mr president first of all i would like to congratulate the swedish government for its presidency of this council
it took office with a very heavy agenda and has been able to achieve a great deal much of which we welcome
i have spoken in this chamber repeatedly of the need to reinvigorate the lisbon strategy the european union has for far too long pursued political and institutional reform with a degree of energy and determination which it has simply been unable to muster for economic reform
yet our global trading position relative economic weight and international competitiveness are in jeopardy
i therefore welcome the commission's eu twenty twenty initiative now endorsed by the european council and i congratulate particularly mr barroso for his part in this
the future prosperity and well-being of our citizens depend on a dynamic economy able to generate jobs and wealth by unleashing the creative energies of entrepreneurs and by stimulating the growth of successful businesses
part of this economic regeneration will be the greening of our economies and we all hope that an agreement in copenhagen this week will draw up a realistic framework to tackle climate change whilst facilitating economic growth and development
on the adoption of the stockholm programme we support the principle that the member states of the union must cooperate more to combat problems related to immigration cross-border crime and terrorism
but these are also areas which lie at the heart of national sovereignty and defending the laws and ensuring security and protecting the public are amongst the most important duties of a democratic state
we must therefore balance the need for joint action with respect for the rights of our member states
parts of the stockholm programme simply fail to get the balance right
some of the proposals will simply centralise power create unnecessary expense and add further bureaucracy for very little added value
our priorities must lie in the direction of fitness to compete deregulation innovation and job creation
the people of europe deserve nothing less
