Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-04-11-Speech-2-130"
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"en.20000411.5.2-130"2
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"Mr President, few words are needed to conclude this debate, for the debate itself has been extremely clear and detailed.
I would like to start from the Mr Martinez’s happy fault when he juxtaposed the two debates: I say “happy fault” because the atmosphere of the second debate, which was on Africa, could not have been more tragically different from the Lisbon debate. The few days – hours even – which separated the two debates revealed a wealth of differences: when we talk of a new Europe, an innovative Europe, we must not forget that, across the water, there is a terrible situation in Africa which is out of control.
To return to Lisbon, the debate was intense and passionate because it touched on tangible subjects of major concern. However, we must be clear on one point: although we did talk in Lisbon of the new economy, we cannot divide the economy into a new economy and an old economy. Europe is like a huge seed, and its economic strength lies precisely in its tradition of operating in all sectors, both new and traditional, and excelling in the traditional sectors. Now, the spread of new technologies, which we call the new economy, acts like fermentation process, completely transforming the old economy. This is its strength. E-commerce is not a separate end in itself. The Internet and the other new tools cannot be regarded as a separate factor, but they can be translated into an enormous increase in the productivity of other sectors. When the means of distributing the most basic, simple wealth changes, the entire economy changes as well. This is the boost we were waiting for: we are now in a position to take the leap forwards, thanks to the extensive coordination achieved in Lisbon.
This begs another comment on Lisbon. I have observed some differences of opinion over the role of Europe and the roles of the individual States. You must understand that this is a network. The importance of the Lisbon Summit does not lie in the fact that some areas have to be managed at European level, although a certain amount of large-scale coordination of investments does have to take place at European level. Most of these innovations are the responsibility of the national, or even local governments. That is clear. The significance of Lisbon lies in the fact that, when we are united in our action, this boosts the productivity of the system. If the same countries were each to act separately, the effect would not be great enough to boost the European economy. This is the importance of these Summits: if we unite in our action, we multiply its efficiency. This is the potential significance of Lisbon.
My final point is, once again, the development of human resources. This applies to both new and old economies as well. European investment in human resources is still low, and this is a huge area in which we must make up lost ground. I feel that the goal of halving the number of 18-24 year olds who attend neither a school nor a training course is both realistic and of paramount importance. This is clearly the way to overcome the problems experienced even by some of the larger European countries in recent months such as a shortage of young engineers and the need to import Internet engineers from the third world. This is clear evidence of a development block, which is due precisely to the failure to exploit our human potential.
In Lisbon, our policy-making action was focused mainly on this issue, and certain major horizontal decisions were adopted which engage both public opinion and our own imagination. Somebody mentioned the fact that the mobility of teachers and researchers was also discussed in Lisbon. This gives me great pleasure for few people remember it. Well, for this to occur at European level is revolutionary, although our task now is to set regulations in place to make teachers and researchers effectively mobile. This is such an unprecedented idea to emerge from the fertile European intellectual climate that, if it succeeds, it will genuinely be a great leap forwards for the productivity of Europe and the European way of thinking. In my opinion, these are the genuinely important horizontal decisions adopted in Lisbon.
Finally, we need a little bit of luck as well, for perception of this recovery is necessary for all these initiatives to be effective. We have wept and wailed on each other’s shoulders for the last three years. Either we have confidence in ourselves or we do not even attempt such measures, for what we lack is not money but confidence. There was a meeting of the Commission today on the economic previsions, and I have to say that Europe has acquired a new dimension over the last few months, in terms of employment, commercial orders and company policies. If we take into account the macroeconomic stabilisation referred to by President Gama, we have the genuine possibility of a sustained period of growth. In Lisbon, we laid the foundations for exploiting this period of growth: now it is up to us to make sure we build upon them.
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