During the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Jose Luis ZAPATERO, President of the Council and José Manuel BARROSO, President of the EC, make statements on the outcome of the Spanish Presidency of the EU.

statement

Strasbourg

plenary session

BARROSO, Jose Manuel (PT, EC President)

ZAPATERO, José Luis (ES)

Spanish Presidency of the EU (T)

Outcome of the Spanish Presidency: statements by Jose Luis ZAPATERO, President of the Council and José Manuel BARROSO, President of the EC

Arrival of of Jose Luis Zapatero, Spanish Prime Minister and President of the rotating EU Council, greetings and hand shake in the Chamber with EC president Jose Manuel Barroso, EP President Jerzy Buzek, Commissioner Almunia (3 shots)

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Jos&#233; Luis ZAPATERO, Spanish Prime Minister and President of the Council, We have constantly endeavoured to be faithful to the letter and the spirit of the treaty of Lisbon over these last 6 months, vis a vis the new Presidency,Mr President, vis a vis this House and in the spirit of dialogue with the Commission which was always plaisant always an easy dialogue.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Jos&#233; Luis ZAPATERO, Spanish Prime Minister and President of the Council, In the spirit of our founders and in the spirit of the Treaty of Lisbon, the defence of the Community institutions and the Community method is very much enshrined as something that will garanty the very essence and the future of the EU.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Jos&#233; Luis ZAPATERO, Spanish Prime Minister and President of the Council, There has been significant progress in economic governance, the clearest proof of which is that new instuments have been brought on line to face up to new difficulties , I am referring here ot new fomrs of ccoperation within the Union such as support for sivereugn debt problems in Greece, ir the financial stability instruments adopted by ECOFIN.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Jos&#233; Luis ZAPATERO, Spanish Prime Minister and President of the rotating EU Council, We have consolidated an ew perspective of the growth pact with a view to be more respectful of the stability pact.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Jos&#233; Luis ZAPATERO, Spanish Prime Minister and President of the rotating EU Council, Progress has been made definitively I am talking of the progress in the gorwth and stability pact both for prevention and correction, both for incentives and penalties as defended by my presidency.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Jos&#233; Luis ZAPATERO, Spanish Prime Minister and President of the rotating EU Council, As the first presidency after the coming into force of the Treaty of Lisbon , I can say that we have a good Treaty, it is an improved treaty but one that requires a lot of politicaol will from the 27.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Jos&#233; Luis ZAPATERO, Spanish Prime Minister and President of the Council, We have tried ot face up to institutional changes over the last 6 months . These intitutional transformations necessarily required some political nobility, some political elements and we ve had to face up to the major crisis that has shaken the economy over the last 6 months and over that period we' ve done our best to restore confidence and unity between Europeans.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Jos&#233; Luis ZAPATERO, Spanish Prime Minister and President of the rotating EU Council, We are finally convinced that with the Lisbon Traty we can ensure that Europe will recover a leading role in the world when it comes to stability democracy and economic strength , competitiveness and the maintenance of our social model.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Jose Manuel BARROSO, President of the EC, Jos&eacute; Manuel Barroso, EC president, (in Spanish),President Zapatero frim commitment to Europe and to the community method and spirit has been essential when it came to approaching these challenges.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Jose Manuel BARROSO, President of the EC, Together with the European Parliament, the Spanish presidency has also brought significant progress in the area of financial regulation; I said progress baring in mind the position of Council and Parliament only 6 months ago; however I did not say breathrough, yes we are on the verge of an agreement on the financial supervision package.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Jose Manuel BARROSO, President of the EC, I call on every Member States, and every Member of this house to assume his or her full responsibility , the target date of seeing the new system up and running by the end of the year is not just for practical convenience; It is a critical political signal . all htree institutions must now make decisive move to seal the package before the summer break, I think it would be very difficult to explain to our partners in the G20 that we who were the first to start this process can not be the first to conclude it.