Romano Prodi, Pre-European Council press conference

Ladies and gentlemen,

The European Council meeting should provide further guidance on some major issues that are at the top of the European Union's agenda today.

First of all, I expect the Heads of State and Government to agree on certain key measures to help revive the Union's economy.

My primary interest is to ensure that the Union's leaders endorse the growth initiative which I launched at the beginning of this year.

Investment in networks and knowledge is a crucial aspect of our efforts to strengthen growth in the Union's economy. At Thessaloniki the Member States endorsed the Commission's idea and the Italian Presidency has made it a flagship of their programme.

In this field one thing is certain: not enough has happened. Road links are missing, in many cases the construction of rail links has not started and a lot remains to be done in telecoms and energy.

I do not expect this European Council to make all this happen at one meeting but it can pave the way and set things moving in the right direction.

People must understand that agreement in principle is important but not enough: highways cannot be built just on promises. Repeated declarations do not create railroad links. Excellence in knowledge and technology follows investment, not divine intervention.

The Commission's proposal is more than just a list of projects. What we are proposing is an integrated package, a road map with delivery mechanisms and institutional solutions. If it is properly implemented, our initiative will boost growth directly, and it will do this by maximising the benefits of the internal market.

We have adopted a new list of priority TENs -- transport proposals comprising 29 projects at a total cost of approximately €220 billion. 75% of these projects should happen before 2010.

Choosing which are a priority is not an easy task. But we have to put purely national and selfish considerations aside and agree on a European Priority list. We have spent too much time fighting for our little projects over the last few years and finally everybody is losing as a result of the delays.

We must now decide which projects we want to start with immediately, in practical terms. I will raise this point tomorrow. The December European Council is still the latest deadline for deciding on the projects that can be put into effect most quickly so as to give further political impetus to the Initiative.

On research and technology, measures to increase the volume of investment have been fragmented and sluggish.

In some countries the percentage of public spending devoted to research has even fallen. We need to move credibly towards our target of spending 3% of GDP on research, development and innovation. We need to promote the European technology platforms that we decided on together. We need to prepare security-related research.

We also need a road map in this area to ensure that the momentum built up around European research with Lisbon and the Sixth Framework Programme is not lost but rather given further impetus.

Truly European research projects, such as the hydrogen platforms, renewable energy, and the relaunching of space policy starting with Galileo, have seen the light during the term of office of my Commission. Tomorrow the Heads of State and Government need to reaffirm their commitment and step up their efforts to push through this agenda. But here too, practical decisions need to be taken on actual projects and I intend to speak about this tomorrow with a view to concluding at the December European Council.

As for the Intergovernmental Conference, serious negotiations have only begun. We do not have much time but I hope the IGC will be short and decisive. I will support the Presidency in its efforts to conclude in December.

The issues to settle are not complicated; what is needed, first and foremost, is the political courage to take a limited number of decisions in the European interest.

It is important for Europe not to become bogged down in an institutional power struggle over the weeks to come; those are not the main issues that will mobilise our citizens, and we have to look ahead now to the upcoming referenda.

Tomorrow, the Heads of State and Government will concentrate mainly on institutional issues. You know our objectives: we want a fully political Commission that is capable of acting, where each Commissioner is treated on a strictly equal basis.

We do not want this for ourselves; it is important for the Member States and people generally. And I note that a majority of States tend to favour a Commission with one member per Member State.

As far as the voting system in the Council is concerned, the Commission has always argued -- even before Nice -- for a simple double-majority system (a majority of the Member States and a majority of the population).

We like what the Convention has proposed: it is easy to understand; it will allow the Council to act decisively. That is essential in the balance of power; other decision-making systems are likely to turn the institution where the Member States are represented into a lame duck.

We all expect the European Union to act effectively in the world; with the innovation of a Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Convention has reached an intelligent compromise to ensure that the Union's institutions act in a coherent manner in the world and speak with one voice. We should not unravel the fragile compromise built up around the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

To wind up, I expect the Heads of State and Government to reaffirm their commitment to the fight against illegal immigration as a priority of the Union. More particularly, the European Council should give the green light to setting up an agency to help improve border controls.

This agency will coordinate several cooperation projects in the fields of risk analysis, harmonisation of equipment, surveillance and training of border guards. The Commission will present a practical proposal on this at the beginning of November with a view to speedy implementation of the agency.

In the next phase, the Union should turn its attention to the question of legal immigration. Preventing illegal flows of immigrants through common, coordinated action is important but we should always bear in mind that Europe also needs immigration -- and this an issue we have failed to address properly in the past. It is a question of civilised life. It is not a luxury because immigration contributes decisively to economic growth in Europe.