Mr President, President-in-Office, President of the Commission, it is always a pleasure to hear Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen speak and to listen to his visionary observations concerning enlargement to the east. It is an incredibly demanding task that the President-in-Office has taken upon his shoulders. Everyone must contribute to the success of the expansion, and that applies particularly to Germany and France, which have formed the core of EU development, strongly supported by Spain. Enlargement can scarcely succeed without a strong commitment from, and involvement by, these countries. It is likely to end up costing more money than we think at the moment. Even if this should be the case, it is no reason to be daunted: we will probably all end up paying a little bit more to support the building up of the infrastructure, administration, etc. that the new candidate countries so badly need. It would be a poor show if the EU were unable to share a little of its ever increasing wealth with these countries. It would be prudent for the President-in-Office and his colleagues to send out a clear message that the extra contribution must not stand in the way of enlargement, which must succeed. The purpose of enlargement is to create an area of peace, freedom, democracy and wealth. There is every possibility that this can succeed. The enlargement will increase our opportunities for greater efforts against international terrorism and more effective combating of international crime, including human trafficking. It is crucial that we support sustainable development with more people in work and a better economy. The way to do this is to create a more competitive society such that bureaucratic difficulties and inappropriate agreement conditions are phased out, so that we can achieve the same annual increase in prosperity as American society has succeeded in achieving. Had we been as good as the USA at increasing our productivity, we would have had much greater economic funds with which to do good. It is therefore crucial that in our development we invest in competitiveness. In ten to fifteen years’ time China and India will head a number of Asian countries that will have a dynamism that will in many ways make enormous demands upon our ability to change and grow. Let us prepare ourselves while we have the opportunity to do so; let us not get bogged down in unimportant details – let us concentrate on the big, forward-looking policies. In global competition the ability to produce safe food will play a huge role. We should secure ourselves a leading place within this area through research, development and industrial innovation, as well as more value creation. It is important that we acknowledge our global responsibility and together with the Americans try to find a solution to the problems in the Middle East. The EU represents the group of countries that has the greatest understanding of the circumstances. We can make a great contribution, but without support from the USA, Russia and the Arab countries our efforts will be in vain. Finally, I am pleased to hear the President-in-Office state that there will be the greatest possible openness in respect of the Council’s legislation. I take the liberty of interpreting this as meaning that TV stations will be allowed to broadcast the relevant sections of Council meetings.

Political group: PPE-DE