Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-07-21-Speech-3-017"
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"en.20040721.1.3-017"2
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"Mr President, on behalf of my colleagues in the Irish delegation in the PPE-DE Group, I wish you every success in your term as President. I should like to acknowledge the wonderful work that our former Irish President, Pat Cox, did while in your Chair by saying that you have a hard act to follow. Welcome.
I thank, in particular, my colleagues Mr McCartin, Mrs Banotti and Mr Cushnahan, who retired at the end of the last parliamentary term. In particular I should like to mention Mr McCartin and the acknowledgement that Mr Poettering, Chairman of the PPE-DE Group, gave him on winning the Schuman Medal for 25 years' service to this Parliament: a wonderful testament to his contribution here. Between them, my three colleagues gave 60 years' service to the European Parliament. Those of us replacing them have a lot to do to catch up.
I thank you, Taoiseach and Minister Roche. I also thank Ambassador Anderson for all the excellent work that she and the permanent representation have done. We were very proud of your Irish presidency.
I should like to welcome personally the Taoiseach, Minister Roche, Ambassador Anderson and all of those from the Irish permanent representation here to Parliament this morning.
On behalf of all my colleagues in the PPE-DE Group I should like to add a few words to the summation of the sixth Irish presidency of the European Union, at what has truly been a historic time. We use the word 'historic' glibly, but it has been a time when our central and east European colleagues, along with Cyprus and Malta, have rejoined the European family. I would particularly like to commend the Irish permanent representation for their careful planning and preparation of the solid administrative, diplomatic and policy foundations that underpinned the great success of our presidency.
When Ireland unexpectedly took over the mantle of mediator in the wake of the IGC's failure to reach agreement on the new constitution for Europe last December, it seemed a daunting challenge. Taoiseach, your success in this area has become your and our crowning glory. The selection of a new Commission President was also a testament to your sound negotiating skills and those of your team. Whether it was responding to the tragic Madrid terrorist blasts in March, repairing transatlantic ties, or celebrating the historic enlargement of the EU by welcoming our new colleagues to the Community in May, the actions taken by our presidency were measured and appropriate.
So much was done in these areas it is perhaps unsurprising that the core Lisbon objectives of promoting economic competitiveness and sustainable growth must now be left for the Dutch presidency to address - a bit of 'pass the parcel' here, I suggest. This includes the important Services Directive, your promised initiative to promote better regulation and the implementation of national reform partnerships in the run-up to the mid-term review of the Lisbon Agenda.
On 14 January 2004, in welcoming you at the start of your presidency, Taoiseach, I warned that most businesses, particularly the SMEs in Europe, feel that time is running out - if it has not already run out - for Lisbon. I said that we need concrete actions and not just repetitions of wish-lists and words. At that time, I asked you and your presidency for facts and the specifics which would turn your plans into reality. It was the eighth time - and today is the ninth time - that I and my colleagues have sat through the twice-yearly mantra of lip service to Lisbon. What exactly has been done to make the Lisbon Agenda a reality under your watch - apart from setting a menu for the Dutch to get on with?
For the Irish Government I hope that the increased project management and organisational capacity that you particularly have demonstrated this year, Taoiseach, will now be taken home and applied to the domestic scene. I am not talking about transposing EU directives onto national statute books, but about proper consultation of stakeholders, proper drafting of legislation that takes account of national requirements, proper implementation of legislation and proper enforcement of these laws. At every stage of the domestic chain our record has been extremely bad: only last week nine more infringement proceedings were brought against Ireland in the environmental area. The Nitrates Directive is a case in point: years late, cobbled together at the eleventh hour, minimal consultation, less planning and a total mess.
You, Taoiseach, will now have to deliver at home. I am delighted to acknowledge the great success of your presidency of the European Council, but this is against a backdrop of some neglect on the Irish front. Indeed, the nomination yesterday of Minister McCreevy as our Irish Commissioner here brings a wry smile to my face. I wish him well and I welcome your nomination, but the term 'poacher turned gamekeeper' comes to mind in relation to European matters.
My call to you, Taoiseach, is that you take the skills and capacities you have built up as President of the European Council back home. Make your Irish presidency a role model for the continuation of the Irish Government."@en1
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