously, we will do all we can to live up to these expectations, but we have to be aware of the fact that we are facing a variety of challenges:

The constitutional process has come to a halt following the failure of the referenda in France and the Netherlands. In a number of Member States European policy is negatively influenced by increasing scepticism towards Europe. There is an obvious feeling that further EU enlargement can wait for a while. At the same time the EU must deal both with the continuing threat of terrorism and extremely difficult international problems such as the explosive situation in the Middle East.

Against this background the “philosophy” guiding our Presidency could be described as follows: We must "rethink" Europe in order to bring it closer to its citizens. We must seek out the reasons for the growing level of Euroscepticism. Our idea of Europe can no longer be based on the post-war situation. Nor can it be based on the period immediately following the collapse of the Iron Curtain; on the contrary, we must conceive of a Europe that is based on the challenges of the 21st century. Peace and stability will continue to form part of the raison d'être of European integration. But people rightly expect European measures to have concrete advantages over national measures, and for these to be plausibly explained.

We must explain to our people that the Member States cannot tackle the central future challenges alone but rather only within the EU framework. Europe can only succeed if we all work together. This requires efficient institutions, a clear division of competences and democratic legitimacy.

Our task is to:

• maintain the European way of life in the era of globalization by means of a strong and dynamic economy and a social model attuned to citizens' needs;
• safeguard internal security in the face of the threat of terrorism and cross-border crime, while at the same time preserving civil rights and freedoms;
• stabilize our immediate geographical neighbourhood in Europe and promote freedom, democracy and free-market economies in other parts of the world;
• be committed to the future of our planet, i.e. to sustainable development, environmental and climate protection, and the preservation of our natural heritage. 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

let me now turn to the programme of our Presidency. It is, by the way, already available on the website of the Federal Foreign Office – I recommend it if you enjoy some good reading.

Obviously, our agenda is fairly comprehensive. Many of the themes we have inherited from the previous Presidencies and the Commission. While many themes are thus givens on the Brussels work schedule, we also want to use our Presidency term to set our own agenda.

Let me focus on four points: (1) economic dynamism, (2) the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, (3) our common foreign and security policy and (4) the Constitutional Treaty.

Economic dynamism

You can seperate our Presidency into two halfs. The first half – January until March - will be dominated by the agenda of the Spring European Council.  Energy, climate policy, better regulation and the Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Employment will therefore be the focus of our Presidency. 

This is because a major condition for an EU that is fit for the future is the restoration of its economic dynamism. Globalization also creates new opportunities. Europe must continue to work towards fully realizing its economic and innovative potential. Only if the economic motor is running and growth is creating jobs will people regain confidence in the power of the European model.

Without going into detail, the central issues regarding the Lisbon Strategy will be to press forward with measures aimed at further completing the Internal Market, improving legislation and reducing red tape, and strengthening research, education and training. We all agree that Europe can only be a first-division economic region if it is an innovative, knowledge-based society.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

energy policy is certainly a predominant topic. The gas crisis in Ukraine at the beginning of this year showed how fragile our supply situation is or could be. It is also clear that fossil fuels are not only finite but pose a threat to the global climate. If we want to achieve the shared objective of avoiding a temperature rise of over 2° C, we must at all costs avoid increasing the use of fossil fuels. We should rather limit their use.

Climate protection must be intensified worldwide to prevent economic, social and environmental upheavals. The EU must play a pioneering role at global level in combating climate change. The German Presidency will therefore press for a common EU position on international climate protection after 2012. The development of a negotiation package with proposals for emission reduction goals and ways to involve further major greenhouse gas emitters is particularly important in this context. Our efforts are directed to finding an agreement on the reduction of greenhouse gas emission of minus 30 % by the year 2020 as compared to 1990. This will enable the Union to convince other states of the necessity of cutting climate-damaging greenhouse gas emissions.

The Spring European Council is due to adopt a European energy action plan, the aim of which – as we have agreed – is to guarantee Europe a reliable, environmentally-sound and competitive energy supply. By then we must have clarified a number of issues. What must be done at European level, what at national level? Do we need a European regulator? Where is cooperation meaningful and where is it not? Here are four, non-exhaustive, comments in this regard:

First, Brussels must respect Member States' particularities, including the issue of their national energy mix. We are firmly convinced that enhanced energy cooperation at European level, which we champion, cannot override Member States' decisions on the makeup of their energy sources.

Second, in view of the high price of electricity and gas it is important – also in the interests of private consumers – that competition increases. A European Commission report at the beginning of 2007 is to show where deficits exist, where the Member States must make corrections, and where additional measures could be necessary to enable the single market for electricity and gas to truly come into effect (planned for 1 July 2007).

Third, we must consider how our import requirements for fossil fuels can in practice be limited by increasing energy efficiency and the use of renewable fuels. In this connection Germany wants to make greater use of the potential of biomass and non-food crops. Germany will advocate continuing with the clear medium-term and long-term objectives on renewable energy. As a positive side-effect, this will promote diversification and create jobs in rural areas.

And fourth, energy policy has increased enormously in importance in the shaping of our foreign and security policy, so much so that today we can speak of an "energy foreign policy". We must place our partnerships with major energy supplier, transit and consumer countries on a solid and reliable footing. I am thinking in particular about Russia, China and the USA. The fact that the world is becoming ever smaller can be seen in the fields of energy and climate as in almost no other fields, and we must take due account of this.

50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome

On March 25, we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome. At the same time, this date will mark “half time” in our Presidency. But we do not intend to take a break; on the contrary, we want to use March 25 as an opportunity to emphasize the EU’s values and to map out the prospects for the EU’s future. The Heads of State and Government will travel to Berlin on that day to adopt a political declaration.

For this declaration to be as effective as we want it to be, it will have to be short. Every European should easily understand the wording of the declaration. It will be a success if we manage to show the citizens that Europe is able to guarantee the security necessary not only to tackle the challenges of the future but to shape them.

The 50th anniversary will of course also be an opportunity to celebrate. Despite all difficulties: The EU is a unique success story of which we can all be proud. We want to present the great achievements of half a century of European integration in a grateful and self-confident manner.

External relations and Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)
Let me turn now to our external relations and our common foreign and security policy. Beginning in April 2007, we will start the second half of our Presidency. We intend to put a special focus on the relations to the EU’s neighbours at that time.

I should add immediately that we are perfectly aware how difficult it is to plan action in the field of external relations. Good ideas can be affected by the sudden emergence of international crisis. Let us recall the last German Presidency in 1999, with the Kosovo crisis and the rapid development of European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP), two aspects which could scarcely have been predicted. We can also turn to the current Finnish Presidency which faced unexpected challenges due to the situation in Lebanon. So our planning in this field also includes being able to react flexibly to unforeseen events.

However, it is our aim to develop an attractive overall policy towards the EU’s Eastern neighbours which could be summed up as a comprehensive new approach. This policy includes three major components:

First, the European Neighbourhood Policy plays an important role in promoting stability and democracy. The EU should continue to use its scope for action here. During our Presidency we will focus on Eastern Europe as well as the South Caucasus; the following Portuguese Presidency could put special emphasis on the Mediterranean countries. European Neighbourhood Policy should address all neighbouring countries in the east and the south.

Within the framework of the 18-month Programme, we will put emphasis on evaluating the Action Plans mid-term reports and implementing ENP Action Plans already in force. In this context, negotiations should be completed on an enhanced PCA with Ukraine. The EU will thus present an attractive and broad offer for cooperation with its neighbours, including intensifying cooperation within specific sectors by concluding sectoral agreements. In view of the enlargement of the EU through the accession of Romania and Bulgaria, which extends the EU to the Black Sea, the prospects for developing a regional dimension for the Black Sea region could be explored.

Second, we want to further revitalize Europe's relations with Russia. The renegotiation of the existing Partnership and Cooperation Agreement provides an excellent opportunity to do just that. Russia will also have a special role in Europe's energy policy.

And third, we see the elaboration of a Central Asia strategy as a high priority. Europe has a twofold interest in promoting prosperity in this region – first, we need stable and trustful relations with these countries in the interest of our energy foreign policy, and second, we must recognize this region's stabilizing effect on neigh-bouring areas.

Constitutional Treaty

The last important topic I would like to mention is the Constitutional Treaty. It is worth talking about it, Ladies and Gentlemen, because it is not “dead and buried”, as I read in some newspaper whose name I just cannot recall.

The future of the treaty will be an important topic of the German Presidency, even though we will certainly not be the Presidency who will solve the issue. We have to take into consideration that there will be elections in several Member States. We will therefore not put this sensitive topic on our agenda before May. 

We accept the responsibility placed on us by the European Council and we will do all we can to produce a proposal on the way ahead which is acceptable to all sides. Our starting point is clear – we stand by the Constitutional Treaty and want to retain its political substance. At the same time, however, we must take note of the position of our French and Dutch partners, i.e. that the Treaty cannot be resubmitted in its present form.

Our role during the coming six months will be that of a "go-between", and for that reason, notwithstanding our own position on the constitution, you will not hear leading German politicians say anything definite at the start of the consultation process. Our job is to listen, consult, mediate and make an appropriate proposal at the right time. We are still considering the best way to achieve this.

The starting point of our efforts is clear. The ratification by Finland and the accession to the EU of Romania and Bulgaria will mean that 18 Member States will have ratified the Treaty, i.e. two-thirds of the EU. Seven countries have suspended their ratification procedures following the no votes from Paris and The Hague. Two Member States have rejected the Constitutional Treaty. If we want to achieve a solution, all members must move, but perhaps some should move more than others. It cannot be right for those countries that have not ratified the Treaty to impose a solution on those which have already done so.

The constitutional question will not be resolved by the end of the German Presidency, but we are optimistic that we will be able to elaborate and agree on ideas regarding the direction, procedure and timeframe for further progress.

One thing is clear, however – the constitutional process must be successfully concluded in order to make Europe fit for the future. I hope also our British friends do agree with this.

Ladies and Gentlemen, let me finish by saying that in my view, the EU has created unique mechanisms and instruments over the past 50 years. These instruments need to be made more efficient if we want to be able to tackle the challenges of the 21st century.

A Council Presidency can never make things happen without the other Member States, without the Commission or without the European Parliament. We are all in this together and therefore we need each other to create Europe’s future. As our Presidency’s motto goes: “Europe – succeeding together!”

Let’s do so! Thank you.