Fianciële crisis, klimaatverandering en het Verdrag van Lissabon worden hoofdonderwerpen bij Europese Raad (en)

President of the European Commission

Opening remarks at the Pre European Council Press conference

Pre European Council Press Conference

Brussels, 9 December 2008

This European Council will have to address three major issues: the economic recovery, climate change and the Lisbon Treaty.

We have put on the table of the European Council an ambitious and realistic Economic Recovery Plan. A plan that combines short term stimulus with medium term stability and long-term growth. A plan to counter the downturn with new opportunities. A plan that reinforces Europe's commitment to lead the effort for international solutions.

We must also seek agreement to the climate change package that will take the decisive steps towards both environmental and economic sustainability.

Both proposals must be seen together. We can save millions of existing jobs and create millions of new jobs. We can achieve the climate change targets and lead international efforts in Copenhagen next year.

The ambitious as well as sustainable fiscal stimulus of 1.5 per cent of GDP is an approach that puts together action by Member States with complementary action by the EU. Through the internal market, the combined coordinated impact will be greater than a purely national impact could ever be.

Good coordination requires a shared but differentiated approach. It requires the flexible and firm application of the Stability and Growth Pact and the flexible and firm implementation of competition rules. We need to use them to make the fiscal stimulus effective. It can only work if it inspires confidence among investors and consumers.

The second reason we need coordination is to target investment in the right areas for a prosperous, low-carbon future. And to make sure crucial structural reforms continue under the Lisbon Growth and Jobs Strategy, based on the spirit of partnership. Partnership among Member States and partnership among the European institutions and Member States.

The third reason is the international dimension. And I would like to underline specifically this point now. All the indications that we have show that President-elect Obama's intentions converge with the Plan that we will adopt: economic stimulus coupled with work for green jobs, infrastructure, energy efficiency.

If you look at our proposal, our proposal is about green jobs, infrastructure, energy efficiency. Our Recovery Plan will thus be a sound platform for both a renewed transatlantic effort and the G20 process.

We need targeted short-term action to protect jobs and purchasing power. But I reject the fallacy that the economic crisis means we cannot afford to step up efforts to save energy and tackle climate change.

The Plan takes the opposite approach. By calling for smart investment in clean technology and energy efficiency it contributes to the 20-20-20 targets.

Indeed climate action is part of the economic stimulus. Climate action is part of the solution for the economic and financial crisis.

Europe’s commitment to the core goal has not wavered. To meet the 20-20-20 targets by 2020. To show the way for a global agreement next year in Copenhagen.

And I hope that leaders this week confirm that. It is a question of credibility. It would be a real mistake for Europe to give the signal that we are watering down our position, after all these years leading the efforts for a global solution, now that others, like the Americans, are coming closer, not yet to where we are, but closer to our position. This is the message I will tell very clearly to the European Council.

There has been enormous progress towards the Council and the European Parliament reaching a final agreement. There are still a few difficult open issues. That is understandable. These are critical decisions with an impact on every European. We must get them right.

We are responding to concerns about carbon leakage. We want also to ensure a fair distribution of the costs of the package. So flexibility on justified concerns – yes. Anything that questions the 20/20/20 targets – no. This for us is non-negotiable.

We have to keep to the targets that we agreed last year at the European Council, following the Commission proposal.

I am confident that essentials of the Commission's proposal will remain intact. I believe we can show that climate action, energy security and economic growth can and must be pursued in a mutually supportive way.

This is the best message we can send to the next US President and to our other very relevant partners. This is the credibility test for Europe, at a time when we see others coming closer to our positions.

Climate change and energy security are also two cornerstones of the Lisbon Treaty. And let me make a comment on the Lisbon Treaty.

The EU's raison d'être is to promote the economic and social well-being of its citizens. We need the Lisbon Treaty to do that. This is not a distraction. It is an imperative. The recent economic and financial crisis, the crisis in Georgia, and other very important developments have shown that we need more coherent EU responses and we need to improve the way we take decisions at the EU level.

I met Brian Cowen last week here in Brussels to discuss the way forward. I am convinced that we can respond to his national concerns while finding a European solution.

The overriding goal of the European Council must be to set out a credible way forward which will enable Ireland to ratify.

Ladies and Gentlemen, there are other important issues in the European Council, I decided to concentrate on those three main aspects but let me just make a reference to another important proposal that I am very proud of. It is our proposal for the Eastern Partnership. I am very happy to see that there was an overwhelmingly good reaction to our proposal and I hope that the European Council will accept working on that basis so that we can, I hope during the Czech Presidency, agree on the concrete terms of this ambitious Eastern partnership that we are proposing as one important dimension of the EU's external relations.

This is perhaps the most crucial European Council in recent years. If I may make a personal note, I would say that for me, this is the most important European Council I have participated in as President of the Commission. It will be a real test for Europe. Citizens will look at us to see if European leaders are really ready to have a European response to the crisis. And outside Europe, our main partners will also be looking at us to see if Europe is ready to grasp the occasion in terms of the economic recovery plan, in terms of the climate policy. So I really hope that we come with this European spirit so that we can show that Europe is part of the solution.

Our citizens will not accept excuses, if their leaders fail to take the right decisions. I think the last few months have provided new momentum for European solidarity in action. I hope that this week, Europe will show that it can act when it matters most. That it can act in a true spirit of partnership. For the benefit of our citizens.