President Prodi's Speech on the Seville European Council

In my view the European Council of Seville should concentrate on two issues: asylum and immigration and reform of the European institutions.

• In addition the Council will take stock of the state-of-play in enlargement negotiations and discuss preparations for the Johannesburg Summit.

• I very much welcome the decision of President Aznar to address these questions in Seville. These are highly topical issues and a source of growing and legitimate concern among our citizens.
  
  
• The Commission has done its part. The proposals we have issued during last few months serve as a roadmap that the Member States and the Parliament should now follow without delay.
  
  
• We should strengthen the control of our external borders by developing the concept of a comprehensive "border strategy" for the European Union. The measures that the Commission has proposed would lead to an integrated management of our external borders and increase efficiency and improve the safety of all our people.
  
  
• In Seville we could implement first steps at once, for example by encouraging those responsible for border management to get together and begin assembling and prioritizing the different pieces of the system.
  
  
• We should also bring to asylum and migration the same commitment that helped us respond so quickly to the events of 11 September. In Seville this means speeding up the adoption of certain legislative instruments and the implementation of a number of practical measures for which drafts - again from the Commission - are already on the table of the Council.
  
  
• In short, we must address these concerns - but without demonizing them. Focusing on illegal immigration must not lead us to neglect other equally important aspects of the migration question, particularly the issue of ensuring harmonious integration of our existing immigrant population.
  
  
• We must send a clear message to our citizens. We will be tough on illegal immigration and the trafficking of human beings but at the same time we must acknowledge that legal immigration is good for Europe. It is source of vitality and energy, which an ageing Europe needs.
  
  
• We should also pursue ideas on how to integrate migration issues into our relations with source and transit countries and to monitor them regularly. The Commission will soon be coming forward with ideas on how to develop links between development and migratory flows. This is an important strand in our assistance to third countries that enables us to ensure that they work with us to address the root causes of destabilizing migratory flows.

• Reform of the Council is important for many reasons. The Commission and I personally have insisted on the need for reform in the Council for a long time. I am glad that things are moving in the right direction on the basis of the Presidency Report.
  
  
• This morning I presented to the Commissioners some of my ideas on reforming the internal organization and working methods of the Commission.
  
  
• Why this initiative and why now?
  
  
• Simply because it is clear that in Seville we shall be discussing improvements to the way the EU institutions function without amending the Treaties.
  
  
• I want to be very clear on this: what is at stake in Seville is much more than just reforming the Council. Enlargement, the greatest challenge facing us, calls for far-reaching changes to the way each institution works. Many of these changes can and must be introduced before enlargement takes place and before any new Treaty comes into force.
  
  
• As far as the Commission, we must assume that from the beginning of 2004, it will be serving an EU of up to 25 countries. The work of the Convention, I hope, will find responses to these challenges in the long term.
  
  
• The future Treaty is unlikely to be ratified until some time after enlargement. Issues as fundamental and down-to-earth as the way areas of responsibility are to be split up among 25 or 30 Commissioners will have to be tackled from the first day after enlargement or even earlier.
  
  
• These are my first thoughts on the subject and they need to be further developed. But I am committed to implementing the general outlines of the reform. Maintaining the status quo is not an option - it would simply lead to paralysis.
  
  
• In reality I do not believe there is scope for any other approach. Of course, the way such a reform should be carried out needs careful consideration and the full involvement of all members of the College.
  
  
• When developing these ideas I have confined myself to what is possible under the organizational powers which the Treaty, once Nice is ratified, confers on me in my capacity as President.
  
  
• In other words, these are things that are within my power and this exercise should be clearly distinguished from the Communication for the Convention on future institutional reform, which I will present to the College in the autumn.
  
  
• The aim is to achieve greater efficiency and consistency and a clearer distribution of roles within the Commission and vis-à-vis other institutions.
  
  
• Commissioners' areas of responsibility will be reorganized around tasks that are essential to the functioning of the Union. Work will be prepared by groups of Commissioners responsible for a general policy area, mirroring the changes that are likely to be made to the structure of the Council.
  
  
• After thorough consultation of my fellow Commissioners I shall designate a number of Vice-Presidents from among them to supervise each group of areas. Each Vice-President will work closely with two or three Commissioners depending on the scope of the fields covered.
  
  
• The reorganization needs to be ready by the end of next year so the changes can take effect from the beginning of 2004.
  
  
• We must also rationalize the Commission's decision-making process along the same lines.
  
  
• While fully complying with the principle of collegiality we have to modernize the way decisions are made and prepared. Under my leadership the Vice-Presidents will prepare the decisions to be taken by the Commission. They will meet at least once a week to prepare the meetings of the College and to take decisions that the College has authorized them to take.
  
  
• The full Commission will continue to meet once or twice a month to set the political priorities and plan the work.
  
  
• All decisions in principle will be taken by the College, as well as those it is required to take under the Treaties. The Vice-Presidents supervising groups of Commissioners will take on an increasingly important role in implementing political priorities and decisions.
  
  
• I want to stress one point: there can be no question of a "directoire" of larger Member States within the Commission. The President should - and I will choose the best and brightest irrespective of their country of origin.
  
  
• At Seville I intend to inform the heads of State and Government of the general thrust of my thoughts. I shall emphasize that whatever each institution may decide with regard to its internal reform, this will have an impact on the way the whole system functions and we should therefore continue discussing it together closely.

• President Giscard d'Estaing will present his impressions on the state-of-play during our morning session on Saturday. I'm looking forward to his speech.

• We will take stock of the considerable progress made under the Spanish Presidency in the enlargement negotiations. We must give the process a further push as the home strait of the negotiations comes into view. I am looking forward to meeting once again with the candidate countries at the end of the Summit.

• The European Council must give a renewed boost to the preparation of the Johannesburg summit if we are to achieve the ambitious objective that we set a year ago in Göteborg.
  
  
• We cannot allow the multilateral agenda to derail. A failure in Johannesburg could have wider repercussions on growth and trade. In Seville we must together spell out clearly our firm determination to live up to our commitments.

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• Letter from President Prodi to Mr. Aznar  (18/6/2002)