Debate during the plenary session of February in Strasbourg on the Preparation of the European Council meeting (12 February 2015). Opening statements by&nbsp;Zanda KALNIŅA-LUKA&Scaron;EVICA, Chairperson of the European Affairs Committee of the Latvian Parliament and Parliamentary Secretary of the Foreign Ministry, and Frans TIMMERMANS, First Vice-President of the EC in charge of Better Regulation, Inter-Institutional Relations, the Rule of Law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

TIMMERMANS, Frans (NL, EC)

European Council meeting 12 February 2015 (T)

KALNIŅA-LUKAŠEVICA, Zanda (LV)

Preparation of the European Council meeting (12 February 2015): extracts from the Council and Commission statements

SOUNDBITE (English), Zanda KALNI&#325;A-LUKA&#352;EVICA, Latvian Presidency, on behalf of the Council, "The informal meeting tomorrow will focus on three main areas: first of all, the security of citizens, second, preventing radicalisation and safeguarding values, and third, cooperation with international partners. The security of citizens is at the heart of our concerns".

SOUNDBITE (English), Zanda KALNIŅA-LUKA&Scaron;EVICA, Latvian Presidency, on behalf of the Council, "What is needed here is a joint action of all member states supported by the EU institutions. In this context let me mention a crucial issue in which all institutions need to proceed swiftly. The proposal on the European Passengers Names Record (PNR). This is a complex file and there are certain reservations, but we cannot afford to remain idle. Counterterrorism experts have converging views that we need this measure".

SOUNDBITE (English), Zanda KALNIŅA-LUKA&Scaron;EVICA, Latvian Presidency, on behalf of the Council, "Later today new talks should start in Minsk. Clearly we are at a crucial juncture. We expect a broad discussion on the latest developments at the summit. At this stage we need to maintain our unity, solidarity and consistency with regard with the full and comprehensive implementation of the Minsk agreement by all parties".

SOUNDBITE (French), Frans TIMMERMANS, Vice-President of the European Commission, "What it's true is that if we have proper coordination and consultation in the area of security in Europe that would be good and terrorists would no fall between the faults of the application of present cooperation instruments. Our fight against terrorism in Europe needs to be started by implementing the rules that we have already adopted".

SOUNDBITE (French), Frans TIMMERMANS, Vice-President of the European Commission, "Schengen is not the problem, Schengen should be part and parcel of the solution and before thinking of any impossible improvements that we could introduce into the border code of Schengen, the first thing we should do is to exploit the flexibility that exist within the present rules; as the possibility of introducing, in a time frame and limited manner, the controls at the internal borders. We need to act rapidly on the basis of the existing rules, which make this possible, rather than losing our objectives getting into a lengthy legislative procedure with doubtful results".

SOUNDBITE (French), Frans TIMMERMANS, Vice-President of the European Commission, "We need to have a warning system, we need to talk and exchange with all parts of society to make sure that we create this area of tolerance which Europe needs to build to have a common European future. A Europe without tolerance cannot exist, would be a fragmented Europe, based on confrontations".

SOUNDBITE (French), Frans TIMMERMANS, Vice-President of the European Commission, "There is no military solution to the situation in Eastern Ukraine. It needs to be a political solution based on international law, on the Ukrainian sovereignty and the full application of the Minsk agreements. That is what is being discussed by the President of the French Republic and Chancellor Merkel together with Presidents Putin and Poroshenko, and we stand behind them".

SOUNDBITE (French), Frans TIMMERMANS, Vice-President of the European Commission, "What the Greeks and Greece deserve is a future; a future for their children and their grandchildren, and is in this that we need to invest. In the light of the ongoing discussions we'd like to find a solution which allows Greek people to look to the future with hope, we want a solution that is fair to all; respected and respectable to all, Greece and also and also for all of the citizens of Europe, to whom the previous Greek governments have committed themselves."