Presenter: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the press conference of the informal meeting of Heads of State or Government. Present President of the European Council, Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, President of the European Commission, Mr José Manuel Barroso, and Secretary-General / High Representative, Mr Javier Solana. Prime Minister Vanhanen, please.
Vanhanen: Thank you. Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen. As you all know, one of the main themes of the meeting was innovation policy as a source of European growth. I would like to start drawing some conclusions on this item.
It was very clear in the discussions that we need a comprehensive strategy on intellectual property rights in the EU. This is an important part for an effective innovation policy. The strategy should be, above all, of high quality. By placing importance – for instance – on the quality of patents, the EU could also put pressure on our competitors. We welcome the Commission’s intention to prepare a comprehensive strategy on intellectual property rights in 2007.
Patents are an essential part of intellectual property rights. We look forward to the Commission’s proposals on how to develop the patent system in Europe.
We agreed that the European patent system must be made more cost-effective and more predictable. We must also improve the litigation system. Basically, we have three options:
First, we can leave things as they are. This would be by far the worst option.
Second, EU Member States could take a step forward through the London Agreement. The London Agreement relates to the simplification of the existing European Patent System.
The third option is that we seek: Community solutions in order to improve the patent system. This should be our ultimate goal.
Another central theme in our discussions was enhancing the co-operation between the private and public sectors. We agreed that we need to help companies in finding early seed money. European Technology Platforms and Joint Technology Initiatives are excellent examples of public-private partnerships. Companies are willing to invest in these initiatives. Public funding by the Member States and the EU is therefore a high priority for some of the projects that are ready to be launched.
The Finnish Government has made a commitment to allocate public research funding to one of the most advanced initiatives called Artemis. Its aim is to enhance Europe’s leading position in certain electronic systems. The Finnish Government’s total contribution will be 70 million euros over a seven-year period starting from next year. I am pleased that also the Commission gives its full support to this initiative and will take it forward as a Joint Technology Initiative and match funds coming from the private sector.
We also had a discussion on the proposal to create the European Institute of Technology, which was adopted by the Commission only two days ago. The Institute should have a real impact in filling Europe’s innovation gap. We are pleased that during our Presidency we will be able to start working on the details of this proposal in the Council. There are of course many open questions at this stage but the discussion we just had, it showed a real green light to the Commission’s initiative.
We also touched upon standardisation and agreed on its importance in supporting innovations. Our work on innovation policy will not stop here. I will keep this high on the agenda during the rest of our Presidency, too.
At the beginning of our meeting, we had a constructive lunch discussion concerning the Union’s external energy relations with important partners, especially with Russia. We had unity today.
On energy issues with Russia, the EU aims to build a close and legally binding partnership based on mutually balanced, long term benefits.
It’s in the Union’s interests to persuade Russia to commit more strongly to the principles which have already been defined in the Energy Charter Treaty and G8 declaration.
There is a complete understanding between the Member States on the principles to be applied. They should cover especially market-based rules, market opening, non-discriminatory access to transit networks and mutuality in two-way investment.
The EU will soon enter negotiations with Russia on a new comprehensive agreement to replace the 10-year-old Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. We agreed that the principles I just mentioned should be included into this post-PCA agreement.
We also agreed that it is very important to follow these principles in practice now, without waiting for a formal agreement.
We will also continue to develop our relations with other producer and transit countries around the EU. We aim to extend the internal energy market principles to our neighbourhood.
We also agreed that the European Union must show strong leadership in combating climate change. Improving energy efficiency is important in achieving this. During the Finnish Presidency climate and energy issues have been at top of the agenda in third country summits.
In order to enhance the security of energy supply, international financial institutions need to cooperate in a more effective way. In addition, energy security aspects should be taken into account when the European Investment Bank is granting new lending mandates to third countries. In order to implement a coherent energy policy and respond to energy crises, we agreed to improve the way we share and process energy information among the Member States. We shall move ahead with this before the end of the year.
My friends, my Spanish Colleague Prime Minister Zapatero was a key-note speaker on migration issues. He took up the importance of well-functioning border control and holistic approach to migration.
Illegal immigration is a problem that concerns the whole European Union. European solidarity was mentioned many times during our discussions.
We stressed the importance of concrete action and gave our full support to the European Border Management Agency.
We agreed that cooperation with Africa is essential, as it is with other countries of origin and transit. We need to be able to address the root causes of illegal immigration if we want to prevent these humanitarian crises in the coming years. Consistency between policy sectors is important.
I’m committed to take the work forward at the December European Council.
We also briefly discussed the alarming situation in Sudan. We are all deeply concerned at the security, humanitarian and human rights situation in Sudan/Darfur. We are working hard to convince the Government of Sudan that a UN operation is the only viable and realistic option for peacekeeping in Darfur.
Thank you.
Presenter: President Barroso please.
Barroso: Thank you, thank you very much. I endorse everything that Prime Minister Vanhanen has said. I will not need to repeat. Let me just underline one or two point that I think are more important. First of all, this informal European Council was in a real spirit of coherence and solidarity. And we have seen this idea of coherence and solidarity in discussion about external energy policy, on discussion on innovation, discussion on migration. First of all, external energy policy. I’m very happy that the Commission gave a contribution to this debate with a paper that we have presented and the broad lines were endorsed by the leaders of Europe. In fact, we have seen the need for having a real European energy policy following what we have already discussed at Hampton Court, the Green Paper that was presented some time ago. And now I believe today we have achieved a real convergence that will enable us to come in January with some concrete proposals in terms of energy package. Energy goes from climate change, the need to fight climate change, until energy efficiency and energy security. What we have been discussing today was more external energy policy. It is important for us to involve others around us. In fighting climate change the European Union is leading in the world. In terms of the fight against climate change it is considered by many of us maybe the most important challenge of the 21st century. But it is important that only we in the European Union do that but that we involve others and this of course is a topic with all our partners. A way of fighting climate change is through energy efficiency. And it was also addressed at this meeting and as you know, we have recently proposed some very ambitious targets for the European Union.
Another point that was central in our discussions today, was energy security and of course this will a topic in our meeting this evening with President Putin. I think it was a real message of convergence that came after this debate to have some sound principles like reciprocity, transparency, market opening as principles that all the partners should respect if they want to have energy security in the long term. So, I believe in that matter we really achieved some progress and that we have now a real political orientation for the next steps starting of course this evening with meeting with President of the Russia.
Innovation was of course considered the most important point for this Lahti Summit. And there we also received endorsement and backing to some of our proposals. The need to come with a strategy for intellectual property rights, the need to come with a solution for the long standing problem of patenting in European Union and also to move forward on standards in Europe. And of course the strong backing, the green light, as Prime Minister Vanhanen just said, for the European Institute for Technology. I was personally very happy with this strong backing that was given to this idea. This is indeed a future flagship for innovation in Europe based on that important idea of public-private partnerships and specifically on the linkage between university and research excellence with a business interest and an economic potential. This will of course complement the European Union’s present efforts to stimulate research for instance through Joint Technology Initiatives and I was happy to announce support of the European Commission to this Artemis joint technology project that so many Member States and so many important companies from Europe are wishing to fund and the Commission will of course match this funding as well. So, I really believe that we could have here an important political agreement. This is an informal summit, it was not a summit for formalised legal instruments. But it is a summit that sets a course and defines an orientation. And I believe that after this summit, we can say that there is coherence and solidarity and more ambition fulfilling some of these important goals like the ones I just mentioned in the field of security, energy security but also in terms of innovation. These were the most important points. I will not go in detail because of time constraints. Of course, full support to our common approach to migration, to the requests made by the Prime Minister of Spain and endorsed by so many Heads of State and Government. This is not just a problem for the southern European countries. It a problem for all Europe for a problem at European level we should also have solution at European level. Thank you.
Presenter: High Representative Solana please.
Solana: Thank you very much. Very briefly because everything important has been said, and well said. Let me only tell you only practical things. I was yesterday in Ukraine. As you know, Ukraine has a pipeline that is the most important pipeline to provide gas to Europe. More than 80% of the gas goes through that pipeline. Therefore good-working [relations] between Russia and Ukraine [are] fundamental in order to guarantee the supply in the coming months to the European countries. I can tell you that this coming week, an agreement will be signed between Ukraine and Russia, and I had already discussions with the leaders of Ukraine … yesterday and we will have the guarantee that the supply of gas will be for all the countries of Europe that have links to the pipeline, which, as I said, is the most important pipeline that supplies gas to Europe. So, what happened last year and the year before will not be repeated this year and let’s hope that the temperatures in the winter will not make this statement I just have made not correct. But in principle everything is guaranteed so the that supply will be appropriate for all the countries of the European Union. Well, as you know, energy security is a very important element of foreign policy. The countries which supply most energy are to a certain extent uncertain countries and countries which the pipelines cross are also uncertain countries. We have now in the Caucasus some problem around Georgia. A very important pipeline that comes from Baku crosses that country. If anything were to happen there, we would also have difficulties, or potential difficulties, with the pipeline that [run through] that country. Therefore energy security for Europe is pretty much linked to foreign policy. Therefore we have to adapt our own foreign policy, also to take into consideration the component of energy. In the same manner, we have to put into consideration in a much more dramatic manner the question of migration in our foreign policy. Migration is not only a question of how much money you give to countries or how much you handle the situation in our own countries but how much foreign policy we do in particular with those countries which are the ones which supply most of the migrants, meaning Africa, meaning other parts of the world. So a very important element in our foreign policy has to be also linked to [the question of] how to handle the policy on migration. Let me also tell you that, in the coming – let’s say – 20 years, in the world there are going to be probably more than 200 new nuclear power plants. And the significance of that, vis-à-vis, for instance, [in terms of ] the enrichment of uranium – enrichment of uranium that, as you know, [presents] problems, that may be linked to proliferation. And therefore, we have to really try to work collectively with other actors in the international community – the European Union – so that this probable increase in the number of nuclear power plants that there will be in the world in the coming years does not [lead to] a proliferation system, [that makes the world ] much more dangerous than it is already now. So to fight against proliferation, we will have to have as one of our priorities controlling that situation and [ensuring that] the nuclear power plants do not lead to larger proliferation in the world. All these things we’ll have to keep on [coming back to] and studying and analysing and putting in practice. Thank you.
Presenter: Please identify yourself and your media when asking questions and use our microphone. Our camera crew has also kindly asked you to stand up when asking questions. It’s easier for them to find you. The Guardian please.
Guardian: It’s a question for President Barroso. How can you can do business with a man, Vladimir Putin, whose commitment to human rights are so great that he has expressed admiration for the sexual habits of an alleged rapist, the President of Israel?
Barroso: We are going to meet President Putin. He’s our neighbour. Russia is a very important country. I believe it is our interests, and in the interests of our citizens, to have constructive relations with Russia. But in our constructive relations with Russia, we also include a very open, very frank dialogue, including on the most sensitive issues, for instance, human rights. And I’m sure that this evening, we are going to express our concerns on all the issues of that kind that we have… that you know are a matter of concern for our European citizens. And I’m sure this is going to be the case, as has already happened in the past.
Presenter: The gentleman in the second row, please.
Agence France Presse (through interpreter): A question in French. The European patent, for decades now, has become a sort of zombie which haunts the corridors of Europe. Are you going to have to unearth the text or are you going to bury it once and for all? If you are going to bury once and for all, what specific proposals would enable you to get round its absence?
Barroso: Well it’s true that for a while now, we’ve tried to get a European patent and we haven’t managed. If we haven’t managed, it’s not because the Community institutions haven’t done enough, but simply because people haven’t agreed, not least on the language arrangements. Some Member States have clear language objections. So what I want Member States to do today is see whether they can’t accept a pragmatic approach – a pragmatic approach which involves accepting a degree of communitarisation of things which happen already, in terms of litigation, for example, on European patents. And we will be coming forward with a number of proposals, which we hope can be usefully discussed by the spring Council. So we’ll have to see. I can’t really say exactly what the upshot of all this is going to be. We’ll just have to see whether it will be possible for us to make progress on this dossier. Certainly in the light of today’s discussion, no one has questioned the fact that there is a need to come up with a solution in Europe for patents, because it’s one of the areas where we fall well short, in particular of our American friends. We’re losing innovative opportunities, simply because it costs too much and it takes too much time to get a patent in Europe. So we’ll be coming forward with a number of proposals shortly, and we’ll see whether it might not be possible to win over Member States to these proposals. We’re certainly not abandoning the real objective, which was to have a European patent. Thank you.
Vanhanen: Yes, it is true that this has been too long a project without any result and the Finnish purpose, during our Presidency, is to strengthen the political will among the Member States. And I asked my colleagues in this meeting today that they should all – that we should all – in our countries, strengthen the political pressure to find a solution, have a little more flexibility to find a solution. As President Barroso said, the over-complicated European patent system is too expensive for European companies. If we compare similar companies in the USA, where they have, in an area of 300 million people, one simple patent system, we need something [along] the same [lines] here in the EU, where there are 25 Member States and quite soon 27.
Presenter: YLE please.
Finnish Broadcasting Company: This is a question for Prime Minister Vanhanen and Dr Solana. What did you [say] about Georgia? We all know that the situation and relations between Russia and Georgia have been deteriorating for a while now. Are you going to take this up with President Putin, and other human rights issues?
Vanhanen: Yes, as President Barroso already said, of course, we will do [as we] always do when we have summits with third countries. We have both positive questions and also difficult questions. There were several Member States during lunch, which asked the Presidency to take to the floor Georgia, and we will do it.
Solana: It will not be the first time that we talk with our Russian friends about Georgia. Since the very beginning, we have been in touch with the Georgian President and the Russian counterpart, the President, Mr Ivanov, the national security adviser. I have been talking to them practically daily, trying to cool down the situation and trying to make the possibility of contact between the leaders of both countries. For the moment that has not taken place. We continue working in that direction and I’m sure we will achieve that. But I can tell you that every day since the situation has started, we have been in touch with both the leaders of both Georgia and the leaders of the Russian Federation.
Presenter: Gentleman here in the middle row, please.
Anatolia News Agency: I’m addressing my question to Mr Vanhanen. My question is regarding Cyprus. You made some concrete proposals to parties. Are you hoping to get a conclusion before the December summit? How optimistic are you [about getting] a conclusions, or how close are you to a conclusion.
Vanhanen: I can only tell you that the Finnish Presidency… we have been very active on this issue. And we are negotiating with all partners. And let’s see. It will be closer during this autumn-time, to find a solution also to the Cyprus question, and we are working actively and our aim is to find a solution before December.
Presenter: We have time for two more questions. Here please.
Kosovo press: I have a question for Mr Vanhanen. Kosovo is one of the issues with which apparently the European Union doesn’t have the same position like Russia. Recently, Russia made it clear that they want negotiations to go on for next year, while President Ahtisaari wants to finish this year. And President Putin has made a comparison between the Kosovo issue and Ossetia in Georgia. So do you think that this Russian can endanger the mission of President Ahtisaari to find a solution for Kosovo?
Vanhanen: We will probably not discuss about this item this evening. President Ahtisaari is not working for the European Union. He’s now in the UN, the United Nations. And of course this possibility is now in the United Nations and the UN should find the solution to the Kosovo status question and I’m sure that the European Union, we will be ready then to support the arrangements and solutions which we can accept. And of course if we want to get a solution in the United Nations, it will most probably also need a decision in the UN Security Council, so of course there has to be also agreements which also the members of the Security Council can accept.
Presenter: And the last question goes to a gentleman in the third row.
Romanian press: I would like to ask President Barroso. You know, [there is much debate] on whether the Prime Minister or the President should propose a person to be the Romanian European Commissioner. I want ask you if you have received a proposal and, if yes, what your decision will be? Can you give us a name or a domain, or something?
Barroso: I will not make any comment on that issue before the decision is taken. Okay?
Presenter: Thank you very much.
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Matti Vanhanen, Prime Minister of FinlandJosé Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission
Javier Solana, Secretary-General / High Representative