It assisted and vigorously supported the request from the temporary committee to obtain the Eurocontrol data, which, as emerges from the report, have provided some of the most important evidence for identifying certain facts.

Christie's, on the other hand, escaped a fine because it was the first to provide crucial evidence, which enabled the Commission to prove the existence of the cartel.

The Member States, showing the required ambition and flexibility, have made a decisive contribution to reaching these balanced and positive agreements.

If we want the European Food Authority to be as effective as possible, it will have to be completely independent, its composition will be a determining factor, and its decisions will have to be highly transparent.

During Spring 1998, shortly after the Commission sent out requests for information, Fujisawa filed an application under the Leniency Notice and provided the Commission with decisive evidence of the cartel.

The second is cohesion and obtaining globalisation opportunities to strengthen the social fabric and modernise the economic fabric of the Union. The third relates to external policy and the common European security and defence policy. On this third point we had the opportunity yesterday to debate the proposals with the Presidency and in particular the issues which will be on the agenda at Feira. However, I cannot resist expressing our delight not only at the concrete steps taken in this area in terms of defence and security but also at the political visibility which this Presidency has had in cooperation with the Secretary-General of the ...[+++] Council and the Commission. It has achieved this by contributing to the resolution of regional conflicts and particularly by ensuring that there is not just one regional conflict mediator available in the world, namely the United States of America, but that Europe can also assume what is one of its main historic vocations and one of the decisive factors in the European project.