Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-11-14-Speech-2-161"
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"en.20001114.6.2-161"2
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"Mr President, we presented the MEDA report at the beginning of September, and while this report, admittedly, allowed us to note some shortcomings, it was also, more importantly, an opportunity to proclaim loud and clear the determination of both this House and the Commission in Euro-Mediterranean matters.
Commissioner Patten, I read your article in today’s issue of
. I concur completely with it. What Mr Moscovici has just said is precisely what you stated yourself. The fact, moreover, that we carried the motion in this House, with the enormous majority of 502 votes in favour and a paltry 17 against, shows that we are all unanimously in favour of renewing and boosting the Euro-Mediterranean Process.
There are a number of points I would like to clarify, now that the Marseilles Conference is about to take place, in order to ensure that we get some answers, as it is not enough to repeat ritualistic phrases, given that we are all in agreement. We also need to take practical action and to get specific answers. Indeed, on Thursday evening, I assessed the situation with Mr Josselin, the French Minister responsible for these matters, and I know that the French Presidency is wholeheartedly behind the idea of promoting the process as we see it.
I should like, first of all, to discuss the budget. Where do matters stand in this respect? We have been told that roughly EUR 8 billion have been earmarked for the period 2000-2006, but this amount seems to fluctuate. So what, in the end, is the budget for 2001? It seems that at least EUR 1 billion is needed annually, but for the moment this sum has not been allocated, and at the same time there is talk of EUR 200 million to be taken, supposedly, from the margin relating to appropriations for Kosovo and Serbia. It is far from clear. We do not need to create competition between all these various needs but to find new resources.
I am in complete agreement with Commission Patten that, in order to do a proper practical job, the appropriations must be made available. I strenuously urge all my fellow Members to set aside the appropriations needed for us to be able to take action and to be able to consider the projects. Secondly, I should like to point out that we must give a boost to decentralised cooperation, which seems to be in a bad way. This is a major concern of local communities and non-governmental organisations. The forum that was held in Marseilles on 12 November made that quite clear.
Next, we must increase the amount of appropriations for regional development in order to encourage relations and trade between regions, but also environmental protection, the fight against terrorism and drugs trafficking, emigration and integration, and to make progress towards human rights, as we have requested.
We would ask what action the Commission intends to take in order to invite proposals for projects, with the involvement of civil society, and in order to process and monitor these projects.
These are the important practical questions I wished to ask, and I should like to thank Mr Brok for allowing us to have this debate just before the Presidency and the Commission are due to discuss these issues."@en1
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