Solidarity instead of national egotism; that's what Europe desperately needs. Following in the footsteps of our preceding 11 stints at the helm of the EU, I am sure this Luxembourgish presidency will continue to promote the community method and work alongside the commission to bring Europe back on track.
Short-term intergovernmental solutions have not proven successful. Take migration, for example. We have just celebrated 30 years of Schengen, yet this heritage is more than ever at risk from those who want to turn back the clocks.
The high migratory pressure at our external borders puts into question the imperfect EU framework we currently have in place. More Europe is needed if we are to tackle this challenge.
As a vice-chair of parliament's legal affairs committee, I am looking forward to working with the presidency on the increase of the number of judges of the European court of justice.
Equally important is the dossier on the simplification of acceptance of public documents between member states. In both cases our common goal must be to make life easier for citizens, providing them with more efficient justice and fewer administrative burdens.
The Luxembourgish presidency's stated goal is to put citizens back at the centre of European integration. I could not agree more. Let's work together on transforming words into reality, notably by finding agreement on the dossiers I have mentioned above.