Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-03-14-Speech-2-026"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20000314.3.2-026"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, Mr Prodi, we have already had this discussion, several weeks ago in fact. You also made the point then, that you intend to gauge the success of your work from the level of turnout at the European elections in 2004. As I said at the time, for a body that is not directly elected by the people, that is a truly presumptuous statement. However, that is your plan and I intend to go into it in further detail.
The European Parliament, along with myself and all my fellow MEPs – who every day are to be found canvassing in the most direct manner for support for these EU policies, down on the streets and squares of Europe, and who do not just sit in ivory towers – to put it without fear or favour – are reliant on its being able to function. Therefore, I infer from what you have said that the European Commission will work in even closer cooperation with the European Parliament, in a spirit of openness, transparency and partnership. We have yet to see whether any of the developments of the last few weeks give us cause to hope that such openness and transparency will actually gain ground, and I intend to judge you on this.
You have said a great deal today, Mr Prodi, on the areas that I have responsibility for on behalf of my group. The areas in question are environmental policy, consumer protection and health policy. I would expressly like to commend you for the fact that, for the first time in my experience, you have diverged from your usual practice of delivering a lecture on economics with only a smattering of comments on matters such as food authorities, doping, or flight delays. I seldom commend you, and so I am keen to take the opportunity to say this. Unlike speeches you have made in the past, this one was far more down-to-earth and what is more, I could understand it.
Of course, I am less impressed when it comes to the detail. This will surprise neither you nor any of my fellow MEPs. Where is your coherence, Mr Prodi? I have read your programme, which you represent on behalf of your Commission as a whole. You say, for example, that you wish to take account of environmental policy in all the other policy areas. The only area where that has happened is Mrs Palacio’s area, i.e. transport. In what way exactly has environmental policy been taken account of in the other sectors, for example enlargement – a huge problem – food safety and consumer protection? Where does it feature in the text? Take trade policy, for example, nothing, not a single word, Mr Prodi. Take competition or economic policy: not a single word. It is nowhere to be found. Another case of paying lip service. Statements are always being made to the effect that environmental policy must be taken account of, and there is no way round this, but you do not actually put this into practice. That is something else I will need to judge you on.
Nowhere have you made clear reference to the links between or the possible interdependence of the various policy areas. You must not neglect to mention this in your other papers. You must be critical of this fact, and you must not publish them in this form either. Your proposals were far too specific, which is all very nice and is something I welcome, but it is not enough. We will gauge how successful you have been, Mr Prodi, on a weekly, monthly and annual basis. We will assess what is happening in the Commission, and in what form, on a weekly basis. We will see how matters stand in the committees and in plenary sittings, on a monthly basis.
How does the Commission perform in the committees and in the plenary sittings? For example, how do you deal with the European Parliament’s proposed amendments? If you want to work with us, and if we both – you, Mr Prodi, on behalf of the Commission, and we, the European Parliament – say that we will all gauge our success according to the elections in 2004 and the election turn-out, then I would like to hear you say that all the proposed amendments that this Parliament has a majority vote on will be adopted by the Commission. And we will assess your own performance on an annual basis, when we take the programme from the previous year and look at what you have achieved and managed to deliver, and to what standard you have done so. You see, Mr Prodi, it is a lot more simple than you might fear. You will not have to wait until 2004, your appraisal will be ongoing every year and you will not be kept waiting for it all the time. Furthermore, your appraisal will be in true school report style: firm but fair, and we will adopt the same approach to this programme, which is very ambitious. I hope that you will have delivered at least part of it by the end of this year."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples