Ingezonden persbericht


Speech Europees Commissaris Wall ström in Nederland

Muller Lecture

Margot Wallström

Vice-President of the European Commission

"Taking the European Union forwards:
the next 50 years"

CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY
EMBARGO: 18.00
The Hague, Museum for Communication 19 April 2007

Chairmen, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen:

Goede namiddag; good afternoon.

Fifty years is a good age. By fifty, you will be secure in your values. You will have worked out how to organise your daily business. You will have maturity and experience, but you will still be ready to strike out in new directions, to take a few risks. You may well be lucky enough to enjoy a large family. And a wide circle of friends and neighbours as well. The EU has come a long way in fifty years. It has grown from six Member States to 27, from Finland to Portugal and from Cyprus to Ireland. In so doing it has widened an initial focus on peace between France and Germany to be a remarkable motor for democracy and reconciliation across the whole continent. It has moved from a simple coal and steel community to a broad and deep Union contributing to every aspect of daily life, from trade to transport, and from security to foreign affairs.
It is sometimes not easy for friends in other countries to grasp how the EU works. Madeleine Albright once said that you had to be either a genius, or French, to understand it. Well, I would not claim to have either of those very desirable attributes! But I think the EU is coming to be better and better understood, and better and better appreciated. The reality is that the EU is a unique experiment, which does not fit the models of the political science textbook. But it works. And the list of concrete achievements since 1957 is long and impressive.

What makes the European Union work? It is worth stepping back a moment and asking why it works. I would like to highlight three reasons in particular:

­ First, the EU is based on a real mutual trust between the countries and peoples involved ­ based on a set of shared values. But the bottom line is that 27 countries have been prepared to pool their sovereignty in a remarkable way. To accept majority decisions which mean that they must apply laws once agreed, even if they found themselves in the minority. To accept the decisions of the European Court of Justice, and its power to override national law. European nations would never have been able to swallow these rules without that basic underpinning of trust.

­ Second reason: it has been able to evolve. It is not just that the Union has grown in numbers ­ and therefore in diversity. It has also grown in ambition, in responsibilities, and in its reach. It has responded to the wish of citizens to see fewer barriers and more freedoms. It has spread into new areas like the currency, security and foreign policy. It has developed the democratic infrastructure of the Union by strengthening the Parliament and by outreach to citizens.

­ Finally, it is practical. This is not a talking shop or a think tank. It makes laws. It takes decisions which impact on the lives of Europeans every day of their lives ­ and indeed, on the lives of many others around the globe as well. The European Union exists to serve its citizens, and that is what it does ­ improving the quality of the air they breathe, making the food they eat more safe, cutting the costs of air travel or mobile phone use. These are direct, concrete results of EU action, not to speak of all its work in bringing together European efforts to boost growth and jobs, combat terrorism, or to project Europe in the world.

Given this success, why is the EU not more popular? Why does it seem so hard to love? I think Jacques Delors put his finger on it when he said "No-one falls in love with a single market". In other words, it is not enough to provide tools for the economy. The European Union has to represent a dream, a vision that all its citizens share. And it has to deliver tangible benefits that are meaningful to the present generation.

Today's Europeans want solutions to today's problems. And we must prepare ourselves to face the challenges of tomorrow. Challenges like our ageing population. At present, for every retired person there are four people of working age. In 20 years' time there will be only three and in 40 years' time only two potential workers to every pensioner. This means we have to reform our social security systems. We must modernize them and make them sustainable so that future generations can continue to enjoy their benefits.

But we also need to rejuvenate our population and swell our workforce. That means making it easier for women to combine work with having children. It means raising the retirement age for workers.
And it means encouraging skilled immigration.

I know immigration is a sensitive issue, here in the Netherlands. More than 100 000 people came to settle here in 2006. But did you know that the biggest groups were not actually Turks or Moroccans but Dutch people returning to their home country from abroad ­ followed by people from other EU countries.
Wherever the immigrant workers come from, we need them and their young families. Our future depends on them. We need to welcome them, integrate them into our societies and combat racial discrimination.

There are other serious challenges facing not only Europe but the whole world. Climate change is the obvious example ­ and the need for secure supplies of energy. Third world development is another example. How can we help poor nations to feed and educate their people and to take advantage of world trade while ensuring that their development is sustainable?

To tackle these challenges effectively requires cooperation. Between EU countries and between the EU and other major players.

The EU must speak and act as one on the world stage.

To achieve this we need to change our way of working. We are more and more trying to squeeze our XXL European body into a suit that is sized small. We need a simpler and more efficient way of taking our collective decisions. Our institutions need to be made more transparent and more democratic. And we need clear rules on "who should do what".

********

Ladies and gentlemen,

My final question for today is this: What do we want to achieve in the next 50 years? Let me suggest three answers. Three things I believe are essential for our common future. The overall objective: sustainable development...

First ­ smart growth. In other words, economic growth based on new technologies and processes that have a positive social and environmental impact. For example new vehicle propulsion systems that do not consume fossil fuels. Innovative biotechnologies and nanotechnologies in which Europe can lead the world, creating new jobs for people across this continent. Low-energy high-efficiency waste recycling systems and carbon sequestration technologies that Europe can use and also export to the newly-emerging economic giants in Asia and Latin America.

Second ­ social inclusion. In European societies, every individual should be valued and play an active role. Young and old; black and white; men and women; muslims and Calvinists; straights and gays; able-bodied people and those with disabilities. I might even add "those who can use computers and those who can't"!
No-one should be left out or left behind. That will mean taking active steps to combat discrimination of all kinds and to promote the integration of immigrants. It will mean reforming our social welfare systems so that the old and the infirm are properly cared for ­ now and in future generations.

Third ­ participatory democracy. At present, too many people see the EU as a remote and unaccountable bureaucracy, unconnected with their lives and unconcerned with their views. Only one in four Dutch citizens feels involved in European affairs. There is a yawning gap between the people and the policy- makers.
We have to close that gap!
Democracy is fundamental to European society ­ and the future course of European integration must be decided democratically. That does not simply mean asking the citizens of Europe to elect a European Parliament every five years. It means allowing ­ and encouraging ­ people from all walks of life to have their say in shaping EU policies.

How? There has to be discussion between them. Discussion within each EU country and also between EU countries. Through the local and national media, of course. But also on the internet. And face to face in physical meeting places across the continent. The discussion must be based on factual information. At present, seven out of ten people in the European Union know little or nothing about what the EU is and what it does.

Knowledge and understanding begin in school. We need to educate our children and young people about Europe. And not just the bright ones who are preparing for University, but all pupils at secondary schools ­ and, I would say, in the last year or two of primary school.
The Commission can help by producing attractive teaching materials. For example our booklet Let's explore Europe ­ "Ontdek Europa" I want Communication Policy to provide tools for democracy as information and education for the citizens, debate within each country and between countries and dialogue between the people and the policy-makers. Tools that will enable the citizens of Europe to set the agenda for Europe.

********

In conclusion, I want to say a few words specifically to the young people here today. Your generation is Europe's future. What kind of Europe do you want? Last month in Rome I attended the Youth Summit where young people from all 27 EU countries put forward a joint answer to that question. They want Europe:

· to make globalisation sustainable and fair;
· to protect the environment;
· to defend social rights and fight poverty.

I agree with those young people!

In 50 years' time I want Europeans to be able to look back on this decade as the start of a new era for Europe and the world. I want people to say:

"Those were the years when we began to put into practice the concept of smart growth. "That was the time when we decided to become the most energy- efficient region in the world". "That was the decade when we began in earnest to shift our social systems towards sustainable development, combining economic growth with social responsibility and environmental protection".

It is you ­ today's young people ­ who must make those changes happen and create the Europe of 2057. How? It's time to talk about it together ­ not only in your local communities but with other young people across Europe. You are ideally placed to do so because you are already having a global conversation with one another on the internet, in universities, on your travels.

The past experience of European nations and their relations with one another has sometimes been very painful. But, as George Bernard Shaw wrote: "We are made wise not by the recollection of our past but by the responsibility for our future".

Thank you: Dank U wel.


---- --