Greeting to emissaries/representatives from the European Commission delegation from the EU27 (Head of Mission) 2 December 2008

Greeting to emissaries/representatives from the European Commission delegation from the EU27 (Head of Mission) on the occasion of their meeting in Prague before the Czech Presidency, 2 December 2008 I would first like to thank you for making the time and coming to Prague. I take it as evidence of the importance that not only the Commission - but also you as its representatives - place on communication with the country holding the presidency. This is definitely good news for Europe and a promise for our presidency. At the same time, please accept my apologies for my absence yesterday. My programme now is even more hectic than usual. Yesterday you were familiarised with the content of the Czech presidency and with who the key people involved are. Today I would like to add only a couple of comments which I assume will be significant for you. Above all, I greatly appreciate the cooperation with the French presidency. It has been inspiring for us, as a new Member State which will hold the presidency for the first time, to be continuing after France. I have met informally several times with President Sarkózy outside the European Council meetings. I also officially visited him in Paris before the last extraordinary Council meeting. I consider it also important that cooperation between the country holding the presidency and the Eurogroup will be secured in this time of financial crisis. I have met with its chairman, Jean-Claude Juncker, and we agreed that the Czech Republic will be closely informed during its presidency and will be a participant in Eurogroup meetings. This cooperation was supported by President Sarkózy, with whom we have also agreed on the participation of a Czech representative at the G20. Among the many other tasks of our presidency, I would like to mention at least one here. That is a solution to issues of energy security. Which, as you already know, is one of our key priorities. Here we can put our specific experience to use for the benefit of the community. As opposed to France, we have firsthand experience with what it is like when oil and natural gas are used – and I would say misused – as a tool in a game of great powers. For this reason we must already place great emphasis on a common EU energy policy, on a diversification of supplies and of connection of networks. This issue, which is so crucial for Europe's future prosperity and freedom, will become a special test of the EU's ability to build a common foreign policy. As the country holding the presidency, we will try to maximally advance integration among the EU-27. In conclusion, I would like to assure you that we have done everything to make the Czech presidency pass smoothly. Not only as far as technical and organisational issues go, but also at the highest political levels. First and foremost, I am thinking about the cooperation within the presidential trio with French president Nicolas Sarkózy and Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt. But of course also the bilateral meetings with all of the heads of state and prime ministers. We have prepared for everything that could be expected. However, events in Georgia or the financial crisis clearly show that not everything can be predicted. This is also why I appreciate today's meeting. Communication is always important, and in times of crisis, doubly so. Rapid and high-quality exchanges of information count for at least half of success. This is why, with a bit of exaggeration I would like to ask you: Please put the phone numbers of our ambassadors in the countries you work into your mobile phones' speed dial. I will tell our ambassadors the same. During our presidency, I believe it will be useful to have our partners' opinions firsthand, both for you and for us. What is essential is that we be faster than the news servers. Information travels over them at lightning speed – and it also has the ability to cause similar damage. It's good to have a kind of information lightning rod at the ready. Thank you once again for coming personally to Prague. I really appreciate it. I believe that together we will do everything for the success of the Czech presidency. Which will at the same time be a success for the European Union as well as the European Commission, because we are all sailing on the same ship.