Mr President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, Mr President of the European Commission, ladies and gentlemen, while welcoming the fact that Greece has taken over the presidency, I should like to point out that it has done so at an historic moment in the development of the unique phenomenon which we refer to as European integration and which, among other things, has replaced the post-war division of our continent. As regards the priorities of the Greek Presidency, as time is so short, I shall confine myself to the following brief points and comments: On enlargement: the main decisions may have been taken during the previous presidency, but the final stages have yet to be completed, culminating in the signature of the accession treaties in Athens. Preparations still have to be made so that the new Member States can adjust smoothly to European developments, which is why enlargement has rightly been given priority and will require close attention if we are to avoid irregularities and delays in the accession process. I noted that you intend to continue the enhanced pre-accession strategy with Bulgaria and Romania, Mr President-in-Office, and rightly so. But we must not forget the southern Balkans, where rapprochement with the European Union started up some time ago under the stability and association process. This rapprochement needs to be encouraged here too, so that we can consolidate our relations, which we are not doing when it comes to the security and stability of the new, enlarged Europe. On the Lisbon strategy, I should like to focus on sustainable development. The need to promote a sustainable development strategy within the framework of European integration is even more urgent today, what with the pressure of enlargement and increasing globalisation. The plan for implementing the sustainable development strategy drawn up by the European Commission is already filling the vacuum between what we say and what we do, by way of legislation, to protect the environment and public health and encourage the application and mainstreaming of the environmental dimension in all our policies. That is why I think it is so important for us to adopt a step-by-step procedure for monitoring policy in practice at the spring European Council. The difficulties in getting the Kyoto protocol signed make it even more imperative that we step up dialogue and collaboration with the USA, Japan and developing countries. Obviously, the European Union cannot deal with this as an internal problem. So it needs to shoulder its responsibilities at international level, which means pioneering efforts to achieve sustainable development through technology and science. This is where I should like to focus your attention, Mr President-in-Office, because Europe has clearly started slipping behind recently, especially in biotechnology, in comparison with the United States and Japan. As far as defence and immigration policy are concerned, I agree. As you know, we have been calling for an immigration policy in the European Union for years, without any concrete results. We expect an integrated policy to be developed and an integrated policy on illegal immigration to be developed. Although illegal immigrants themselves are often living in abject circumstances, they also cause huge problems in the societies and to the people living in the Member States of the European Union. Measures therefore need to be taken to improve the management of our external borders and to combat illegal immigration networks and trafficking in human beings by promoting measures under the third pillar. I was most interested to hear you talk of readmission agreements with all our partners, especially those under serious pressure, and would ask you, please, to push ahead on this issue. I think the Thessaloniki Council needs to push on with the reform of the Treaties of the European Union. Finally, in foreign relations, I think that you need to encourage Euro-Mediterranean cooperation, basically under a long-term Euro-Mediterranean policy. Italy is to follow Greece, giving two countries with excellent knowledge of these problems the chance to draw up an efficient Euro-Mediterranean policy. Cooperation is not enough. We need a long-term policy. I wish you every success. I trust that in six months’ time we shall meet here, with you reporting that you have done what you said here today, and with us ready to exercise constructive, honest criticism in good faith. May I wish you every success.

Political group: PPE-DE