Mr President, Mr President-in-Office, Mr President of the Commission, ladies and gentlemen, may I first of all congratulate Mr Rasmussen on his great speech. If you achieve all of this in the course of these six months then you will demonstrate once again that it is not just the large countries that can move Europe forward, but precisely a country like yours, that takes up its duties with great ambitions in mind. On behalf of all of us, I wish Denmark every success! (Applause) You talked about going from Copenhagen to Copenhagen and spoke in terms of a single Europe. In your speech I also discerned a certain visionary quality, because you are taking responsibility for the fact that we need to seize this opportunity now to reunite Europe. Copenhagen 1993 meant human dignity; it meant the Rule of Law; it meant democracy, the recognition of minorities and market regulation. Making this a reality ten years on by admitting our central European neighbours as Members is a task of truly historic proportions. I fully agree with you that our aim has to be to admit ten countries: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia and, of course, Cyprus and Malta. It has to be clear, however, that if a country does not meet the conditions, then those that have already fulfilled them must not be forced to wait just because the others have not yet done so. I was very glad to hear you say that there must be no new conditions, and I would ask you to resist any pressure, from whichever country, for our side to impose them. (Applause) Let me make it clear on behalf of my group that if the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany is now, for electioneering purposes, to link enlargement to the agricultural issue, then we will reject that in the strongest possible terms. I would encourage you to do likewise and firmly reject this approach. (Applause) On 10 July, we will hear Commissioner Fischler give us the results of the mid-term review of agricultural policy. Then we will debate them. You said yourself that there will be an opportunity to make decisions at a later stage. I might also recall – and thereby give you some encouragement, Mr President-in-Office – that this Parliament adopted Mr Böge's report on the financial impact of the enlargement of the European Union on the agricultural policy by a large majority, which means that you have the support of the vast majority of this House for your chosen approach. I should like to make a few comments on Turkey. There is of course a reference to Turkey in the Seville Conclusions. We support all attempts to promote good relations between Turkey and the European Union. However, we think that the Danish Presidency is too early to set a date for the beginning of the negotiations. Turkey needs to undertake further reforms – and we should support it in its efforts to do so – but the time has not yet come to set a date for negotiations. I call on the Turkish Government to withdraw its objections to the armed forces of the European Union and NATO carrying out joint missions. As Europeans we have to be capable of taking action and Turkey must make an appropriate contribution to this. The Danish Presidency spoke at length on openness and transparency. It is of course precisely the Nordic countries – Finland, Sweden, but also and in particular Denmark – who lead the way here. I should like to encourage you to implement what was decided in Seville under your presidency. If, for example, the Seville Conclusions state that proposals should be negotiated in public at the beginning and end of the legislative procedure in the Council of Ministers, then you should define the beginning and end of the negotiations as flexibly as possible, so that there is only a short period in the middle when meetings are perhaps not public. We need openness; we need transparency. Access also needs to be given to the television cameras, so that we reach the public at large. In accordance with the Seville Conclusions, before the end of 2002 we will have an interinstitutional agreement on better lawmaking. We hope that we will also see results at the political level by the end of 2002. We should also like an agreement – similar to the one that we have on the Common Foreign, Security and Defence Policy – on the third pillar, that is Justice and Home Affairs, so that we create more transparency there too. Mr President-in-Office, I should like to thank you for what you have said. In the hope that you will be able to make it a reality, I wish the Danish Presidency every success. The Group of the stands at your side. Seeing Bertel Haarder, a respected former member of this House, sitting on your right, I am confident that you and your team will also be able to lead the Danish Presidency to a successful conclusion. All our good wishes for the Danish Presidency! (Applause)

Political group: PPE-DE