Strassbourg, 31 March 2004

President Cox;
President Prodi;
Honourable Members of the European Parliament;
Ladies and Gentlemen

I am very pleased to be here today to report on the outcome of last week’s Spring European Council. When I had the honour to address this house in January on the priorities of the Irish Presidency, I said then that the over-riding objective of our Presidency was to secure outcomes which would have a positive impact on the lives of Europe’s people.

I believe that last week’s European Council has contributed to securing positive outcomes in a very real way. The European Union has shown, yet again, that it has the ability to address new challenges. It has shown that when we move forward together, we can make a real difference to peoples’ daily lives.

The significant progress made at last week’s European Council was due to many factors. One important factor, I am convinced, is the excellent working relationship which has been built up between the Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament. The theme of this Irish Presidency is “Europeans – working together”. This European Council has clearly shown how much can be achieved when we succeed in doing so.

At the meeting, as the Honourable Members will be aware, the European Council adopted a Declaration on Combating Terrorism. We agreed to resume our negotiations in the Intergovernmental Conference and to reach agreement no later than at our meeting in June. We identified what needs to be done in practical terms to promote sustainable growth and more jobs. We discussed a range of foreign policy issues, including the Middle East, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Balkans and Russia.

Mr. President,

As we are all, sadly, too well aware, last week’s European Council took place under the shadow of the terrible attack in Madrid on the 11th of March. I want to express, yet again, my sympathies to the families of the victims. I know that all here will agree with me when I say that this attack was a grave challenge to all that the European Union stands for.

In considering how to respond to this threat, the European Council wished to ensure that everything that can be done is being done to protect our citizens from the scourge of terrorism. At the same time, fundamental human rights in our democracies must be protected.

You can access the entire speech at: http://europa.eu.int/futurum/documents/other/oth310304_en.pdf