Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-04-11-Speech-2-100"
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"en.20000411.5.2-100"2
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"Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, the Lisbon European Council has certainly given new impetus to the European agenda and I am sure that you will be aware of its results, both through reading the conclusions and also as a result of the broad public coverage that this Council received in the European and international press. The key aim of defining a new world-wide strategy for the European Union within a world economy that is open, competitive and truly global was achieved. That strategy is to make the European Union the most dynamic and competitive economic area in the world, based on knowledge and able to guarantee sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and with greater social cohesion. A knowledge-based economy underpinned by a society based on information and research will be a powerful factor in the European Union’s development and of course requires a swift and consistent process of structural reforms and the completion of the internal market.
The Consumer Affairs Council will assume responsibility for the distance selling of financial services – by approving pending legislation – and for alternative systems for resolving consumer disputes, by establishing a Community network.
The Education Council will assume responsibility for considering the future objectives of our educational systems, with a view to contributing to the Luxembourg and Cardiff processes by establishing new basic skills at European Union level, for creating a European diploma for basic IT skills, for removing obstacles to the mobility of teachers, for developing a European format for curricula vitae
for monitoring national policies on implementing these objectives, for access to the Internet in schools by 2001 and for the minimum training, by 2002, of the network of information technology teachers.
The Industry Council will assume responsibility for drafting the charter for small businesses and for establishing a procedure for standardising appropriate practices for the creation and development of innovative businesses, particularly small- and medium-sized businesses.
The Justice and Home Affairs Council will be responsible for adopting the pending legislation on jurisdiction and enforcing judgements. It should be borne in mind that implementing the remits decided in Lisbon will require close cooperation between the Commission, the Council and the European Parliament, since many of the laws to be adopted are subject to the codecision procedure. As you can see, the task of setting objectives at the Lisbon European Council is developing into a major timetable for action that the Commission and the various Council formations must now implement. The Portuguese Presidency has already taken appropriate measures in Council so that the specific Council formations can immediately start implementing the programmes defined for their respective fields, and so that appropriate coordination takes place in this area, through the presentation of a synthesis report, either by the time of the Feira European Council this June, or by the Nice European Council, during the French Presidency.
This objective also involves modernising the European social model, investing in people and combating social exclusion. It also involves implementing sound macroeconomic policies encouraging economic growth and employment.
Strengthening the European Council’s coordinating and guiding role will be vital to developing the Lisbon strategy. The European Council will annually monitor the progress that has been made, by holding a European Council meeting each spring. It will also establish the broad guidelines for the sectoral Councils. A coordination method was established, with specific timetables for the short, medium and long term, outlining objectives, benchmarking based on best practice and also other kinds of indicators. This is an open method of coordination, which we hope will produce optimal results. These guidelines will also be transposed into national policies, and will be periodically monitored and assessed as part of a process of mutual learning between Member States.
The goals set at the Lisbon European Council are extremely ambitious and give specific mandates to the Commission. Just yesterday, President Prodi presented the Commission’s programme in this area to the Council and also to the various Council formations, and it is therefore crucial that we bear in mind the diversity of platforms on which the strategy laid down in Lisbon was developed, with its implications for the fields of scientific research, education, the single market, industry and so forth. Developments in electronic commerce, the liberalisation of the telecommunications market and the establishment of a framework for reducing the costs of access to the Internet are, of course, crucial factors in the success of this modernising strategy, and the e-Europe Action Plan, which will be presented to the Feira European Council, will also be a key instrument in speeding up the progress of the European Union towards becoming an information society.
Just yesterday, I was able to inform the General Affairs Council that the Portuguese Presidency had already prepared a timetable for the remits given by the Council for implementation of specific measures in the various areas, and also for appropriate preparation of the Feira and Nice European Councils. The Ecofin Council will primarily assume responsibility for strengthening the Cardiff process, the action plan for financial services, the action plan for venture capital, the tax package, the mid-term review of the employment guidelines and for the assessment of the contribution made by public finances to growth and employment.
The Internal Market Council will assume responsibility for electronic commerce, copyright and related rights, for the dual-use export control regime, for removing obstacles to services and public contracts, for Community and private sector electronic procurement systems, for the establishment of a coordinated strategy with a view to simplifying laws and rules and for the Community patent.
The Employment and Social Affairs Council will assume responsibility for conducting a review of the employment guidelines, for mandating the High-Level Working Party on Social Protection to prepare a study on the sustainability of the pensions system up to 2020, for applying an open method of coordination to policies for combating social exclusion and for considering the future direction of social policy, with a view to reaching agreement on a European social agenda at the Nice European Council.
The Research Council will assume responsibility for the e-Europe Action Plan and for promoting the establishment of a European research area.
The Telecommunications Council will assume responsibility for concluding the review of a regulatory framework for telecommunications and for the liberalisation of the market in this field."@en1
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