mr president we approach the next european council with anxiety tempered by ambition
one important item on the agenda should of course be the nomination of the next president of the commission but that nomination cannot be seen in isolation
the president is underpinned by the commissioners and in the light of the lisbon stalemate we are none the wiser on how those posts will be filled
so when we ask the citizens of europe to choose their new parliamentarians in just four weeks time we do so on the basis of uncertainty and we run the risk of that vacuum being filled by the opportunism of europe's opponents
the time has come to make clear how we will proceed
mr daul has expressed his determination that the largest group should propose the president of the commission as was the case five years ago
my group follows that logic
the next president of the commission whenever he or she is appointed must know the legal basis and the timeframe for the appointment of the college of commissioners
the logical approach is to make all the appointments on the basis of nice or all on the basis of lisbon
that is the kind of certainty citizens need
those member states yet to ratify the lisbon treaty should act to make that deal easier to strike
tomorrow the czech senate will vote on the treaty with a three-fifths majority required
assuming its assent the document will be delivered to mr klaus's desk
he should sign it forthwith
president-in-office your presidency has not been bad
as mr barroso said a number of legislative acts have successfully been brought to conclusion but the headline facts despite the best efforts of you and your team mr vondra and we wish you well are that we have had the first eurosceptic council president and the collapse of a government half way through the presidency
also i am sorry to remind you of it but it may take some time to forget the sculpture no matter how much we may want to
so when the president replaces the prime minister in the summit chair let him end his term of office on a positive point
let him confirm his signature of the lisbon treaty
for all that lisbon matters it will not define this european election campaign
europe's voters are interested less in constitutional questions than in practical solutions to the problems they face and i urge you at your summit to recognise these problems
europe's economy continues to creak under the weight of recession and citizens need to know how we will lighten that load
my group welcomes the hedge fund proposals from the commission in that regard as a good first step
europe's environment remains in peril as climate chaos draws ever closer and voters must see that the european union can lead the fight back
europe's values are undermined by human rights abuses occurring on our doorstep and people should understand that the european union retains its resolve to right those wrongs
these are the challenges of our times
this election campaign must show that europe is up to the task and that europe alone is equipped to do so
