President Drnovšek at the Bertelsmann Forum in Berlin
Berlin, 01/10/2004 | speech
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I see the European Union as a moral project, and not merely a political and economic project. It exists not only as an integration of economic and political interests, but also of the values that we as Europeans share. The EU we have today is very much focused on sustainable development, economic efficiency, social equilibrium and environment protection. These are values that the EU should stand up for at the global level, basing them on dialogue – multi-ethnic and multi-regional dialogue.
Of course I agree that we must tackle terrorism and invest a considerable amount of our resources in defence – in our military and police capabilities. The world faces numerous asymmetric threats, and the European Union and United States should be prepared to meet such threats together. Yet I am one of those people who think that this alone will not be enough to ensure the world develops in the right direction or to prevent – at some point in the future – some states from exploding in an unimaginable way, or humanity as a whole developing in such an unbalanced way that it destroys itself by environmental developments. The EU should not develop as a competitor with the US, but should focus very much on these other factors. Values are also important, or should be, for the United States and I think it is on this basis that we can find agreement and work together. The United States will certainly continue to be the leading military power in the world. Their technological power is such that the EU cannot match it at present. Yet, the United States cannot focus on the military component alone, it cannot isolate itself from the world or from the tensions that exist around the globe.
It is very clear that cooperation with others is needed, that dialogue is needed to work together to resolve the world's problems. There are some specific issues where the EU and US could do more. I would like us to recall once more the Millennium Goals that the heads of states and governments committed themselves to pursuing at the United Nations – above all the objective of halving world poverty by 2015. The results are still very poor. There has been a minimal increase in development assistance. In Europe some of the Nordic countries are still leading the way on this issue. The trend is far from satisfactory and, in line with the Millennium Goals, more should be done to reduce world poverty and to reduce tensions.
The other issue is trade, following on from the Cancun negotiations and WTO summit held last year. We must be frank with ourselves and recognise that the European Union and United States are very protectionist, especially if we speak about agriculture. We must recognise that we protect our agricultural sectors in a way that damages that sector in many other countries, African countries in particular. We must recognise that we are not really making any significant moves even to defend the values of free trade. This is an example of double standards and I think more commitment should come, especially from the EU, where we know that the agricultural policy is far from ideal.
The European Union will again have to address environmental issues. The Kyoto protocol is in a strange position now that Russia has decided not to ratify it. It is obvious it will not come into force. The EU is prepared to abide by it, but others are not. We can see the US position here is not 100% to blame, since we see they have developed new technologies that are environmentally friendly. It is possible that in this field the US will soon be more advanced than the EU. Put simply they are not investing now in reducing pollution, but they are investing in technologies that could have an effect in the future – not today as in the EU, but in the future. The European Union should reassess the whole issue and decide on the right direction to take, the right solution to apply.
If I might conclude in the political field; we will work together with the US to fight terrorism, but the US and EU should do more to resolve the Middle East crisis. Sooner or later we have to address and find a solution for the Middle East crisis and reduce the Muslim world’s growing anti-Western sentiment.
Thank you.
