Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, may I begin by congratulating the rapporteur, Mrs Rühle, on the work that has been done on the basis of her report, which is, I believe, a useful complement to the work of the European Commission. We know that citizenship of the Union should serve to involve more and more of the people of the Member States in the common project for European integration. Sadly, it is an undeniable fact that there are still many obstacles to overcome before European citizenship can become a reality. This is why the Rühle report, in its technical aspects, is actually an eminently political report, because it provides a channel through which we can support those bodies that are working to promote active European citizenship. It is absolutely essential that the public is better informed about what the European Union is doing to harmonise national policies and what it will be doing in the context of enlargement. Efforts are also needed to improve the promotion of current initiatives. This applies, for example, to the European Info-Points, whose networked operations meet with general satisfaction. Let me declare most solemnly here that the European Parliament has tried to deal with the financial threats facing the Info-Points and that a solution must be found quickly. I believe that this is now being done, but nothing is absolutely certain yet. The concept of European citizenship must therefore be applied in all its dimensions: political, administrative, judicial, social and economic. We must therefore continue to work towards the removal of those obstacles – and they do still exist – which are preventing the people of our countries from exercising their rights as European citizens. In the year 2000, as has already been mentioned, the Charter of Fundamental Rights finally put the citizen at the heart of the process of European integration process. Public involvement in the creation of the draft European constitution is another step in this direction. It was high time, for how is it possible to engage in politics at the European level, and indeed nationally and locally too, without making people the focus of all deliberations, of all welfare measures and of all social planning? The public must become active players rather than mere passive spectators, as is still too often the case. It will obviously be even more difficult to communicate with the citizens of Europe when the population of the Union rises to almost 500 million from the present figure of 370 million, but that is precisely what we must do, using all the facilities that will enable us to conduct and enhance that dialogue. I shall conclude by recalling that one of the points highlighted by the report is this very lack of information, resulting in the stunted development of a sense of European citizenship. This is reflected, and regrettably so, in the turnout for European elections, which averages less than 50% a shocking state of affairs. As the red-letter days of June 2004 draw near, it is therefore more essential than ever to strengthen the information and communication policy of the European Union by every available means. The challenge is truly formidable: it is a matter of building a genuinely political Europe, a genuine people’s Europe.

Political group: PSE