Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-09-14-Speech-2-126"
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"en.19990914.5.2-126"2
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"Mr Prodi, on behalf of the Italian Socialists, I hope that Parliament offers you its broad and unconditional confidence. There has been enough evasion and we need a strong Commission. Besides, without an authoritative leadership, Parliament is in danger of losing its way.
This period of adjustment could not have been more difficult. The crisis in the previous Commission occurred just at the time when Europe was going up in flames! If it were not for Emma Bonino, in the face of the Balkans tragedy, the Commission simply would not have existed. However, the European citizens and peoples have been left with an impression of fragility, if not powerlessness and a sense of weakness in the crucial area – the area Europe was created for – of ensuring peace in our continent.
You spoke of the Europe of peoples more than the Europe of the institutions. It is the view and feeling of the European peoples that Europe is already one from the Atlantic to the Ural mountains, from the tundra to Anatolia. You rightly put at the top of the list enlargement of the Union to include those countries that are ready, and then you spoke of the different degrees of co-operation by drawing concentric circles of ‘virtual Membership’ to include nearby countries not yet ready to accede. You also mentioned a partnership with Russia and Ukraine and a cultural partnership with the Mediterranean countries. And encompassing all these circles is the joint and strengthened leadership with the United States of America.
Mr President, are you sure that this view is shared on the other side of the Atlantic? You will no doubt have read yesterday that the American Minister of Defence is already putting obstacles in the way of common European defence. And yet Mr CFSP is non other than the former Secretary-General of NATO. NATO’s borders already stretch to Warsaw and Budapest while Europe’s borders clearly end in Berlin.
Enlargement is the main priority, but it is not without its problems, both for the countries concerned and for the Union itself. And I am not only thinking of the disproportion between larger aims and a smaller budget. If we do not want to lose in substance what we gain in size, if we want to give a soul to the Europe of the single market and currency, if we want to regain the citizens’ and people’s faith, we – Commission, Parliament and Council – must work together on what only a more robust foundation and new energy can bring: European citizenship, a Charter on Rights and a real Constitution. What is the point in having ensured free movement within one border yet maintaining fifteen different laws on immigration and political asylum? What is the point in having one parliament that is formed on the basis of fifteen different types of electoral system? A new frontier remains to the South, and a common citizenship: this is the perspective I would like you to focus on between now and January"@en1
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