Olivier Chastel in response to President Barroso: “concrete achievements!”
Secretary of State for European Affairs Olivier Chastel spoke at the plenary session of the European Parliament, in response to the speech on the State of the Union by the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso.
On behalf of the Presidency of the European Council, Olivier Chastel took note of the prospective and ambitious approach of the Commission aimed at meeting the challenges of the moment and at supporting the values of the Union.
“The challenges identified by the President of the Commission are in phase with the priorities of the Trio made up of Spain, Belgium and Hungary, and therefore also with those of the Belgian Presidency of the EU,” declared the Secretary of State.
For Olivier Chastel, “what the citizens are expecting from our institutions are concrete achievements that will allow them to envisage the future more calmly”. Supervision and effective financial regulation, an accessible and competitive Community patent system, and an operational European diplomatic service appear on the list of urgent achievements on which the three European institutions will be judged. The Secretary of State emphasised the importance of collective work of the Community type among the institutions (European Parliament, European Commission, President of the European Council and High Representative) which will make it possible to materialise these accomplishments.
“From this standpoint, the Belgian Presidency has proposed strengthening the cooperation with the European Parliament on implementing the priorities of the day,” Olivier Chastel asserted. Regular meetings at administrative and political level are scheduled in order to intensify inter-institutional cooperation. “The Presidency counts on continuing its work during the next four months in this spirit,” concluded the Secretary of State for European Affairs.
