In the field of deposit guarantees, it ought to be possible to establish cross-border guarantee schemes voluntarily or to link national schemes, in the interests of realisation of the common internal market.

I will outline a few of those things, if you will permit me: finalizing the residential school agreements; announcing plans last week to fundamentally change the way specific claims are handled in Canada; providing $33 million over three years to the National Association of Friendship Centres for urban Aboriginal youth programs, as announced by Minister Oda on June 18; improving educational opportunities for First Nations by passing Bill C-34, the First Nations Jurisdiction over Education in British Columbia Act; making progress on the March 2006 action plan for safe drinking water on reserves; committing $300 million in Budget 2006 for Aboriginal and Northern housing; $300 million in Budget 2007 to develop individual property ownersh ...[+++]ip on reserves; setting aside funds to more than double the size of Aboriginal skills and employment partnership initiatives; establishing on-reserve pilot projects for patient wait time guarantees in prenatal and diabetic care; and launching a national consultation process on the issue of matrimonial real property on reserves.

17. Welcomes the Commission proposal on TEN-T priority projects; notes however that the resources allocated for 30 transport priority projects as well as for the Marco Polo programme constitute a minimum amount which must be regarded as subject to upward revision; underlines the strategic importance of transport networks for final consolidation of the EU single market and for closer EU relations with candidate, pre-candidate and 'ring of friends' countries; notes that the interconnection of transport networks can underpin the development of trade and investment, thereby promoting sustainability and stability as well as social, economic and geographical cohesion; calls for adequate funding for the development of transport interconnection ...[+++]s and common infrastructure shared by the countries; insists that this funding should be conditional on guarantees by the Member States of adequate counterpart funding and adequate access to the network for the regions concerned, and is willing to examine innovative financing instruments such as loan guarantees, European concessions, European loans and an interest relief fund, to cover public and private-sector investment only in research, innovation, space and major physical and non-physical networks, or EIB facilities;

calls for the early submission and adoption of adequate legislative proposals such that guarantees of basic rights are in place by the date of accession of the new Member States and at least by June 2004, and in particular urges the Commission to finalise, as soon as possible, a framework decision on procedural safeguards for suspects and defendants in criminal proceedings throughout the European Union; also calls for a "EuroRights" body of independent defence practitioners in criminal law to be set up under the aegis of the European Parliament to monitor the observance of legal and fair trial rights across the EU, including the Charter ...[+++] of Fundamental Rights, and to advise the Commission, Parliament and Council on development of new EU measures;

In conclusion, the adventure we have had together in building the country is the best guarantee we have that once again, together, we can continue to build a country for ourselves and for our children that is envied in all the world.

The Council should then also be in a position to finalise the new guarantee system.