Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-04-13-Speech-3-019"
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"en.20050413.2.3-019"2
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"Mr President, the European Council is very fond of declaring that the Lisbon Strategy is its main priority, and true to form, it has done so again. I am reminded of a saying in the work of Nikolai Gogol, along the lines that ‘the old have not yet died, the young are still unborn, but they all pose a threat to the living’. The old strategy is in its death throes, the new one is still in short trousers, but they are both threatening Europeans with bouncing cheques, contradictory priorities and empty words. The President of the Council has stated today that Europeans do not take the trouble to read the Strategy, and that they do not like it, but that is not their fault. The reaction to many of the Council’s proposals is ‘yes, but…’ and the ‘but’ is only strengthened upon closer reading. This is true of the Framework Programme for Research and Development, for example. It should open wide the doors for research across the whole of the old and new Union. It must not, however, become a back door through which membership contributions of the richest Member States can be renationalised. Competitiveness figures prominently in the most recent Council documents. It is there on paper, but in practice, in real life, the services directive has been sidelined, when that directive was all about strengthening competitiveness and putting it into practice. Does the Council wish to have its cake and eat it? Asia should rejoice as it sees how Europe, its main competitor, is flagging. It is obvious what action should be taken, instead of generating fear within the Union. Small firms in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Lithuania should receive the same treatment as firms in the old Union. You are all aware that this is not the case, ladies and gentlemen. The Council has referred to the reallocation of aid, and I am concerned that in practice this might mean less funding for the new Member States. The Council has not allayed these concerns. The Council has referred to reforming the system for regional aid. I am concerned that, to put it plainly, this might be an excuse to entrench the division of Europe into a poor new Union and an old rich one. The latter would be only too happy to forget about the principle of solidarity that is supposed to underpin the European Communities."@en1
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