A new chapter

Less analysis, more action should be ethos of the French presidency, says Joseph Daul

France is taking over the presidency of the EU at a time which will see the opening of a new chapter for Europe. Following the Irish ‘no’ to the Lisbon treaty, France will be expected to deal with the new institutional crisis and to convince those member states who have not yet ratified the treaty to go ahead with it as planned.

Europe is often perceived as too complex and too distant from its citizens’ uncertainties. However, the Lisbon treaty brings elements of solutions to these problems, making the EU more efficient, more transparent, more democratic and more powerful in the world.

For the EPP-ED group, the ratification process should continue in the different member states. We will evaluate the situation at the end of this process, hopefully before the European elections in 2009.

We want Europe to move away from self-analysis and on to proactive European policy on the real global challenges. This is exactly France’s ambition during its presidency.

We welcome that the French presidency has set real priorities for areas where the EU can really make a difference: the fight against climate change, a more efficient energy policy, strengthening our capacities outside Europe, and controlling migration flows.

More homogeneous policies in these policy areas will contribute to enforcing the security of European citizens. The EPP-ED group is convinced that in this era of globalisation, bringing more safety to the citizen is the role the EU
should play.