Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-12-14-Speech-2-037"
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"en.19991214.3.2-037"2
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"Mr President, President-in-Office of the Council, President of the Commission, the Helsinki Summit will go down in history because of the decisions that were taken there. The meeting showed the way for development in Europe far into the future. The European Union will move beyond its borders once and for all at the start of the next millennium. The progress made from the start of talks with the six new candidates for membership, and the acceptance of Turkey as a candidate for membership has been an inevitable part of the European policy to reinforce stability and strengthen prosperity in our continent.
At the same time we have to give yet more consideration to how ready the EU itself is for enlargement and what sort of timetable might be involved. The pace of enlargement has to be in accordance with how prepared both the applicant countries and the EU itself are. Otherwise, we will all be sorely disappointed. The future challenges of an enlarged EU, or even one the present size, will not be solved at the next IGC. We have to prepare for a wider agenda now. However, it was important to decide on a new IGC to resolve the questions which were unresolved at Amsterdam. The Helsinki meeting also bore witness to the fact that there is a need for a broader adoption of the rules for qualified majority voting.
Despite failures at Helsinki, we have to move on quickly to find a solution to the tax issue. We will not be able to prevent even greater inequality in societies and among people unless profits from capital are subject to a minimum rate of taxation within the entire single market area. The European Parliament has continually called for greater transparency for all the EU institutions. A lack of transparency has been a particular source of trouble for decision making in the Council, and Finland, as the country holding the Presidency, has initiated new practices to increase transparency, practices which we would hope will become established before proper rules are drafted. We also made headway on environmental matters. The integration of environmental policy with all policy areas and making it feasible to sign the Kyoto Agreement more quickly were important steps forward. But one disappointment has to be recorded for this autumn: the failure to review the rules for Members and assistants. I know, of course, that the Presidency is not to blame for this. The Presidency has been active and willing to find compromises; the problems and guilty parties are unfortunately to be found in this Chamber."@en1
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