Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-04-20-Speech-2-240"
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"en.20040420.9.2-240"2
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".
Mr President, I wish to thank Mr Wynn and his committee for their work. I welcome the opportunity today to participate in this debate on the future financial perspective, and I note the points made by Mr Wynn.
The report and the work undertaken by Parliament constitute an important contribution to the process of working towards the agreement on future financing for the period from 2006 onwards. The nature of the agreement on the next funding round will have a critical impact on how the Union equips itself to tackle forthcoming challenges, including those most relevant to the quality of life and economic prospects of our citizens. Each of the Union's institutions has a responsibility to ensure that we achieve a balanced and fair outcome that supports our policy goals in a financially efficient and financially effective manner.
As we are aware, there are no easy answers to the challenge that the negotiations on future financing will have to address. We must address the need to boost growth throughout the Union so as to capitalise on the economic recovery that is now evident. We need to target resources effectively so that we build a growth-enhancing infrastructure throughout the Union that contributes to the improvement of transport links, with investment in communications and new technologies. Similarly, the provision of support for human capital – in particular in terms of education and training – has the potential to complement our investment in infrastructure. Upgrading the skills of Europe's workforce will contribute significantly to improved productivity. Equally, support for innovation will provide added value in the demanding global marketplace, thus enhancing the competitiveness of the Union and its output.
The policy of solidarity is critical to the success of our Union. The European Union must consider how best to support those regions of the new Member States that will lag behind the Union's average in terms of development and access to growth opportunities, including access to employment opportunities. Equally, certain regions of existing Member States are still engaged in the convergence process, and the Union will need to consider what continued assistance is appropriate to support our shared objective of enabling all regions to converge on the EU average level of prosperity. Similarly, our debate on future financing will have to address the differing needs of urban and rural populations and regions and consider how best to create a balanced outcome that will promote greater prosperity for a wider range of Europe's citizens.
Our debate on future financing must also consider how we can enhance the priority which we attach to promoting the principle of sustainability in respect of future growth and development. Equally, we all recognise the importance of providing appropriate resources for increased Union actions in the areas of freedom, security and justice and in support of the Union's external relations role. In short, the challenges facing us as we look at the future financial perspective are very significant indeed.
As Parliament is aware, we are still at the very early phase of our deliberations on the future financial perspective. The Irish presidency's approach is to build a solid foundation for the detailed work that will need to be undertaken under succeeding presidencies to achieve agreement on the level and on the focus of future financing. Its related objective is to provide Member States with the opportunity to consider the Commission communication as a whole and to outline their initial response. This process is intended to enable us to identify areas of agreement and also areas of potential divergence. Parliament will have seen the European Council conclusions welcoming the work of the Commission on this issue and endorsing the presidency's approach to handling it.
In line with these conclusions and analytical exercises currently under way in the Council to examine each of the areas addressed in the Commission communication, this work will form the basis for the report which will be prepared for the June European Council, outlining the outcome of the deliberations thus far.
The Wynn report is therefore an important contribution to work on an issue in which each of the Union's institutions will be involved. I welcome the constructive manner in which the European Parliament, as usual, has approached the issue of future financing. While there may be differing viewpoints on specific aspects of the issue, I am pleased to see that there are many areas of shared analysis and a common recognition of the importance of focusing on issues such as sustainable development, growth, freedom, security and justice, and the Union's external role.
We have much work to do, as I have already said. That will determine how the Union acquits itself to meet the challenges ahead. Obviously, there will be points on which we will differ as the negotiations proceed – that is the very nature of politics and political dialogue. However, I am confident that our shared commitment to achieving a fair and balanced outcome to negotiations will help us to work towards a final package that will promote effective use of resources in support of greater prosperity for all the Union's citizens in the years ahead."@en1
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