Mr President, the results of the Madrid Summit can be read from various points of view. We could make a subjective assessment, aimed at our political advantage, or we could try to make a balanced assessment which, by taking account of all the positives and negatives, would allow us to examine the results of the Madrid Summit in light of the positions of the European Parliament. I would particularly like to highlight the fact that the European Parliament was not present at the Río de Janeiro Summit and that, for this very reason, the Inter-Parliamentary Conference requested that it be present at the Madrid Summit, and that is what has happened. I would therefore like to acknowledge the efforts of the Presidency-in-Office of the Council to receive the representatives of our Parliament at the Madrid Summit. Mr President, last November, the European Parliament requested that the association agreement with Chile be concluded at the Madrid Summit and that has been done. Last November, the European Parliament asked that impetus be given to the association agreement with Mercosur despite the difficulties being experienced by Argentina and that was done at the Madrid Summit. Also in November, Parliament requested the presentation of negotiation guidelines with a view to concluding association agreements with the Andean Community and the Central American Community. The Madrid Summit has not been able to respond definitively to this wish of Parliament’s, but there has been substantial progress in the sense that conclusions include a prospect for association in terms of relations with the countries of the Andean Community and the Central American Community, since they cannot be discriminated against in comparison with other geographical areas, and therefore when the system of generalised preferences expires in 2004 they can aspire to this future association. In November we also congratulated the European Commission on the ALIS programme, which was adopted at the Madrid Summit, together with other initiatives such as those referred to by the Presidency-in-Office and Mr Vitorino, and we should all be pleased about this. We also believe the Madrid Summit’s conclusions in relation to the International Criminal Court and the fight against terrorism and organised crime to be particularly noteworthy and, in this respect, I would like to remind the House that I have just returned from an electoral mission with other members of this Parliament to Colombia, where there is no question that the citizens of that country have offered a wonderful example of democratic maturity and civic courage, ensuring that the peaceful will of the citizens has prevailed over threats, violence, extortion, intimidation and blackmail. Mr President, Colombia needs the support of the international community and also the European Union. Mr President, I would like to make two comments which do not relate to the Madrid Summit, but which I believe are particularly relevant in this context. I always say that Latin America does not need charity but rather opportunities, but it seems to me a bad political signal, and I have said this to Mr Patten, that in this symbolic year of the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the European Union and Latin America, the Commission has presented a preliminary draft budget for 2003 containing fewer resources than in 2002. Commissioner, we cannot deal with new priorities with fewer resources. We hope that during the budgetary debate this Parliament will be able to re-establish the kind of sums that Latin America deserves. Secondly, Mr President, we believe that the European Union needs to develop a common strategy for the region which, in full accordance with the bilateral or regional agreements in force or under negotiation, can offer a complete geographical perspective to relations with that region. Finally, Mr President, despite the suspicion and the constant doubt as to whether these summits can achieve concrete results, I believe that the Madrid Summit has achieved complete, tangible and thorough results and that it represents a very reasonable balance between what is desirable and what is possible, between pragmatism and idealism.

Political group: PPE-DE