Barroso to set out priorities
Commission president will address MEPs but Van Rompuy will not take part in debate.
European Commission President José Manuel Barroso will make the first “State of the Union” speech to the European Parliament next week. The speech, which Barroso will deliver to MEPs on 7 September during the plenary session in Strasbourg, will set out the EU’s political priorities for the next 12 months.
The speech is still being finalised by Barroso’s advisers, but he is expected to highlight work on financial market regulation, improvements to economic governance rules, structural reforms included in the Europe 2020 strategy, and the upcoming review of the EU’s budget. The importance of preparing to move to a low-carbon economy will also feature prominently. Barroso’s remarks will cover elements of the detailed work programme for 2011, which he will present formally to the parliament in October.
Not speaking up
Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council, will not take part in the debate that follows the address. EU sources said that he was unhappy that he would be placed below the leaders of the political groups in the speaking order. One source said that Van Rompuy had suggested giving the state of the union address himself, but that this idea was turned down by the Parliament.
Catherine Ashton, the EU’s foreign policy chief, was also planning to speak in the debate but she will still be on a visit to China. Olivier Chastel, Belgium’s Europe minister, will speak on behalf of the rotating presidency of the Council of Ministers.
Barroso agreed with MEPs that he would make an annual State of the Union address as part of a new framework for relations between the Commission and the Parliament, finalised in July. Barroso is promoting this “special partnership” to achieve maximum co-operation on the political agenda.
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Party concerns
The centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) is expected to use the debate to question Barroso on how the EU will finance the Europe 2020 strategy for growth and jobs. Its MEPs are concerned at member states’ reluctance to fund the strategy’s main initiatives adequately.
Fact File
Brainstorming session gives commissioners a say in speech
Members of the European Commission have been taking part in a seminar to prepare the content of the “State of the Union” speech to be given by European Commission President José Manuel Barroso.
The commissioners went yesterday (1 September) to the Val Duchesse chateau in Brussels for two days of talks on the main political challenges of the coming months – including a review of the EU’s budget for 2014-20 and the changes caused by the entry into force of the Lisbon treaty.
The seminar started with a discussion of the institutional and political changes introduced by the Lisbon treaty. The main issues were the Commission’s relations with other EU institutions, and the effects on international treaties.
The Lisbon treaty gave the Parliament the power to block international treaties and it has used this power forcefully, most notably by rejecting a deal on sharing bank-transfer data with US authorities.
There have also been disagreements with the Council of Ministers over which institution takes the lead role in negotiations, which has implications for the climate-change talks to be held in Cancún, Mexico, starting in November.
The second session yesterday focused on the Commission’s political priorities, with each of the commissioners given a chance to express their views on what Barroso should include in his State of the Union speech.
Commissioners also discussed industrial policy, based on a number of papers presented by Antonio Tajani, the European commissioner for enterprise and industry.
Today (2 September) commissioners were to debate the forthcoming review of the EU’s budget for 2014-20 – a discussion extending to questions of how the budget is financed and which policy areas to spend it on.
The Commission is planning to present an options paper by the end of September. Janusz Lewandowksi, the European commissioner for budgets, has indicated that the paper will include ideas for a direct tax to finance the budget – a suggestion strongly criticised by several member states, including Germany and the UK.
Negotiations on the future budget will be very tough as the member states that are net contributors will want to limit their contributions, while net beneficiaries will seek to maintain their share of receipts. The Commission will present formal proposals for the 2014-20 budget next year.
A spokeswoman for Barroso said the seminar was a chance to “take a fresh look at the priorities” of the next months and the year ahead. She said that the budget review would be “difficult” and needed to be prepared “thoroughly”.
On the Lisbon treaty, she said the seminar would look at how the new improved institutional set-up was working to ensure that the Commission was “making the most” of the new arrangements.
The Socialists and Democrats group will accuse the Barroso Commission of insufficient action on jobs and on supporting recovery. Its MEPs will question EU member state moves to introduce austerity measures, and will urge Barroso to push for more progress in international talks on climate change.
Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, will request greater pressure from Barroso on member-state implementation of the Europe 2020 agenda and on securing sufficient resources for the EU budget after 2013.
Rebecca Harms, co-president of the Greens, will seek a more pro-active Commission role in ensuring good economic governance and in getting climate change talks back on track. And in a reference to the expulsion of Roma in France, she will insist that Barroso should “defend fundamental rights and not stand idly by when those rights are being flouted by member state governments”.