Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-12-15-Speech-3-054"
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"en.20041215.2.3-054"2
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"Mr President, this has been a difficult year. It started for me with a letter bomb exploding in my office. Since then we have had the Madrid bombings. I would hope that at this time of the year our thoughts are with the victims and their families. Outside the European Union there was the tragedy of Beslan, and then today's bus siege in Greece. All this reinforces the fact that the security of our citizens has to be an absolute priority for the EU but, as a number of colleagues have already pointed out, that needs real action. Far too often cooperation among our police, judicial and intelligence services is cooperation in name only. Even a short conversation with anybody who works for Europol would reinforce that. Member States have to deliver on their promises. We need action, not words.
The same applies to the economic agenda. Member States have to be called to account by the presidency for the things they have promised to do. In particular, we have to get much more investment into people. We particularly need to deliver on the active labour market policies that Mr Wim Kok has reported on in the past. Too many people in the European Union are inactive. We are far too prepared to pay people to be on the scrap heap. We need much more proactive policies to make work pay, and that includes more childcare and more education and training. We cannot simply write people off as being unemployable.
Sound finances are the basis of a good economy and therefore we are right to review the budget. As my colleague Mrs Dührkop Dührkop said, it must not be some sort of mathematical exercise. We have to look at what we do. What is the added value in doing something at European level? What is the best way of getting value for money for our citizens? At the same time, we always have to remember that solidarity is the cornerstone of the European Union. You remove that cornerstone and you undermine the very foundations of the Union. That is why this debate on finances is vital to the future of the European Union."@en1
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