madam president so far we have dealt with the crisis but now we need to deal with the fundamental problems that caused the crisis namely the large deficits and the weak public finances
that is why the reform of the stability and growth pact is of utmost importance not only to reach the aims and targets but also to have credibility in the economies of europe
we also need to tackle the problems of the lack of competitiveness and economic growth
that is the main task we need to deal with in order to fight poverty and create jobs but also to secure prosperity
of course member states have a fundamental responsibility here to restructure budgets giving priority to social security and investments in growth at the same time as deficits are reduced
they must reform markets including labour markets and other opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises
that is what member states must do and much more but let us also underline what the european union as such must do
we must have the same level of preparedness to restructure the budget of the european union as we are demanding from member states ensuring that we give priority to growth and investment research and science and open markets
we also need to ensure that we are reforming the european market
seventy percent of the european economy is in the service sector but the services directive is rather limited in that perspective
the future of the european economy lies in the service sector and the knowledge economy
there is strong demand for the commission to put forward proposals making the internal market applicable to the whole knowledge economy
that is the key issue in making europe the leading knowledge economy in the world
