Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-06-14-Speech-3-016"

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"Mr President, I would like to thank the President of the Commission and the President-in-Office of the Council, as well as the Vice-President of the Commission, for their presentations and contributions. I would like to deal briefly with a number of issues that I think we should be addressing in Europe, before returning to the issue of the period of reflection on the Constitution. The Austrian Presidency has proven over the last few months that when you deal with a particular issue in a certain way you can achieve success. When you try and bring the different players together you can achieve a result that nobody thought possible. We have already seen this on a number of different legislative fronts, both in the cooperation with Parliament and in the work with the Commission. I think that is what Europe needs today: a greater understanding that there is a return on the investment made in terms of time and effort. That return is not just about esoteric ideals, but about creating real solutions to the problems that people face in their lives. Unfortunately, too much of the debate is now determined by what media commentators are saying, rather than what the citizens of the European Union are saying, because when you speak to people and ask them what their needs are, and what kind of Europe that they want to see, they all reply that they want an internal market, greater job security, greater energy security, better personal security and safety, for their children to have a safer and cleaner environment in which to live and for Europe to play a responsible role on the world stage. Taking all these things together, why do we in this Chamber seem to speak about a crisis of confidence in Europe, when the level of crisis, fear and loathing which some people would have you believe exists is simply not there among the general public? There are a number of key things we can do in the coming Council meeting to try and drive things forward. First of all, there must be a restatement of commitment and idealism in respect of the Lisbon Agenda, establishing the genuine goals and targets of having, by 2010, the most dynamic economy in the world and creating the investment, research and development that we will need to create new jobs and new opportunities. We also need to follow through on existing dossiers, be it the services directive, the protection of public services or the right to universal service, and bring these into being. With regard to energy, the President of the Commission has come forward with a good policy for a common energy policy in Europe, but we should also look at the alternatives, including the opportunity to use fuel crops to produce energy. Finally, as regards the period of reflection on the Constitution, I consider it wrong to call it a constitution, and was delighted that the Foreign Ministers said in Austria that it was wrong to do so. However, it contains some good points and I welcome the perspective outlined for us by the President of the Commission, and the Vice-President of the Commission in particular, in pushing the idea of a Plan D and taking up on those good points and moving forward. My only words of caution are that we should not jump ahead of what the governments are willing to do, because ultimately the governments are the key representatives of their peoples and national interests."@en1
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