23. Insists that Galileo is a project of major strategic importance for the European Union, especially in view of the commitment to invest in similar systems from national military budgets shown by other economies, such as China, India and Russia, and that a scenario where European business is unable to benefit from the multiple economic, environmental, innovative, research and employment opportunities offered by Europe having its own satellite navigation system is not desirable; considers moreover that, should a service be reduced or switched off, the potential disruption to business, banking, transport, aviation, communication etc., t ...[+++]o name but a few, would be very costly (e.g. in terms of revenues for business, road safety etc.); recalls that the budgetary authority recognised this when it increased the ceilings for Heading 1A within the current Financial Perspective to accommodate continued investment in the Galileo programme;

Its activities are intended to pursue social, economic, environmental objectives in order to ensure the long-term future of fishing activities and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources; balance fishing resources and the capacity of the community fleet; strengthen the development of economically viable enterprises in the fisheries sector; protect the marine environment and fisheries resources promoting private or collective initiatives in selective fisheries; develop the aquaculture ...[+++]sector, which represents a real potential for the creation of jobs, ensuring, at the same time, a reduction of the environmental impact; promote equality between women and men in the development of the fisheries sector and coastal fishing areas.

A number of policies have an impact on the business environment for companies in the textiles and clothing sector, and thus on their competitiveness:

The European Investment Bank should apply its funds not only to the knowledge-based enterprises in the multimedia and biotechnology sectors, but also to cutting-edge technologies in the environmental and energy sectors and to innovative service-providers in craftsmanship, trade and tourism.

Finally, the rapporteur proposes to set up a mechanism, whereby Central and Eastern European coal and steel companies that have restructured their production plants and made them more environmentally-friendly could have the right to participate in the activities of the Fund already before their respective governments have paid their contributions to the Fund. This could provide a powerful incentive to speed up the efforts to restructure production plants and clean up the environment in the candidate countries.

The key policy options to be decided upon in establishing such a framework are essentially: which countries and which companies in which sectors will participate- How, and by whom, should the allocation of allowances be made to the sectors and companies involved in emissions trading compared to those not involved, and to individual companies participating in emissions trading- How can emissions trading build upon existing policies and measures such as technical regulation, environmental agreements and fiscal incentives, and how can eq ...[+++]uivalence of effort be ensured between companies involved in emissions trading and those subject to other policies and measures-