Tal av Sarkozy om bl. vicemannagruppen. eng. doc

Bilaga till dokument från EU-nämnden 2007/08:5460

Tal av Sarkozy om bl.a. visemannagruppen

My wish is that the Portuguese Presidency, in which I have full confidence, will complete its work by the time of the European Council meeting in October, so as to enable the new treaty to enter into force before the European elections in the spring of 2009. The Prime Minister and I will make sure, in this case, that France is one of the first countries to be asked, via its Parliament, to ratify the treaty. Frankly I would rather see France be the first to ratify than for France to be isolated by its refusal.

Now that Europe has overcome the decade-long stalemate in work on the institutions, the time has come to address the future of the European project. I call on the 27 to create a Committee of Wise Men by the end of this year, made up of ten to twelve members at very high level, similar to the committees chaired by Werner, Davignon and Westendorp and the Delors Committee, to address this simple but no less crucial question: “What kind of Europe should we have in 2020-2030 and what should its missions be?” The wise men should submit their conclusions and proposals before the European elections of June 2009, so that the newly elected Parliament and the next Commission will have the results of its work in addition to the simplified treaty and the work on renewal of the Union’s policies and financial framework.

If the 27 undertake this crucial discussion about the future of our Union, France will not object to new chapters in the negotiations between the Union and Turkey being opened in the coming months and years, provided these chapters are compatible with both possible visions of the future of their relations: either accession, or a very close association that stops short of accession. I’m not going to be hypocritical. Everyone knows that I’m only in favour of association. It’s what I advocated throughout my election campaign. It’s an idea I’ve championed for years. I think this idea of association will one day be recognized by everyone as the more reasonable one. Meanwhile, like Prime Minister Erdogan, I hope that Turkey and France will restore the special relations they established over a long shared history.

I didn’t want to raise this issue before that of the simplified treaty, because it would have created a total deadlock. You can’t resolve problems by creating a total deadlock. You resolve them by finding solutions. Of the 35 chapters that remain to be opened, 30 are compatible with association. Five are compatible only with accession. I told the Turkish Prime Minister: let’s deal with the thirty that are compatible with association and then we’ll see.

I think this is a solution that doesn’t betray the wishes of the French and that, at the same time, gives Turkey hope. Obviously, if this compromise formula is rejected, I would simply remind you that we need unanimity in order to continue the discussions.