Thank you, Mr President, in this Parliament one can always choose when one speaks and this is surely not the best time, but in any event, Mr President, I would ask that we return to the debate, since the important thing is Valencia and the situation in the Middle East. (Applause) (Interruption by the President) Thank you, Mr President, I should begin by thanking the Presidency for its support, which ensured that Parliament was represented in Valencia by an unusually large delegation in which there was room for representatives of Parliament’s five largest groups. I believe that the presence of Parliament’s delegation was justified insofar as it was able to witness in situ the efforts made by the Spanish Presidency to hold and manage, often against the odds but always with skill, a meeting which was very complicated given the very tense situation in the region in question. I also believe I can safely say that the presence of Parliament has been useful, that it will have contributed in some way to the success, within the Valencia action plan, of certain proposals which stem from resolutions and parliamentary debates in this House. Within the political context, the commitment to respect human rights and to cooperate in the fight against terrorism seem to me to be a very important advance, and these are issues which for the first time are clearly laid out in the conclusions of a meeting of this nature. Equally important are the decisions which imply an insistence on progress with liberalisation in the Mediterranean region and we hope that the Association Agreement with Lebanon will be signed during the current Presidency. In fact, Mr President, I believe that we should explicitly welcome the presence of the delegation from Libya, a country which clearly plays an important role in the region and throughout the whole continent. This process of opening up markets must be accompanied by clear Community support through an increase in investments in the region, as Commissioner Patten pointed out, contributing in particular to the development of infrastructures. Furthermore, we should welcome the statement that there is a need to hold an open and in-depth debate on the organisation of migratory flows and their management on both sides of the Mediterranean. We in the European Parliament must continue to insist on the creation of a Euro-Mediterranean Development Bank and meanwhile, we must monitor and demand the support of the institutions involved – and in this regard I am sure we can count on the cooperation of the European Commission – in order to comply with the commitment to double the funds of the EIB in the region until 2006. The support of the Conference for the creation of a Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly seems to me very significant and I am sure that we will be able to dedicate our work in the next parliamentary forum in Bari in June to debating its launch, which must be a crucial element in the institutionalisation of the Barcelona Process. And in this same respect, we must applaud the creation of a foundation which promotes dialogue between cultures and civilisations, which my group has repeatedly called for. In summary, and in spite of the circumstances, I insist that in Valencia we have been able to confirm that the revitalisation of the Barcelona Process, six years after its launch, represents a strategic option for the future for the European Union and for each of its Member States and all of its democratic expressions, because I believe that the attempts at party politics, such as that made by the President of the Socialist Group, have no place here. It goes without saying that at the moment, the achievement of a stable and secure Mediterranean area is threatened by the situation in the Middle East. Without saying any more, I would like, Mr President, to end with a double appeal to this House. Firstly that, despite all the tragedy, we continue with our efforts towards peace, and secondly, increase the internal dialogue in this House in order to ensure that the positions of the European Parliament are the result of a broad consensus, because that is the only way, through unity, that Parliament’s voice can be heard and that it can contribute to the peace process we all want to see.

Political group: PPE-DE