Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-10-26-Speech-2-168"
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"en.20041026.12.2-168"2
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".
Mr President, Commissioner, I too welcome this opportunity to reiterate the warm gratitude of the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance to Commissioner Schreyer for the work she has done. I would like to add, with reference to Green policy on women, that I am very proud and glad that you have represented us in this allegedly tough area of politics in recent years, and with such courage and decisiveness, such openness to dialogue and such competence. That was a tremendous success for us Greens, and also for the European Union as a whole. In that I take pride, and I wish you all the best for the future.
You have also been courageous enough to raise the question of for how long budget policy can be structured in the way it is. In the very same way as the rapporteur, Mr Garriga Polledo, you have today made it clear that budget policy is pre-eminently a political task, that not only do we have to handle columns of figures, but we also have to express the priorities of what we are endeavouring to do politically and hence also our political self-conception in Europe.
Let me start by emphasising that we generally endorse the broad outlines of what our rapporteur, Mr Garriga Polledo, has said, and by following a number of the previous speakers in illustrating this by reference to a number of policy areas. Things are improving in the field of structural policy, which is being better implemented, and which is about solidarity and real cohesion in Europe, and about reducing the differences in standards of living. Now that it is working better, it is self-evident that we must allocate more money to it.
Mr Walter has just pointed out that, as an increase in their number was what we wanted, the Council must be willing to make new funds available to the new agencies, for we cannot allow the policy of decentralised agencies to result in a price war in European politics.
The third point I would like to highlight – and on this I very much agree with many of the positions expressed by the specialist committees – is that we have to attach greater importance to information policy. Only if we communicate what we are trying to do to people where they actually are, and only if we are really pro-active in promoting the Constitution over the coming months, will we be able to win the people of Europe over to the European project, which makes political sense. A majority in our group supports precisely this approach, which involves making work on Europe more transparent and going into battle for Europe’s cause.
You then spoke about foreign policy; here, too, we take the view that we must press on with the reconstruction of Iraq with real determination. That will not, however, be possible with the present structure of the Budget, so we will have to make use of the flexibility instrument.
I would also like to stress something that Mr Garriga Polledo said, that this House and the Committee on Budgets possess the political will to counteract terrorism, the fundamentalism that strengthens it, and totalitarian thinking. Whilst endorsing this approach in principle, we do believe that we absolutely need to fight for specific measures that really make sense.
Finally, let me observe that everyone in this House is constantly talking about the Lisbon strategy. We, too, think this right and proper, but it is evident that some Members are talking about different aspects of it. We are convinced in our heart of hearts that growth policy may not be separated from sustainable growth. Green thinking and measures to protect the environment can add up, too. That, and not reverting to the mindset of the 1960s by again treating the economy and the environment as separate, is the truly modern policy for the economy and for innovation. With that in mind, I hope that we will be able to arrive at compromises with the members of the other groups in the forthcoming discussions."@en1
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