Mr President, Mr President-in-Office, Mr President of the Commission, ladies and gentlemen, it was with deep revulsion and regret that we learnt of the murder of Marco Biagi, and our sympathy goes to his family. My group has a message for all terrorists, in Europe and throughout the world – we will never give in to terrorism. Giving in to terrorism means undermining the democratic order. We will use every democratic and constitutional means at our disposal to resolutely combat terrorism in Europe and worldwide. I would like to thank the President of Parliament, Pat Cox, very warmly for the very practical and political proposals he presented to the European Council. I believe that they provided a good basis for debate. The President-in-Office of the European Council and the President of the Commission, whom we wish a safe journey to Italy to pay his respects to his murdered friend and his family, have already indicated how indebted we are to Mr Cox for his contribution. However, I would also like to say a special word of thanks to the President-in-Office of the European Council and to pay homage to the fact that he is speaking to us here in the European Parliament three times during the Spanish Presidency. Today is the second time. I hope that this will set a good example for future presidencies. The Barcelona Summit was one which we too in general view positively. But a good many wishes have still of course to be fulfilled. The language used is interesting. Mr President-in-Office, the European Council is calling on us – Parliament and the Council – to open the energy market for supply companies within a specific time frame. We would have been grateful if the European Council had also called upon us to open the European energy market for consumers, because we would have been very happy to do that. The indecisiveness of the Council, which can be attributed to a single Member State – and I know that the President-in-Office of the European Council has made every effort in this respect– and this negative attitude have been obscured by this request to the Council and the European Parliament. We really wanted more than that. We wish to warmly congratulate you on your decision. Mr President-in-Office, I am also aware of the personal commitment that you made to ensuring that the Galileo Programme now has a future, which is of strategic importance for Europe. I am pleased that it has been possible to overcome both the political and financial obstacles. We are also delighted to see you declaring your belief in stability and calling for a near-balanced budget for all the Member States of the European Union by 2004. But we would have been a great deal happier if the Barcelona European Council could have said that it welcomed the Commission's approach in wishing to send two Member States of the European Union a warning letter, which, as we all know, was ultimately blocked by the finance ministers because of the specific attitude of one Member State. We hope that this positive statement about a near-balanced budget will also be implemented in practice in future, with the Commission receiving support for its efforts to achieve stability in its relations with the Member States of the European Union. It would also lend credibility to the European Council if the finance ministers were also to take appropriate and concrete measures. (Applause) Mr President-in-Office, we sincerely welcome the fact that the Heads of State and Government have adopted such a strong line on the Middle East. We are very much in favour of the Palestinians being given a state in a dignified manner, and we are also very much in favour of Israel being able to live within secure borders. But that involves combating terrorism on both sides. We do not think it is right, and I am glad that you referred to this, for the President of the Palestinian Authority, Yasser Arafat, to be placed under house arrest, and for it still to be doubtful whether he will be able to take part in the Arab summit in Beirut. We need to ensure that he can participate in that summit. We have of course decided to invite Yasser Arafat and Shimon Peres to the European Parliament. We want to be free to invite these figures, and also need to be sure that they can return home again afterwards. (Applause from the right) I would like to address two other aspects that follow on from Barcelona. The first of these is the reform of the Council. Mr President-in-Office, back in January you said that you were in favour of an interinstitutional working group bringing together the Council, the Commission and Parliament, and we have heard from your side that this is now actually to take place. However, we have received information that this is to be blocked at a certain level, and I do not mean a political level. We wish to encourage you to go ahead with this interinstitutional working group at political level, amongst other things by ensuring that the President of the Parliament is represented by a Member of this House, so that we can achieve positive results in Seville. If we can achieve good results in Seville, that will be to the credit of the Spanish Presidency and also to your personal credit. We all stand to benefit from that. A conference on the Mediterranean dialogue is to be held in Valencia on 21 and 22 April, to be chaired by your Minister of Foreign Affairs, but I am sure you will also be present. I have just returned from Algeria and my impression is that however much we are looking towards the candidate countries from the East, we also need to look to the South, as developments in some countries in the southern Mediterranean area are so dramatic that that will also have to be a focus for our policy. We cannot be satisfied with theoretical policy decisions; we also need wide-ranging cooperation as regards our economies, the financial sector and also between the peoples involved. I would urge you to pay careful attention to the Barcelona Process in the context of the Mediterranean dialogue. My group will certainly support you in this, and we wish you every success for the second half of your presidency. If you listen a little to us and to the Commission, then I am sure that it will be a very successful presidency. I wish the Spanish Presidency every success. (Applause from the right)

Political group: PPE-DE