Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-11-17-Speech-3-040"
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"en.20041117.3.3-040"2
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"On behalf of my group, I too should like to comment on the spring meeting and the Kok II report. Economic and social policy and sustainability policy are the hallmarks of the Lisbon strategy, and it is right that the report and the Council’s conclusions do not interfere with the coherence of them. Even if growth and employment take centre stage, objectives in the social and environmental areas should in no way be made subordinate.
It is unfortunate that the mandate of the High-Level Group to develop a consistent strategy in a bid to achieve the Lisbon objectives does not focus more on common macro-economic policy at European level. After all, in that respect, there are no longer any economies in the plural, and there have not been any for a long time, but only one European economy.
We were pleased to find out about the intention to involve the European Parliament more effectively in the preparations of the spring meeting and the Lisbon strategy. Mr Balkenende was interested to learn about our plans to set up a standing committee. I can tell him that indeed, we are carefully considering how we would give this shape, but I, in turn, would like to ask him to take into account the timeframe for the various reports, including the planning we need to draw up here in this House. In our experience, there is often too little space to make adequate use of this.
We also intend to involve national parliaments more obviously in the strategy. I think that this is also a very important aspect. Along with the Luxembourg Presidency, we would like to examine how we, together with the national parliaments, can prepare the spring meeting.
It is evident that making the Lisbon strategy more effective depends, first and foremost, on the willingness of the Member States to work truly at EU level. In my view, we are heading for a change from mutual competition among the Member States towards a focus on stronger, common, European strategy. That is where our strength lies compared to other economic blocs, including the US and China which also work as unities. In that light, we should therefore not only consider the balance of revenue and expenditure of Member States in the framework of the Stability Pact, but, as Commissioner Almunia said in the
on Monday, we should also consider the quality of public finances. The Council, the Commission, national parliaments and the European Parliament should all join in the discussion about national budget policy. The economic policy could then be more than the sum of the 25 constituent parts. That is the challenge we are facing."@en1
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