Mr President, Mr President-in-Office, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we consider the progress made by Latvia since independence to be a real success story. In 1991, Latvia was still a province of the Soviet Union; since then it has built up a basic democratic order and its own state, introduced a market economy and created new ownership rights, to mention just a few points. Imagine if such radical economic and social change had taken place in your own country in such a short space of time. Only then, I think, can you have any notion of what the people of Latvia have achieved over recent years. In this context, it would be positively humiliating if the European Union failed to get started on the reforms needed in order to be able to receive the central and eastern European countries, Malta and Cyprus; and those who continue to apply the brakes here are merely demonstrating that they are much less capable of reform than any of the candidate countries, especially little Latvia. They are simply not entitled to chide this Baltic country like a stupid schoolboy. We would also be belittling the achievement of the Latvian people if we postponed accession indefinitely after Nice. Negotiations with Latvia did not start until after the Helsinki summit. Nonetheless, it is, in my opinion, in a position to move forward to the first enlargement wave in the enlargement process. The critical comments and the proposals in my report for urgently needed progress in administrative and social reform are designed to bring Latvia quickly and successfully into the European Union. In the present circumstances, one thing is clear: the key to this is to be found in a transparent administration at all levels. This does not just mean a law for the civil service; it also means giving young civil servants opportunities and paying them a decent wage. The basis for this must be a clear code of conduct which excludes corruption and, hence, gives citizens confidence that there is a truly independent administration taking decisions for the general good. Any such administration must be in a position to adopt the acquis quickly, to develop a stakeholder society and to provide proof of efficient auditing of accounts. This would enable Latvia to obtain more European assistance. As you all know, I have been calling for pre-accession aid to be correlated more closely with the mechanisms of the European Structural Funds for a long time now. I still fail to understand why two yardsticks always seem to apply here. Whereas we take decentralised invitations to tender for granted in our development areas, ISPA projects are decided in Brussels. Whereas we, in the meantime, are required to prove that the social partners are involved and that regional or local authorities help to implement resources, this arrangement is still not applied in the candidate countries. How are the people there supposed to experience the people’s Europe in situ? A communications strategy is not enough, however good it may be. It is still hot air, Mr Verheugen; the actual agencies responsible for the project have not even noticed it exists. It is not enough; the whole strategy needs to be geared more to the citizens. It is of paramount importance for the candidate countries to be more involved in the area of employment policy. The process of economic change and fast transition has not only brought successes; it has also resulted in social differences, increasing regional disparities and huge hidden unemployment, which is why these issues must take priority in the pre-accession strategy. I see an urgent need to focus more on structural measures here and not to postpone implementing freedom of movement as a response to unemployment in Latvia. It is our job to continue to support Latvia with the integration of the Russian population. We should also bear in mind that the burden which we have laid on Latvia, namely to build ramparts for the European Union, – that this hurdle cannot be supported by infringing the principles of human dignity, including the human right to asylum. That applies to both Latvia and the European Union.

Political group: Verts-ALE