Brussels, 28/03/2001 (Agence Europe) - The first reaction from MEPs to the results of the Stockholm European Summit vary from one group to another.
Thus, the President of the Europeans People's Party/ED, Hans-Gert Pottering, spoke of "modest success" in the Summit, while recognising for the Heads of State and Government the merit for having set out new objectives, but deploring that the finalisation of the objectives set, is conditioned with the "interests of the individual Member States". In particular, Mr Pottering regrets that, in the case of the liberalisation of the energy market, German and France have acted together, but in the direction of a blocking, while they should return to acting as the engine, to push European integration forward.
On the other hand, the Luxembourg Socialist Robert Goebbels felt that the Heads of State and Government had provided themselves, in Stockholm, with an "ambitious programme" of economic and social policies, with "ambitious deadlines (…) until spring 2002". As for the German Social Democrat Udo Bullmann, responsible within the Socialist group for the follow-up given to the Lisbon strategy, he welcomed the "balanced" mix policy confirmed by the Stockholm Summit, and welcomed in particular the fixing of intermediary targets for employment rates.