Your rapporteur would first like to stress the EU fisheries sector’s great dissatisfaction with, and frustration at, this state of affairs and highlight the substantially adverse impact of this agreement on the industry, especially the tuna canning sector, owing to the totally outrageous exemption from the normal rules of origin that has been included in this agreement.

In addition to a balanced schedule of fees, the Rules of Procedure would need to provide for legal aid for parties unable to meet the costs as is the case in Article 76 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice and Articles 94 ff. of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance.

Prime Minister José Sócrates, I would like to express my appreciation and thanks for your personal involvement and Portugal’s spirited stance in striving to make the free movement of persons, one of the four fundamental freedoms of the Union, a reality for the citizens of nine Member States, including my own, Slovakia, by the planned deadline.

– (ES) Mr President, I would firstly like to thank the rapporteur, Mrs Sommer, for the wonderful work she has done, and express my gratitude for the discussions and progress which have resulted from the joint work of the three institutions with a view to achieving approval at first reading, because I believe that the objections we had in relation to some of the points which had been adopted in the first report of the Committee on Regional Policy, Transport and Tourism have been entirely altered by means of certain compromise amendments which are acceptable to the Commission and which ...[+++] I also believe will be acceptable to the Council when the time comes.

In view of the persistence of the problems I have just described, the European Union has exploited – and will continue to exploit – all channels of dialogue in order to communicate its position to the Russian authorities, and that position is based on the following points: firstly, the European Union recognises the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation as well as its right and responsibility to protect its population from terrorist attacks, which the Union condemns unreservedly.

The questions posed by the honourable Members provide me with the opportunity of informing you of the impressions I formed during my meetings in Ankara with the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Yilmaz, and with the Foreign Minister, Mr Ismaïl Cem, and also during my meetings in Nicosia with President Clerides, the Turkish Cypriot leader, Mr Denktash, the Foreign Minister, Mr Kasoulides, the Chief Negotiator, Mr Vassiliou and the Speaker of the Parliament, Mr Chistofias.