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  SPIEGEL Interview with Portuguese Prime Minister José Sócrates: 'The European Project Is One of the Grandest Ideas in the World'

SPIEGEL Interview with Portuguese Prime Minister José Sócrates 'The European Project Is One of the Grandest Ideas in the World'

Part 2: Will EU Africa Summit Be more than a Publicity Event?

SPIEGEL: You launched your EU Presidency period with a meeting between Brazil and Europe. Over the coming weeks, summits are planned with China and India and the African Union. Does this mean that the EU intends to play a larger role in other regions as well?

Sócrates: The motto of our EU Presidency is "A stronger Europe for a better world," and now that we have the Lisbon Treaty under wraps, we can present a much more united front. We've agreed to a strategic partnership with Brazil, a move which was long overdue. Brazil is immensely important in terms of trade, but also in terms of environmental issues. Without Brazil, it's impossible to influence climate change. Here we Portuguese have drawn on our special relationship with this former colony.

SPIEGEL: On Dec. 8, Portugal's Presidency is also hosting an Africa summit. Will this be more than just a publicity event?

Sócrates: It has been seven years since we held our last summit with our neighboring continent. How else can we solve the problem of African immigration? How can we ensure the support of the Africans in combating climate change or help them boost their own development if we don't engage in a political dialogue? It was wrong to wait so long.

SPIEGEL: The EU is Africa's largest trading partner, but European development aid appears to have failed. An increasing number of boot people are heading north for Europe's shores.

Sócrates: We need to develop a common strategy, in other words, to meet as equals. Europe can't tell Africa what to do. African immigrants contribute to our prosperity; we have to integrate them. By contrast, we need to prevent illegal immigration organized by gangs of criminals. To undermine the power of this mafia, we have to improve the living and working conditions in the countries of origin.

SPIEGEL: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said that neither he nor any of his ministers will participate if Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe, who is under pressure from the international community, attends the summit in Lisbon. Is a political confrontation looming here?

Sócrates: We have to separate the issue of human rights from development aid. Of course we will maintain the sanctions against Mugabe. But we can only make headway if we engage Zimbabwe in a dialogue. I understand Brown's position, that he can't personally take part for reasons that concern both countries. But I'm also grateful to him that his government has helped prepare this meeting.

SPIEGEL: When you became prime minister in 2005, you assumed leadership of a country in the throes of a deep economic crisis. The budget deficit was twice the allowable limit, economic growth was stagnating and unemployment was rising. Has Portugal come fully to terms with the eastward enlargement, which brought intense competition through low wages?

Sócrates: When I took office, we were facing the second recession in just three years, but now we have a balanced budget. This year we will post nearly 2 percent growth, despite the fact that India and China have made inroads into our traditional markets -- especially the textile sector -- and oil prices are rising.

SPIEGEL: You intend to reduce the overblown state bureaucracy and enhance the competitiveness of export industries through more education and technological development?

Sócrates: This year 68 percent of our citizens filed their income tax returns via the Internet. We have tackled reforms of the justice system, administration and social security. For the second year in a row, we have seen an increase in the number of pupils attending upper secondary school. We have integrated 300,000 Portuguese into vocational training programs that run parallel to their regular jobs. And in our 2008 budget, we have earmarked, for the first time ever, 1 percent of gross domestic product for investment in science and research.

SPIEGEL: Nevertheless, Portugal still remains the poorest country in the old EU, with wages and pensions that are substantially lower than the European average.

Sócrates: My vision for Portugal is to maintain stringency and order with regard to public spending and to ensure growth. Far more families should be able to afford to have children, so we support pregnant women from the third month and open new day care centers. All senior citizens who have less than €380 ($560) in available monthly income receive an extra state pension.

SPIEGEL: In order to do that, you had to raise taxes and reduce sick pay. This sparked protest from trade unions -- even the military, police and judges went on strike. Are your fellow Portuguese losing patience with making sacrifices for an economic upturn?

Sócrates: The Portuguese know only too well that the time has come for changes. Our social security system was about to go bankrupt, we've restructured it from the ground up, without privatizing. People will continue to pay their parents' pensions and, in turn, will receive pensions financed by their children. But in order to achieve this, we also had to extend the reforms to include the civil servants, who now have to wait until the age of 65 before they can retire, just like everyone else. We had to weather the strikes and stand our ground.

SPIEGEL: Mr. Prime Minister, we thank you for this interview.

Interview conducted by Helene Zuber and Christian Neef.