Editorial
On July 1st,2000, France will take over the presidency of the European Union for six months. Each presidency is a distinctive phase in the life of the community. It has to ensure the continuity of the work of those that preceded it and take account of what its successors may wish to do. But it is also an opportunity for the country that holds it, over a brief and intense period, to make its mark. France, a founder member of the European Union, is taking a determined and ambitious approach to this period.
Our presidency in fact coincides with several major challenges for our common future. First, there is the matter of the reform of the institutions, necessary to make Europe more efficient and so that it can accommodate the countries of Eastern and Southern Europe, candidates at present, in the best possible conditions. This is the object of the Intergovernmental Conference which opened in February2000. The French presidency will do everything in its power to conclude it at the end of the year with a new treaty.
Vital for Europe’s future, the process of enlargement, which now concerns thirteen candidate countries, will have to be continued and explored in greater depth, while making sure that the open and realistic approach we have favoured until now is maintained.
The affirmation of a common foreign policy and the setting up of a European defence system, which have made considerable progress over the last few months, are among the other great tasks underway. By organising and developing its external relations, the Union should gradually acquire political weight in the world commensurate with its economic strength. On the European continent, the work of democratisation and stabilisation of the Balkans requires constant attention.
Our second great priority will be to help restore a political sense to the building of Europe, to ensure the emergence of a Europe of genuine use to its citizens, both by reaffirming its values and by developing policies that respond to the main concerns of its inhabitants.
Europe is not merely an economic, commercial and financial entity. It is a community of values based on democracy. This is why we shall attach great importance to working out a Charter of fundamental rights for Europeans, the object of which will be to bring together not only civic and political rights, but economic and social rights too, which are the basis of the distinctive character of Europe.
Continuing the efforts made over several years to change the orientation of European policies, France will continue to give priority to growth and employment in Europe, in particular by strengthening the coordination of economic policies and by encouraging innovation in all its forms.
It will also be up to us to continue the process of establishing an area of security, freedom and justice. To ensure the external security of the Union, especially in the face of organised crime and international trafficking and to establish a genuinely European judicial area; these are just a few of the tasks to be tackled.
We shall also be very attentive to European action in environmental matters, especially maritime safety, and will seek to make the plan for a European zone for education and knowledge a reality, based in particular on the removal of obstacles to the free movement of students, teachers and researchers in Europe.
The task will be heavy and a presidency is brief. But with the cooperation of all, in France and in Europe, we can hope that the French presidency will see Europe move forward and enable it to enter the 21st century with strength and enthusiasm!
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Minister with special responsibility for European Affairs
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