"The history of Europe is a melody, played not just by one instrument, but by a whole orchestra": reminiscent of the impending 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth, the Austrian Chancellor, Wolfgang Schüssel, used a musical metaphor to speak of Europe and the need to integrate its diversities when "great challenges are knocking on the door" of the EU. This morning, as he spoke in front of the European Parliament gathered in Strasbourg to announce the six-month work plan, the President of the EU Council added: "We are all in the same boat, we have to row together and in the same direction". Schüssel first listed the problems at hand: "The double no to the Constitution from France and Holland, concern about the extension, terrorist attacks and terrorism, and, more recently, bird flu, the energy issue, the danger of Iranian rearmament. All this is telling us that we need more of Europe, that we need to coordinate our efforts". "However, we have to rely on the citizens’ confidence and, to follow this way, there are some priorities: employment, for which we will look for shared solutions at next spring’s meeting; the revival of economy, on which employment as well as general welfare depend, social cohesion, the availability of resources to modernise the EU". (to be continued)
