Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-09-14-Speech-2-038"
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"en.19990914.1.2-038"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the long appointment process is drawing to a close. It marks the end of a turbulent time in the life of the Union, from an institutional point of view, a time which Parliament has used to express all its capabilities and resolutely reaffirm its democratic vocation.
Good luck, Mr President, to you, the Commission and Parliament! And good luck with the Europe which we must finally build!
We need a strong, responsible Commission, able to propose suitable choices and ensure that the aspirations of the European citizens will be honoured, which will work alongside a Council that expresses the will of the national governments, and a Parliament which represents the people.
The Commission will be strong if it can carry out its work in harmony with Parliament, which would like more involvement in drawing up legislative proposals and an enduring institutional relationship with the Commission. This continuous transparent relationship with Parliament will prevent the Commission from acting as the Council’s secretariat and from harming Parliament and its democratic function.
Making proposals is not the same as implementing them, but means drawing up initiatives based on the guidelines discussed with Parliament. The statement by President-designate Prodi seems to express this intention. We invite him to pursue this avenue, thereby taking the path to reducing bureaucracy.
The events that led the previous Commission to step down must never happen again. Internal reforms and reorganisation must be carried out according to the rules of transparency. The principle of collegiate responsibility has been reconfirmed, but it is up to the President to exert control over individual responsibilities.
Trade talks will soon begin within the framework of the Millennium Round, and we ask the Commission to take a firm and determined stance so that within the World Trade Organisation, it can defend the supreme importance of social rights, safeguard the environment and protect the European agricultural model and the consumer with regard to world trade. It must also find the courage to propose again a triangular nature for aid for developing countries.
Preserving and spreading the culture of the European peoples is a main common priority. If the Commission performs this task with conviction, it will have Parliament’s support. One of the more delicate and immediate tasks is to regain people’s confidence, as you, Mr President, said in your report, to bridge the gap made apparent by the poor turnout at the elections. It is not only a political problem, but also a social one, with the citizens’ increasing feeling of alienation from politics, and this is something we find in all our countries.
A structure as complex as the European Union cannot do without a stable relationship with its inhabitants, those on the receiving end of all its decisions and policies, but the unification process cannot proceed without the conscious support of citizens, without combating unemployment and creating new economic growth.
Without deepening the Union, which is the basis for a new institutional order to give Europe a role on the world stage, we will neither be effective promoters of peace and justice nor capable of reconciling the needs, sometimes opposing needs, of North-East Europe with South-West Europe. So we must have new and thorough discussions on the enlargement process in our institutions."@en1
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