Madam President, Commissioner, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner Barnier provided a detailed commentary on the weather in Biarritz in his consummately diplomatic speech – I would describe it as an informal summit of light and shade. I welcome the invitation extended to the freely elected President of Serbia, Mr Kostunica, and I would expressly like to thank the French President, Jacques Chirac, for this invitation, because it signalled that we Europeans are on the side of a democratic Serbia which is developing in the right direction, and that the newly elected President has the support of the European Union. This was a positive signal. Also to be welcomed was the fact that the Heads of State and Government assented to the Charter of Fundamental Rights, but I must also ask you to consider, Mr President-in-Office, how it was possible to achieve this. The reason is that this Convention on Fundamental Rights worked so well under the chairmanship of Roman Herzog, which shows that a convention is more capable of reaching an outcome in a short space of time than an Intergovernmental Conference, consisting to an extent of national officials who try for weeks and months to achieve an outcome. Another point of criticism – but the weather can always improve – is that we have quite obviously failed to make any progress to speak of when it comes to majority decisions in the Council of Ministers. I hope, Mr President-in-Office, that this will happen in the next few weeks. As far as we are concerned, the key criteria for judging the success of the Intergovernmental Conference are whether majority decision-making is to become the fundamental decision-making principle in future, and whether the European Parliament is to be accorded the status of co-legislator in all such matters. Commissioner Barnier, I urge you to speak to President Prodi, who had to be in China today – we fully understand that – because we find it irritating that, for the second time now, Commissioner Verheugen has made annoying comments and given the impression that majority decision-making is not absolutely crucial to the enlargement of the European Union. The Group of the European People’s Party and is all for the enlargement of the European Union, but it must also be capable of enlargement, which is why majority decision-making in the Council of Ministers must become the fundamental decision-making system. Turning now to the position of the large and small countries. It bothers me to see certain large countries saying to the small countries: ‘If you insist on each Member State of the European Union having one representative in the Commission, then you, the small countries, will impede the enlargement of the European Union’. What a cynical argument to use! The small countries are not there to take orders from the large countries of the European Union. (Applause) We often hear certain countries speak of the Commission’s efficiency and ability to act, and they are quite right, but it is precisely these countries that put their case to the new secretariats, and so one is bound to wonder whether they are really in earnest when they talk in terms of the improved efficiency of the European Commission. When the German Chancellor – and I say this without wishing to be the least controversial, because this concerns a key European issue – says there should be a system of rotation within the Commission and the Federal Republic of Germany need not necessarily be represented in the Commission, then although this might sound magnanimous at first glance, it would be a dangerous path to go down. After all, the Commission needs the support of all the countries, be they small or large, and it would therefore be unacceptable for the largest Member State not to be represented in the Commission, since all countries should have the right to have their say in the European Commission. Commissioner Barnier, we are on your side! Indeed you cut a very impressive figure, with your personal political background, being a proponent of a European Community in the fullest sense. As the Group of the European People’s Party and – and the whole group is united in this – if we manage to achieve the enhanced cooperation we are aiming for, and which we endorse, then we will resist any temptation to complete this process outside the Community framework. We want the Commission to be involved in these efforts to enhance cooperation, and all matters pertaining to enhanced cooperation must be debated, discussed and decided here in Parliament. In this sense, we will be an advocate for Europe. Mr Moscovici, you said – or this is what it says in the German translation at any rate – that in matters of external trade policy – and this is a good example – there is a need for specially tailored measures. No, we do not want specially tailored measures for foreign trade policy because this is a key aspect of Community policy, with all that foreign trade policy issues imply, and I would urge you to see to it that the French Presidency makes foreign trade policy a key aspect, in fact the key aspect of Community policy. We have a little while to wait before the Nice Summit. I wish you every success in the next few weeks leading up to it. It is a bad sign, President Moscovici, when the Prime Minister of France speaks for 45 minutes on French television, as he did last Thursday, sets out his policies, and does not even mention the word Europe, not once. It would be quite depressing enough if this were to be any Prime Minister, but it is unacceptable for it to be the Prime Minister of the very country that is holding the Council Presidency. On a final note, allow me to say this: Mr President-in-Office of the Council, we wish you every success! We are absolutely genuine in our sentiments because this concerns our Europe, and can we please not leave it to the technocrats to complete the European process; instead, let us acknowledge that Europe is a matter dear to our hearts. Therefore, the Nice Summit will do more than address the purely technical aspects of the process, because what is important is for the European Union to retain the ability to act, and we must set out on this great adventure of enlarging the Union to include the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, so that hopefully, when the next European elections take place in the year 2004, the first Central European countries will be able to take part. (Applause)

Political group: PPE-DE