Georgios Karatzaferis, on behalf of the IND/DEM Group. – (EL) Madam President, can you imagine a family setting the table at home for lunch, with lobster for the father, salmon for the mother, meat for one child, beans for another child, greens for another child and nothing for the other child? It simply cannot be and yet that is what is happening in the big European family, which we want to unite under one Constitution.

There are 80 million citizens in Europe living below the poverty line. There are pensioners in Greece living on EUR 300 a month and they feel just fine, because in neighbouring countries other pensioners are living on EUR 80.

This is the policy of Europe. Certain inaccessible areas in Greece, such as Ipiros, or certain other isolated islands near Turkey have suddenly become rich, precisely because the new incoming countries have brought down the average. This is not logical. We must find a way of developing the economy equally for everyone.

When there is a racist attitude on the part of the ministers who create the economy, such as the Minister of Finance, Mr Alogoskoufis, who the other day said that blacks are not people, repulsively and insultingly referring to them as ‘niggers’; when they have this sort of racist attitude, they cannot impose an economy of equality, an economy which will be developed throughout the world.

Poor people have the right to life and we must find solutions. We are not going to measure standards in Europe by how many people drive a Mercedes 500, but by how many children do not have a glass of milk to drink in the morning.