Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-09-14-Speech-2-079"
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"en.20040914.7.2-079"2
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"Mr President, I would like to start by telling Commissioner de Palacio how much we have appreciated the experience of working with her for the past five years. We have valued her energy, her willingness, and the courage with which she expressed certain views and took up positions. Mrs de Palacio, you have been an example to us and we will miss you.
I also, quite simply, want to express my regret at the absence of any connection between the timetable of the European elections on the one hand and, on the other, the appointment of the new Commission and its taking up of office. Certain delays are particularly regrettable and hold up the work of lawmaking. It strikes us that 2004 is turning out to be something of a lost year.
There have of course been positive results, some of them very positive indeed. There have been positive results as regards the euro; it is a strong and stable currency, but it does not address the public concern about possible company relocations, and so we see this as a very high priority. There have been positive results, too, in relation to enlargement: the Commission has made a success of enlargement, but it has not been able to conduct a debate on Europe’s future borders, so it is that sort of debate for which we are still waiting, along with the debate on Turkey, which will, without doubt, be beset with perils for all of us.
As for our work on the legislative front, it has made it possible to deal with certain issues relating to safety, specifically at sea – something for which I will take this opportunity to thank the Commissioner – to food safety and to the fight against terrorism, but there are many still to be resolved as regards migration flows.
There is much else that we should be doing. Admittedly, there has been an increase in the research budget, but it is important that we should follow that up in view of our serious concerns about the brain drain. While on that subject, let me stress the need to give much more thought to our young people, about whom too little is said in this Chamber. We must discuss their mobility, their education, not to mention equivalence for diplomas, an area in which the situation is not changing quickly enough, where there are still too many difficulties and where there is a need for us to exert pressure on the Council.
All this depends on financial perspectives, the debate on which must not be solely budgetary in character. There has to be a real policy debate on our aspirations, on what we want for this Europe of ours, and we must be able to equip the Europe we envisage for the years ahead with the funding it needs.
Let me conclude by congratulating each and every Commissioner. We did indeed value their competence and their efforts as individuals, whilst regretting this Commission’s lack of sufficient vision in certain areas, as well as the lack of punch and effectiveness of its President, Mr Prodi, and his inability to make something of his role. Is that, though, what he wanted? I will end, Mr President, by saying that, for a year, we have found President Prodi’s ongoing absence regrettable. It testifies to his lack of interest in our institution, and I hope that the next President of the Commission will have a different attitude towards us."@en1
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