Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-10-12-Speech-3-184"
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"en.20051012.17.3-184"2
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"Mr President, it was in the context of the Lisbon process that, on behalf of the ALDE Group, I discussed the resolution adopted by the European Parliament. On this basis, we can no doubt be honest and observe that the half-time result for the Lisbon Strategy is a disaster. Very few indeed of the key figures laid down have really been achieved. In order to achieve the objective, we have only half the time left but, in actual fact, twice the work. While we are sitting in this House mulling over why we are limping behind the United States in terms of economic growth, the Americans are wondering why growth in China is twice that of the United States.
I think that the rapporteur has prepared a very good report but that, if I may say so, it is far too kind. We have agreed with the Commission’s proposal and supported basing the whole process on Europe’s need for a knowledge-driven economy but, if this is to be done, not only will some quite tough decisions have to be taken but the ambitions in the budget debates will also have to be lived up to. What we observe is that the proposals made by the Commission and supported by all the large groups in the European Parliament are not at all supported by the Council of Ministers.
The budget debates now being held on the financial perspective are, frankly, embarrassing, for, instead of increasing the research appropriation from the present level, the present proposals would in actual fact reduce the research appropriations by more than 40%. The same applies to the proposals in the EU area on the subject of education. The issue of lifelong learning was mentioned in the debate. That is obviously an incredibly important basis for all citizens’ being able to participate in this knowledge-driven economy. I would therefore ask the Commission to explain why there are budget headings with incredibly large sums for lifelong learning that are not used, that are locked up and impossible to apply for and that no one will be able to get at before the present budget period has expired.
I also wonder whether a very important issue in this connection is not that of improving the administration. In my view, a very great deal falls to the Member States.
When it comes to the report itself, I have a question about language education. Language education is, of course, extremely important, but why focus on neighbouring countries’ languages? Students are surely free to choose which languages they wish to study, and that is not something that the Commission and Brussels should control.
Finally, our group will support this report. We think that the rapporteur has done a very good job, but we do in actual fact require much more stringent measures. We demand not only that Parliament comply with its objectives but that the Commission do so too and release the money for lifelong learning so that it can be applied for. We also demand that the Council answer the question of why it talks in one breath about a knowledge-driven economy and, in the next, does not appropriate the resources needed."@en1
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