Spanish Premier Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, whose country holds the rotating European Union presidency, pledged today to present a European-wide plan for the development of electric cars, according to dpa. The initiative is meant to form part of a new economic strategy for 2020 that EU leaders are due to approve before June. Preliminary discussions are set for a special summit in Brussels on February 11. "We want to put into place with the European Commission a plan for the development of electric cars," Zapatero announced in a speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The project will be launched at an informal meeting of EU industry ministers planned for February 7-9 in San Sebastian, in northern Spain, the premier added at a press conference. Zapatero discussed the idea with top European industrialists in Madrid on January 16. "They deemed it fundamental for it to be cooperation and integration in the development of electric cars between all European countries, led by the Commission", he said. "If our markets don't have a similar regulatory framework, financial incentives for industrial investments, coordination between different national policies and common standards ... it will be difficult for Europe to be a leader in this field," Zapatero said. Spain has a direct interest in the development of the technology, as French carmaker Renault has promised to start building electric cars from 2011 in its Spanish plant of Valladolid. Zapatero reiterated that the EU's 2020 strategy - set to replace a ten-year plan that failed to turn the EU into "the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world" by 2010 - needs to have binding targets. "If it is to function, the EU needs sanctions," he stressed, warning that if the current non-binding mechanisms are maintained, EU leaders will find in 2020 that their plans have failed again. Spanish proposals were criticized in January by Germany, the bloc's largest economy. Zapatero, a Socialist, also faced attacks from conservative members of parliament (MEPs), who argued that Spain was in no place to preach to others with nearly 20 per cent unemployment and a budget deficit estimated at 9.6 per cent of gross domestic product in 2009. Zapatero retorted, expressing his "firm belief" in the EU's stability and growth pact, which limits budget shortfalls to 3 per cent of GDP. "I can assure that my country is going to respect the agreements with the commission to bring deficit to the 3 per cent level by 2013," he stated. But he received support in the parliament by the president of the commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, and by socialist and liberal leaders. Barroso claimed that the new Lisbon Treaty, which reformed the EU's workings, already gives him the powers to issue warnings to national governments: "We don't need to invent new instruments." Zapatero's ideas for the 2020 economic strategy also include a push to reduce energy dependence on foreign countries, strengthening digital and green technologies, emphasising education and research and developing a "grand social pact" between unions and employers. The EU's rotating president also announced an initiative to tackle domestic violence, as part of a drive to reinforce citizens' rights, and stressed that new measures to curb irregular migration must always respect fundamental human rights. On international affairs, he expressed "concern" over Iran's nuclear programme and welcomed the United States' move to send 10,000 soldiers to earthquake-stricken Haiti. "We have to applaud the actions of the (US) marines," he stressed. The Spanish premier's role in foreign affairs has been reduced by the Lisbon Treaty, which has created the posts of semi-permanent EU president, held by Belgium's Herman Van Rompuy, and an EU foreign policy supremo, Britain's Catherine Ashton. However, Zapatero is set to preside alongside Van Rompuy over all upcoming summits with EU partners such as the US, Russia, Canada, and Mediterranean and Latin American countries.
