Mr President,
Ladies and Gentlemen, Members of the European Parliament,
It is a great pleasure for me to be permitted to speak here before the European Parliament for the first time as representative of the Presidency of the EU Council. As Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel has already emphasised this morning, interinstitutional dialogue is one of the absolute priorities of the Austrian Council Presidency, one which we will take very seriously.
2005 was in many respects a difficult year. Since the two negative referenda on the Constitution in France and the Netherlands in early summer last year, the word "crisis" has often been heard in Europe. All the signs point to the fact that this crisis is primarily a crisis of confidence, an increasing doubt about the European project. A real gap in trust opened up between the citizens and the European Institutions, a sign of one thing above all, namely that, in the opinion of its citizens, the EU leaves many questions unanswered. Questions which it is important for the citizens to have answered, because they play an important role in their individual lives.
Let me also express here my thanks to the European Parliament. It is to the European Parliament's great credit that it was so quick to set about analysing not only the causes of this unease, but at the same time various possible ways of overcoming this unease. The initial outcome of this discussion is now available.
The debate which the European Parliament has held over the present period of reflection has highlighted a whole range of considerations, but also difficulties of which the Council is also well aware and which we must tackle together.
At any rate, it is clear that there are no easy solutions, no tricks and no shortcuts that we can use to bridge the gap in trust between Europe and its citizens in double-quick time. Only a real and earnest effort to tackle the problems can be reliably effective in the long term – with all the available means which the European Parliament has highlighted. We believe that the debate must be a wide-ranging and open debate. A discussion about what kind of Europe we want and where our common European journey is to lead.
In June last year the Council decided to take the time it needed to grapple in detail with the citizens' concerns and questions, to be responsive to the causes of unease and, with concrete measures, to prove to the citizens point by point that investment in the European project is worthwhile.
The Austrian Council Presidency intends not only to continue but to step up these endeavours; from its first day in office it began working to take the debate forward.
To that end the Austrian Council Presidency has scheduled a series of fixed dates providing an opportunity for an in-depth analysis of Europe, European identity and the core values that bind Europe together, the tasks that Europe must and will undertake in the future and also of the question of how we can best perform these tasks, by what means and to what extent.
The prelude will come at the end of January with a major event in Salzburg focusing on European identity, which high-level representatives from the political and business world and from the media, the arts and science are expected to attend. That the occasion for this event is the 250th anniversary of the birth of the great European Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart serves only to remind us of the fact that Europe requires a long-term definition.
A whole series of additional public events will follow between now and the end of June 2006. The debate on the future of Europe is multifaceted. Shedding light on all of them is the only way to achieve full awareness of the dimensions involved.
In our view, the Council Presidency's most important task in this area is to get all Member States on board. Our intention is therefore to orchestrate our moves together, i.e. to clarify how we can best work together to achieve joint progress.
The aim is to put Europe in a position to accomplish its tasks as well as possible by joining forces and once again to bring to Europe a more positive outlook.
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