Mr President, Mr President of the Commission, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, ladies and gentlemen, 2004 is going to be a very important year, a year of challenges, as Mr Prodi has just said. Next June, European elections will be held in very special circumstances, when we welcome ten new countries in the most extensive enlargement that Europe has ever seen. They will take place in an atmosphere of hope for a constitution for Europe, on the basis of the excellent draft submitted by the Convention, all of this against an unstable international background, with an increasingly-entrenched war in Iraq, intensifying international terrorism, presidential elections in the United States and a still-fragile economic climate in Europe. In such a situation we need to hold to our course with a strong and independent Commission at the helm. If, as we all hope, there are signs of an economic recovery, the Commission must be able to respond so as to take advantage of all of the opportunities likely to benefit its economic and employment policy. The European Parliament cannot afford to lose a year. Our fellow citizens would not understand. We therefore need to concentrate on those proposals that absolutely must be adopted by the end of the parliamentary term, that is to say during the first quarter of 2004, and monitor progress on those that we are patiently waiting to scrutinise for the first time. For the second year running, we have maintained the principle of structured dialogue between parliamentary committees and commissioners. We welcome this, but the dialogue still has room for improvement. We therefore propose the creation of a more reliable interinstitutional timetable, to be drafted on a multiannual basis, which would make it easier to follow up and evaluate the actual results achieved. It would also be desirable to provide for more systematic follow-up to the demands made by Parliament for additional actions to be incorporated in the programme. As far as the accession of the ten new Member States is concerned, we have every confidence in the friends who will be joining us. We take note of the extraordinary progress that they have made, but we attach great importance to their respecting the acquis communautaire and applying the texts relating to controls at the new external border. Similarly, we also think it is important to monitor the level of nuclear safety within the enlarged Union. This enlargement cannot succeed unless the institutional framework is adapted. Our group wishes to see the work of the Convention respected. This draft should therefore be safeguarded and must be recognisable in the constitutional treaty. The Commission has undertaken to improve our legislation, to make it more accessible, easier to read and more transparent, and to simplify law-making. We will ensure that it does so! This is one of the public’s major expectations. The added value of the European Union rightly lies in policies which further the fight against illegal immigration, in common management of our borders and in the fight against terrorism and organised crime, and this thanks to enhanced police and judicial cooperation and the development of a common asylum policy setting out clear procedures. These initiatives should be taken in cooperation with the countries of the Mediterranean Basin and the enlarged Union’s new neighbours: Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus. An additional key to stability is the concept of sustainable development, which should have a bearing on all of our legislative work. Making a success of sustainable development means fostering private initiative, educating and informing the public, continuing to pursue healthy macro-economic policies that generate jobs, accelerating structural reform and promoting investment in infrastructure and human resources. These initiatives should be undertaken in accordance with the Lisbon agenda, which seeks to boost potential economic performance by increasing the flexibility of the markets in goods, capital and labour. Whether it be transport policy, research policy, which is still insufficient in the light of the brain drain, telecommunications, with the development of the Internet, our Structural Funds policy, which is essential for revitalising the regions – and not only in the enlargement countries – all of our initiatives and policies should place the people at their heart. That is why we expect a robust commitment from you to take account of increasing life expectancy. All of this is part and parcel of sustainable development. Furthermore, although we warmly welcome the thematic strategies for the environment, we deplore the lack of initiatives on the urban environment and the lack of follow-up to the Thessaloniki Council, which was supposed to create a European diplomacy network on the environment and sustainable development. Even though next year is bound to be slightly curtailed by the European elections, neither the Commission nor Parliament will be short of work. As I said at the outset, you should hold to your course for 2004. Finally, I regret the obvious lack of commitment on the part of the Member States when it comes to implementing Community legislation, all the more so when the codecision procedure is used. IN THE CHAIR: MR SCHMIDVice-President

Political group: PPE-DE