Choosing the essential

This summer’s forest fires in various countries in southern Europe; the possible repercussions on Europe’s economy after the financial meltdown caused by “subprime” mortgages in the USA; the European Council’s presentation of the draft Budget for 2008; the new EU programmes to combat drugs and alcohol; measures to facilitate worker mobility within the EU; and the fight against terrorism: just some of the many issues that characterized the first plenary session of the European Parliament after the summer break, held from 3 to 6 September. NEW TREATY BY THE END OF THE YEAR. The presence in Strasbourg of the President of Portugal (who is chairing the EU in the second half of 2007), and his later meeting in Brussels with the President of the Commission, José Manuel Barroso, enabled the work of the Intergovernmental Conference to be reviewed. The IGC is now preparing a draft “Reform Treaty”, whose presentation is expected to take place at the mid-October summit in Lisbon. “The time has come to concentrate on what’s really essential to make Europe stronger and more cohesive”, said Portuguese President ANÍBAL ANTÓNIO CAVACO SILVA in his speech to the EP. Cavaco Silva also reaffirmed the priorities of his country in its semester as head of the Union. In first place he put “the reform of the [Constitutional] Treaty on the basis of the compromise reached by the European Council in June”. In this regard he appealed to the 27 to do their utmost to ensure “the reform would be achieved by the end of the year”. Cavaco Silva then touched on the “concrete challenges that concern our citizens”, listing economic growth, work, security, the environment, and energy. He then underlined the primary value of solidarity “as fundamental pillar of European integration”. Lastly the President called for “innovative” solutions to tackle poverty and social exclusion in the old continent. TERRORISM: “OUR GUARD MUST NOT BE LOWERED”. A lively and wide-ranging debate was held in the EP on the fight against terrorism being conducted in concert by the member states and by the EU. MEPs expressed – albeit with very different emphases – the need for a more incisive action by the Union and almost all underlined the parallel need to respect human rights and the fundamental liberties of citizens in any preventive measures and actions to crack down on terrorism. Portuguese Secretary of State MANUEL LOBO ANTUNES insisted on a twin-track approach “at the internal and international level”. In this sense “meetings with Russia, the USA, Algeria and Morocco” are already planned by December. For his part EU Commissioner for Liberty, Security and Justice, FRANCO FRATTINI , explained the Executive’s activities to follow up the counter-terrorism strategy defined by the EU in 2005. “The threat remains high – said the Italian Commissioner – and there’s no room for lowering our guard”: the terror attacks being planned, but recently averted, in Spain, the UK, Germany and Denmark are a proof of this. PREVENTING AND COUNTERING. Frattini then announced that in the autumn the Commission “will present a package of measures focused on the prevention and countering of terrorist crimes. More particularly, they will include a plan on the security of explosives”, with a specific role assigned to Europol, and a “modification of the framework decision on terrorism to take into account terrorist recourse to the Internet”. The interventions of MEPs expressed different judgements on the actions of the Commission: the German People’s Party exponent MANFRED WEBER for example stressed that “citizens expect their security to be guaranteed”, saying he supported the package of measures proposed by the Executive; more critical was the Dutch Socialist representative JAN WIERSMA , who placed the emphasis on the need for closer “collaboration between member states and the EU”. He re-affirmed “the importance of examining the causes that lead young people to support terrorism, and then act on its prevention”, “seeing that repression in itself is not enough”. CRACKDOWN ON ALCOHOL FOR DRIVERS AND PREGNANT WOMEN. Among the other issues debated in the EP, a lot of attention was paid to the problem of growing alcohol abuse in Europe. The Parliament asks for Community measures to “prevent the harmful and dangerous consumption of alcohol by children”, pregnant women and drivers. In view of the fact that road accidents and illnesses directly correlated to the consumption of wine, beer and spirits annually cause 17,000 victims in the EU, MEPs asked for “awareness-raising campaigns, severe restrictions on access to alcoholic drinks for the young and zero alcohol for newly licensed drivers”. Higher taxes should also be imposed on so-called alcopop (pre-mixed alcoholic beverages particularly popular among teenagers). MEPs also called for tougher sentences for those caught drunk at the wheel, including the prolonged withdrawal of driving licences.