Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-11-18-Speech-2-036"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20031118.2.2-036"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, Mr President of the Commission, ladies and gentlemen, I believe that behind every legislative programme lies a political project. From this point of view, 2004 ought to be the year that will allow us to reconcile two absolutely essential objectives of our Union: peace and prosperity. In other words, we have no chance of successfully meeting any of the challenges that await us in 2004 unless we re-lay the foundations for prosperity on our continent. The third objective set for 2004 by the Commission, sustainable development, is therefore absolutely essential in the light of the Union’s current economic situation.
In this context my group dares to hope that the Commission will make employment a clear priority, because neither enlargement nor a new constitution will be acceptable to our fellow citizens unless we first turn our attention to the issue of employment. To do so, we also need investment, both private and public, in human resources and we need a return to a level of growth that is sufficient to increase the quality of life of our fellow citizens. We must not rely solely on variations in interest rates or on the outside world to deliver growth areas for the Union.
We might perhaps regret the fact, moreover, that the Commission has not, in its wide-ranging programme for 2004, addressed more explicitly the question of economic governance, above all given that the conditions in which the Commission is intending to prepare the spring summit, particularly as regards the implementation of the Lisbon strategy, do not yet appear to be quite clear. We need to know under what conditions the new Commission will have to implement the follow-up to this strategy and with this in mind, it might perhaps be useful for the outgoing Commission to draft an assessment of the first phase of the strategy.
Lastly, it seems to me that the Commission’s programme ought to give a higher profile to the issue of sustainable development. I also note that despite a totally unrealistic number of new legislative proposals, some omissions can be observed. Firstly, there is not a word about the second reading of the directive on investment services, when it is a text on which we have done a great deal of work. I therefore dare to hope that we will be able to complete it before the end of this parliamentary term. The same goes for the review of the Financial Services Action Plan and the extension of the use of the Lamfalussy procedure. This Commission and this Parliament ought to conclude work on all of these dossiers in the course of 2004.
Let me finish by saying how surprised I am, Mr President of the Commission, that your legislative programme, which is so heavy and so crowded, does not even mention a framework directive on services of general interest, something that my group and this House as a whole have repeatedly requested, and for which the Convention also expressed a strong desire."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples