Hr. formand, kære kolleger, et af de grundlæggende krav fra Europa-Parlamentet og ligeledes fra Kommissionen er en stærkere handleevne i Den Europæiske Union inden for handels- og udenrigspolitik. Det har De, hr. kommissionsformand Prodi, netop understreget for nylig.
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, greater power for the European Union to act in the field of foreign trade and payments is one of the fundamental demands of the European Parliament and of the Commission too, as you, President Prodi, emphatically underlined earlier today.