Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-11-07-Speech-4-008"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20021107.1.4-008"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, I am very grateful to both the President-in-Office of the Council and the Commissioner for their statements today, which remind us of the tenth anniversary of the internal market. This is a special date for me, as it was in the final analysis the European Union's internal market project that sparked debate in Austria, Sweden and Finland as to whether we too ought to join the European Union, and I am very glad that we took this step and can take part in today's event, which is in part a review.
I believe it is the imminent risks and historic projects of the European Union – the forthcoming great enlargement and the Convention's fundamental reform of the EU – that make it necessary to consider whether yesterday's objectives have been achieved. It is also right that we should be proud of what we have achieved and constantly remind ourselves of it. The internal market is already regarded as all too self-explanatory, yet it is all the more painfully apparent that it still has loopholes resulting from the deficient or delayed transposition of directives in the Member States, and my own country, alas, lags behind significantly in this respect.
These loopholes and obstacles came about, though, because we did not have enough success at European level in taking the necessary action to harmonise and coordinate. Commissioner, you adduced some very pertinent examples of loopholes and obstacles that still remain, mainly in the area of the provision of services and the movement of goods. I believe that, where this is concerned, we also have to very strongly highlight the area of the free movement of workers, where obstacles to the internal market still persist, affecting the truly mobile elements in the population.
One aspect needing to be addressed here is the situation of third-country nationals, both in their role as workers and in the provision of cross-border services. I believe that, even if we review the objectives of the internal market and are willing to do everything to ultimately achieve them, we should also recall that our concern must be with guaranteeing a high standard of protection for consumers and the environment. Let us not be concerned only with the range of goods and services available, but also with their quality.
I will conclude by asking all those who are working on the final realisation of the internal market to help prevent its legal basis from being put at risk by the debate on the future of the European Union, its competences and the principles by which they are exercised. It is particularly with reference to the subsidiarity principle that the occasional tendency in that direction is noticeable in the Convention."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples