Three priorities

“The reform of the treaties; an agenda aimed at modernising the European economies and societies; and the reinforcement of the EU in the world”: these, according to JOSÉ SÒCRATES , Portuguese Prime Minister, are the three priorities of the six months’ Presidency of the EU which began on 1st July. So the government of Lisbon follows the Germany of Angela Merkel in chairing the EU. TREATY: NEED TO ACT RAPIDLY. The new political leadership of the Community inherited from the German Presidency includes not least the management of the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC), established by the EU summit on 21-22 June. “I’ve decided to convene the IGC on 23 July – explains Sòcrates -. It will open in tandem with the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs”. “Our objective is clear: not losing the dynamic of the accord reached in Brussels and promoting the adoption as soon as possible of a new treaty for the European Union”. The calendar of the Portuguese Presidency envisages scores of meetings at various levels: official summits, meetings between competent ministers of the various EU policies, appointments with civil society and with citizens. EU-BRAZIL SUMMIT. A concert to inaugurate the Portuguese semester was held at the House of Music in Porto on 1st July. On the following day, in the same city, a meeting was held between the government of Lisbon and the EU Commission. Something utterly new, on the other hand, is the first EU-Brazil summit on 4th July. This is an innovation on the EU agenda, wished by Portugal in view of its historic links with the South-American country and Brazil’s importance among the emerging and most competitive economies in the world. The first ECOFIN (meeting of economic and financial ministers) is scheduled for 9 July. Then from 9 to 12 July Sòcrates and his cabinet are awaited in Strasbourg for the plenary session of the European Parliament, which will give the go ahead to the IGC. The many other meetings in the weeks and months ahead include the informal meeting of EU leaders in Lisbon on 18-19 October, which will review the negotiations underway at the IGC, and the European Council that will conclude the Portuguese Presidency in Brussels on 13-14 December. CHARTER OF RIGHTS. The IGC is clearly one of the questions that Sòcrates has closest at heart. The Portuguese premier welcomes the mandate it has received from the recent summit in Brussels. He especially comments on a specific point: “On the level of European citizenship – he explains -, the mandate conferred on it preserves the juridical value of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU”, with the exception of the opt-out clause accorded to Great Britain. “In this regard it is right to point out that the adoption of a Charter” of this type, which “places civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights on a level of equality, corresponds not only to a consolidation of European citizenship, but also to an affirmation of our values of civilization, values that are shared and that are an integral part of the European identity”. FOUR CHAPTERS. “Respect for human dignity and the rights of the person; freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law. A Union of solidarity among equals, founded on the citizens’ will”: that’s the vision of the EU conjured up by MANUEL LOBO ANTUNES , assistant general secretary for European Affairs of the government of Lisbon, in presenting the programme of the Portuguese Presidency in Brussels on 28 June. After his prefatory remarks on values, Lobo Antunes described the four chapters of the Portuguese document (future of the EU; Lisbon Strategy; reinforcement of the area of freedom, security and justice; Europe and the world), later delivered to the governments of the other 26 member states. FIGHTING POVERTY. The issues touched on include the holding of the IGC and the re-launch of the Lisbon Strategy, which provides in turn for an economic dimension (public finances, internal market, industrial policy, innovation), a “social and employment” dimension and one linked to the environment and energy. According to Antunes, “social inclusion, the fight against poverty, and in particular the poverty that impacts on children, reconciliation between work and private and family life, are priority issues” for the current Presidency. Extensive coverage is also devoted to the role of the EU in the world: the common objectives, according to Antunes, must be supported and projected in an “ever more interconnected world”. “The peace and security we enjoy must be underwritten by the response Europe will formulate to the global challenges”. Lobo Antunes added: “Climate change, the promotion of economic and social development, the effective control of immigration, combating organized crime and the trafficking of human beings, and the fight against terrorism are some of the challenges that need to be pointed out, in the consciousness that they demand leadership and shared responses”.