Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-09-04-Speech-2-008"
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"en.20070904.3.2-008"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, this is an own-initiative report suggested by our political group which, after several months' work, is supported by a very large majority in the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection. I must welcome that very wide support, because if it is confirmed by Parliament in plenary we shall be able to participate fully in the work currently being done by the Commission on drawing up a communication for next autumn on internal market strategy for the twenty-first century, and to influence that work to the full.
The internal market has been the main achievement of the European Union in over 50 years. It is at the heart of European integration and now the Lisbon Strategy. It is, however, a constantly evolving process and we need above all to approach it from a political standpoint. That is, in my opinion, the most original feature of the report I am submitting to you.
Europe is going through a very unsettled period and it is important to realise that the internal market cannot be developed if it continues to face widespread scepticism and indeed hostility from the public, who often see the internal market and competition policy as the root causes of many of the social problems our citizens are experiencing.
Any internal market strategy must therefore be aimed at turning that lack of belief and that hostility into confidence in the internal market, partly by drawing attention to its benefits and partly by, at the same time, pursuing the aims of openness and competition and of social cohesion with its various components: the environment, employment, culture, access for the vulnerable.
In our report we have tried to strike that balance and I think that the reason it has received such wide support is that it has largely succeeded. That is the main recommendation we want to make to the Commission: the internal market cannot be extended and developed if our fellow citizens do not support the policy.
So we have suggested three approaches: restoring confidence, reducing burdens and, finally, placing our internal market policy in an international context. That is why we have placed an emphasis on all the aspects, such as the environment and consumer protection, that affect the quality of life of our fellow citizens. We have asked that the national parliaments should be more closely involved in our work in that respect, that they should have a better understanding of the advantages of the single market.
An important amendment that I have drawn up, which will, I think, meet with general approval, is the revised Amendment 12. In that amendment, which is based on the European Council decisions of 21 June on the mandate given to the Intergovernmental Conference with a view to including a paragraph on public services in the new amending Treaty, we call upon the Commission to clarify the position of the public services, SGIs and SGEIs, because we believe that those services play a very important part in a successful internal market that enjoys public support. We already realised that when we were discussing the directive on the internal market in services.
We have also placed a great deal of emphasis on SMEs and on vulnerable persons, especially the disabled. As regards the development of the right to consumption, we note that there is very little cross-border consumption, around 6%, which is obviously too little. We are naturally including energy policy and action against global warming in the internal market policies, as well as the opening up of network industries. One of the main – and controversial – proposals is to incorporate an Internal Market Test in any new legislation.
That was all I wanted to say in my brief speech. If we are successful in combining the inherent strength of the internal market and the commitment of producers and consumers to this policy, I think that will be a real boost for prosperity, employment and preservation of the European social model and will, at the same time, give Europe a strong economic position in the world."@en1
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