Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-10-03-Speech-2-145"
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"en.20001003.4.2-145"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, it is not just transparency in the transitional stage which is needed for accession, Mrs Smet; flexibility and imagination are also needed. But one thing is certain: the remarkable efforts and absolute determination of the candidate countries to join the European Union must be incentive enough for us to get ready and able to enlarge. Thus, any measures which help to improve the process of rapprochement must be taken much more energetically and with better coordination management now in the pre-accession stage.
The Commission should not be left to fend for itself here. This comment is addressed to the Council and of course to us, the Member States, precisely because the rates of growth in the candidate countries are in fact far lower than those forecast in 1997, when we first debated this question. We should therefore be more conservative, Commissioner, in our future forecasts. Far better to err on the side of caution.
However, we should all be clear on one thing: continuous economic growth is the basis for social development. And, in turn, social development is needed if we are to stabilise the European social model and ensure that this model is not jeopardised.
However, we live in the real political world and are therefore bound to make provision for transitional arrangements in various political sectors in order to prevent negative frictional losses during the accession process. In doing so, we help both the candidate countries and the Member States themselves. For the job market and employment policy, that means that Member States bordering candidate countries need flexible, intelligent transitional arrangements in the first stage for the free movement of workers, especially border commuters, but only until such time as the difference in the standard of living in the candidate countries has improved to the point at which no migrationary movements or unrest are expected. Border regions need stability. That means that we must use the first stage following accession to jointly iron out social differences, especially if we are to be able to jointly build up confidence-inspiring relations in border regions.
Our opportunity lies in the fact that a successful socialisation process can prevent protectionism and nationalism. This is especially important in border regions, where several cultures clash."@en1
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