Külügyi Szemle - A Teleki László Intézet Külpolitikai Tanulmányok Központja folyóirata - 2003 (2. évfolyam)
2003 / 2. szám - EURÓPA - Claus Juul Nielsen: Together in One Europe
Claus Juul Nielsen towards the budget and direct payments to agriculture and you know how difficult it was for the Danish Presidency to find the right compromise. The completion of the internal market and the Lisbon process To my country the greatest advantage of membership of the European Union is the creation of the Single European market. This process began in 1986 and was basically completed in 1993 meaning that this year we can celebrate its tenth anniversary. This part of the cooperation remains the core of any strategy for economic reform in the EU. During the Danish Presidency we succeeded to add new elements to this cooperation, such as the "Single Sky Policy", which denationalize the European air space making air traffic more effective and competitive and a liberalization of the electricity- and gas markets as from 2003. However, to obtain maximum advantage from the internal market the EU must ensure a higher degree of implementation of the legislation decided upon. Already today approximately 1.500 cases where member states have not implemented legislation are pending with the European Commission. We must also increase our competitiveness both internally and externally. This is where the Lisbon process comes into play. The process is designed to make the EU the most competitive and knowledge based economy in the world by 2010. It combines macro-economic measures on the national level, such as employment policies, pension reforms, skills and mobility policies with new common legislation aiming and liberalizing and improving the functioning of the financial markets, railway systems, rules for company mergers, cooperative governance and competition rules. It also encourages new initiatives for a real knowledge based economy such as general access to basic ICT skills, widespread availability of broad band and the development of open source software. As I see it, the same interests will apply to Hungarian economy and business and I am convinced that the real advantages of a Hungarian membership of the EU will show themselves in these areas of cooperation and not through the agreement reached in Copenhagen concerning direct payment to agriculture and budgetary compensation. I am also sure that it would be the single market and the Lisbon process, which will bring our economies much closer together and open up many opportunities for new comparative advantages to our companies and citizens. Here lies the real potential for future growth and cooperation for both of us. (Lecture in the Centre of the Foreign Policy Studies on 6th of February 2003) 18 Külügyi Szemle
