1. For a long time now, I have considered that there has not been enough debate on major European issues. The problem is not only a Portuguese one. Both the Union (in spite of its vast daily information system) and the Member States have rarely been able to disseminate, explain or discuss these matters in any kind of mobilising way. I am sure that this is the right road for the European Citizenship status that was decided in the Maastricht Treaty to be fully embraced by those concerned: the Europeans. Because of this oversight, it has been easy, everywhere, to exploit negative caricatures and emotional fears or to lapse into recurrent crises of Euro-scepticism.

In sharing the responsibility for changing this situation, I have been unrelenting in my endeavours to organise meetings, encourage debates, intervene in the media and also to involve young people (as we will do tomorrow) in the discussion of the European problems that will, after all, shape their future.

This informal reflection meeting in Arraiolos is in exactly this spirit, at a crucial moment for the European Union, which is now facing a double and perhaps decisive challenge: its enlargement and the negotiation of a Constitutional Treaty.

2. Right from the start, among other factors, the cement binding the idea of Monnet and Schuman was solidarity, friendship and trust between peoples.

That was also the spirit behind this initiative. I am bound to the presidents of Germany, Finland, Hungary, Latvia and Poland by strong ties of friendship, understanding and also of openness in sharing our common concerns about Europe and the world situation.

Their presence here in Alentejo is a great honour for me, and indeed for us, and I would like to thank them for their kind acceptance of my invitation, which is yet another token of their friendship for Portugal.

3. During our meeting, we had the opportunity to address European issues, mainly at the level of principles, naturally without wishing in any way to duplicate the agenda or the negotiations of the IGC.

We talked about enlargement as an undeniable opportunity to adjust the European integration project to the historical and cultural map of a continent that has finally been reconciled. And we insisted on the need to protect the cohesion of the European space by pursuing policies of solidarity, which are the essential foundations of balance and unity.

We debated the goals of the so-called Lisbon Strategy for dynamic, sustained development and for the defence and improvement of the social acquis achieved in the meantime.

We discussed the existing fragilities of the Union’s diplomatic intervention and the inarguable advantage of consolidating instruments and resources in order to make it more ambitious and credible at an international level.

We addressed the need to encourage citizens to play a more dynamic role in European construction and to facilitate ways that will favour their more conscious identification with the Union’s institutions and policies.

Finally, we briefly shared our impressions on the present world situation, focussing especially on the fight against terrorism, the Middle East conflict and the urgent need to combat scourges such as AIDS, which have been decimating populations and de-structuring states, particularly in Africa.

We naturally mentioned the work currently being done by the IGC and the complexity that it involves for the Presidency of the European Union and for our governments, for whom we would like to leave a word of solidarity and encouragement.