Opening the British Presidency, the British Foreign Secretary and President-in-Office of the Council, Robin Cook, outlined plans for the next six months. He noted that the Presidency would act as a pilot, both to Economic and Monetary Union and to the enlargement process. Mr Cook noted that Britain would be in the chair when the crucial decision was made next May on who should qualify for stage three of EMU. He promised that the European Parliament would be consulted at that juncture.
Mr Cook noted that the UK Presidency would be launching the accession process for all the applicants, as well as starting negotiations with countries that want to join the EU. He stressed the historic nature of EU enlargement and the crucial role to be played by the European Parliament in this process.
Mr Cook stated that jobs, crime and the environment were the concerns of the people and would be the UK Presidency priorities. On the topic of employment, Mr Cook stressed that Britain wanted to make the EU relevant to the lives of people. He argued that the Luxembourg Jobs Summit had set an agenda for putting Europe back to work and that Britain would use its Presidency to pursue that agenda with vigour.
On crime, Mr Cook noted that the drugs trade was worth about $400 billion a year and was second only to the oil trade in value. He stressed the importance of international co-operation to combat crime, particularly the launching of Europol.
On the environment, Mr Cook emphasised the importance of putting environmental considerations at the heart of the EU's decision-making process. He noted that there would be a joint Transport and Environment Council in June and that the Presidency would be taking forward the proposals for higher standards on particle emissions and a higher quality of clean air.
Agenda 2000
Turning to reform of the EU itself, Mr Cook argued that the Agenda 2000 reforms were an exciting programme to modernise the EU. In particular, he said, there was a need to modernise the common agricultural policy, to support farmers but at a lower cost to the tax payer and the consumer, while also preserving rural communities and a rural environment. He stressed that regional aid should go to the poorest areas and that fraud and mismanagement should be tackled.
Regarding the EU's role in the world, Mr Cook stated that the Presidency would launch an EU code of conduct on arms exports; that it would implement the new EU Joint Action on landmines; and that it would work for a coherent EU approach to human rights.
Algeria
On Algeria, Mr Cook shared the concerns of MEPs at the repeated massacres there. He noted that there was no evidence to support allegations of involvement by the Algerian security authorities in the killings. However, he argued that the Algerian government should allow the press to see for themselves what was happening in the country.
Speaking about co-operation with the European Parliament, Mr Cook stressed that it had a key role to play and he emphasised that the British government had been working to build up its links with Parliament. He stressed, in particular, the important role that Parliament had to play in the task of giving the EU back to the people and ensuring an open and transparent Europe.
The debate
Speaking for the PES, Pauline Green (London North) expressed her "tremendous pleasure" in welcoming the first Labour Government Minister to come to the chamber in over 20 years.
She emphasised the need to tackle issues, such as qualified majority voting and the slimming down in the number of Commissioners, before enlargement could take place. She also pointed out that, while it now appeared that major decisions on reform of the CAP and enlargement would not be taken until after the German elections later in the year, this did not mean that these issues could be pushed under the carpet. It was vital to prepare the way under the British Presidency.
For the EPP, Wilfried Martens (B) underlined the fact that patience and resolve were now needed to successfully conclude the out standing issues facing the EU, such as enlargement and the introduction of a single currency. A heavy responsibility would be placed on the British Presidency to win over public acceptance for the future of the EU. He looked to the British spirit of democracy to ensure widespread support on the ground.
In addition to welcoming the priorities of tackling unemployment, fraud and international crime, Mr Martens looked forward to the establishment of the new "Conflict Prevention Centre" to improve foreign policy making.
For the Union for Europe Group, Gerard Collins (IRL/UFE) welcomed the British Foreign Secretary's speech and wished the UK success for the Presidency. In endorsing the priorities of the British Presidency and in particular a "people's Europe", he warned these objectives would only be achieved with the support of the people.
He contended that one of the underlining causes of the large increase in crime was drug dependency. The EU, he said, could make a significant contribution by adopting sophisticated methods to deal with the criminals. The delays in setting up Europol were unacceptable, he said, and welcomed only by criminals. On EMU, he emphasised that it was important for all those involved to be active in the preparation and planning for the introduction of a single currency, especially to ensure citizens' confidence in it. On CAP reform, he called for a wideranging debate under the British Presidency before key decisions would be taken. On the environment, he made a special plea for the UK to look at the situation with regard to Sellafield and the radioactive discharges into the Irish Sea.
Jim Nicholson (Northern Ireland, I-EN) was another speaker to welcome the enthusiasm and ambition of the new Presidency, but he doubted if one could expect too much from the EU in solving Europe's unemployment problem. The EU's role was to provide better support and training but the issue could only be resolved at national level.
On the Agenda 2000 and CAP reforms he looked for an early removal of the ban on British beef and trusted that the British Presidency would work for this. He also noted that farmers were continuing to suffer as a result of the strong pound and that the British government had not used opportunities to counter the negative effect of this by seeking financial help from Brussels.
The website for information on the UK Presidency is http://presid.fco.gov.uk