Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, I am glad that the report on the economic consequences for Europe of 11 September is being debated in the run-up to the Barcelona Summit and in the Bullmann report, as the consequences of 11 September are very closely connected with the future development and implementation of the Lisbon process. Although many have returned to their daily business, the attacks on 11 September dealt the Western world a shock, as terrorist acts on this scale had hitherto, in any case, dwelt in the realms of science fiction. At the same time – and this is very important to us – they struck at a crucial stage for the global economy, marked as it was by perceptible slow growth in most of the industrialised countries. It is for this reason that I would like to warn the Member States and enterprises against seeing the events of 11 September as the sole cause of the contraction in economic activity and using it to cloak their own economic and political omissions. Our economic problems were, to a great extent, exacerbated by 11 September. We have to distinguish precisely between the problems that existed even before 11 September and were further aggravated by the attacks, and those which, in contrast, arose only after them. It often, though, seems today as if – thank God – the terrorist attacks' adverse effects on the European economy are being contained, and, as Mr Duisenberg was saying only a few days ago, problems in several areas have now resolved themselves. The sectors which were disproportionately affected were, and are, the insurance industry, to a slightly lesser extent the tourist industry, above all the conference trade, and the incentives sector. It was fortunate that enhanced economic activity in the internal market in tourism made it possible to regain a great deal of ground. Insurance for large-scale industry, as well as airlines and airports, have been particularly affected. Parliament's report makes a very clear distinction between these two areas. We are also glad, and we should say so today, that cooperation between the European Central Bank and the American Federal Reserve, between Mr pan and Mr Duisenberg, has worked. The euro has proved itself in this difficult stage, and the erosion of its value, albeit striking and shocking, has not resulted in a global economic crisis or in a monetary crisis in Europe. At the same time, we have also seen that we are still, and by a long way, insufficiently independent of the American economy, and that our internal market and the economic activity within it is not yet sufficiently independent of global economic developments. This is where we have to begin at home, and so what we ask of the Barcelona Summit is a new offensive on the growth and innovation front, aimed at stimulating growth, investment and employment by means of justifiable optimism about economic activity. We need to look carefully at where there are still hindrances to the internal market. Where are directives not yet being transposed? Where is the implementation of common objectives such as the Action Plan for Financial Services, the Lisbon process or yet others being held up by differences about competences? We must do everything possible to support the establishment and economic structure of small and medium-sized enterprises. My group has therefore tabled an amendment to Mr Bullmann's report, calling on the Commission and the Member States to make it their concern, in the revision of the new capital accords in Basle, to take the structural characteristics of European enterprises into account, help small and medium-sized enterprises and to create the underlying conditions in the new EU capital base framework, so that the process being moved forward in Basle, which is the right one, may not result in adverse consequences, but lead to support for the economy. I also think that we have to make more use of our right of initiative in order to remove the hindrances to the internal market, become more autonomous and, at the same time, to make fully effective the economic potential that exists in Europe, in line with our objectives. If this happens and we learn the lessons of 11 September and take ourselves seriously, then we will be able to make even better use of the opportunities arising from the new worldview, and of our role in the world in accordance with our supersedence principle, of the environmentally responsible market economy, and perhaps get them more in motion. (Applause)

Political group: PPE-DE