[Excerpt] The European Union faces difficult times. Even before the events of September 11, we foresaw challenges ahead for our economies, our employment, and our citizens. However, confidence remains firm – not least with the highly successful launch of the Euro currency. We need to build on that success, and on our recent substantial achievements – creating 10 million additional jobs over the past 4 years; bringing unemployment below 8 per cent; and pushing the employment rate above 63 per cent.