Brussels, 24/07/2003 (Agence Europe) - Rocco Buttiglione, Italian EU affairs minister and acting President of the Competitiveness Council, outlined the priorities of the Italian Presidency of the EU to the European Economic and Social Committee's plenary session in Brussels on 17 July. Following a meeting with EESC President Roger Briesch, Buttiglione asked the EESC, on behalf of the Italian Presidency, to prepare exploratory opinions on economic and social cohesion, the role of organised civil society in the EU's new strategy for the western Balkans, and extending the trans-European transport networks.
Justifying the choice of these subjects, Buttiglione is reported in an EESC press release to have said: 1) on social and economic cohesion: "Europe will have to find the political energy to bring in new countries without forgetting the poorer regions of the Union. If you compare the economic geography of Europe and the United States, you notice a single economic axis in Europe, one single self-supporting zone in the form of a strangely shaped banana that goes from roughly London to Milan"; 2) Trans-European transport networks need to be put in place as quickly as possible in order to re-link peripheral areas to this powerful economic axis. These networks will ensure that economic activity and production is more evenly spread and thus allow the Union to become more competitive, the Minister feels: "At the moment, we have the engine of a Ferrari but no wheels. If we don't supply ourselves with those wheels, we will not be able to take full advantage of our engine"; and 3) the Balkans: Buttiglione wanted to encourage the setting up of an organised civil society in the countries concerned that will contribute to the stability of the region: "We do not want Italian soldiers staying in an area for long periods of time, and especially if they are not there to protect the population from an enemy that is on their land".