Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-01-16-Speech-3-063"
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"en.20020116.6.3-063"2
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"Mr President, in setting out the presidency's programme with regard to key policy issues, which will be addressed over the next six months by the European Union, the Spanish Prime Minister has stated that his priority of priorities during Spain's six-months' presidency of the EU will be the global fight against terrorism. I strongly support this political objective. The European Union has certainly adopted a series of measures to combat international terrorism in recent months as an immediate response to the horrific terrorist attacks in the United States last September. The prevention of the use of the European financial system as a money-laundering route for terrorism must continue to be a priority for our Union. The fifteen governments of the Union should also be in a position to freeze the assets of terrorists and those involved in organised and international crime.
I very much welcome the Spanish Government's objective of promoting more police cooperation across the borders of the Union. This is very important because intelligence agencies within the Union, together with Europol, have to work much more closely together in terms of exchanging and sharing information if the terror networks operating in Europe are to be broken.
The enlargement negotiations with the applicant countries will be entering a new phase during the Spanish Presidency. This presidency is being entrusted with two very difficult chapters in the negotiations on enlargement, namely agricultural policy and regional aid. The Union and the applicant countries must sit down and hammer out an agreement on the difficult chapters of the discussions because otherwise enlargement of the Union cannot take place quickly and will not be a success.
Countries in Eastern and Central Europe are presently receiving EU Structural Funds so as to make their economies more competitive. This is an important policy objective because it will ensure that on entry these countries can participate within the Union in a competitive climate. If the economies of Eastern and Central Europe are not competitive, then they will not be able to participate within the internal market in any real, effective sense. Equally, promoting market economies in Eastern and Central Europe is good news for businesses within the Union, which can also expand their goods and services into new markets.
The Spanish Government is also going to set up the Convention in March this year to look at the development of the future of EU policies within the Union in the context of the next Intergovernmental Conference in 2004. It is important that the terms of reference of this Convention are clear and decisive and that its conclusions in due course do not turn out to be an unattainable wish list. Amendments to the Treaties have to be agreed by European Union leaders and any proposals emanating from this Convention must be balanced, progressive and achievable.
I also welcome the commitment of the Spanish Government to promote the implementation of EU regulations and directives, which should expand the use of new information technologies into all parts of the Union. This is exceptionally important if the Union is to remain competitive in the years to come.
Finally, one of the great disappointments of Laeken was the failure to reach agreement on the siting of up to 12 new important EU agencies. I hope that the Spanish Government can reach agreement quickly on the location of these important agencies, in particular the European Food Authority and the European Maritime Safety Agency."@en1
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