ПРИОРИТЕТИТЕ НА АВСТРИЙСКОТО ПРЕДСЕДАТЕЛСТВО НА СЪВЕТА НА ЕВРОПЕЙСКИЯ СЪЮЗ

“Поемането на председателството на Европейския съюз е чест и отговорност за Австрия, както и за всяка страна и всеки дипломат. Това е момент, изпълнен с много очаквания. Броят на досиетата, по които започваме непосредствена работа, е 600, при това в сферите на всички политики” – заяви днес посланикът на Австрия у нас Карл Дием в Зала “Средец” на хотел “Шератон”. Там се проведе публично представяне на приоритетите на Австрийското председателство на Съвета на Европейския съюз, организирано от Европейския институт. 
Това е второто председателство на Австрия за последните 7 години и половина. По време на своето ротационно председателство, Виена ще е “скромна, разумна и реалистична”, по думите на Дием, тъй като 90% от работата на Съвета е предварително планирана. Приоритетите са в съзвучие с пътя, извървян по време на финландското председателство ще бъдат продължени последователно от Германия, Португалия и Словения.
Председателството на Виена си поставя 4 главни задачи: осигуряване и създаване на нови работни места, както и стимулиране на икономическия растеж; осигуряване и по-нататъшно развитие на Европейския социален модел; спечелване на доверието на гражданите в европейския проект и ЕС като цяло. Наред с това – продължи Карл Дием – Европа трябва да засилва ролята си като силен и надежден партньор на световната геополитическа сцена. “През следващите 6 месеца ЕС ще осъществи срещи на върха с Русия, Япония, Латинска Америка и страните от Карибския басейн, както и със САЩ и Канада”, съобщи дипломатът.
Най-голямо предизвикателство пред ЕС в момента е заетостта, изтъкна той, а висш приоритет на Виена ще бъде икономическият растеж и намаляване на безработицата. “Трябва да осигурим свободно движение на услуги без дъмпинг, което ще се получи чрез по-малобройни, по-прости и по-работещи правила”, поясни той. Стремеж ще бъде даването на зелена светлина пред иновациите в икономиката, което се отнася главно до малките и средни предприятия. Те, според Карл Дием, имат най-голяма необходимост от специално подпомагане, за да успеят при експанзията си на европейския пазар.
“Британското председателство постигна голям успех по отношение на бюджета на Европейския съюз”, подчерта австрийският посланик и допълни, че сред приоритетите се нареждат също така младите хора и енергетиката.
Посланикът на Австрия Карл Дием обстойно се спря на въпроса за доверието на гражданите на ЕС в европейските институции. “Не е еднаква картината във всички страни – членки, що се отнася до европейското настроение” – каза той – “В някои доминира оптимизъм, в други – песимизъм и за съжаление като цяло картината не е много радостна”. Според Карл Дием България ще се присъедини към ЕС без висока степен на обществено недоверие към европейските институции, което е положителна тенденция. “Запазете сегашния си дух, духа на горящ огън” – призова той и припомни, че в Австрия – въпреки 66-процентния положителен отговор на референдума за членството на страната в ЕС, австрийците се нареждат сред най-песимистично настроените на континента. Очаквам България да бъде “достатъчно убедителна” за общественото мнение сред европейските граждани, каза още Дием.
“Въпросът не е дали и кога, макар че българското правителство с основание задава и тези въпроси – а що за член ще бъде и доколко е подготвена за членство”, изтъкна посланикът на Австрия у нас. 
“В Европейския съюз има много разочарование и това е факт, с който трябва да се научим да живеем, търсейки начини да подобрим ситуацията”, каза Дием, според когото задача на политиците е “да убеждават европейските граждани – доверието е крайъгълен камък в европейската интеграция. Разширяването не трябва да бъде извършвано сляпо, а песимизмът не е феномен, пред който си затваряме очите”, заключи той. Според него заради социалните проблеми и безработицата в Европа отново се зараждат национализъм, популизъм и страх. Посланикът обяви, че австрийското председателство ще проведе на 27 януари конференция под надслов “The sense of Europe” – като датата за нейното провеждане не е случайна – тогава е роден Волфганг Амадеус Моцарт.
Посолството на Австрия се ангажира да осъществи у нас в сътрудничество с българските власти т.нар. “Plan D” – “демокрация”, “диалог” и “дискусия”. Това е инициатива, която всички институции, свързани с европейската идея, трябва да осъществяват в световен мащаб. За тази цел, в София посолството ще разчита на подкрепа от страна на Делегацията на ЕК, МВнР и НПО като Европейския институт – подчерта Дием.
Според Карл Дием всяка страна на Балканите се нуждае от подкрепа поотделно в пътя й към ЕС, а Виена се ангажира по време на ротационното председателство на съюза, да се стреми въпросът за Балканите да не слиза от дневния ред на работата. Сигурността трябва да надхвърли националните държави на Балканите, каза още той.
На въпрос за позицията на ЕС по отношение на българските медицински сестри в Либия, Карл Дием отговори така: “Разбира се ние сме загрижени от цялото си сърце за съдбата на вашите сънароднички. В арабския свят най-важното е да се запази лице, авторитет. Това е обстоятелство, с което трябва да бъдат съобразени усилията ни за решаване на проблема. Освен за медиците, ние трябва да намерим решение за държавния глава и за народа на Либия. Казусът трябва да се реши така, че да не изглежда, че либийската страна е губеща. Мисля, че колкото по-малко говорим, толкова повече може да бъде свършено зад кулисите”. На въпрос дали ЕС ще реагира на последното изявление на Муамар Кадафи, Карл Дием отговори: “При всяка международна проява на Кадафи винаги има различни тълкувания на превода. Той е силен актьор. Може би е казал това за вътрешна употреба.”
На въпрос за обществената подкрепа спрямо Европейската конституция при подновяването на дебата за нея със сменен формат, посланик Дием не се ангажира с прогноза. В залата бяха припомнени думите на Жозе Мануел Дурао Барозо за Европейската конституция – че “... проблемът не е в текста, а в контекста”. Карл Дием се съгласи  с тази констатация, допълвайки, че все още мнозинството европейски граждани “... не знаят какво и защо се случва в Брюксел”.
На въпрос за статута на Косово, Карл Дием отговори така: “Косово се нуждае от европейски стандарти и европейска сигурност. ЕС се стреми да намери изход с максимална деликатност, осъществявайки интензивни преговори, поверени в ръцете на опитни специалисти.” Според Дием това е въпрос, който изисква повече време и със сигурност ще надхвърли 6-месечния период, в който Австрия е ротационен председател на ЕС. 
На въпрос какво би препоръчал на българското правителство за най-добрите начини да защитава националните интереси в европейските институции, австрийският посланик отговори така: “И самите страни – членки едва ли имат отговор на този въпрос! Учете се в крачка.”
В заключение Негово превъзходителство отправи три пожелания към Европа от името на страната си – ротационен председател на ЕС: “Повече доверие сред гражданите, прозрачност в самия ЕС и кураж в процеса на разширяването”. Посланикът каза, че при следващото австрийско председателство през 2019 година, Виена би трябвало да поеме председателството от България...

Оригинална реч на посланика на Австрия в България Карл Дием:

Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren
Ladies and gentlemen,

Taking over the presidency of the Council of the European Union is a great and honourable task for each Member State and for each diplomat. It is as well a daunting task. The start of each presidency is a joyful and a touching moment full of expectation. We will seek to advance the European Agenda and to serve Europe. In our case it means to manage nearly 600 dossiers in all policy areas.

In an enlarging European Union the role of the Council presidency is gaining importance. At the same time we have to be modest and humble. And realistic. Austria is far from presiding over the European Union, we are only chairing one of its institutions for six months. 90% of the agenda is predetermined. We cooperate closely with the British and the Finish presidency. Work will then be continued by the German, Portuguese and Slovenian Presidencies.

The priorities of our presidency are based on the common work program of the Austrian and the Finish Presidencies 2006 as contained in the Council document 16065 from 22 December 2005. This program has been presented in December last year in Brussels by foreign minister Ursula PLASSNIK und Erkki TUOMIOJA. I will draw on this program and present the priorities of the Austrian Presidency in a moment.

The Austrian and the Finish Presidencies will concentrate on four main tasks:

o securing and creating jobs and enhancing growth

o securing and further developing the European Social Model

o winning the trust and confidence of citizens in the European Project and the European Union

o strengthening the role of the EU as a strong and reliable partner in the world. In the first six month the EU will hold summit meetings with Russia, Japan, Latin America and the Caribbean, the USA and Canada.

To create more growth and employment is the most challenging and burning task in Europe at the moment. Therefore the effective implementation of the renewed Lisbon Strategy of growth and employment is a top priority. Growth and employment will be the main theme of our first European Council in March 2006. We will concentrate on employment and on social security and social inclusion. We will pay special attention to completing the internal market for services, telecommunication, energy and financial services.

Free movement of services without any restrictions and without social dumping must be possible. As part of the objective of strengthening the competitiveness of the Union, we intend to continue implementing the agenda of better regulation; this means less, simpler and better regulations.

We want to foster macro-economic conditions conducive to stability and sustainable growth and to achieve progress in the area of structural/microeconomic policy and employment policy. We will follow up the informal summit meeting at Hampton Court by carrying forward work on research and development, universities, demographic challenges and energy further.

Science and research is one of the engines for growth, employment and welfare. We will not be successful if we do not create an environment that encourages innovations and strengthens the knowledge based economy.

We will therefore try hard to conclude the 7th Framework Programme for Research and Development and to reach a final decision on the Framework Programme for Competitiveness and Innovation before the end of 2006. This Programme aims at stimulating greater investment in innovation, in particular at the level of small and medium enterprises.

The European Youth Pact is part of the reform program of the Lisbon Strategy. It aims at raising employment and employability of young people, improving education and increasing compatibility of family life and profession. In late March youth ministers will discuss these issues in Bad Ischl. 

Sustainable development is a fundamental objective. It ensures that meeting the needs of the present generation will not compromise those of future generations. It requires trends that threaten the future quality of life to be curbed if not reversed.

The European Council should be able to adopt a renewed, ambitious and comprehensive strategy in June 2006 covering areas such as energy for sustainable development, climate change, air pollution/atmosphere and industrial development. The strategy will bring together the Community's sustainable development priorities and objectives in a clear, coherent strategy that can be communicated simply and effectively to citizens. We will take proper account of sustainability considerations in all internal and external Community policies.

The political agreement on the Financial Perspectives in the European Council in December was a masterpiece of the British presidency and expressed well European Solidarity. In the next months we hope to be able to conclude a new Inter-institutional Agreement with the European Parliament. The Parliament is critical towards the Council agreement but without it we will not have a budget deal. Furthermore we need to reach as fast as possible decisions in the Council on about 40 different regulations, necessary in order to break down the amounts per budget heading to the various Union programs.

Ladies and Gentlemen

I could now go on to present the Presidency program and then sit down. But it would be a somehow vain and routine exercise unless I use the attention you kindly pay to my presentation in order to slightly alter the subject and turn to the general feeling prevailing in the Member states of the European Union.

This matters because the mood, the trust and the confidence of the EU- institutions and the citizens is the backbone of our work. These are important factors, also for the accession of Bulgaria. Bulgaria will enter the Union without a referendum, but in Bulgaria the Union is popular and confidence is large. The fire is burning. In this regard there is a lot we can learn from Bulgaria. I am looking forward to a convinced and convincing Bulgaria as member of the Union.

The relevant question is not whether Bulgaria will be a Member state, nor when it will accede, but what kind of member it will be and how well prepared it will enter the Union. If well prepared, Bulgaria will profit enormously.   

The prevailing mood in the European Union is, unfortunately, not joyful. This is true especially for Austria with a large part of Eurosceptics. We can not muster support and confidence for the EU. The EU is no beloved, it does not set the pulses raising, it is no factor of identification. This is a bitter disappointment after 50 years of European integration but it is a fact we have to account for.

Probably the most important task of the Presidency is to regain trust and confidence of the citizens. Trust of the citizens in the European Union as well as trust among the Member states and the institutions are the building stones of integration policies. It would us do no good to pursue integration blindly with decreasing confidence and legitimacy. “… if our citizens do not keep the notion of Europe in their mind and feel it in their heart, the European idea is endangered and will die”. These are the wise words of Winston Churchill in 1947.

Phenomena which we thought overcome like nationalism, populism, fear about the future and social insecurity have surfaced. In the eyes of some, Europe does no longer stand for peace and welfare but for globalization and job losses. This raises questions of the character and the identity of Europe, the role and the significance of the Union, its objectives and its limits, the possibility of a shared European future.

In order to discuss these questions and to start a broad public debate the Austrian Presidency will hold a Conference called „the Sound of Europe“ on 27 January in Salzburg. The conference should be inspired by the music of the great Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart who was born in this town on this day 250 years ago.

The important issue of subsidiarity will be subject of another conference on 18 April in St. Pölten. In doing so we will carry forward the debate on the European way of life and its values.

Plan D – D stands for Democracy, Dialogue, Discussion - is a worthwhile initiative all players in the EU should pursue. The Austrian Embassy will try to implement the plan in Bulgaria with the help of the Delegation of the European Commission, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry and NGOs like the European Institute and Europe House.

We should not lose confidence and retreat from the great and awesome European project and its manifold challenges. We should reason and argue for an integrating Europe with courage, inspiration and a sense of realism. And we should present its achievements which often seem a matter-of-course but in fact are not. Any national government shall sell harder the benefits of membership.

The EU is a success and it has a future. It has been increasingly successful in pursuing agreed foreign policy and security objectives. The common approach to engage Iran including in Human Rights issue may be paying off. The successful launch of the first surveillance satellite of the Galileo project represents a significant joint investment in the future. Airbus 380 is another example of European craftsmanship.

There is a large consent to Europe as a peace project and to the European social model which comprises: health care, pension system, education, culture, agriculture and environment. And we should not forget: European values are deep-rooted. Security, social justice and recognition of diversity form a common basis that makes Europe unique.

As the world becomes ever more competitive through globalisation and the advances in technology, there are increasing pressures facing our European social model.

With globalisation many Europeans fear that this model is threatened and expect it to be protected. We have to find a balance between the challenges of demographic change and globalisation on the one hand and social justice and equal opportunities on the other hand. The Austrian Presidency will deal with these subjects and doing its share in making our European social model work for our citizens in the future.

The future of the constitutional treaty is one of the most delicate issues of the Austrian Presidency. In June 2005, the European Council decided to initiate a period of reflection on the future of Europe involving both the Member states through national debates and the institutions of the European Union.

We will assess the national debates, take stock of the reflection process and establish a clearer perspective for the future. I hope we can agree on how to proceed. The Austrian Presidency will confer with its partners and develop, if possible, a common choreography. In doing so we would like to involve national parliaments and youth organisations. If circumstances allow we could try to promote a tentative road map with a number of topics.  

The reform the constitution contains are vital, the reasons for drafting it are more pressing than ever. It should increase the clout of the Union and the confidence of the citizen. The constitution has so far been ratified by 13 Member states holding about 50% of the population.
 
Enlargement of the Union is successful and has strengthened Europe. Bulgaria and Romania will become EU members on the basis of the accession treaty signed on 25 April in Luxembourg. Monitoring of the commitments undertaken in the accession negotiations will continue with the objective of both countries acceding to the Union in January 2007.

The European Council in June 2006 will have to take a final decision on the entry date for Bulgaria and Romania. It will do so after the assessment of the Commission regarding the legislative and the effective state of preparations to EU accession. Preparations for accession within the framework of the Europe agreements, as well as targeted pre-accession assistance, will continue.

Negotiations with Croatia and Turkey have started on 3 October last year. The first screening reports will become available in the first half 2006. On this basis the Council will unanimously decide to open negotiation chapters in accordance with the agreed negotiating framework. Each candidate country will be treated individually on its own merits.

Concerning the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia we welcome the granting of candidate status as a positive effect on the EU strategy for the region. We will follow further progress of compliance with the Copenhagen political criteria and effective implementation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement.

Mainstreaming Human Rights into the EU's external policy is a high priority. We hope to conclude in 2006 negotiations on setting up a European Fundamental Rights Agency. The Agency will be seated in Vienna and should be operational on 1 January 2007. It should be a centre of competence of the EU for human rights issue.

Meeting of East and West and Southeast is a concrete expression of the European peace project in the XXI Century. I refer to the countries of Western Balkans (ALB, BuH, Kroatien, SuM, FYROM). We have to involve and engage them in the Union step by step for the sake of good neighbourhood, safety and stability.

We would like to support each country on its own way to the European integration and we want to keep the region on top of the European Agenda. We can not question the European perspective of these countries. One day they will be members of the European Union.
 
The region is a key area of stability. We will hold a meeting of EU Foreign Minister with their colleagues of Western Balkans countries in Salzburg parallel to the Gymnich meeting on 10 and 11 Mars. In addition there will be eight ministerial and six expert meetings with West Balkan countries in Austria in the first half of 2006.

We will continue the Stabilization and Association Agreement negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegowina and Serbia and Montenegro. We will follow closely events in Montenegro and in Kosovo. We expect Podgorica to cooperate closely with the Special Envoy Miroslav Lajzak. My former colleagues Albert Rohan and Stefan Lehne participate in the Kosovo status negotiations, assisting UN-Special Envoy Athisaari. Kosovo needs European involvement and European standards.  

In addition to the Western Balkans, an important foreign policy priority is the European Neighbourhood Policy. The aim is to build a zone of security, stability and wealth that extends over the borders of the European Union. There is no prospect of accession to the Union. But a far-reaching close relationship can be achieved.

The Action Plans of Ukraine and Moldova are already in the implementation phase, and the first reviews of these Action Plans will start in 2006. Russia has long been a key partner to the Union. We will continue work on the Road Maps for the cooperation on the four common spaces which cover economic issues and the environment. Apart from various meetings of experts of different fields, the foreign ministers meeting will take place in March, the Summit in May in Sotschi.

Ladies and Gentlemen, in concluding allow me to issue three wishes for Europe. We need

· More confidence and trust of the citizens in the Union
· More clarity within the Union
· More verve and courage for our Union. This is the basic idea of the Presidency Logo. It expresses development, dynamism, movement, diversity and colourfulness.

The next time we will hold the Presidency in 2019. We will take the agenda form the first Bulgarian Presidency in the second half of 2018. Again we will then pass on the dossiers to the Finish presidency.