Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-12-14-Speech-2-036"
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"en.19991214.3.2-036"2
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"Mr President, President-in-Office of the Council Lipponen and Commission President Romano Prodi gave us an excellent summary of the main decisions taken during the Finnish Presidency and of future tasks that lay ahead. Although I am therefore satisfied with the Finnish Government’s strong grasp of leadership and the fact that either considerable progress was made with the key issues or they were finally resolved, it is clear that the good results of the Presidency stem from the desire by the whole of the Union to develop a common European structure. If I also mention various disappointments, I am not blaming the Finnish Presidency for them: certain matters simply need more consideration; along the same tracks run trains of varying speed, and the heaviest loads are often the slowest.
I am very satisfied with the progress made on a common dimension for crisis management and defence. The bases for the security of people in a democratic Union that is committed to a market economy and respect for the principle of the rule of law are economic growth, increased employment, internal security to combat crime, and a common foreign, political and military security system.
The extension of Union enlargement to all thirteen countries ended the artificial split between the applicant countries. I would say that the decision on Turkish candidacy for membership will furthermore induce this large and important country to determine for itself whether it will ever achieve membership.
The northern dimension was overshadowed by the open crises in Kosovo and Chechnya. I share with Mr Lipponen’s hope that Russia will become a more successful member of the global community, which would make cross-border cooperation possible on Russia’s northern border with the Union and thus give substance to the northern dimension.
The decision to promote all the possibilities of information technology to improve the Union’s competitiveness and the aim to take Europe to the number one position in the world as an information society player are both essential ingredients in the promotion of economic security. In this area, Commissioner Liikanen will have both an interesting and mighty task ahead of him.
Among the disappointments we must once again include certain important issues with regard to the development of the single market and the Union’s decision-making system. The tax package, even a nodding glance at the harmonisation of taxes, failed. The idea of a European limited company could not be taken forward, and the illegal beef war in Europe continues.
Finally, I would like to raise a small but, in my own area, important matter. Where did WADA (the World Anti Doping Agency) disappear to, beyond the reach of the Union, and the watchdog on sports-related illness and the doctor, which Commissioner Viviane Reding reported on 1 December, and in which the Union was to have a key role? Do the Member States not fear the present and future skeletons in their own cupboards in wishing to keep the main responsibility for themselves within the territory of the Union?"@en1
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