SPEECH/08/646
José Manuel
Durão Barroso
Président de la Commission européenne
Europe
: une force d'initiative et de proposition dans un monde en
mutation
Conférences Jean Monnet
Bruxelles, 25 novembre
2008
Cher Commissaire Figel', cher Ján,
Professeur Gil Robles, cher José-Maria,
Excellences,
Mesdames, Messieurs, Chers amis,
C'est vraiment pour moi un grand plaisir de participer à ces conférences mondiales Jean Monnet. On dirait que mon emploi du temps, ces jours-ci, est placé encore davantage sous le signe de Jean Monnet! Il y a quelques jours, pour commémorer le cinquantième anniversaire de la Commission européenne, j'ai officiellement baptisé de son nom la salle de réunion du Collège des commissaires européens. J'ai voulu associer la mémoire de Jean Monnet au cinquantième anniversaire de notre Commission.
Et aujourd'hui, c'est avec un grand plaisir que je vous retrouve dans le cadre de ces conférences Jean Monnet. Je me suis laissé dire que c'est la première fois qu'une telle conférence réunit une audience d'une telle diversité de nationalités, avec des participants venant de 66 pays, ce qui est vraiment remarquable. Je reconnais d'ailleurs parmi vous quelques éminents professeurs et membres d'universités à qui j'ai eu l'occasion de rendre visite dans leurs universités. Vous faites un travail très important pour la connaissance de l'Europe. J'en suis extrêmement heureux.
Pour moi et pour mon institution, la communauté Jean Monnet est vraiment unique et précieuse. Vous formez un trait d'union entre l'Europe et les citoyens en faisant connaître la construction européenne, qui n'a pas de secret pour vous. Vous donnez une visibilité mondiale à l'Union européenne, et par le meilleur des canaux qui soit, c'est-à-dire le savoir et l'excellence. Et vous êtes aussi un vrai laboratoire d'idées pour les institutions européennes. Je veux vous féliciter et vous remercier tous très sincèrement pour votre contribution majeure au projet européen.
J'aborderai notre débat d'aujourd'hui - "l'Europe des réalisations dans un monde en mutation" - sous l'angle de cette question: quel rôle pour l'Europe dans le nouvel ordre mondial qui émerge? C'est ce que me suggèrent à la fois l'actualité immédiate et mon expérience à la tête de la Commission européenne.
Je l'ai toujours dit : l'Europe a un rôle moteur à jouer dans les grands changements actuels et dans le nouvel ordre mondial en gestation. J'ai même dit que c'était la "narrative" de l'Europe au 21e siècle. Nous devons bien sûr maintenir, comme d'ailleurs le disait Jean Monnet, les grandes sources d'inspiration du projet européen, notamment la paix, la liberté, la solidarité. Mais, quand on lit les Mémoires de Jean Monnet, il dit, dans les dernières phrases, que ce qu'il propose pour l'Europe n'est qu'un essai pour le monde de demain, pour l'organisation de la communauté internationale. Je crois qu'il est très important de bien garder ce point à l'esprit: l'Europe, par définition, doit être ouverture. Nous ne sommes pas en train de construire un chauvinisme européen. Nous voulons une Europe organisée, nous voulons une Europe structurée, mais une Europe pacifique et qui s'ouvre à toutes les régions du monde. Et je suis absolument convaincu que les changements récents ne font que souligner l'importance de cette approche. Nous avons besoin de l'Europe comme un acteur mondial. Ma conviction ne fait que se confirmer. Dans les circonstances politiques et économiques et financières exceptionnelles, l'Europe a su se placer au centre du jeu.
Alors en quoi l'Europe est-elle un acteur mondial, et surtout, un acteur mondial adapté au monde du 21e siècle?
L’Europe est un système de gouvernance multilatérale très en avance sur son temps. Son modèle d'intégration politique et économique est avant-gardiste, parce qu'il est ouvert par nature. Et parce que l'Europe a reconnu plus que n'importe quel autre groupe de pays, la nature interdépendante du monde dans lequel nous vivons et a même a accepté le principe de supranationalité. C'est-à-dire qu'il y a des règles qui s'imposent aux Etats au-delà ou au-dessus des principes classiques de souveraineté. Je crois que c'est la meilleure démonstration possible de la reconnaissance de l'adaptation de l'Europe à un monde globalisé. Et quand on parle d'un monde globalisé, on parle surtout de deux principes: ouverture et interdépendance. Certains aiment mettre l'accent sur l'ouverture, d'autres préfèrent mettre l'accent sur l'interdépendance. En Europe, je crois que nous connaissons les deux éléments et il faut reconnaître les deux si l'on veut avoir une réponse cohérente face à la mondialisation. En Europe, nous avons établi aussi un système de gouvernance régi par des règles. Nous croyons que le droit est une meilleure réponse que le rapport de force ou de pouvoir. Nous avons aussi créé un système de gouvernance qui est soudé par des mécanismes de solidarité. Ce n'est pas un simple slogan. Je l'ai dit, sans solidarité, il ne peut pas y avoir d'union. Et il y a des décisions concrètes qui traduisent cet esprit de solidarité. Nous avons donc établi en Europe ce que je considère être un laboratoire de la mondialisation, parce que c'est de loin le système d'intégration, au-dessus des souverainetés nationales, dans l'indépendance de ses parties, le plus avancé que l'histoire ait connu. L'Europe acteur mondial, ce sont 27 États membres, mais aussi les institutions européennes, réunis grâce à l’effet de transformation d’un marché unique de presque 500 millions de personnes et à l’adoption de profondes réformes politiques, juridiques et économiques. C'est une monnaie devenue la deuxième devise mondiale de réserve et de référence.
C'est aussi un partenaire international fiable qui veut assumer sa part de responsabilité dans le monde. 60% du total mondial de l'aide publique au développement et, par exemple, 100 000 hommes ou femmes déployés dans des missions de maintien de la paix, de police et de défense aux quatre coins du monde: ces chiffres parlent d'eux-mêmes.
Enfin, l'Europe, c'est un espace de culture d'une diversité inégalable. Je peux le dire: c'est l'espace politique le plus multiculturel et multilingue qui soit.
Un acteur qui possède tous ces atouts a du poids dans un contexte où l'unité de mesure, c'est le monde. L'unité de mesure aujourd'hui n'est plus l'Etat-nation, c'est le monde. Et c'est par rapport à cette puissance-monde qu'on doit évaluer sa propre puissance, sa propre influence. Un monde qui a un besoin vital de s'entendre. Car il présente un degré d'interdépendance jamais atteint.
L'Europe acteur mondial doit avoir une capacité d'entraînement politique pour peser sur la scène internationale. L'Europe le fait en étant une force d'initiative et de proposition. Et en défendant ses valeurs: la solidarité, la liberté et ses méthodes, c'est-à-dire la concertation, le multilatéralisme, le tout dans une culture d'ouverture.
Or dans les circonstances politiques exceptionnelles que nous vivons en ce moment, l'Europe joue un rôle de force de proposition pour façonner une nouvelle gouvernance mondiale qui soit conforme à ces valeurs.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The current financial turmoil and the looming economic crisis are indeed a perfect case study. The turbulence on closely interlinked financial markets and economies can undermine our economic progress. In Europe we have had a head start. We have known for a long time that it is in our interests to pull together.
But the crisis demonstrates the truth of this to the rest of the world too, by offering us a stark choice: either we coordinate, or we risk going down together.
This is why the remedies need to be closely coordinated. Not just today but in the long term. Not just in Europe, of course, but also, outside it. The world needs open and dynamic markets to guarantee the reliability of the economic system as a whole and to stimulate growth and employment. Clear rules are needed to guarantee stability, transparency and confidence. There is no contradiction between open markets and clear rules. I made that point when together with President Sarkozy we met President Bush at Camp David. I made a parallelism between open societies that need the rule of law and open markets that need the rule of transparency, of accountability and of integrity. These rules are important and we, in Europe, know about the necessity of these rules.
In this crisis, and in the response to this crisis, Europe is positioned at the centre of the political stage. Firstly, because, in its own backyard, it has rapidly taken coordinated and courageous decisions to sustain its banking sector, but also because, as a world player, it has taken the political initiative to pave the way for a global world process of reform of the financial system. The themes of the G20 summit discussions in Washington also originated in Europe since it was the European Council guidelines that served as a basis for the discussions.
In view of all this, it is altogether not by chance that this first G20 meeting on the financial crisis has laid the foundations for a new global system that we would like to see based on what in Europe we usually call a social market economy, of which indeed the European Union, the European Community after the second world war, is the precursor. Thanks to this European initiative, the Washington summit marks, I believe, the start of a new era of co-operation on the world economy.
Of course, only time will tell if this summit was a historic event. But I really think that there are several reasons for this assertion. Firstly, it built further on a growing perception that world problems need coordinated world responses, a coordinated world action. Secondly, it was marked by a constructive spirit and opened up a genuine forum for remedying the faults of the world system. Thirdly, it gave political endorsement to the role of the emerging countries, which must participate in the decisions. Fourthly, it placed the issue of development at the heart of the debate. I want to underline this point because usually critics are cynic about any kind of summit. I have participated in many summits and I tell you very honestly that I think this one was much more than photo opportunity. Let's consider the following. It was within hardly one month that we were able to put together countries like the United States and China, like Brazil and India and the European Union. And so indeed when I see these countries, originally coming from so different points of view agreeing about the need for a fundamental reform of the financial system, agreeing that the principles of global governance, including matters like climate change, energy security and development, I think it was indeed a progress. I think a crisis has a potential of opening up minds, creating more elasticity in the system. And what was impossible 2 or 3 years ago, frankly what was impossible several months ago was now possible, because crisis has opened the minds and has triggered the need for more cooperative solutions globally.
As an aside, this last point also was particularly important for Europeans; the economic and financial management of the crisis must not be to the detriment of the other global challenges requiring a global response, for example the Millennium Development Goals, the fight against disease, poverty, climate change, the need for food security, the need for the rule of law and the promotion of democracy and human rights.
Now we must translate the principles of coordination into concrete and concerted actions, both on the world stage and in Europe. Just as we are all in this crisis together, so we must act together in the recovery. The G20 too advocated a political response and closer macroeconomic cooperation in order to restore confidence and support economies.
At home, Europe has already made specific, targeted proposals on the financial aspects. I do not need to list them, you know what they are. We will present in the near future further proposals on ensuring there is appropriate regulation and supervision across all sectors of financial markets, covering among other things hedge funds and private equity. Our proposals may be adapted and adopted at international level.
Europe is also preparing for the transition from financial crisis to economic recovery. Tomorrow I shall be announcing a detailed and ambitious recovery plan to boost demand and protect jobs and purchasing power in the short-term and to underpin "smart investment", notably in energy efficiency and clean technologies. Smart investment in those areas can both create growth and jobs now and speed up Europe's drive under the Lisbon Strategy to become a dynamic and sustainable 21st century knowledge economy.
We must be bold. This is no time for "business as usual. Our plan will be a co-ordinated plan for the whole EU and will use all possible policy levers, including a short-term coordinated, targeted fiscal stimulus. We need to put together the potential of the European Union level and the national level.
We need to support the economy in the short term, but also to reinforce our long term growth potential. That is why we must invest in competitiveness factors for the future, i.e. infrastructures from energy to transport, but also research and innovation, clean technologies to support the transition to the low carbon economy, energy efficiency, and of course, education and training.
There will also be social difficulties, we know. And the most vulnerable in our societies are already feeling that pressure. Our primary concern will be to help people. We will concentrate on saving and creating jobs and helping the unemployed to get back into work as quickly as possible. But we must do more. This is why we must really push ahead with our renewed Social Agenda. The Union will also propose bringing into play the financial instruments at its disposal to complement the European social solidarity that will be needed.
We also wish to put the Union back on the track of sustainable growth. Europe thus needs an energy and climate policy. Without joint action, Europe will be much more vulnerable to external shocks and dependent on foreign energy. The transformation of Europe into a low carbon economy is also essential for future competitiveness. Thanks to the crisis, the “energy-climate” package proposed by the Commission is coming increasingly to be seen as a lever to boost demand, growth and therefore employment in Europe. Europe also wishes to set an example by taking positive action against an international problem: global warming. This is why we really need a political agreement at next month’s European Council.
This European political agreement is all the more necessary since it is vital to the success of the Copenhagen World Conference in 2009. I do not need to remind you of Europe’s role as a force for initiative and for shaping matters in this fundamental policy area. Once again the European Union has placed itself at the focal point of the global political arena. It must continue to build momentum for action.
Real momentum will come as others join Europe. So I am delighted that the US President elect has announced that America is strongly committed to the negotiations on climate change. And I will not break any rule of confidentiality if I mention to you that in the first telephone conversation I just had some days ago with President-elect Obama, he told me that one of his first priorities to work with the EU and the European Commission will be precisely climate change and energy security. This is indeed a very positive sign. Countries such as China and India must also play their part and the industrialised countries must help the developing world to adapt. I believe that, contrary to initial fears, the crisis will speed up progress in this direction.
From the beginning we have presented this climate and energy package not just as an environmental package, I think it is critically important to preserve the quality of life on our planet for future generations, but we also made it clear that it was fundamental from an economic point of view and also from an energy security point of view. So it is indeed a very comprehensive policy that can be also a driver for European integration We need to deepen the movement for a European energy policy. And this is indeed one of the first tasks of the beginning of the 21st century for Europe. Not only for us in Europe, but also to help shape a new international order in matters like energy and the need to fight against climate change.
As I said before, I really see this current crisis as a great opportunity to take another look at multilateralism. I've spoken recently about a new multilateralism. It is in the interests of all countries to seek to establish effective institutions. We need a world that is stable and governed by internationally agreed rules. We need to reorganise multilateral institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank to make them more representative and effective, including through greater involvement of emerging economies.
A word on the WTO trade negotiations. We cannot be multilateralists and not support multilateral effort for trade and development. I must strongly reiterate that the Doha Development Agenda is too important to fail. It is essential for Europe and for the world as a whole, precisely to avoid a global recession. The G20 summit in Washington has said a clear “no” to protectionism. The Washington Summit marked a decisive stage before the end of 2008 which should aid the successful conclusion of the negotiations. This is a promising development, and I can think of no better way of boosting confidence in the world economy.
I like to underline this point, because some time ago quite frankly the alternative to a new Doha development agenda and trade talks success was the status-quo. People said ok we will not do it. Today I really believe that the alternative to the Doha talks is coming back to very ugly protectionism and very ugly economic nationalism. We are already feeling that pressure in some parts of the world and in specific sectors. We have seen some initiatives of raising tariffs. So indeed it is more important than ever to conclude these Doha trade talks; And if we deliver on this, I believe there is a great chance also to deliver on the other commitments made by the Washington summit.
Lastly, in an interdependent world, the development of the poorest countries benefits everybody. We must therefore make sure that the financial crisis does not become an excuse to ease up on the development policy front. On the contrary, we must urge the international community to do more and to do it more quickly. I think morally, it would be unacceptable that we succeed in financial rescue and we do not succeed in the human rescue. When we discuss the future of our financial system, we should not forget that there are millions and millions of people that don't have enough to eat or clean water to drink. That is why I think at this stage, the response to the issue of development must be strong and it must be global.
And Europe is already doing a great deal and is very committed to this solidarity. I'm very happy that last week, adding to what we had already committed, a proposal was approved that I had made some time ago for setting up a one billion euro Food Facility to develop agricultural production in the poorest countries. I am delighted by the positive decision of the Council and the European Parliament of last Friday, based on the European Commission proposal. It shows that the EU is really committed to action in support of its development ideals.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
All of these issues must concern us and mobilise us because, fundamentally, they are what the European project in the 21st century is all about. I am counting on you to contribute to our collective reflection on the matter. I have a real sense that we are living historic times. We are at a turning point in the world. I think this financial crisis has highlighted the need for some change. And change will not come only on the financial sector, because as it was agreed by the summit in Washington, there are other root causes apart from problems in the supervision or the regulation. There are problems of major macro-economic imbalances. There are fundamental problems of the relations between the most important parts of the world.
Of course we need and we are lacking more coherence in the way we take decisions, that's why I remain very committed to the ratification of the Lisbon treaty. I think that this crisis has highlighted among other points, for instance the importance of the euro as a shield against turbulence. It has also highlighted the need for a more stable leadership by the European Council. The Commission is part of the process, part of the system, but of course we need also to have coherence among the Member states. A more stable presidency of the Council that can give the Council a more strategic input and a more coordinated and coherent action over time is indeed very important. And let me tell you that from with my contacts with European leaders, I think now there is a greater awareness of this need. The alternative is not to answer the challenges of the 21st century with solutions of the past. The alternative is precisely in the 21st century to extend globally some rules, some principles and a common and if possible coordinated approach. By its tradition, by its supranational management and its supranational governance, I think the EU is in a great position not to impose but to propose solutions for the world of the 21st century.
Thank you for your attention.