Shared responsibility

The French presidency sees parliament as its key partner in providing a response to the concerns of European citizens, says Jean-Pierre Jouyet.

Now more than ever, the European parliament is an institution whichstands for hope. In this period where some have expressed theirhesitations – and even fears – concerning Europe, it is useful torecall that, over the course of European integration, the parliamenthas gradually begun to assert itself as the legitimate representativeof European citizens. It must henceforth use the power that thisdemocratic legitimacy has bestowed upon it to rally Europeans behind acommon project and shared values.

During its presidency of theEU, France wants to continue to work in this direction so that thecitizens of Europe will come to realise that Europe is not a distanttechnocratic machine. It hopes to dispel the image of a Europe ofrestrictions and promote the image of a Europe which provides freedomas well as protection, one in which the decisions made on a Europeanlevel are of direct concern to all and provide answers to their majorpreoccupations. We share this commitment with our partners, thetwenty-six other council members. And it is only through workingclosely with the parliament that we can achieve our goals.

Ourpriorities for the French presidency have been established according tothe expectations of EU citizens. What are these expectations? Europeansare worried about climate change as well as the world energy crisis andskyrocketing oil prices. We need to respond to this by reaching anagreement in the council and parliament on an energy/climate packagethat will allow us to show up at the Copenhagen conference in 2009 inproper battle formation and to reduce our energy dependence onthird-party countries. Europeans also feel they are increasinglyvulnerable to global instability and the risks of terrorism.

Weneed to provide them with answers by strengthening Europe’s capacitiesfor defence and crisis management in order to accord Europe all theimportance it deserves on the global scene. Europeans also feel thatthey have become less and less involved in globalisation. We need toanswer to this by more effectively coordinating our immigrationpolicies and the regulations applied to asylum issues while improvingthe situation of legal migrants and providing Europe with moreefficient tools for fighting poverty. As you can see, France wishes toconvey a powerful message by addressing itself directly to the citizensof Europe. And what institution is more implicated in the challenges ofour presidency than the European parliament?  

This is why wehave involved the members of the European parliament as closely aspossible in preparations for the French presidency; members of thegovernment have met with the delegations from the committees and themajor political groups as well as with the conference of presidents.

TheFrench president and ministers have gone to parliament to present ourpriorities in detail. I cannot stress enough how important theseexchanges are. They make it possible to clarify individual expectationsand to identify both our points of convergence and differing views. Iam convinced that by improving the communication between institutions,we will also improve the quality of the texts adopted by the EU,accelerate decision-making and most importantly, boost the democraticlegitimacy of European decisions, and in doing this, improveunderstanding and adherence to them in all the member states.

Facedwith these preoccupations of our citizens, how can we not feeldisappointment at Ireland’s recent referendum rejection of the treatyof Lisbon? I applauded the parliament’s reaction, a few days after theresults, when it declared that it considers adoption of the treaty asan “absolute necessity”. This is why we must continue the ratificationprocess in Europe. The breakthroughs the text offers are major ones,and I will not go into them here. But one point that I consideressential is the increased power it will give to the parliaments, bothnational and European.

The expansion of the areas to which theco-decision procedure will apply, and the involvement of nationalparliaments in European decision-making, will encourage the increasedempowerment of Europe’s citizens. And in doing so, it will encourage aEurope that is committed to reinforcing its democratic bodies andgiving more power to the people. A few days after the ‘no’ vote,Hans-Gert Pöttering said that “the treaty of Lisbon is the response tocriticisms expressed by citizens concerning the weaknesses of the EU.This treaty brings the EU closer to its citizens”. I fully agree withhim.

France is aware of its responsibilities in this pivotalperiod in European integration. All the member states are now certainthat their future is European. We must now rally our citizens around acommon project and bring politics into the very heart of Europe. Thisis the role of the European parliament, and I am confident that it hasthe necessary resources and capacities to carry this out.