Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-03-14-Speech-3-204"
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"en.20070314.17.3-204"2
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"As Commissioner Mendelson rightly said, the Mediterranean presents a common challenge for all of us. I believe that the Commissioner hit the nail on the head when he said that, if we do not appreciate the fact that we are facing a common challenge, then we cannot even begin to address this challenge, let alone meet it.
I believe that the strategy we applied in order to build Europe has to apply to the Mediterranean too. Therefore, we need further to strengthen cooperation and economic integration, and then the other things will follow almost automatically. In order to strengthen economic cooperation, we naturally have to step up our endeavours in order to achieve our aim of a Free Trade Area by 2010. However, we cannot simply make efforts towards obtaining a Free Trade Area without taking into account the negative consequences that this might have for various sectors, including jobs and employment, the quality of life, social development and the environment. In order to minimise these consequences, we must make further commitments, both in financial terms and in terms of being more accessible to Mediterranean countries, for example through the Mediterranean Bank initiative. I agree with this initiative wholeheartedly and hope to see improved developments in this area in the near future. Through this initiative, we should not only be helping out financially, but we should also be sending out an important political message.
There is a substantial number of other issues that I do not have time to discuss in depth, but immigration and water resources in the region are two of these. It is a well-known fact that, without water, life cannot go on, yet long-term investment in this sector is sorely lacking. Also, improving relations in the Mediterranean requires much patience and perseverance on our part. I am optimistic that, despite the challenges facing us, we will succeed in building a zone of prosperity, in the same way that we built Europe brick by brick after the war. Now we must persist in being patient and in persevering."@en1
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