Martin SCHULZ, EP President, expresses himself on the occasion of the 4th Meeting with the EU Ambassadors Conference in the EP in Brussels.

Brussels

conference

statement

CFSP (T)

SCHULZ, Martin (S&D, DE)

4th Meeting with the EU Ambassadors Conference: statement by Martin SCHULZ, EP President

SOUNDBITE (English), Martin SCHULZ, EP President, "This fall will be busy and for sure challenging for all of us. A number of national elections are foreseen, and China's economic situation is worrying leaders around the globe. The Ukraine crisis is still simmering and, the terrorist threat posed by the so-called Islamic State remains a grave concern. But clearly, topping the political agenda is the refugee crisis. Almost daily we learn about the death of more refugees."

SOUNDBITE (English), Martin SCHULZ, EP President, "Lack of action is costing lives, violating fundamental rights and our values, wasting opportunities of integration, putting at risk our freedom of movement, providing fertile ground for extremist ideologies and, damaging our European reputation. While the responsibility for migration lies with the member states, I believe the EU institutions have an important role to play as mediator."

SOUNDBITE (English), Martin SCHULZ, EP President, "We have to finally step up to the challenges around us. Just look at Libya, we have to shoulder our part of the responsibility when it comes to Libya. We Europeans were not able to coordinate and deploy a comprehensive European strategy tackling both the political and the security challenges when it was still possible. Now we struggle to deal with the governance vacuum and its humanitarian and security consequences. Let's not repeat the same errors and lack of vision with Tunisia, this young democracy. The terrorist attacks at the Bardo Museum and in Sousse shocked us profoundly. These were attacks aimed at the heart of democracy."

SOUNDBITE (English), Martin SCHULZ, EP President, "The intensifying conflict in Eastern Ukraine and the ongoing humanitarian crisis there however remain for all of us a very serious concern. Since the beginning of the conflict and after the unlawful annexation of Crimea by Russia, the EU has worked towards a peaceful solution of this conflict because we know that the only viable solution is political solution. As Russia and the EU are neighbours we must find a modus vivendi, eventhough it is frustrating and takes a lot of patience."

SOUNDBITE (English), Martin SCHULZ, EP President, "The agreement reached on the 14th of July with Iran, I cannot but congratulate High Representative Mogherini on this breakthrough. This agreement is a major success for EU diplomacy and our soft power approach. I wish HR Mogherini the same success on her initiative to bring the Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiation table. Re-launching the peace process is a matter of urgency. Dear colleagues, let me say some words on the importance of incorporating our developing and trade policies into a comprehensive policy framework. We are about to decide a new Sustainable Development Goals in New York by the end of this month and we are in the middle of some big bilateral trade negotiations without forgetting about the multilateral WTO agenda".

SOUNDBITE (English), Martin SCHULZ, EP President, "We want the European Parliament and the External Action Service to work together even more closely. The guidelines for our future cooperation are being fine-tuned at the moment and will be soon made public. Secondly, and more importantly, we support the EEAS because of the credibility of the EU as a global player depends on both the unity and the strength of our common foreign policy, but also our common security and defence policy and on the quality of our external representation."