Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-03-11-Speech-2-250"
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"en.20030311.10.2-250"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, I would firstly like to express my group’s agreement with the text of the reports we are discussing, but not with some of the statements which have been made on presenting them to this plenary session.
The immediate aim of this debate is essentially to prepare for the Spring Council and it is intended to respond to the corresponding assessment of the so-called ‘Lisbon process’, complemented by the decisions of the Gothenburg and Barcelona Councils. Within this context, I would firstly like to express my concern and that of my group at the fact that the aim established for 2010 of being a more competitive economy with higher quality and greater levels of employment has not been achieved. When assessing these three years, despite the difficulties of the American economy, we find that, in terms of growth, productivity levels and employment levels, we are further behind than three years ago. It is therefore clear that there is a very worrying difference between what is preached in the Councils and what is practiced in the Member States, and this prejudices the Union’s overall result.
We in the Liberal Group believe that the main problems principally stem from the lack of compliance with the liberalisation processes agreed, since, as the report by Mr García-Margallo y Marfil points out, there are still significant structural reforms to be carried out and certain basic markets, such as the labour market, must be made even more flexible.
In the current situation, which is not exactly one of the best economic situations the European Union has been in in recent years, there are three key aspects which particular attention must also be paid to. Firstly, we must improve the level not just of research and development but of its application within the productive system. Let us hope that this historic agreement on the European patent, as Commissioner Solbes has mentioned, will provide promotion in this area, but that it will also pay special attention to the creation and development of small and medium-sized businesses based on the application of new technologies, because, as was demonstrated in the 1990s, they are significant sources of work.
I do not have the time to mention other issues, Mr President, but I would like to end as I began: rather than making grand statements in Spring Councils, we must comply with what has been agreed."@en1
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