Council President Wolfgang Schüssel, Austria's Federal Chancellor, had a working meeting with French Prime Minister Villepin on Thursday evening in Salzburg in the run-up to the conference "The Sound of Europe".
“I am pleased to welcome Dominique de Villepin as a participant in the debate tomorrow. The conference is to focus on Europe’s identities and values. I say 'identities' advisedly, for Europe’s identity is multi-faceted. We are an orchestra performing together and developing common ideas," Schüssel said.
The meeting had focused on the priorities of the Austrian Presidency for the spring summit, which included research and development, jobs, education, energy policy and energy security, the Chancellor reported. The European Commission had completed its evaluation of the national reform programmes. It was now necessary to draw up a transparent, efficient action plan, he added.
"It is important to us to bring Europe closer to the citizens," Schüssel said, and mentioned specific projects such as the Working Time and Services Directives and the harmonisation of the VAT assessment base as effective measures. The questions as to the future of Europe were equally important to the Austrian Presidency. "We must get over the stagnation and pessimism," Schüssel said.
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