Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-02-21-Speech-1-160"
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"en.20050221.16.1-160"2
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".
Mr President, Commissioner Kroes, Mr Evans’s draft report did not give rise to any fundamental disagreements. I should like to begin by thanking the rapporteur for the spirit of cooperation that led to consensus on almost all of the amendments that I tabled as shadow rapporteur and on behalf of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament.
These amendments clarified a range of points, not least that competitiveness is an essential factor in fostering growth in Europe, although this is only one of the objectives of the Lisbon Strategy, equally as important as cohesion and the environment. The next point was that the relationship between competition policy and state aid must be clarified; the third was that the rules regarding technology exchange agreements and research and development aid, particularly in the area of small and medium-sized enterprises, must be clarified; fourthly, that the relationship between the financial instruments linked to the Kyoto Protocol impacting at company level and competition policy must be clarified; fifthly, that the new Member States must adapt quickly to competition policy; and sixthly, that close ties are welcome between competition policy and international trade policy, both at multilateral level, within the framework of the World Trade Organisation, and at bilateral level with the main partners, including China.
Those are some of the proposals that were accepted. Two proposed amendments did not achieve consensus: one is to be tabled by Mrs Batzeli, and the other concerns the sentence in which the rapporteur proposes, and I quote, that ‘Parliament expresses its concern at the continued failure to achieve full liberalisation in the EU gas and electricity markets’.
I feel that liberalisation is not an end in itself. It is a means whereby in this sector, in common with other essential supplies, the consumer enjoys the best possible conditions in terms of price, quality and universality, because those consumers are citizens, first and foremost. Liberalisation must take place within a framework that guarantees the status of gas and electricity as a public good. That is the thrust of the amendment that I had the opportunity to table.
What must be remembered, perhaps today more than ever, is that the EU project is a political one, albeit with an economic foundation. If the supremacy of the market means that the citizens will, on a long-term basis, be prevented from enjoying their fundamental rights ..."@en1
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