Mr President, Commission, ladies and gentlemen, allow me first of all to say a word of thanks to all my fellow Members of this House, and particularly the shadow rapporteurs, with whom I have worked closely in order to pilot the report on sales promotion into the plenary. It has been a long journey with many obstacles along the way, which started in 1996 with the first publication of the Green Paper, followed by the Commission's follow-up communication in 1998. Further to extensive consultation, the Commission introduced a pragmatic and clearly defined proposal in October 2001, for which I was appointed rapporteur in November 2001. In the field of sales promotions, this draft regulation aims to eliminate obsolete measures and major discrepancies in the relevant legislation of the fifteen Member States. These many discrepancies prevent particularly small and medium-size enterprises from breaking through on the various European markets. It goes without saying that when enterprises cannot communicate across their borders, they cannot do any business at international level. In addition, sales promotion has many facets and can be tailored to different circumstances. It can be used to launch innovative products onto the market, to promote customer relations, to stimulate short-term campaigns by giving them a competitive edge, to react promptly to falling sales figures and as a means of effective stock management. Furthermore, this regulation will also put the consumer in a considerably stronger position. Not only will consumers receive far more information, but they will also, via the development of the internal market, be able to take full advantage of better pricing. After all, a bigger internal market increases competition, which leads to lower prices, partly brought about by the euro. This is why I consider this proposal to be a very important initiative for the internal market's future development. It is also a first step towards translating the fine words spoken at the Lisbon Summit into action. After all, nobody can deny that two years after this much-debated summit, disappointingly little progress has been made. Did Europe not want to become the most competitive knowledge-based economy? I believe that the time has come to make another step in the right direction with a regulation of this kind on sales promotion. Its far-reaching consequences and the many interests involved have meant that this proposal has spawned quite a reaction, to which the Commissioner referred earlier. I should like to underline the key challenges. As far as the legal basis is concerned, I have always taken the view that a regulation, thanks to the swifter entry into force and its direct applicability, is a much more effective legal instrument than a directive. The issue of sale below cost is being temporarily deferred because the positions in the different Member States vary too widely. I have tabled a compromise amendment on this, in which I ask the Commission to carry out a thorough investigation into the subject. The reason for tabling such an amendment is that I do not want the liberalisation of sale below cost to have a detrimental effect on small and medium-size enterprises. I have therefore tabled an amendment with regard to the latter, which contains the explicit request to protect them. In this proposal, mutual recognition or – in other words – the principle of the country of origin, is of major importance. This principle is also the internal market's keystone. It simply means that Members have to recognise that they cannot apply their own national legislation to incoming promotions. This mutual recognition of each other's legislation is a flexible means of avoiding overregulation. In addition, it is already a commonly used form of legislation in our Community legislation. The television without frontiers directive and the e-commerce directive are two cases in point. Finally, I should like to comment on the stipulation of an age limit for children. I have always been in favour of the age of fourteen, unless specific products require other age limits. Following extensive bilateral consultation with fellow MEPs from the various committees, I have managed to resolve these challenges in a pragmatic manner. I am pleased with the outcome, even though I realise that further adjustments will need to be made in the course of further discussion on the motion for a resolution. I hope that Parliament has bowled the Council an important first ball, and I look forward to this debate with great interest.

Political group: ELDR