Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-03-20-Speech-3-014"
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"en.20020320.5.3-014"2
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".
Mr President, President-in-Office of the Council, ladies and gentlemen, we are here today to discuss the outcome of the recent European Council in Barcelona. For my part, I would like to start by paying tribute to a man whom many of you in this Chamber knew: his name was Marco Biagi – he was a friend of mine – and he was murdered last night in Bologna. He was 52 years old and married with two children. A professor at Modena University, he was an expert in employment law and adviser to the Labour Minister in the present Italian government, as he had been adviser to other Labour Ministers in previous governments, including the government I headed. He had worked all his life to encourage the dialogue between the social partners in his and my country, Italy, and in Europe. Appointed by the European Commission, he was a member of the High Level Group on the future of industrial relations which prepared the report on social dialogue, the very report we debated together a few days ago at Barcelona. To pay tribute to Marco Biagi, Mr President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, ladies and gentlemen, we must strive to preserve the unity between our societies and combat terrorism together; we must strive to defeat terrorism, the unrelenting enemy of democracy.
In the run-up to the Barcelona Council, progress was also made on consolidating the interconnection of Europe’s telecommunications and electricity networks. This matter may seem rather technical, but it will step up market integration and improve productivity for European industry.
Lastly, agreement was reached on a new e-Europe 2005 action plan consolidating our strategy for the dissemination of new technologies in areas such as commerce, health care and public administration. Furthermore, the Council also came to an agreement which will improve its coordination of economic policies, particularly in the euro zone.
The Barcelona results are therefore a major achievement and must not be played down. Indeed, we cannot continue always to bank on success and just focus on areas where we are lagging behind or failing to deliver the goods.
The Spring Councils have already become important political occasions for reviewing and giving new impetus to the process we are pursuing. The coordination of economic policies is a crucial part of this process. As I have said on a number of occasions, the time has come to capitalise on the tremendous success of the launch of the euro. Now that the euro is in circulation, action is needed at policy level. We must turn our attention to the matter of defining and implementing an economic policy for the euro zone involving greater coordination of Member States’ economic policies. In particular, we need to work on the basis of a set of agreed principles and rules for Member States’ budgetary policies. I welcome the European Council’s expression of its support for this idea, which will make structural budgetary policies more consistent and less unpredictable. This shows that the Spring Councils have taken on the responsibility of providing political guidance for this process of shaping the governance of Europe’s economy. They are also ready to play their part in carrying out an annual review of this overall economic strategy. The economic base underpinning the euro is thus strengthened and a virtuous circle created between monetary policy and the actual economy.
Mr President, at Barcelona, we gave strong impetus to the economic reforms that were lagging behind schedule, but we did not give those objectives precedence over the social issues. Issues such as job creation and creating the conditions to enable people to stay competitive on the labour market were high on our agenda, together with environmental issues. Moreover, as the Commission’s Spring Report said, the fact that we have decided to concentrate on some priorities certainly does not mean that we have forgotten the others. We need to keep up the pace of reforms in all areas for, as we are well aware, this integrated approach is vital if we are to achieve our ultimate goal. Our efforts must be two-fold: we must act swiftly to follow up the Barcelona results and continue to strive towards achieving the other objectives of our strategy. This is not a zero-sum game: it is a positive-sum game. In our policy decisions, giving priority to one area does not mean neglecting another. We will thus continue to bind the social and environmental strands into our overall policy decisions. Clearly, other actions must follow: we must never forget that our strategy spans a ten-year period. Our achievements will be assessed when the decade is up. Let us not lose sight of that fact.
As we know, social development and justice and mutual solidarity must go hand in hand in our society. These are the values on which we want to build Europe: a free, democratic Europe, a Europe whose principles exclude the use of violence as part of the necessary exchange of ideas. These are the values we must never, ever forget, especially at times like these.
Mr President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, ladies and gentlemen, I am here today, then, to report to you the outcome of the European Council held at the end of last week in Barcelona.
As Prime Minister Aznar said, the Barcelona European Council was a success. A success for Europe in that it was a major step towards the practical implementation of the Lisbon strategy. A success too for our method and for the institutions: the Commission, the Council and Parliament. It was a success for the Commission, whose Spring Report guided the debates within the European Council and the proposals reflected in the conclusions. It was a success for the Council Presidency, which provided judicious guidance and organisation, and I wish to express my heartfelt thanks to Mr Aznar and his team for their work. It was a success for Parliament too, which debated and endorsed practically all the proposals put forward for Barcelona during the weeks leading up to the Council. This means, as you rightly pointed out, President Cox, that we have moved from a ‘culture of conflict to a culture of change’. The spirit of partnership between the institutions and our commitment to a more effective reform process has thus been indissolubly cemented. President Cox, I therefore wish to express my sincerest thanks to you too. I particularly appreciated your statement at the opening of the Council. It was the best possible start to two days of constructive work. You stressed that Parliament was determined to play a key role in the reforms and the progress of European integration. I am totally behind you on this.
In particular, Parliament has got through a huge amount of work recently under the codecision procedure. We are all proud of this achievement and I am particularly grateful to you. These developments give me much satisfaction, especially as they shorten the ‘delivery gap’ between the announcement of a policy and its actual implementation. Last November and then again in the Spring Report, I highlighted the dangers of allowing long periods of time to elapse between policy statements and practical implementation. Indeed, my overriding fear is that we will keep creating fresh expectations among the citizens and then disappointing them. If we really want to bring Europe closer to the people, we must decide and act smartly. Today, I am glad that we set a clear timetable for the coming years at Barcelona with clear deadlines. This timetable has already been outlined by Prime Minister Aznar.
Let me now focus very briefly on a few highlights, Mr President. At Barcelona, we set a date for the opening up of the electricity and gas markets. This project had been at a standstill for months. It prevented European firms from benefiting from reduced costs and the resulting gains in productivity. By the end of 2004, non-household consumers will have the freedom to choose their suppliers. I would also point out, however, that the opening up of the markets will be regulated to ensure that public service obligations are fulfilled. Indeed, this Commission has already shown on past occasions that it is particularly sensitive to the need, or rather the obligation, to reconcile the demands of competition and productivity with the responsibilities attached to the provision to services of general interest.
Moreover, Barcelona has put the Galileo project back on track and given it new impetus. This unexpected result represents a major step forward and its political and economic implications are great.
I would also draw your attention to the great milestone achieved in the opening up of the financial markets. The Council reaffirmed its commitment to implementing the Financial Services Action Plan and achieving fully integrated markets. This means that the securities and risk capital markets will be integrated by 2003 and the financial services markets by 2005. The decision may have received less press coverage than the decision on the electricity market but its importance must certainly not be underestimated: in terms of economic impact it is even more important, for a Europe-wide integrated capital market coupled with the single currency will bring great benefits for consumers and investors."@en1
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