12 March 2008
Gordon Brown, and Dr Danilo Turk, President of the Republic of Slovenia, answered questions from national and international journalists in Downing Street today.
Parts of this transcript may have been edited
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Prime Minister
Can I say what a pleasure it is to have President Turk here from Slovenia, to congratulate Slovenia on the most successful Presidency and the work that they have done to help move things forward in Kosovo and I am looking forward to the European Council that will be held later this week, and relations between our two countries are very strong and we have had a very useful discussion about how we can work together on some of the major international issues that we face.
President, thank you for being with us.
President of the Republic of Slovenia
Thank you very much Mr Prime Minister. I am very pleased to be here and to have the opportunity to exchange views with the Prime Minister on the issues that have to do with the Slovenian Presidency in the European Union. As you know we are taking this task very seriously. Right now we have been busy with a number of issues in preparation for the European Council later this week. We have to look into the rest of our term as well. There will be another European Council at the end of our term in June and the Prime Minister and I have devoted a bit of our time today to the question of the themes that will have to be discussed later in our Presidency including those related to development issues, issues of global development, to the implementation of millennium development goals, and innovation in the field of development assistance. These of course are themes which are large and global but they are ones in which the European Union has to strengthen its role, this will be a good day to start with.
Prime Minister
Thank you very much.
Question
Prime Minister, you will attend the EU summit tomorrow and Friday in Brussels. What values do you expect from this Summit. Are the goals set by the European Presidency ambitious enough in your view, especially with regard to climate change and EU policy?
Prime Minister
Well I welcome the agenda set forward by the Slovenian Presidency. I am looking forward to our discussions tomorrow and Friday. Of course one of the central issues this week is what is happening to the world economy, global financial turbulence and the proposals that we are putting forward for greater transparency in the world economy and we will be discussing for example our attitude as the European Union to sovereign wealth funds and how they operate in the world, but I welcome the discussion we are going to have on climate change and the environment, and I have submitted a proposal to the Council which I hope we will discuss on Friday that we look at how we can give new incentives for people to use environmentally friendly products and processes. There is a debate about how we price products that are making advances in being environmentally friendly with low carbon emissions, and there are many items that are on sale at the moment where if the VAT rate was reduced, we could encourage the environmentally friendly product and the environmentally friendly process. And of course that goes for the range of products from light bulbs to household materials, to fridges, all those different products where there could be an environmentally friendly incentive for companies and for products so that we can effect change in people’s behaviour. So that is one of the issues we will be discussing on Friday. I look forward to that discussion. We are submitting a paper on this and I believe that right across the board whether it is on carbon capture, or whether it is on clean coal, or whether it is simply on changes in people’s behaviour, the European Union is leading the world in tackling climate change and cutting carbon emissions and making for a more sustainable future.
President of the Republic of Slovenia
On this subject I would only like to add that the time has come for innovation, both in terms of using new technologies, of which the Prime Minister spoke, and for renewed leadership of the European Union. And that is happening. The European Union has set the goals for reduction of in-house gases in the coming decade and what is needed now is really a continuation of leadership and seeking partnership. There have been some initial discussions in Washington late last week. Those discussions will continue and I am personally quite optimistic that we can expect an improvement or new attitudes which will help in promoting precisely the kind of idea that the Prime Minister mentioned.
Prime Minister
Here we face a world down-turn which has started in America but Britain is well placed to deal with it, our inflation is a lot lower than Europe, our inflation is a lot lower than America. We have been able to cut interest rates, employment is rising, not falling, unemployment is at its lowest since the 1970’s and we are well placed in Britain to deal with the fall-out from what has been a global problem of financial turbulence. So far from Britain being badly prepared, Britain is well prepared. Far from Britain having no room for manoeuvre, we have been able to take action, including cutting interest rates in the last few months, and I believe that you will see that Britain will continue to grow as an economy and I think people will remember the fact that under Alistair Darling’s chancellorship and under the previous chancellorship we have see the longest period of economic growth, without recession, in the country’s history.
Question
Prime Minister, as part of the relationship between Slovenia and the United Kingdom, have you been invited to Slovenia, and will you go there in the near future?
Prime Minister
I think relations between our two countries are very strong indeed. We share a common agenda about many of the issues that Europe has got to face up to. Climate change is one of them, but the way we approach some of the challenges we face on the economy is another. I appreciate everything that Slovenia has done, not just in working for peace in Kosovo, but also the contribution that has been made by your country in Afghanistan where we appreciate what you are doing, joining 40 countries there in trying to bring peace and greater security to a country where if we were not there, there was potentially the chance of a return of the Taliban, there was the infiltration of Al-Qaeda into senior positions in that country. The relations are very strong and I think you will find announcements about visits soon.
Question
Prime Minister, isn’t it the case that if you do go to Slovenia, you will probably get a drink there rather more cheaply than you will in this country. Aren’t today’s increased duties on alcohol simply going to punish ordinary working people who like a glass of wine or a pint of beer at the end of the day without really tackling the more important social issue of binge drinking and under-age drinking?
Prime Minister
I think you will find that the real terms price of alcohol over the last 10 years has been alcohol coming down in price, so the price of the typical bottle of wine in a supermarket has gone down rather than gone up in the last 10 years and I think you will find that one of the issues is, with teenage drinking in particular, that the price of a can of lager or the price of a bottle in shops has gone down to a very low level compared with the real terms price some time ago. So alcohol in real terms has gone down in price. The Chancellor has made a decision to have a
6 percent rise in alcohol prices. I believe the public will understand that that is a better way of raising revenue for the future than other ways and I think they will appreciate what he has actually done.
President of the Republic of Slovenia
Obviously it wouldn’t be appropriate if I interfered in the pricing policy or the market situation in the United Kingdom when it comes to such sensitive items, but what I would like to say is there are many British tourists coming to Slovenia, they are very welcome, they don’t come there only for prices lower than average, but they come for a number of reasons and they will continue to be very welcome.
Prime Minister
Thank you all very much.
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