Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, Mr Queiró’s report and the Commission communication are along the lines of our previous parliamentary resolutions, adopted since 1984, on European security and defence policy. The Commission communication and this report have come at a good time for continuing the progress it has already been decided should be made by the ESDP, notably since the Cologne European Council in June 1999. Since then, new bodies have indeed been put in place: the PSC (Political and Security Committee), the Military Committee, the Military Staff and others placed variously alongside the High Representative responsible for foreign policy. It has been decided to set up a rapid reaction force of 60 000 men. Several conferences have been held to evaluate our military capability and deficiencies. Throughout this period, a lot has therefore been done, but an observation, remarked upon many times, has also been made, namely that our defence industries are in great need of reform, without which we shall continue to waste funds by using them to no purpose. I shall not refer again to the various analyses and wishes expressed both by the Commission and by our rapporteur. I share them unreservedly, Mr Queiró, apart from your desire that we vote in favour of your Amendment 1. I cannot help but like paragraph 15, and I shall therefore vote against your wishes, for which I am sorry. Allow me to emphasise one point, because it is important and also because it is topical, as pointed out before me by Mr Queiró and Mr Morillon. It concerns the creation of the European Armaments Agency. For a long time, the European Parliament has – inevitably, given what has just been said – expressed its support for creating such an Agency. We shall again express our support tomorrow by voting in favour of this report and of an excellent amendment tabled on this subject, that is to say the Agency, by Mr von Wogau. Matters have, I am very pleased to say, proceeded quickly, however, especially since good news from Europe is pretty rare at present. Last Monday, a joint decision by the foreign ministers, including those of the new Member States, in fact launched this Agency, which had been decided upon in principle at the Thessaloniki Summit and which must therefore begin its work in January 2004. That is good news. Let us hope that, despite the inevitable obstacles and resistance, this Agency will be a success. It should, I hope, go beyond the OCCAR – the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation – which was a big disappointment. This European Agency will have a broad range of tasks. It will have to concern itself with military capability, in terms of armaments and equipment, but also – and it is my turn to be emphatic – with research, which is a vital sector, to say the least, but one that has been rather neglected, not only by the European Union but also by its Member States. I listened to you very carefully just now, Commissioner. I hope that the Commission will continue in the vein you have just indicated. In its favour, this Agency has the political will of those who are creating it and placing it alongside the Council of Ministers. What it also has in its favour is support from industrialists, who are perfectly aware of the need to work together at European and intra-European levels and who have already, moreover, begun to combine of their own accord. The Agency is supported by the European Parliament and the Commission. In short, a lot of good fairies are present at its birth. It will need their help in order to grow and have the prosperous life we wish for it, as well as for European security and defence policy as a whole.

Political group: PSE