Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-05-26-Speech-4-041"
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Ladies and gentlemen, the message that Mr Almunia and I will take away from this debate is that there is a broad consensus of mainstream opinion on the Commission’s proposals. I believe that it would be useful to highlight a number of key approaches that emerged clearly from the debate, and I would add that these are in fact present in the Commission’s proposals, albeit in different form.
The first of these is that if Europe is to be able to compete successfully on the global market, it must be competitive in terms of quality. Our competitiveness must not be based on low wages or factors of scale, but on the growth of innovation, science and development, as well as on skills development, or, to use the jargon, the development of what is termed ‘human capital’.
The second point that emerges quite clearly, and that has been acknowledged during the debate, is that we need an overall or coordinated approach. Such an approach would make allowance for the fact that the issues with which we are dealing form a complex whole, and that the individual parts of this whole must not be taken out of context in the hope of achieving some sort of success. Furthermore, it goes without saying that whilst the Commission is convinced that the key issue at stake is quality-based competitiveness with a view to growth, it emerges quite clearly from the strategy for growth and employment that the Commission does not take it as read that growth on its own is the answer to everything, or that there is no need for it to be accompanied by other proactive policies.
In my opinion, the debate as a whole has demonstrated that extremely complex questions can be asked about the extent to which the proposals that have been presented speak for everyone. As I see it, it is quite obvious that this is an issue that is always open to debate. Furthermore, I am sure that the debate in this House will result in improvements to the final versions of these EU strategic documents, as the latter pursue two goals. The first, of course, is to formulate a coherent policy that reflects our values, one of which is the promotion of a socially cohesive and economically productive society whose members have a high quality of life. In my opinion, there can be no one who would dispute this goal. At the same time as searching for ways in which we can draft effective strategic documents, however, our second goal is to shape a common European will, and indeed this is something that has frequently been mentioned in this Chamber. This would enable us to work together and in harmony towards goals that derive from our values and to overcome the problems with which life confronts us.
Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the Commission I can assure you that we will do everything in our power to ensure that due consideration will be given to the outcome of the debate in this House in the final documents, which will be debated by the Council in early June."@en1
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"en.20050526.4.4-041"2
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