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Discussion with Margot Wallström and European youth

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Subido el 19 de septiembre de 2007 por EducaMadrid

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Margot meets a group of young people to answer their questions on the main challenges facing the EU, including: economic growth versus social development, new energy policies, gender equality, relations with China, communicating, her blog, the need for the EU's existence today and... why the EU is so hard to love.

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Hello Margot, well we're very happy to have you with us today. You've been in charge of 00:00:00
communication since November 2004 now, and so my question is what do you think are your 00:00:08
main achievements? I've started to change the organisation, we have to change the way 00:00:13
we work in the commission, I've made sure that we have more money, that we have a budget 00:00:19
for what we want to do, and more people to do it. And I think I have managed to establish 00:00:25
the whole idea of the commission, listening better, explaining better, and going local. 00:00:32
And also what are the main challenges ahead of you? Well of course the main challenge 00:00:40
is now to implement what we have also put in our plan D, which stands for debate and 00:00:45
dialogue and democracy, and also a white paper which we have presented on a new communication 00:00:52
policy, but it will take a long time because it's a huge change necessary. You mentioned 00:00:58
plan D, what do you expect of other commissioners, of member states, and of national politicians? 00:01:05
Well it's clear that the commission cannot do the job alone, but we really have to trust 00:01:13
that also member states and members of the European Parliament and ministers play their 00:01:19
role, and I hope that at all levels we can engage in a discussion about the political 00:01:26
issues that matter to citizens. And we have in the commission thought that this is the 00:01:32
way to one day be able to come back to the constitutional or institutional solutions 00:01:38
that are necessary, but we really think that everybody has to provide a face to this debate, 00:01:45
and of course we have a special responsibility, those of us who are commissioners or ministers 00:01:53
or members of Parliament. Has it been working so far? I think it's a very uneven result. 00:02:00
Some member states have engaged a lot in this, and of course especially in countries like 00:02:07
France, where they have learnt a very painful lesson from the no in the referendum, and 00:02:14
they know they have to be out there, listen to people and engage in a discussion with 00:02:20
people, listen especially to young people and engage with young people, but in other 00:02:26
member states the interests have not been overwhelming. 00:02:32
So some time ago you published a book called Why is it so hard to love the European Union? 00:02:38
Referring to the title, and we would find it very interesting if you could explain to 00:02:43
us why the EU is so hard to love? 00:02:47
Well, I actually don't expect Europeans to love the European Union or the institutions. 00:02:50
I hope that they will be able to respect it as the political platform that it is, with 00:02:59
all its complex structure and decision making, with all its different political interests 00:03:06
and different ideologies behind, with all the diversity that it represents, and also 00:03:14
with all its successes of course, but it is very rarely we can see this full picture of 00:03:24
what the EU is, or understand exactly what it is, and especially difficult to understand 00:03:30
how can we have a say, how can we play a role in defining what the EU should be doing, and 00:03:37
I think this is the challenge to all of us, to make sure that people can be part of writing 00:03:45
the script for the EU, because I also have a lot of hopes for the EU in the future. 00:03:51
Immigration is another one of those big issues at the moment, and everybody is talking about 00:03:59
the role of the EU in the globalised world. 00:04:03
Now my question is, do you think social protection and economic growth are reconcilable? 00:04:05
Do you think it's possible to combine both? 00:04:10
I think this is the amazing challenge for Europe, to demonstrate that a sustainable 00:04:12
development is possible, that we want to combine, and that the European way is to combine economic 00:04:22
growth with environmental protection and social protection and social security. 00:04:29
We cannot compete by lowering the salaries, we will not compete by exploiting more of 00:04:35
the natural resources, or over-exploiting the natural resources any longer, or polluting 00:04:42
the environment, but we will do it using people as a resource, and investing in life-long 00:04:48
learning etc., to make sure that we adapt to a new globalised and open world. 00:04:55
We can be the first ones to have sustainable production of chemicals, and those that are 00:05:02
environmentally friendly, and we can prove that they are not harmful. 00:05:08
We can do more using environmental technology, and become extremely competitive on the world 00:05:14
market and sell that to countries like China. 00:05:20
I think we can harness globalisation, and I think citizens expect us to do that. 00:05:25
You mentioned China. 00:05:32
What do you think about the big economic boom of the country, and what do you think should 00:05:33
be the EU response? 00:05:37
When I visited China, as a commissioner, I remember that the Vice Prime Minister, whom 00:05:38
I had the privilege of meeting, he said that their target is to quadruple their GDP until 00:05:44
2020, and you can only imagine that. 00:05:51
And of course, it is an amazing achievement that China is doing, but we should also be 00:05:54
aware that we now have a window of opportunity for Europe to affect the way they do policies, 00:06:02
and I think we can use also our rules for public procurement, for example, to make sure 00:06:10
that we also put pressure on China to improve conditions for workers, that we do not accept 00:06:16
that so many thousand mining workers die every year because of the sort of safety conditions 00:06:24
in the mines in China, that we want them to take responsibility also for climate issues 00:06:33
or for the environment. 00:06:40
So I think that if we have a more coordinated policy on countries like China and our relations 00:06:43
with China, we can also influence which direction they will go in. 00:06:50
Okay, thank you. 00:06:55
Europe was constructed after the Second World War in order to bring peace to the continent. 00:07:01
Half a century later, peace is taken for granted. 00:07:04
Many citizens, especially young people, do not believe in the EU anymore, or do not see 00:07:08
the interest of the EU anymore. 00:07:13
What would you tell to those young people? 00:07:15
I think this is true, and maybe this is also quite an achievement for the European Union 00:07:19
that young people today take peace for granted, that to them it is not even thinkable that 00:07:27
we would have a new European big war, hopefully, but I think also that they respect the fact 00:07:34
that the European Union is how we maintain peace, because this is also something you 00:07:43
have to be aware of, that how do you keep peace? 00:07:49
That is by sitting down at the same table trying to solve problems that we have and 00:07:53
discuss the challenges we have in common, that's how you maintain it. 00:07:59
But we are very much in search of the modern story of the European Union, because there 00:08:03
has to be something in addition to that historical achievement, and I would say there are these 00:08:10
three reasons that have to do with prosperity, creating jobs and opportunities for people. 00:08:16
It's a matter of solidarity. 00:08:27
Not about solidarity with future generations, with the rest of the world, our role in the 00:08:29
world, and it's a matter of security. 00:08:34
Also security towards environmental pollution or violence and crime or terrorist threats. 00:08:37
We need to cooperate. 00:08:45
All of these issues are too big for one nation state to deal with. 00:08:48
For a subject that may interest you, recent events show that the EU is very much dependent 00:08:53
on external sources of energy, such as the case of Russia and Ukraine in January, for 00:08:59
example. 00:09:05
Is the EU talking about a new energy policy for Europe? 00:09:06
Well I think maybe the starting point has to be to imagine what will happen in the future, 00:09:12
to have a long-term perspective on the energy issues, and of course we know since a long 00:09:18
time that we will run out of oil, at least cheap oil. 00:09:23
We might find new oil wells, but it will be much more expensive to exploit them and to 00:09:28
use them. 00:09:36
So we have to invest already now in alternative energy sources, and we also have to think 00:09:37
about sort of sustainability. 00:09:44
How do we make sure that it doesn't cause new environmental problems, and what about 00:09:47
the social effects of the kind of energy sources we use? 00:09:51
So I think we have to also look at the European value added of cooperation, and that's where 00:09:55
you can see the benefits of making our grids compatible, or taking action together and 00:10:01
speaking with one voice against Russia, for example, or with Russia on energy issues, 00:10:10
and also towards the rest of the world. 00:10:18
And we can explore the technological possibilities in Europe, for example, as we do with what 00:10:21
is called a technology platform, to find new ways of dealing with hydrogen as a new power 00:10:29
and a new source of energy as well. 00:10:38
So I think that there are a number of areas where there is clearly a European value added 00:10:42
of cooperation. 00:10:49
Do you think that renewable sources of energy can be a viable solution in economic terms? 00:10:51
Absolutely, and we have to decide that we want to invest in this, and we have to explore 00:10:59
what are the barriers for using renewable energy that has already been developed to 00:11:05
a certain point. 00:11:12
Why is it that it is not profitable to use it, or why is it that it cannot be disseminated 00:11:14
across Europe? 00:11:22
So I think that the potential is much bigger, and I see it only in using solar energy, where 00:11:23
even in a poor country like Sri Lanka, where I used to live, every house would have a solar 00:11:32
panel to make use of that to heat their bathing water or whatever. 00:11:37
And I think the potential for using solar energy is enormous. 00:11:44
And maybe with these high oil prices, we will have reached that limit where it will become 00:11:48
also competitive and, I would say, profitable to start to invest in renewable energy. 00:11:55
OK, thanks. 00:12:02
Last year you travelled around Europe and met numerous European citizens. 00:12:05
So my question is, do your meetings with these people often have a high opening effect for you? 00:12:09
I think this is the most rewarding part of this job, to be able to travel in Europe to 00:12:17
meet with citizens on the ground, and those who are not politicians, those who do not 00:12:24
belong to the political elite, but do have an interest in their own future in Europe, 00:12:31
and also want to have a say. 00:12:36
I mean, I prefer to meet with young people because I think that they want to know. 00:12:39
So how do we do with education? 00:12:45
How about the jobs and opportunities for us in the future? 00:12:48
What about travelling in Europe? 00:12:53
What about the role of the European Union in the rest of the world? 00:12:55
So I get most out of those meetings, I have to say. 00:12:58
But lately, I must admit that it was something that I read in a book that has really been 00:13:04
an eye-opener, because I read a book where the author said, these days I very rarely 00:13:10
hear somebody talking about the future for our grandchildren. 00:13:18
Have we lost that perspective, that interest in thinking about the future? 00:13:23
And he said, we are like alcoholics, anonymous, that we take things day by day. 00:13:30
We are not able any longer to make plans for the future. 00:13:38
And I think that was really an eye-opener. 00:13:42
That was something that made me very sad. 00:13:44
But I also think that's the ultimate challenge, to make sure that we can let the rest of the world 00:13:47
and the future get into the picture. 00:13:53
Right. Thank you very much. 00:13:56
President Barroso nominated seven female commissioners out of 25. 00:13:58
And this was regarded as an achievement. 00:14:02
Do you think there's a lot left to do to reach total equality between men and women? 00:14:05
Absolutely. There is still a lot to do. 00:14:11
And I think that there are sort of basic things which have to do with the way we work 00:14:14
to allow more women into the institutions, from working hours to childcare and what have you, 00:14:22
to the more sort of structural things which have to do with education and opportunities for women in society. 00:14:31
And I just read an article in The Economist also giving all the economic rationale 00:14:39
for allowing women to take place in the decision-making and everywhere in society. 00:14:46
So we still have a long way to go. 00:14:55
Could you tell us a little bit more about the article? 00:14:58
Well, they were looking at sort of the international picture, 00:15:01
saying that the fact that women have entered into the labor force, into the labor market, 00:15:06
women's role in society has changed. 00:15:13
That has actually changed the world more than anything else, 00:15:16
and that there is still such a huge potential. 00:15:20
You know that the United Nations and UNESCO argue that if you educate a man, you educate an individual, 00:15:23
but if you educate a woman, you educate a whole family. 00:15:32
And I think that this is still true, not only for developing countries, 00:15:36
but we should invest in women and gender equality. 00:15:41
You're writing a blog which is very successful. 00:15:46
Now, why did you start blogging in the first place? 00:15:49
Well, I wanted to establish a direct contact with citizens, 00:15:53
and I also wanted to be able to be a bit more personal without being private, 00:15:59
because I think one has to be careful there, 00:16:06
but to give my personal impressions of what is going on with my own language 00:16:09
is not always filtered through the sometimes incomprehensible language of the European institutions, 00:16:15
and it provides me with a lot of really useful contributions and useful views 00:16:24
from those who normally are not part, again, of the establishment, the political establishment. 00:16:30
So to me it has been a very good experience. 00:16:36
But do you think the participants in the blog are representative of the European citizens in general? 00:16:39
No, I don't think that they represent anything else than themselves. 00:16:45
I mean, they do not speak on behalf of any group, 00:16:48
and that is also maybe a strength, so you have to take it for what it is. 00:16:52
But I think that this is also interesting, to have those voices, 00:16:57
some of them extremely clever, of course, and well-informed, 00:17:04
and with very constructive and good ideas for all of us, so we can learn from that. 00:17:08
And they give a somewhat different profile, but important. 00:17:13
Thank you. 00:17:18
We would like to thank you very much for this opportunity that you gave us to meet you, Margot. 00:17:19
It has been very interesting for us, and we wish you all the best in the future. 00:17:23
Thank you very much again. 00:17:26
Thank you. 00:17:28
Thank you for providing good questions and good contributions to our European debate. 00:17:29
And I say the same thing to you as to young people I meet when I travel in Europe, 00:17:37
that you are the very important persons. 00:17:44
You are tomorrow's decision-makers and business leaders, and what have we. 00:17:47
So what you think about the European Union is the most important. 00:17:54
Thank you. 00:17:58
Thank you. 00:17:59
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Idioma/s:
en
Niveles educativos:
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Autor/es:
The European Union
Subido por:
EducaMadrid
Licencia:
Reconocimiento - No comercial - Sin obra derivada
Visualizaciones:
874
Fecha:
19 de septiembre de 2007 - 11:38
Visibilidad:
Público
Enlace Relacionado:
European Commission
Duración:
18′ 02″
Relación de aspecto:
4:3 Hasta 2009 fue el estándar utilizado en la televisión PAL; muchas pantallas de ordenador y televisores usan este estándar, erróneamente llamado cuadrado, cuando en la realidad es rectangular o wide.
Resolución:
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Tamaño:
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