Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-02-25-Speech-3-067"
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"en.20040225.5.3-067"2
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"Mr President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, Commissioners, ladies and gentlemen, when the Spring Summit takes place next month, it will be four years exactly since our European economic ambitions were laid down and welcomed in Lisbon. Regrettably, during those past four years, the necessary progress has not been made in order to realise those ambitions. It is abundantly clear where the problem lies: the Member States are not pro-active enough in order to make the European economy competitive and dynamic.
In anticipation of the Spring Summit, President Chirac, Chancellor Schröder and Mr Blair put their heads together in order to breathe new life into Project Europe, or so we were told. Such a get-together rarely benefits our European economy. After all, they do nothing but work out a common denominator based on their own national interests, which the rest of Europe has to accept.
That our European economy is currently at a standstill is due to the poor functioning of the German and French labour markets. Was it not, in fact, France and Germany that saddled us with agreements about the agricultural budget, as a result of which we are now facing an enormous rise in the European budget following enlargement? And who will be footing the bill? Certainly not Great Britain, for that country is firmly holding onto its rebate. The Group of the European Liberal, Democratic and Reform Party believes that the heaviest burdens should rest on the strongest shoulders, but that involves all of them.
With this resolution, we are urging the Member States to work on the Lisbon objectives and keep their economies healthy. We, in the European Parliament, however, may not saddle industry with unnecessarily heavy administrative and financial burdens, as is the case with the proposed ‘REACH’ chemicals policy. It is only the Member States, though, that can ensure that Europe remains competitive at world level. It is important in that respect that the Stability Pact should be upheld and that every country should keep its budget in order. That alone can bring prosperity and a rise in employment, which is what the public so desperately need."@en1
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