From: Marc-Oliver Pahl (info@mopahl.de)
Date: Thu Jul 04 2002 - 14:07:06 CEST
-------- Original Message --------
Betreff: The Prime Ministers speech in the Centre f or European Policy Studies
Datum: Thu, 04 Jul 2002 05:07:13 -0100
Von: "eu2002.dk" <noreply@eu2002.dk>
Rückantwort: "eu2002.dk" <noreply@eu2002.dk>
Policy area: General Affairs
News item: Speeches
The Danish Presidency – One Europe
Check against delivery
Distinguished audience, ladies and gentlemen
It is a great pleasure to be here tonight to talk to and meet with this distinguished circle of EU
insiders. And it is a particular pleasure for me to be addressing you as President of the European
Council.
It is now three days since Spain handed the baton of Presidency over to Denmark. And with it we took
on a packed agenda with a limited amount of time. So here we stand, baton in hand, the goals are in
sight, and it’s time to present you with our plans and priorities for reaching them.
Even before we took on this task we knew that there would be one, dominating issue. The completion
of the negotiations on the enlargement of the EU with, perhaps, up to ten new countries.
This is not merely because the enlargement has long been, and remains, a high priority for Denmark,
but also because the negotiations have now reached a point where completion is a realistic goal. The
Member States have made a joint decision to place this task in our hands.
I am very happy to be entrusted with this historic task. For more than 10 years these countries have
gone through hard work and a complete overhaul of the former communist structures. This very speedy
development has had its costs. But now countries are getting ready to enter our family of democratic
and market based societies. We must be ready to receive them. Together we will create “One Europe”.
To the benefit of all Europeans.
--- o O o ---
The enlargement will not be the only task ahead. We face a full and highly substantial agenda in
other areas as well. Also here we will try to be a focused and professional Presidency.
The other four headlines for our Presidency are:
· First: greater freedom, security and justice: the fight against terrorism, crime and illegal
immigration.
We are facing new types of crimes unknown to most of us just a few years ago: global terrorism,
trafficking in human beings and child pornography on the Internet. These are problems of a
cross-border nature. They must be dealt with through stronger cooperation at European and global
level.
We will also follow up upon the Seville decision to strengthen co-operation on asylum, immigration
and border control. The conclusions are concrete and balanced and constitute a very good basis for
our Presidency.
I was very satisfied with the Seville decisions and look forward to implementing them during the
Danish Presidency. We are addressing some real problems, and there are increasing popular worries
about immigration problems. Responsible politicians are obliged to react to this.
· Second, sustainable development. We must continue to develop our societies: economically, socially
and environmentally.
A strong and competitive European economy is a prerequisite for growth, welfare and sustainable
development. Otherwise we will fall behind in the global competition – not least in comparison to
the USA.
Only through continuing liberalisation and a full implementation of the internal market will we be
able to meet the demands of the future.
· Third, Safe food: Midterm review of our Common Agricultural Policy and a new Fisheries Policy.
We will address the Mid Term Review of the CAP constructively and seek to take the work as far as
possible. The negotiations on enlargement and on the mid term review must follow separate tracks.
Both tracks are important. But they must not be linked.
We will also deal with the review of the common fisheries policy. The goal is to have a final
decision on the most important parts by the end of 2002. The proposals from the Commission are a
good basis for that.
· Finally, the global responsibility of the EU, including the Common Foreign and Security Policy.
Two elements deserve to be highlighted:
The World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg will be an important opportunity to help
develop a new model of global sustainable development. The EU must play a central role in
Johannesburg and I welcome the signal sent from Seville to this effect.
The ASEM 4 Summit will be held in Copenhagen in late September. We will discuss key economic,
political and social issues. Together the heads of state and government from the 25 countries
represents 2 billion people and a very large share of world trade.
--- o O o ---
I will now come back to enlargement to give you a more precise idea about our plans.
We have formulated the ambition on the finalisation of enlargement negotiations as a completion of
the circle “From Copenhagen To Copenhagen”. This of course refers to the fact that it was in
Copenhagen in 1993 that the basic principles for the enlargement process were defined. And we now
have a chance to conclude negotiations in Copenhagen by the end of this year.
Shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the new European democracies formulated visions of
becoming members of the European Union. Responsible politicians in Western Europe supported these
aspirations.
The fall of the Berlin Wall became the symbol of the end of communism in Europe. Barbed wire,
snipers, dogs and tanks should no longer divide Europe. People should no longer be deprived of their
most fundamental rights. A corrupt and suppressive political culture should no longer prevail to the
detriment of the people.
If you think back, I am sure that most of you will remember the feeling of freedom and a new start
for Europe in the years from 1989 to 91. It was against this historic background we initiated the
enlargement process.
Just as we thought that nationalism, aggression and war had become unthinkable in Europe, we became
witnesses to the brutal conflicts in the Balkans. This demonstrated that lasting peace in Europe
would only come about through the unification of Europe.
Now we must deliver on the promises. We have a historic and moral obligation to seize the present
opportunity to consolidate peace and create the basis for progress across the entire continent.
But enlargement of the EU is not only a question of historic responsibility and moral duty. It is
also about promoting trade and higher economic growth in all our societies.
Enlargement will produce increased growth in the new Member States. Competition will become stronger
and productivity will increase in all countries – also the present Member States. One of the most
important factors behind this development will be a strong increase in trade between existing and
future members of the Union. In my own country, Denmark, we have witnessed a strong development in
our trade with the new democratic and market based countries. But there is room for much larger
trade as the economic development continues in these countries.
I firmly believe that enlargement constitutes a “win-win situation”. Everybody will benefit from
enlargement.
We recognise that it will be no easy task to actually close negotiations by December. Candidate
countries as well as existing Member States must be willing to show flexibility. To make
compromises. A successful outcome of the negotiations in Copenhagen requires the commitment of all
involved. The intention, will and energy of the Presidency is not enough.
To this end, I intend to stick to three main principles:
• First of all, we are all agreed that negotiations should be concluded by December 2002. Even a
small delay can put back the entire process. After all, previous experience shows that the EU is
only capable of addressing a limited number of major tasks at any one time. So, bearing in mind that
in 2003 we will have to finalise the work in the Convention in preparation of the next Inter
Governmental Conference, that in 2004 the agenda will be taken up by IGC and that, in 2005-2006, we
must reach agreement on the next financial perspectives, the window of opportunity for enlargement
is open for only very few months. This is, in fact, the only real opportuinty available. The time is
now.
• Secondly, negotiations should be concluded with those countries which are ready. Naturally, we
hope to welcome all 10 countries. But we cannot compromise on the basic criteria for membership just
to achieve a speedy result.
• Thirdly, no country should be asked to wait for other countries. That would be unfair to those who
have achieved their goals. If only some of the 10 countries are ready, then we must conclude
negotiations with them, so that they may be admitted.
However, there are some, rather difficult, concrete issues in the negotiation process to be overcome
before we can conclude negotiations in Copenhagen. At least three isues are of particular
importance:
First of all, there is the question of distribution of benefits and the sharing of costs. This
question is particularly relevant in relation to negotiations concerning agriculture, structural
funds and budgets. The Commission has, in my view, prepared a well-balanced and reasonable proposal.
But a number of Member States find that proposal too costly. At the same time, candidate countries
believe that this proposal is unsatisfactory and they say that feel discriminated against. We know
that you can’t please all the people all of the time, so perhaps this only confirms that the
Commission has indeed struck just about the right balance.
Secondly there is the question of Cyprus. Cyprus is doing very well in the accession negotiations.
Indeed, Cyprus is one of the countries, which has closed most negotiation chapters – that is 28 out
of the 31. So on this basis Cyprus, as a candidate country, has a right to join when it is ready.
But, having said that, the division of the island does pose a problem. The European Council in
Helsinki has addressed this issue. It stated that a solution to the problem would be an advantage
but not a precondition. It also stated that a decision on the accession of Cyprus would be made
while taking all relevant factors into account. So we will proceed on that basis. All parties – on
both sides – need to make an effort in finding a solution.
Thirdly, there is question of the second Irish referendum on the Nice Treaty. Ratification of the
Nice Treaty is a political condition for enlargement. It’s as simple as that. Negotiations on the
enlargement take place on the basis of the Nice Treaty. A new “no” would jeopardise the entire
enlargement process.
Now that Denmark has taken over the Presidency, I would like to give you an idea about our
timetable:
· It is our ambition to close all outstanding issues that are not related to the financial package
during July and September.
· The European Council meeting in the autumn will be a decisive moment. The Commission reports on
the candidate countries are expected in October. In Brussels we will decide which countries are
ready for membership. We will also settle outstanding financial issues and the institutional
chapters, so that we can present positions to the candidate countries on all outstanding issues,
including the question of direct payments, by early November at the latest.
· The period between the Brussels meeting and the summit in Copenhagen should be spent on
negotiations with candidate countries. The important point is that we will need some weeks before
the December European Council for these negotiations. These are sensitive issues – also in candidate
countries. Therefore, we cannot wait until December for EU to decide on these issues.
The Presidency will naturally focus very much on negotiations with those countries that are able to
conclude negotiations in December. But when we conclude negotiations with this group of countries we
must not forget those that are not ready to finalise their negotiations.
Already now we know that this group will include Bulgaria and Romania. The situation for these
countries was also addressed in Seville. We will have to formulate new and realistic road maps and
revised pre-accession strategies for these countries. Increased pre-accession assistance is also a
possibility as well as a more precise timetable for their accession. Resolute continuation of
reforms will be essential for such decisions.
Concerning the last of the candidate countries – Turkey – continuation of reforms will also be
vital. The European Union acknowledges that Turkey has made progress in complying with the political
criteria established for accession, in particular through the recent amendment of its constitution.
But more needs to be done. Turkish negotiations with the EU can only be opened if and when Turkey
fulfils all the necessary criteria. We expect to assess the progress of Turkey and draw appropriate
conclusions on that basis in Copenhagen.
--- o O o ---
Enlargement must be seen in a greater context. The present enlargement process of the European Union
will move the borders of the Union further to the east. I do not have the answer here and now as to
how far this process will go on in the future. The question about where the external borders of the
European Union will be in 50 years is really not the most interesting one. The process and how to
avoid new dividing lines in Europe is much more interesting.
Therefore, another priority of the Danish Presidency will be the relations with Russia and our “new
neighbours”: Ukraine, Belarus and in the future Moldova. We will need to formulate new policies
towards these countries. Building on the existing programmes we must stimulate a healthy political
and economic development in these countries. Working on a closer relationship between the EU’s
internal market and their economies seems to me one of the most fruitful ways to proceed.
We will also need to address the specific issues pertaining to Kaliningrad. I hope that we can reach
an agreement with Russia based on the Schengen acquis. This question will very likely be a central
issue at the EU-Russia Summit in Copenhagen in November.
--- o O o ---
We are at an extremely decisive moment. After ten years of reforms. Ten years of hard work that has
produced impressive results. Ten years of expectations that should not be disappointed. We must
fulfil the promises we have given each other. We must use the historic chance we have been given and
finalise the enlargement negotiations before the end of 2002.
The hurdles I have mentioned are indeed impressive. But I am an optimist. We have a historic
opportunity to unite our continent by finalising enlargement negotiations in December.
The Danish Presidency will do its utmost to achieve that result. But enlargement is a joint
challenge and a joint opportunity. We cannot afford to miss it.
Thank you for your attention
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