Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-01-18-Speech-3-044"
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"en.20060118.2.3-044"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the Austrian Presidency is starting at not an easy time for Europe, even though the agreement on the financial perspective may represent the beginning of a new chapter. The Union is faced, in fact, with a major attack from within and just as dangerous a threat from outside.
The attack from within is coming from those who do not believe, or no longer believe, in the fundamental role that Europe can and must play. They are riding on a credibility crisis that has alienated too many citizens from institutions that they consider distant and governed by an all-powerful but inept bureaucracy. Europeans want a political Union that can solve those problems of theirs to which Member States and local bodies are unable to provide answers.
That is why we must work for a more political Europe that reaches out to take care of people’s interests. We need a strong commitment to economic growth, which will create jobs; we need aid for small and medium-sized enterprises – as you mentioned – as well as budget reform and measures to address the important issue of immigration. There is also a need for a Constitution to enable us to attain these objectives, to simplify the legislative process, and to guarantee the continuity of political action.
We are convinced that we can make progress in that direction over the next six months, and we look forward with confidence to 2007, when the German Presidency will happily coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Community Treaties and we can make constructive choices for the future of Europe. The Constitution is not dead: having it enter into force is a fundamental objective for us to pursue.
The threat from outside is that of terrorism. We have to defend ourselves by enhancing internal cooperation, not only through judicial and policing initiatives, but above all by means of political action to make the Union a key player in bringing peace to the Middle East. The war on terrorism is waged primarily in that part of the world. Guaranteeing security for Israel and creating a Palestinian state are the keys to seeing freedom and peace triumph over violence and fundamentalism.
Chancellor
and the Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats endorse the Austrian Presidency’s proposals to revitalise Europe’s role and to close the gap between the Union’s institutions and its citizens. You can count on our help. We wish you every success in your work, Mr Schüssel."@en1
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