Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-07-21-Speech-3-024"
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"en.19990721.3.3-024"2
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"(DE) Mr
President, Madam President-in-Office of the Council, it is clear that Mr Poettering is keen to use the European Parliament as something of a platform for parading his national Opposition in Germany. But the performance you give here, Mr Poettering, cannot, nor will it ever match the real-life drama facing our Foreign Minister.
Lastly, a few words on the new Commission. Mr President-in-Office of the Council, you spoke of the new Commission. May I remind you that there will only be a new Commission when the European Parliament inaugurates it by vote of confidence.....
(Applause)
.... but if Mr Poettering is going to shout it about that the Chancellor did not speak to a Commissioner-designate before the nomination was made, then in fact I must inform you, Mr Poettering, that former Chancellor Kohl often spoke to Mr Bangemann and you can see how successful that proved to be, i.e. not at all. Talk serves no purpose whatsoever.
Nevertheless, again on the address from the other side of the House as regards the inauguration of the new Commission, we refuse, and on this matter I now speak on behalf of the Group of the Social Democrats, to make the procedure and timetable of Parliament dependent on the presentation of a report by a non-parliamentary group or a non-parliamentary committee. We will not accept any delay in the inauguration of the Commission. You may well bring this about if you have the support of the majority, Mr Poettering, but then you will also have to explain to the public why a Commission that resigned in March is still in office six months after its resignation. My group will not support these obvious delaying tactics
(Applause)
Mr President-in-Office of the Council, the European Union has passed the acid test during difficult times under your Presidency. You have quoted the important points here and I will not hesitate to say that in so doing a number of shortcomings and weaknesses have been glossed over. There is no doubt of that. But the decisions taken under the German Presidency over the last six months will shape the future of the European Union far into the next decade.
Mr Poettering asked what would have happened if the decisions taken under the German Presidency had been taken under a Presidency of his political persuasion. I can tell you what would have happened, Mr Poettering. You would have rung all the bells here, lit a thousand candles and had the Te Deum strike up. Incidentally, that is the difference between Christian Democrats and European Democrats.
We are not going to start singing here but would simply like to thank the German Presidency for a successful period in office.
(Applause)
We welcome the fact that the European Council, under the German Presidency, has concluded the work on a European Employment Pact. We know that a European Employment Pact cannot replace national endeavours to create employment, but it can and must co-ordinate, focus and stimulate these endeavours. We also know that a European Employment Pact does not, at this stage, constitute European employment policy.
The governments of all the Member States must succeed in progressing from non-binding joint declarations to binding common policy with clear guidelines and agreed terms of reference. We don"t just need a Pact to stabilise the euro but also one which will create employment in Europe.
Secondly, the decisions the European Council had to take in the area of common foreign and security policy will alter the European Union more profoundly than it is possible to envisage at present. For the first time in history, the European Union employed armed troops in Europe on a joint basis, showing remarkable resolve in the process. Mr President-in-Office of the Council, we want you to show the governments of the Member States the same determination when it comes to promoting peace in the Balkans. NATO won the war, the European Union must now win peace. The Stability Pact for the Balkans is a just and necessary step but it is not yet a Balkans policy. The creation of offices and agencies should not be the sum total of EU policy in the Balkans. If you continue in this vein then very soon you will need an office to co-ordinate the co-ordinators, and that is not a Balkans policy.
My third point concerns the reform of the EU institutions. Mr President-in-Office of the Council, in January, you made a fine speech here which was very forward-looking. However, the decisions taken by the Cologne European Council on institutional reform barely scratched the surface. We consider it too fainthearted to restrict ourselves to the reforms contained in the Amsterdam Protocol. It is certainly a good thing that you set the reform process in motion in Cologne, but, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, we have an answer to the questions you raised here regarding the future prospects for enlargement of the European Union and the shape of our European Union in institutional terms, and our answer to these questions is clear: we want major institutional reform to be undertaken prior to enlargement. The price of a larger Europe must not be a lesser Europe."@en1
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