Mit - Index

Mit - UVK_Sinfo_2008_05_št.10 - Index

IntERview
OBJECTIvE THAT THE Eu WOuLd BE
MEANINGFuL NOT ONLY TO ELITES, BuT
ALSO TO ORdINARY PEOPLE. SO WHERE
IS THE Eu HEAdING?
Exactly there! There is one guiding principle which must drive
all our efforts, and this is to serve the 500 million citizens in the
EU. I call it the Europe of citizens. Citizens are the reasons to exist
of our policies. It is our duty to help Europe’s citizens seize the
opportunities and meet the challenges of globalisation in the
twenty-first century − globalisation of the economy, demographic
change, migration, climate change, energy security, sustainable
development, and terrorism.
This is the aim. And it is clearly reflected in the agenda of my
Commission. In 2008 we are coming forward with important
initiatives, for example in the areas of social policy, agriculture and,
asylum and migration, small and medium companies… all those
initiatives are meaningful for ordinary citizens, not only the elites.
ONE OF THE CHALLENGES THAT THE
Eu NEEdS TO FACE AFTER THE LISBON
TREATY IS THE NEW dEFINITION OF THE
EuROPEAN INTEGRATION PROCESS -
NAMELY, THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
EuROPEAN ANd NATIONAL INTERESTS. WE
ARE WELL AWARE OF WHAT A NATIONAL
INTEREST IS, BuT WHAT IS A EuROPEAN
INTEREST? ANd HOW dO WE INCLudE
THE vOICE OF SOvEREIGN NATIONS IN THE
FORMATION OF A EuROPEAN INTEREST?
There is no contradiction, believe me. In fact, the ≈European
interest« as you say can and should be seen as an extension of
the national interest. And your country is probably one of the best
examples of this concept put into practice and taken to its most
successful consequences. Just look at the recent history of Slovenia,
the problems that this region has known (and still does for some of
its countries) and then see the benefits for Slovenia of this impressive
fast integration in the EU, the Euro area, the Schengen agreements…
And the benefits of integrating Slovenia and the other new Member
States are equally important for Europe as a whole. It is a win-win
process.
In this sense, the Lisbon Treaty is and remains a fair compromise
between these two levels of sovereignty, enabling a more democratic,
transparent but also effective EU to serve better its citizens.
HAS THE Eu CHANGEd IN ANY WAY
SINCE THE ACCESSION OF THE EASTERN
EuROPEAN MEMBERS − 55 MILLION
SLAvIC CITIZENS?
The EU has indeed changed substantially as a consequence of the
enlargement to 12 new Member States but I would not underline
this ≈Slavic« factor in particular. Diversity is bigger than ever in our
Union and so is the number of so-called ≈small Member States«.
In other words, the EU can difficultly be dominated by a limited
sinfo 10 18
group of big Member States. Our culture of consensus, based on
an exhaustive and inclusive political dialogue, has therefore been
reinforced.
THE Eu IS FACING CHALLENGES SuCH
AS A CRISIS OF EuROPEAN IdENTITY
ANd A dEMOCRATIC dEFICIT. WHAT IS
YOuR COMMENT ON THAT? ANd HOW dO
YOu dEFINE THE COMMON EuROPEAN
INTEREST?
Those challenges are addressed in the Lisbon Treaty. You mention
a ≈democratic deficit«, well, the Treaty of Lisbon foresees for the
first time an important role for the national parliaments, and
it reinforces the principle of subsidiarity so that decisions are
taken at the level that ensures more effectiveness to the citizens'
interest.
On your second question, I think that the central role of the EU
in the 21st century is to shape globalisation in line with our core
common values of freedom, democracy and solidarity. This can
seem very abstract and theoretical, but it's not: it's about how to
create jobs, be competitive and ensuring security for our citizens
while preserving our core values of solidarity and individual
freedoms in a globalized world. These are ≈European interests«.
THE PRIORITIES FOR THE FuTuRE OF
THE Eu ARE: THE LISBON STRATEGY
FOR GROWTH ANd JOBS, WHICH IS
LINkEd WITH ENERGY ANd CLIMATE
CHANGE; IMMIGRATION BASEd ON THE
CONSENSuS REACHEd AT THE LAST Eu
SuMMIT IN dECEMBER, AS WELL AS A
NuMBER OF CONCRETE INITIATIvES,
SuCH AS THE BETTER REGuLATION
INITIATIvE TO REduCE LEGISLATIvE
BuRdENS; ANd THE SME PACkAGE,
WHICH AddRESSES THE LARGEST JOB
CREATION SECTOR IN EuROPE. HOW ARE
THE GOALS BEING REALIZEd?
We are progressing. The current difficulties for our economies, the
high oil and food prices or the turbulences in the financial markets
can only encourage us to pursue this positive transformation
agenda. Moving smoothly to low carbon economies, leading
−politically and materially- the new technological revolution,
pushing the climate change agenda globally, strengthening and
implementing the Lisbon strategy for growth and jobs… that
must be at the core of our common agenda. And I insist on the
word ≈common«, because the challenges are so that we better
address them as Europeans if we want to prevail.
We are achieving our goals. For instance, when I see how our
proposals to reduce CO 2 cars' emissions are gaining support,
or how Europe is increasingly seen in the world as leading
the process to set responsible industrial and trade standards, I
measure the progress made.