Madam President, Mr Gama, President Prodi, with good reason the Lisbon Summit could be dubbed historic in terms of its political content. At the meeting the Union’s strategic objective was to create the world’s most competitive and dynamic information-based economy, with steady growth and the ability to create more and better jobs. The aim alone does not, however, make the meeting a historic one; what does is the range of measures that the meeting is recommending the Union and its Member States take to achieve their objective. I will borrow the words of the Presidency. Firstly, to achieve the model, we have to put our faith above all in the private sector and in cooperation between the private and the public sector. That will be dependent on the mobilisation of market forces available and action on the part of the Member States themselves. The Union will act as a catalyst in the process. Secondly, we must reduce the tax burden among the workforce, especially among the relatively low paid and less educated. Thirdly, we have to reallocate public money to increase the relative importance of the growth of capital both physically and in terms of human beings. Fourthly, we must speed up the process whereby competition is freed up, for example, in the gas, electricity, postal and transport industries, with the objective of having a fully functional internal market in these sectors too. I have given just a few examples to show that the Council of the fifteen countries of the European Union, fourteen of which have governments, has adopted a totally central to right policy with regard to the economy and development, one which is associated with social responsibility, in many respects like that of the Group. When I speak of this with such satisfaction on behalf of my group, it is not with the slightest hint of mockery. In our opinion, the essential thing is not to look for political conflict, but to use the right tools for the benefit of our citizens. In the decisions taken at the Lisbon Council, those tools took the form of a social market economy, which was a good thing. Let me utter a few words of warning. The main responsibility for achieving results lies with the Member States as far as the liberalisation of markets and the making of electronic commerce cheaper for consumers are concerned. I would ask whether the astronomical price of the third generation mobile phone licences now being put up for auction in England will be of benefit to the consumers of the future? It will not be. Greed will bring its own revenge in that the system will be made expensive and will be slow to establish itself. I give the example because it is relevant and not because I want to draw attention to the fact that the United Kingdom is doing something than runs counter to the decisions of Lisbon. Let me issue a second word of warning. We are on the threshold of enlargement. As we now step on the gas with regard to an eEurope within the Union, are we making it more difficult for those countries joining the Union to adapt? The answer cannot be not to speed up developments in the direction of an eEurope. The answer is, in fact, a question: are enlargement, which has been planned, albeit relatively slowly, and the budget in accordance with the decisions of Agenda 2000, mutually compatible? Is structural aid to be increased after all, so that those states intending to join are not even further behind in terms of development compared with the Union? Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to say finally, on behalf of the Group, that we have full confidence that Romano Prodi and the Commission he heads will be able to achieve the Lisbon objectives. The Group and, to the best of my knowledge, the whole of Parliament, support the Commission’s work while voicing constructive criticism. As the imperfections of the Single Market now also stem from protraction on the part of the Member States, the implementation of each of the decisions taken at Lisbon will also depend at institutional level above all on whether the Member States will stand by the solemn theses of Lisbon in the years to come.

Political group: PPE-DE