What are the priority actions needed for the EU to achieve the goal of cutting red tape by 25% by 2012?
I believe that it will be possible to achieve a real improvement in decision-making by getting rid of bureaucracy and red tape. I think we can meet the EU’s 2012 goal through simplification and codification of legislation, and simply just scrapping some rules. But in a Union of 27 member states it is not only at EU level that we have to act. We must get away from the idea that only Brussels is responsible for bureaucracy. Twenty-seven governments and countless regional and local authorities in Europe generate far more bureaucracy than the EU itself. Getting rid of red tape in the member states themselves is the best way to proceed.
What’s the best way to ensure the EU has a competitive energy market while safeguarding security of supply and new entrants’ access to it?
To guarantee a competitive market, I believe it is absolutely necessary that access to the major networks should not only be in the hands of the major suppliers. What we need is for each electricity producer, especially the most environmentally-friendly power generators, to have access to the network. As well as liberalisation of the networks we also need to ensure energy security through energy saving. Reducing energy consumption is an absolute must. But on its own that will not get us very far. In our relations with Russia we will have to ensure we achieve energy security and stability of supply through a close partnership. In my view, opening our markets to Russian investment is a good way to facilitate European investment in Russia. Russian investors will invest in Europe when the European economy is doing well, and it will be able to do well because it has secure energy supplies. Attracting Russian capital is therefore the best way to ensure security of supply. That’s why I believe that “change through rapprochement” is the right approach to take towards Russia. As for nuclear energy, I cannot accept treating it as a renewable energy sources. Former French President Jacques Chirac tried to do that at the climate change EU’s summit in March, but we should be serious and forget about this idea.
What’s the best way to tackle climate change, and how should this be balanced with the need to maintain competitiveness and economic growth?
The way to control climate change is to reduce our consumption of energy and move away from being a wasteful society. The more we focus on research and development efforts on energy efficient factories, machines and equipment, the more we will protect the environment. At the same time, we will create products we can export to parts of the world that do not have our technological know-how, but where environmental damage is high, such as China. That means we have to invest in the so-called Lisbon goals with the aim of sparking an energy revolution. Engineering technology was always one of Europe’s great strengths, and that’s what we need right now.
How much of the constitution do you think should be retained if there is a new intergovernmental conference under the Portuguese Presidency? And how long should the IGC last?
First, we should retain the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Second, we need a catalogue of competences setting out who does what in Europe, laying down a clear division of competence between member states and the EU. Third, we need a more effective decision-making process with qualified majority voting and co-decision. We also need more clarity over expanding the range of policies in which we use these procedures. We should keep the election of the President of the European Commission by the European Parliament. These are the essential elements for which should be agreed in a short intergovernmental conference so that the EU is able to act on the basis of a revised constitutional treaty from 2009 onwards.
What priority actions are needed to develop a truly common immigration policy?
Before we can start taking priority action, we need political will from member states to do what the overwhelming majority of the population in member states expect. There is no area in which there is more agreement on the need for competence at EU level than that of internal security, immigration, the fight against crime and human and drug trafficking. Finally, we need to set up a common European border control regime with clear immigration rules. There is also overwhelming support from a majority of the population in member states to give the EU powers to deal with this. The member states should rise to this challenge.
What more could Europe do to protect its critical infrastructure and borders? How can we improve common policies for the fight against terrorism?
We need to ensure there is efficient protection of the European Union’s external borders through good policing and cooperation between member states. But more important still is the setting up of a common migration strategy, covering a common asylum policy too, with a special focus on partnership agreements with the countries around the Mediterranean, in the Middle East and North Africa. An efficient policy for fighting terrorism and combating organised crime would not be possible without transfering some competences to EU level, where necessary. These are all areas where the need for international and European cooperation is blindingly obvious. Action by a single member state on its own is not enough. The data retention Directive agreed under the British presidency demonstrates that if there is the political will, the EU is able to deliver the legislation needed to enhance security for Europe's citizens.
Martin Schulz was interviewed for Europe’s World by journalsit Simon Taylor. This section is supported by the Socialist Group (http://www.socialistgroup.eu)