Mr President, it is a sign of the President-in-Office's competence that he has answered questions which I have not even asked. I should like expressly to thank the French Presidency of the Council for endeavouring to give the necessary momentum to the Barcelona process. This is a hugely important issue and I say that as someone who comes from central Europe. We in central Europe must understand that the debate on the Barcelona process is in our common interest, just as we expect southern Europeans to understand that enlargement to central and eastern Europe is in our common interest. If we look at it from this point of view and take account of all this, then we will be on the right and a reasonable path. What we are trying to do is to enlarge the European Union on one side and foster good neighbourly relations on the other. Both are in our common interest and the European Union is prepared to put its hand in its pocket for both. Of course, we will have to raise the question of how we are to continue funding the overall process, given the current financial perspectives and taking account of our policy in the Balkans, because there has been doubt for some time as to whether we will be able to last the course. Naturally, we hope that Mr Patten's concept will succeed and that the Commission will be able to implement these projects more quickly than has been the case in the past. It is of paramount importance that we understand the advantages of the Barcelona process, i.e. that, with our help, it will trigger the economic and social development needed in these countries, giving prospects to the people living in these regions. It also has something to do with preventing emigration. In the long run, social need should no longer be a reason – as in the European Union – to emigrate from anywhere in the Mediterranean and the desire to emigrate should be motivated by other considerations. I think we should help to bring this about. With proper economic and social prospects in place, there is a good chance of implementing human rights and democratising the community of states in the region. All this is obviously immensely important to us from the point of view of security policy. In other words, this is not just a chance for more trade and commerce, it is security policy par excellence and this is the message which we need to get across to our citizens if this process is to gain acceptance. Xenophobia and national and other forms of terrorism come under this heading and I hope that we shall have a chance to straighten things out here too. The worrying developments which we have witnessed in many states in North Africa in the past and, in fact, are still witnessing today, also come under this heading and I hope that we shall manage to bring all the countries of North Africa on board in this process without any whys and wherefores. The current situation in the Middle East is making abundantly clear what measures are needed in the form of joint policies and cooperation. I should like to take this opportunity of expressing my hope that neither of the two parties to the present conflict in the Middle East will take any unilateral action this week which might make a return to the negotiating table nigh impossible in coming weeks. We should try and help to give the people of Palestine the chance to decide their own fate, forge their own future and build their own state on the basis of agreement with and the security of the state of Israel. I trust that the European Union will prepare in Marseilles to push the Mediterranean process forward and that we will be able once again to take joint responsibility for what Mr Moscovici rightly called the mare nostrum. The Mediterranean is the mare nostrum; the three great monotheistic religions, two of which are now involved in conflict, developed along its shores. We must get back round the table on this very fundamental basis. I think that the European Union has a special role to play here and that the countries and the people in these regions are waiting for the European Union to exert its political influence because it can bring balance and credibility to bear there. I trust that the fact that this political influence is expected and we are expected to play a part there will help to get things moving in Marseilles and provide the necessary credibility, allowing us to make a contribution to peace in this region and enhance our own stability.

Political group: PPE-DE