Premier Slovenië doet verslag van het voorzitterschap van zijn land in het Europees Parlement (en)

At today's extraordinary plenary session of the European Parliament i in Brussels, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia and current President of the European Council, Mr Janez Jansa, presented the conclusions adopted at the June European Council meeting held on 19 and 20 June this year.

In the Prime Minister's words, in the past six months, the synergy between the European Council i, the European Commission i and the European Parliament has helped bring about certain shifts that have made Europe better and more effective, especially in terms of seeking answers to global challenges. "The shifts that we have made prove that Europe is dynamic, that it is functioning and that it is capable of addressing problems," he underscored.

Before the assembled Members of the European Parliament, Mr Jansa outlined some of the most significant achievements of the Slovenian EU Council Presidency and reported on the subject matter of the June European Council. He also took the opportunity to comment on the Irish electorate's rejection of the Lisbon Treaty. He regarded the Irish decision as symptomatic of an age-old challenge that had existed ever since politics first meant working for the common good, that of securing majority support for reform proposals and proposed changes at a time when everything was going well and there were no major external risks. "In this case, the challenge is a major one, and the debate at the June European Council indicated that it is a challenge which must be taken up," said the Prime Minister. He added that, the previous week, the EU Heads of State and Government had shown their unity in recognising that while, on the one hand, the enlarged European Union needed instruments that would enable it to be more effective and democratic inwardly, on the other, it needed a new institutional foundation to be more effective outwardly. In the Prime Minister's opinion, European citizens' attitudes towards the EU institutions should be changed and this could be achieved by establishing a European identity that would be a sort of synergy of national identities.

The President of the European Council, Mr Jansa, also reported that the agenda of the June European Council meeting had focused, in particular, on the issues of security, oil and energy price rises, the social consequences of the latter, and environmental and energy issues. In this regard, he noted his satisfaction that the 27 Heads of State and Government had reached agreement on certain Directives that had been waiting to be harmonised for a long time and that a breakthrough in the liberalisation of the energy markets had been achieved. He moreover highlighted the important role of the European Union in calming down the situation in Kosovo and the Western Balkans in general. "We are pleased to have coordinated practical measures and that - in spite of the fears expressed in January, when we talked about these priorities and I answered your questions on the situation in the region - we can state today that the situation in the region is now considerably more stable," concluded the Prime Minister.

At the press conference following the session, the Slovenian Prime Minister pointed out that the results and successes achieved during the Slovenia EU Presidency were European results and successes. The same was true of the problems and challenges we have been facing - which have been not only Slovenian but also European challenges. The Slovenian Premier also said he was delighted that Slovenia had been highly commended on its EU Presidency and praised by the MEPs from different political groups.