Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-06-02-Speech-1-162"
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"en.20030602.11.1-162"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, seven years after the Barcelona Conference that launched the Euromed partnership, the European Parliament has an opportunity, through Mr Piétrasanta's report, to take stock of MEDA, this policy's financing instrument. I would like to take the opportunity to underline the excellent cooperation that we have enjoyed in the drafting of this report.
The tense international situation provides further evidence every day that the economies and societies in the Mediterranean Basin need to evolve to become more prosperous, more socially cohesive and more democratic. This is in fact the only way, we are convinced, that we can work effectively to increase the stability of these regions and combat terrorism in the long term.
The twofold reform that has taken place, that of MEDA – now MEDA II – and the structural reform of external aid management, has been the source of many new and very promising initiatives, including the creation of the EuropeAid Cooperation Office. Similarly, we have high expectations of the various strategic documents, multi-annual programming exercises and new shortened and simplified procedures. Nevertheless, we would stress the importance of assessing how the resources allocated to the programmes are managed, something which should be guided by a principle that is simple and yet, it would seem, so difficult: the amounts budgeted should actually be spent and spent well.
The Barcelona process is also a project to create a vast free trade area. The new situation gives rise to new questions. Will the momentum behind the European Union's Mediterranean policy survive enlargement? What is happening about South-South cooperation or interregional cooperation?
Finally, we should not forget that it is in our interests for the funds to be distributed in such a way that they target in particular priority areas, such as social cohesion, the development of democracy, human rights, support for civil society, the specific situation of women, culture, youth and sustainable development. Over the next few years we will therefore continue to assess progress along these lines under the Commission's attentive gaze."@en1
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