Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-03-13-Speech-1-035"
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"en.20000313.2.1-035"2
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"Mr President-in-Office, first of all, I would like to welcome you to the European Parliament, particularly as your presence here symbolises what the Chairman of the Group of the Party of European Socialists has already referred to. By that I mean the political symbolism of the fact that during your tour of the capitals, you have also come to listen to the European Parliament. This is not the first time during the Portuguese Presidency that there has been a different and politically stimulating relationship between the Council and Parliament, but this is a significant gesture which, as my friend and colleague Mr Barón Crespo noted, we were delighted to note.
Our position is clear: we support the Portuguese Government’s initiative. We support it because it is a serious initiative and because of its substance, both in terms of strategic objectives and in terms of other objectives with which we agree.
Furthermore, the way in which this European Council is being prepared is a good illustration of this. Firstly, there is the seriousness and depth of the document presented in January. Then, there are the various preparatory conferences and the contributions that both business and union leaders are making towards this summit. In particular, there is the latest contribution to research that was made at the recent meeting which brought together Nobel Prize winners and Ministers for Science and Technology. This shows that the Portuguese Government is preparing for this Summit seriously and is paying a great deal of attention to its substance.
However, we also support the initiative relating to the summit’s main objective, which has already been mentioned. We do so because for the first time, it is not only putting the issue of employment and social issues at the centre of the European debate but is once again suggesting that “achieving the objective of full employment” is in the realm of the possible. For years, many people have said this was impossible, that in modern society it would never again be possible.
My congratulations, Mr President-in-Office, for making this issue topical once again without rejecting social cohesion and values which we hold to be fundamental, because they are not only at the heart of the founding project of the EU, but they are at the heart of our civilisation and, above all, of our understanding of the need for solidarity between all Europeans.
Something that we said here in January and that I would like to repeat is that we must not be satisfied with this strategic objective being the priority of one presidency, a priority for just six months. We challenge the Council and the Commission once again to include it, not as a priority for six months, but as a goal for the EU, as important as the goal of enlarging or deepening the European Union. Only in this way will it be able to match the degree of seriousness with which the presidency is preparing this Special Summit. I congratulate you, Mr President-in-Office."@en1
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