Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-07-01-Speech-2-050"
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"en.20030701.1.2-050"2
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"Mr President, representatives of the Council and the Commission, in common with many others, I wish to thank the Greek Presidency for fulfilling its responsibilities so well during a difficult period. For me, the high point of this Presidency was the signing of the accession treaties on 16 April. It is an historic event, meaning that our divided Europe has come to an end. The future entails not only a more peaceful Europe but also a more democratic one.
I must just say a few words about the Lisbon strategy. A great deal has been done during the Greek Presidency, for example on coordinating the economic and employment guidelines and the social process, something that I applaud. You also listened constructively to Parliament’s points of view on the employment guidelines. In particular, you took account of what Parliament had to say on the matters relating to equality between men and women. I also want to commend you for the pensions strategy put forward during your Presidency, which I believe strikes a sound balance between economic and social aspects. That is important now that we have to review our pensions systems throughout Europe.
I regret the handling of one issue, namely sustainable development. Sustainable development is as yet still only a matter of words, and we have not done very much to give more specific content to sustainable development, for example in the form of indicators. I also regret that we did not succeed in reaching an agreement on the matter of staffing companies.
When it comes to the Convention, I agree with what many others have already said, namely that it has been a success, partly due to its content and partly due to the way in which the work has been done. As Mrs Berès said, this must now be followed up at the Intergovernmental Conference too, and Parliament must be involved in the ongoing handling of the issue so that the transparency that has now been achieved can be maintained.
When, finally, it comes to asylum and refugee policy, I welcome the fact that the proposal for protection zones was removed. At the same time, I regret, however, that we have still not obtained a common asylum and refugee policy with common minimum rules. In the future, we need a common asylum and refugee policy based upon generosity and humanity."@en1
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