Toespraak minister Antunes over Top van Lissabon (en)

• - 

  Speech by the Secretary of State for European Affairs (pdf format)

In the name of the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU, Manuel Lobo Antunes intervened today at the EP's plenary session, in the debate on the preparation of the Lisbon Informal European Council, on 18 and 19 October.

Mr. President,

Ladies and Gentlemen Deputies,

As you know, the IGC Group of Jurists has finished its work on the 3rd, having been able to reach an agreement on the drawing up of the entire text of the project for the Treaty, its Protocols and Declarations.

The negotiations on the legal wording of the text have then been concluded. 

Allow me to say that the balance of this negotiating process has been, until now, extremely positive. Although we are dealing with a very sensitive political issue, with very complex technical and juridical contents, it was possible to conclude negotiations while respecting the previously defined schedule. For that, it is of the utmost importance to acknowledge the engagement of all partners, including the representatives of the European Parliament Elmar Brok, Enrique Barón Crespo and Andrew Duff, whose contribution in this task has been invaluable.

It is no secret that some Member States may still want to debate a few issues. The Presidency is strongly engaged in continuing to actively work in the search for acceptable and reasonable solutions for everyone. We don't want nor shall we leave anyone excluded. In the European Union we follow our path together.

It is then essential that, besides the determination of the Presidency to search for solutions, everyone involved also shows political will, in order to move forward for a better future in the Union.

The Presidency has booked a discussion on the project of the Reform Treaty for the next GAERC (General Affairs and External Relations Council) meeting on 15 October. Our objective is clear:

(i) to reach a political agreement at the Lisbon Informal Summit on 18 and 19 October and

(ii) to sign the Reform Treaty during this semester. It is towards these goals that we have been working and we shall continue to do so.

I must also acknowledge the readiness with which the European Parliament answered the request of the June's European Council to present, until October, a proposal for its drawing up.

It is then with great regard that the Portuguese Presidency takes note of the progress in the work and efforts developed by rapporteurs Alain Lamassoure and Adrian Severin in the elaboration of the report we submit today to the House.

The definition of the European Parliament's position is very important for the good progress of the Intergovernmental Conference's work, which should be finished during the Informal Summit in Lisbon, next 18 and 19 October.

We hope that an agreement on this issue may be reached among all the deputies and that a proposal may be presented during this Summit, thus following the prescribed schedule.

As we all know, this is a very complex matter that needs to be handled with the utmost sensibility.

Mr. President,

Ladies and Gentlemen Deputies,

Due to its present-day relevance and following the line of the Hampton Court tradition, the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union has decided to dedicate part of the next Informal Summit to the Lisbon Strategy.

As it is known, with the objective of preparing the new triennial cycle of the renewed Lisbon Strategy, the European Council from March 2007 invited the Commission to present an intercalary report in the autumn 2007, taking into consideration its proposal of Integrated Guidelines for Growth and Employment (2008-2010), to be presented at the end of the year.

The Communication presented last week by the European Commission is the answer to this mandate. It is a vision paper intended to pave the way for the debate on the new cycle.

It was a document prepared by the Commission, but its making is the result of an intense collaboration work between the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union and this institution, as well as with Slovenia, taking already into consideration the preparation of next spring's European Council. 

In this context, the document is an excellent base to stimulate the debate among Heads of State and Government.

In its main points, the Communication stresses that the revised Lisbon Strategy must continue to be the adequate framework for the answer that Europe must give to the hardest challenges we all face, such as globalisation.

The determined objectives and the priority areas that were chosen in 2005 are still adequate. Since it is a long-term strategy, the new cycle should broadly preserve the necessary stability to consolidate results. But making the best of the dynamics created by the progress already achieved, the acceleration of reforms must become a priority.

Correspondingly, the globalised context, in constant evolution, demands a projection of the EU's political and economic objectives beyond its borders. That is why the external dimension of the Lisbon strategy must be broadened.

This should certainly be the tendency to develop in the debate of the Heads of State and Government at the informal meeting. The EU has the economic and political conditions that simultaneously allow it to influence the globalisation process and find a consistent answer to its challenges.

During the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union there will also be a debate on the vision paper, namely at the ECOFIN and Competitiveness Councils. Various other formations of the Council will discuss relevant themes for the future of the Lisbon Strategy. There will also be a debate at the EP, at the Committee on Regions, the Economic and Social Committee and with social partners.

Taking into consideration the orientations of the informal Summit and the debates in all these fora, the Commission will present in December, to be debated and adopted at the European Council in the spring 2008, a set of documents on the new cycle, including a proposal of integrated directive lines for 2008-2010 and new initiatives to be launched in the framework of the new Lisbon Communitarian Programme. 

Thank you very much