Madam President,
Honourable Members of the European Parliament,
I am glad to be with you here today and to review our Council Presidency. I am also looking forward to hearing your assessment and comments.
The German EU Presidency is now nearly over. We took it on in the midst of a special situation.
On the one hand, Europe is in good shape economically.
Growth in Europe is currently stronger than in the United States. We can expect a growth rate of approximately 2.9 per cent in 2007.
And the expansion is increasingly due to domestic economic dynamics: Europe is again developing its strength from its own efforts.
On the other hand, the latest Euro barometer indicates that citizens' confidence in Europe could be better.
But last weekend, at the European Council, Europe showed that it is able to act. The European Council reached agreement on principles for an amendment treaty; the treaty is to be drafted at the next Intergovernmental Conference. A functioning Union will strengthen the confidence of citizens and companies in Europe's political and economic potential.
And for that reason we must work as hard as we can to face up to the important challenges of the future, whether they relate to climate protection, securing energy supplies, or the consideration of social needs - and last but not least the creation of more growth and employment.
For the German Presidency, the core element of a strategy oriented to growth and employment is a functioning internal market.
And in that area we have been able to achieve a good deal during our Presidency. Let me name just a few areas:
Here in the IMCO Committee I would like particularly to highlight as a joint success, alongside the Roaming Regulation, on which this Committee also worked, the reform of the Remedies Directive.
Working together we were able to successfully complete the reform of the Remedies Directive. The European Parliament, the Commission, and the Council worked toward achieving good results in a process of intensive talks; they were hard but constructive negotiations.
Owing to the simultaneously deliberating Council, the Council Presidency was unfortunately not able to be present at the debate and voting in the plenary session on 21 June in Strasbourg. We were happy to hear that our joint compromise was approved nearly unanimously.
Let me here and now thank all those, particularly the rapporteur, Mr. Fruteau, and the other rapporteurs, Ms. Rühle, Graf Lambsdorff, and Mr. Schwab.
The reform brings considerable progress in legal protection against illegal public procurement decisions:
The standstill period between deciding in favour of a particular bidder and concluding an agreement, the suspensive effect of complaints, and the invalidity of illegal direct awards improve bidders’ rights in the European internal market.
The reform strengthens the effectiveness of European procurement law, thus also benefiting European taxpayers.
Completing the internal market, however, not only entails more laws but better laws. Bureaucracy reduction is therefore of great significance, and at the Spring Council we reached agreement to reduce administrative burdens deriving from EU law by 25 per cent by the year 2012.
The Member States were invited to set their own, similarly ambitious reduction targets.
Through “immediate action”, the burden on companies is to be reduced by several hundred million euro already in 2007.
Measures including amendments to two company law directives contribute, for example, to this result. In future, it will be up to those concerned to decide on the need for very time-consuming reports when companies are broken up or merge. Following the positive JURI vote this week, we will be able to conclude the legislative procedure begun in March already in July, thus under the Portuguese Council Presidency.
We very much welcome the fact that the Commission has prepared further proposals for “immediate action” for the autumn. That is the only way for us to show citizens and enterprises that the action programme brings them real benefits.
An example is the Finished Pack Directive that was considered in this Committee and that has now been approved in the second reading by the European Parliament. I am very grateful to you for your good cooperation on this matter.
In order to achieve an ultimate net reduction in administrative burdens, unnecessary administrative burdens must also be avoided in all new EU legislation.
Germany will continue to advocate the establishment at EU level of an independent body similar to the German national council for impact assessment. The Netherlands and the United Kingdom also have such bodies.
The German EU Council Presidency achieved the result that the European Council will deal with appropriate options in spring 2008 on the basis of a Commission report.
Such ideas are not new to you in the European Parliament. I hope that, working together, we will make further progress on this point as well.
A further important area of the internal market is merchandise trade. And we were able as Council Presidency to lay important groundwork in this sector.
At the Competitiveness Council on 21/22 May, progress was made on the acts on accreditation and market surveillance (so-called New Approach) and the joint legislative framework for marketing products.
A Presidency Paper recording the results of the negotiations, which will be the basis of the negotiations with the European Parliament under the Portuguese Presidency, will be completed by the end of June.
In addition, we have achieved provisional results within the framework of mutual recognition in the so-called non-harmonised field.
And we unanimously agreed on the following: when a public body wishes to deny market access to a given product, it must prove that the product does not conform with its national regulations.
You on this committee are also involved with these questions in the context of the so-called “goods package” and, as I was told, you will discuss the mutual recognition regulation tomorrow.
I am convinced that this consultation will take us a good step closer towards removing the last remaining problems in connection with the free movement of goods.
While we will no longer be holding the Council Presidency, we will be participating in the process with great interest and expect the new strategy for the internal market to set the course decisively for the future. The Commission plans to submit the strategy in the second half of the year, and you will also be considering the topic in this Committee tomorrow.
As the April Informal Competitiveness Council in Würzburg emphasised, its primary aim must be to strengthen the Community in the globalisation process and it must not limit itself to consolidating the acquis and dealing with administrative questions.
Another building block for the completion of the internal market is the liberalisation of postal markets.
Under the German Presidency, the proposed directive was discussed in detail and most of the regulations finalised, apart from the date of market opening.
The Member States still have different ideas concerning the speed and details of further steps toward reform.
We would hope that the European Parliament has found the key to agreement here. The Transport Committee (TRAN) agreed on a compromise on 18 June which, in my view, resolves a number of significant questions:
What is important now is for the Council to find a common position. The compromise found in TRAN can, perhaps, provide some inspiration here.
I am confident that success will be reached before year's end year. The Portuguese Presidency has been given a good basis on which to work.
Another important dossier during our Presidency was the import ban on dog and cat fur. Within the German government, Food, Agriculture, and Consumer Protection Minister Horst Seehofer is responsible for this matter.
The political agreement at the first reading is a very great success for animal protection. I would like to thank you, Madam President, the rapporteur Ms. Svensson, and your staff, for your committed efforts during the intensive consultations. It was only on account of this work that agreement in the first reading was at all possible.
Madam President,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I think we have reason to be satisfied with what we have achieved. The motto of our Council Presidency has been "Europe - Succeeding Together". And in this spirit the European Parliament, the Commission, and the Council have worked together very well. Accept my sincere thanks. We are now passing on the baton to the Portuguese. Together with them and the Slovenians, we drew up for the first time a joint programme for three Presidencies, thereby treading new ground.
In this way, joint priorities are to be pursued within the Council with greater continuity.
I wish our Portuguese colleagues good luck and every success.
Thank you for your kind attention!
