Til trods for de vanskeligheder, vi har haft med at komme videre med dette spørgsmål så hurtigt, som vi havde håbet, vil jeg gerne understrege, at analysen i handlingsplanen fra 1997, der talte for et behov for en omlægning af den europæiske forsvarsindustri og for skabelse af et indre marked for forsvarsprodukter, stadig er gyldig.
Despite the difficulties in moving forward on this issue as rapidly as we had hoped, I want to stress that the analysis of the 1997 action plan advocating a need for restructuring the European defence industry and for creating a single market for defence products is still valid.