DIFFERENT VOICES

Date: 16/05/1996

“Of course, the EU would have preferred for the role of France in Lebanon to have been European - not France and the European Union.”

Italian Foreign Minister Susanna Agnelli chastising Paris for undertaking solo peace missions to the Middle East.

“We cannot continue to complain about unemployment and, at the same time, hesitate to take positive action in a sector that has enormous job creation potential.”

Tourism Commissioner Christos Papoutsis stressing the need for EU-wide action to boost the tourism sector.

“By the end of 1996, the car will be ready. About one year later, it will be for Europe's leaders to decide which countries are ready to climb on board to take to the road...whatever the UK decides, I am convinced that other member states will go ahead on schedule. Nobody and nothing will prevent them.”

Economics Commissioner Yves-Thibault de Silguy stressing the technical and practical issues surrounding the introduction of a single currency were on course to be settled by the end of the year and insisting the January 1999 deadline would be met.

“The European Union can be a new frontier, part of a dream.”

French Prime Minister Alain Juppé outlining plans for a new drive to boost enthusiasm for the Union in France in a speech on Schuman Day.

“There will be someone in the Council of Ministers sensitive to Parliament's recommendations.”

New Spanish Foreign Minister Abel Matutes assuring fellow MEPs on the committee on foreign affairs and security that he would not forget them in his new role.

“Majority voting is not designed against anyone. The purpose is merely to safeguard the Union's ability to act...What is the really essential feature of the European Union? It is that, in the EU, the guiding principle is law - not force.” Budget Commissioner Erkki Liikanen arguing that majority voting should be adopted as the general rule at the Intergovernmental Conference and stressing that smaller member states had nothing to fear from it.