32. Emphasises the importance of the EU in supporting developing countries in their struggle to fight climate change; notes the European Council conclusions of 10-11 December 2009 that the EU and its Member States are ready to contribute with fast-start funding of EUR 2,4 billion annually for the years 2010 to 2012; stresses however the need for information on participation and contribution from the EU budget during 2011 and 2012; stresses that climate finance needs to come from additional funding and not from cuts in existing development aid, in order for the EU to honour its commitment to achieve the Millennium Development Goals;

The achievement of this objective is surrounded by several risks: (1) GDP growth in 2005 may be below the central scenario of the updated programme. According to the sensitivity analysis performed in the update, under the assumption of a shortfall in nominal growth by half a percentage point in 2004 and in 2005, the headline deficit would lie only marginally below 3% of GDP in 2005 (2) The achievement of the expenditure targets for 2004 and 2005 is uncertain even with growth as expected in the update's central scenario and requires full implementation and efficiency of the measures introduced.

However, we rejected the amendments which, on the pretext of maintaining balanced competition, bow to pressure from the lobbies – primarily the airline lobbies – and will do nothing more than delay the implementation of essential measures or will ensure that the measures taken will not meet the legitimate expectations of the public and the staff concerned.

Subsequent to the Administration Order, the UK Government has sought state aid approval for loans of up to € 8,78 billion (GBP 5,42 billion) to Railtrack Plc in Administration in order to ensure the continued safe operation of the principal rail infrastructure network in Great Britain during the Administration period.

While there is no doubt about its success, this mode of transport has not yet reached its full potential and maximised its hidden advantages: advantages in terms of cost since it is the most economical mode of transport; advantages in terms of the amount of energy consumed per tonne/kilometre; advantages in terms of efficiency since it is the most efficient mode of transport from the point of view of the amount of investment required in relation to transport capacity; advantages in terms of regional cohesion since it is the most suitable mode for servicing the peripheral regions of Europe; advantages in terms of the environment since ...[+++] it causes less pollution than mainland traffic; and advantages in terms of intermodal transport since it is an ideal way of developing multimodal transport.

This assistance, which is grouped into six sub-programmes, will permit the construction of major infrastructure projects to improve the integration of the region and its internal communications (roads in the region account for half the programme) and implementation of measures to assist productive investment for small firms in the area (11% of the total programme).