Mr President, may I first thank the rapporteur very warmly for being so willing to discuss, cooperate and compromise throughout the drafting of the report. This also made it possible for the report to be adopted unanimously in the committee with just a few abstentions. The enlarged EU needs to consider the practical implications of the new problems that will arise in connection with its eastern neighbours because of the new and longer external border. We must also devote the same attention to the southern shore of the Mediterranean. But devoting the same attention does not mean applying the same models of policies and instruments to both the East and the South, because the challenges are very different. The States of North Africa are in general characterised by a lack of democracy, economic and structural problems, high levels of corruption, significant social tensions, high population growth and the danger of increasing Islamic fundamentalism. As a direct consequence of this situation, together with the pitiful living conditions endured by the majority of the people there, we are forced to confront increasing illegal immigration and the danger of terrorist attacks. A further consequence is that the potential for cooperation cannot be fully exploited. We have of course already seen this with the resources that we enter in the budget for the Barcelona Process and the MEDA Programme, which remain unutilised. It is important to extend the political dialogue with this region, amongst other things by including a parliamentary dimension, something with which we in Europe are of course already familiar in the Council of Europe and the OSCE. My group therefore supports the proposal in this report to set up a parliamentary assembly of Mediterranean countries. I am convinced that this has the potential to engender a new quality of political debate, which will deal with problems and situations of conflict openly and in a different way from the usual government negotiations. To the east of the new external border, it is true that at first sight the problems appear to be similar: corruption, social tension and illegal trafficking in human beings. The essential difference is, however, that these societies are avowedly in a continuing process of transformation; they see themselves as being in a transitional phase. The path of most of these eastern neighbours will, if they so wish, lead to the EU, regardless of whether we have already officially acknowledged as much by conferring candidate status on them. Contrary to North Africa, this does however give us an opportunity to exert greater influence to develop the rule of law and democracy, foster economic cooperation, extend the infrastructure by building trans-European networks and foster cross-border cooperation, which facilitates the everyday lives of people living on both sides of the border. I was rather surprised that the President-in-Office mentioned unprompted the four market freedoms yet again. I would expect this from the Commission, because it is of course in the Commission communication itself, but I had thought that the discussion in the Council would have moved on by now. Sharing everything but the institutions essentially means that we are practically offering membership of the internal market without membership contributions. In any case, I really cannot imagine – even as part of a very ambitious vision – our allowing freedom of movement for workers from North Africa. At least not in my lifetime. I would therefore ask the Council and the Commission not to awaken false hopes. Let us not run before we can walk! I therefore call on the Commission to implement its programme step by step and perhaps concern itself less with visions than with what it is actually possible to achieve in a manageable and realistic timeframe. (Applause) IN THE CHAIR: MR DAVID MARTINVice-President

Political group: PPE-DE