mr president the reports drawn up by mr albertini and mr danjean are very important documents coming at a crucial moment the lisbon treaty has just entered into force the eu has a new parliament and transatlantic cooperation looks more promising
mr danjean's report addresses the new security challenges facing eu members
to that effect it calls for a white paper which would trigger a public debate and raise the profile of the csdp establishing a clearer relationship between objectives and interests on the one hand and the means and resources to attain them on the other
the report also comes up with and this is a very good thing concrete proposals and points to the areas which need further effort in the military domain
at the same time some of the proposals such as the introduction of a european preference principle for defence acquisition and a call for the obligatory participation of the european defence industry in the coming us missile defence system look pretty impossible to reconcile while answering every need with a new institution is not always practical
in general with europe constantly diminishing its military expenditure since the end of the cold war and a public disinclined to support military action in general the approach to csdp should not only be mechanical but equally political
restoring political will in this respect is thus indispensable for a successful csdp
finally the report is important because it addresses the very topical issue of the role of the european parliament with respect to csdp
i want to thank mr danjean and my colleagues for their contributions
