Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-10-27-Speech-3-019"
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"en.19991027.1.3-019"2
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"Madam President, I should like to congratulate the Council and the Commission on the progress made at Tampere in so many areas and I would like to associate myself with the remarks made earlier by my Liberal Democrat colleague Baroness Ludford.
In the short time I have available I would like to touch on two issues. The first is the position of non-nationals, the many millions of our fellow human beings not citizens of the Union but either legally resident here or being offered asylum. I welcome some of the progress that was made at Tampere: for instance, on giving them comparable rights and on the fight against racism and xenophobia. If we are talking about creating an area of freedom, security and justice, however, we must recognise that these are the people to whom justice is most regularly denied. They are still too often associated with criminals. Racist urban youths are a social embarrassment but racist policemen are a major social hazard.
I welcome legal aid and greater information to citizens on legal systems and I recognise that progress can be made on mutual recognition of judicial decisions. Nonetheless, we need common high standards of judicial competence and I hope that we will see more work done in this area. We need protection of victims and the right to compensation; but we also need a recognition of the rights of defendants if we are to live in a decent society.
The second point I would like to touch on is the involvement of citizens. The President-in-Office made much of the increased efficiency and transparency that Tampere has brought. He talked about this being key if the Union is to win the trust of its citizens. He talked of “opening up” the Council to public scrutiny and looking at other reforms. He hoped that the Finnish presidency would leave a lasting impression on the Union in this regard.
As chairman of the Committee on Citizens’ Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs, I would like to suggest to the President-in-Office that more recognition be given to the role of this Parliament in dealing with citizens. The European Parliament could have been invited at a working level to many more of the debates surrounding the Tampere summit. The presidency could have sent a representative to our committee to come and talk about the results of that summit. Does the presidency recognise the legitimacy of the European Parliament or is it somehow running scared of our participation? I have a message for the presidency: relax – come and discuss with us. I hope we will be able to prove to you through our work in the body that will draw up the Charter of Fundamental Human and Social Rights that the presidency and Parliament can work very well together.
I hope that, as we proceed in this area where so often Parliament must work directly with the Council, we will see much more effective cooperation between us. I hope we will move from the somewhat stilted process of government by summit to more government at working level."@en1
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