Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-04-11-Speech-2-101"
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"en.20000411.5.2-101"2
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"Madam President, Mr President-in-Office, ladies and gentlemen, as Mr Gama said, the recent Lisbon Summit was a great success for Europe. It was certainly a turning point.
One of the most significant steps forward was the consensus between the Member States regarding the need to explore the possibility of modernising the social security systems and making pension systems sustainable, on the basis of a Commission initiative. Until recently, such an agreement would have been unthinkable, and this could be an extremely important development.
The Commission is therefore going to play a central role in the follow-up to this Summit.
I would just like to mention some of the items on our agenda: firstly, we are going to draw up new legislative proposals, in particular regarding the legal framework for e-commerce – which has become extremely urgent due to the inadequacy of the present framework for e-commerce – and for procurement; secondly, we are going to introduce benchmarking in all the stages of the “open coordination” process in the areas of research, enterprise policy and social exclusion; thirdly, we are going to present our communication, entitled “A new European social agenda”, which will serve as the basis for the Nice Summit organised by the French Presidency; finally, we are going to prepare for the spring Councils by producing an annual synthesis of economic and social progress which will be a sort of general report on the economic and social situation in Europe. These spring conferences, which will take place each year, will be important in terms of assessing progress made and developing future strategies.
The Commission will therefore play a crucial role in ensuring that the Council’s undertakings are translated into practical measures, and that Lisbon is thus a genuine success for Europe. The Commission must act as the driving force in this process. Tomorrow, I am going to meet my fellow Commissioners to ensure that work starts immediately and that the various different objectives set are achieved. I am determined to see that this Commission makes good its promises. I would like to thank Parliament, before this House, for its encouragement, but also for the new ideas that it has given us during these debates.
In Lisbon, we also tackled the issue of the Balkans – in a meeting held during the break for supper, which was not on the agenda but was nevertheless a working meeting. At that meeting I raised the point of the European Union’s political responsibility for the Balkan region, and stressed that our entire credibility is at stake. The European Council subscribed to the joint report prepared by the Commission and the High Representative, and also our request for more effective coordination between the various programmes implemented by the Union in that region. I repeat before this House that the need for this coordination is urgent, spectacularly urgent. Following my lead, the Heads of State and Government agreed upon the need to clean up the Danube. We have accumulated the necessary resources and I now expect appropriate measures to be taken. We also agreed to speed up the procedures for supplying aid to the Balkans.
Finally, on the subject of Russia, the European Council recognised the strategic nature of our relations with Moscow and invited President Putin to take note of our concern over the situation in Chechnya. I sent him a letter congratulating him on his election and stressing the Commission’s genuine interest in cooperating closely with the Russian Government, but the Chechnya issue was mentioned specifically.
To sum up, Madam President, I would like to thank this House for its valuable contribution to the Lisbon Summit and for all it did to ensure the Council’s success.
Ladies and gentlemen, I find the outcome of this Summit very encouraging, and I would like to stress once again the Commission’s commitment to ensuring the swift, efficient implementation of the decisions taken at the European Council. I am counting on your full support and your cooperation to help us to achieve this. The eyes of the citizens of Europe, whom you represent, are on us, and they expect a great deal of the follow-up to Lisbon. It is our duty not to let them down.
The European Council defined a new Union strategy, a strategy which will make us a leading power in the new knowledge-based economy and make it possible to restore the necessary conditions for full employment. Even at this early stage, the revised forecasts for both economic growth and employment are cause for optimism.
The Lisbon European Council made a firm political commitment to an ambitious socio-economic plan; clear objectives were agreed for the reforms, the European social model was consolidated and, most importantly, it is now possible for the pledges made to be followed with immediate, practical actions. This amounts to a completely unprecedented sign of confidence in Europe’s future and in the future of our economy and our social cohesion.
Our success in Lisbon was largely due to the excellent preparatory work of the Portuguese Presidency. António Guterres’ handling of the debate was exemplary. The Commission also made a decisive contribution to this success, for the conclusions are significantly similar to the contents of the preliminary synthesis document which we drew up in preparation for the Council.
The Lisbon debate generated substantial agreement on most issues. The only truly disputed points were the time frames for the liberalisation of the energy and transport markets, public services, the tax package and the competences of regional authorities in education and training. These issues are major but they are limited in number. This high level of consensus allowed the Presidency to set an extremely ambitious agenda.
I will not go into the conclusions in too great a detail, but stick to the main points.
The European Council stressed the importance of a strong, sound macroeconomic policy, consolidation in the field of taxation and sustainable financial policies and the structural reforms.
With regard to the information society, the principle elements of the e-Europe initiative proposed by the Commission were put into effect, in particular regarding the legal framework for e-commerce, the opening of the telecommunications market, internet connections for schools and teacher training. The Commission was asked to develop a benchmarking strategy to define best practice and to guarantee both the development of the necessary infrastructures and the availability of the necessary funds.
With regard to the internal market, the European Council adopted ambitious objectives in the field of procurement and in order to implement action plans for financial services and risk capital. In addition, measures will be taken to accelerate the liberalisation of transport, energy and postal services. Research, education and lifelong learning all received a boost. The Council also agreed on the need for a sharp increase in employment, particularly employment of women, and, I repeat, the forecasts are currently very encouraging."@en1
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