Mr President, Mr Solana, you have the full support and confidence of the Group of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party, but we would remind you of the huge responsibility which now rests upon your shoulders. I am thinking partly of the forthcoming and important humanitarian, peace-keeping and peace-making tasks. But I am also thinking of the responsibility you now have for ensuring that the new European cooperation on defence does not give rise to any kind of split between NATO and the EU or between the United States and Europe. Such a split would only delight the despots and rogue States which threaten freedom and human rights. I believe you heard the concerns which some members of the American Congress expressed last week here in Parliament. You must lay these concerns to rest for, as you yourself have said, when we are able to present a united transatlantic front, we are in a position to do something. When we are divided, we are weakened, and the suffering of the oppressed is prolonged. So, maintain as close contact as possible with our American allies and do not forget Norway, Turkey and Canada, either. You also share a heavy degree of responsibility for ensuring that we do not end up as paper tigers. As George Robertson has said so often, we have two million soldiers but could not even put 40 000 soldiers into Kosovo. It may have been our weakness and lack of credibility which led to the war. Diplomatic pressure is only successful when it is backed up by credible economic and military threats. Everything else is wishful thinking. That is why the Member States must either authorise more expenditure or rearrange their priorities in favour of modern mobile units so that our soldiers are protected by the best equipment. We are therefore delighted about the decisions which were taken last Monday in Sintra. The third heavy burden on your shoulders is the responsibility for ensuring parliamentary scrutiny. This should be exercised first and foremost in the Member States. No soldier can, of course, be despatched without the approval of the relevant national parliament. It is therefore wrong for people to talk about a European army. It will be a force comprised of various national units. What is new is that it will be well prepared and able to act quickly under effective common leadership and using modern equipment. However, there is, of course, also room for a certain amount of parliamentary scrutiny and control by the European Parliament. As someone who both speaks and listens, we are glad to see you as a frequent guest both here in plenary and in the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy. Finally, I should like to join you in expressing my pleasure at the incredible unity and speed with which this new form of cooperation is being set in motion. Yesterday, a few of us met the Portuguese Defence Minister. He was just as pleased and pleasantly surprised as yourself at the fact that it had been possible to agree about so much. Bear in mind that there are also non-aligned countries at the negotiating table. We share your delight, as long as we do not race ahead so quickly that transatlantic cooperation is impaired. There is one thing I shall again finally emphasise: that the purpose of all this is, of course, that we should acquire such credibility when we exercise economic and military pressure that military force is not used at all. That is the purpose of all this, and it is therefore also important that you should cooperate with Mr Patten, for it is military, economic and diplomatic pressure which together will put a stop to atrocities in neighbouring countries.

Political group: ELDR