Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-09-15-Speech-3-047"

Predicate	Value (sorted: default)
rdf:type	lpv_eu:Speech2
dcterms:Date	"1999-09-15"^^xsd:date2
dcterms:Is Part Of	lp_eu:Preparation of the European Council meeting in Tampere (continued)2
dcterms:Language	"en"^^xsd:language2
lpv:document identification number	"en.19990915.5.3-047"2
lpv:hasSubsequent	lp_eu:1999-09-15-Speech-3-0482
lpv:speaker	lp:Baroness Sarah Ludford2
lpv:spoken text	"Madam President, speaking for the first time here I want to insist that this summit be more than a committee on public safety. It must have a balanced agenda. The Treaty prescribes the creation of an area of freedom, justice and security, but the Tampere summit is in danger of turning only into a security summit. Of course we want prime ministers to provide protection from threats like organised crime, drug running, terrorism and sex crimes, but let them also focus on the threat of discrimination and racism. Let them also tackle the problems of banking secrecy and tax havens which provide cover for money laundering. They should seek to provide European citizens with protection from injustice so that those arrested away from home can get legal representation, interpretation and bail. Instead of trying to harmonise European legal systems, just start with getting cross-border justice for individuals caught up in expensive red tape. And while countering illegal immigration and abuse of asylum laws is important, governments must respect their obligations under the Geneva Convention to grant asylum to genuine refugees and treat them with compassion and dignity, not demonise them. The Treaty stresses liberty and respect for human rights as fundamental principles. We should insist that the Charter of Fundamental Rights not only be drawn up with this Parliament as equal partner but also be legally binding and not just a pious declaration without teeth. Some of the rights we need as citizens are against our own governments, such as checks on our police, customs and intelligence services. Freedom of information ought to be a summit priority and so should ratification of the international criminal court and pursuing perpetrators of crimes against humanity. The message we must send today is that Tampere must be a summit for citizens, not just the bureaucrats, and democratic accountability must increase. Finally, if our national leaders want to set an example of justice and good governance let them disown their own foreign ministers who disgracefully want to put the Agency for Reconstruction of Kosovo in Thessaloniki. This shabby fix is the opposite of what the European Union should stand for."@en1
lpv:spokenAs	substitute; Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy (1999-09-13--2002-01-14)3 unknown; Liberal Democrat Party (1999-07-20--2004-07-19)3 member; Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs (1999-09-13--2002-01-14)3 member; ELDR (1999-07-20--2004-07-19)3
lpv:unclassifiedMetadata	"Ludford (ELDR )."1

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