Mr President, Commissioner, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, ladies and gentlemen, last year’s Lisbon European Council established a process for the European Union to reach the same level of competitiveness as the United States, or at least for us to achieve this level by 2010. I believe that both Mr Bullmann’s report and my own make a positive and constructive contribution to our thinking on how to achieve this goal and our ability to take stock and analyse the situation after the past year, before the Stockholm European Council. The strategic goal of the European Union economy is to turn itself into the most dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world capable of sustainable growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion. All these objectives are highly demanding. The European Union will not give up its level of social cohesion as an economy based on well-being, which is one of the great features of European society, achieved and consolidated during the second half of the last century. At the same time it is a clearly dynamic economy, as it has been demonstrating over these last years. But nobody can fail to see that having such strong social commitments, ensuring sustainable growth and also being the most competitive economy in the world are three highly demanding objectives, and to meet them we must therefore keep well on top of any possible obstacles to achieving this. In my view, something that may jeopardise the joint achievement of these three objectives is if the basic factors that ensure the competitiveness of the European economy are not implemented rigorously enough. I believe there are basically three of these factors. First of all, there are some markets that are still not open enough to competition, and given that they are basic to our production structure they have a negative effect on cost structures, including unit prices for goods and services. Mr Solbes has mentioned them: energy, transport and telecommunications. They are obviously fundamental factors, and if we compare them with the other leading world economy, the United States, we still have a gap to make up, clearly preventing us from approaching this desired level of competitiveness which we have set for 2010. In second place is a subject that concerns me greatly and is very well expressed both in the Bullmann report and my own: employment. It is obvious that we cannot give up the idea of raising employment levels, which is one of the major goals set by the Swedish Presidency. But it is also obvious that to achieve this level of employment – and as both reports point out, with a more highly qualified labour force – we have to find a greater willingness to adapt, both socially – there are countries within the European Union that have very interesting formulas in this respect – and, as the 1995 Delors report said, in the sphere of labour market flexibility. This is an essential factor in achieving two objectives, that is, a higher employment rate and greater competitiveness throughout the productive structure, where of course the labour dimension is fundamental. Lastly, education. I shall not labour this point, since the Bullmann report has mentioned it, as has Commissioner Solbes. This third essential element is that of quality education at all levels, from occupational training to specialist studies in higher education. This must lay the foundations – I am finishing here, Mr President – for us to get what we really need, something that Europe has not yet achieved in comparison with the United States. Although we have a very high level of scientific training and scientific innovation, we still have not closed the gap on the United States, nor have we overcome the existing difference to achieve a kind of technological development that can be turned into competitive goods and services. This is the third fundamental recommendation in this analysis and stock-taking of the Lisbon European Council.

Political group: ELDR