Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-03-15-Speech-3-152"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20000315.4.3-152"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law are the alpha and omega of any political system. We take them for granted, but it appears that in our ultra-civilised Europe they are not always observed. Mr Haarder has described the situation within the 15 Member States, and the implication is that there is certainly much work still to be done. For example, it is an inadmissible, almost bewildering fact that, even today, some countries are denounced by
for failure to respect the most basic human rights. It is absurd that some states, including, sadly, my native country, are being condemned by the European Court of Human Rights over the exaggerated length of their legal proceedings. The fact that the institution of exile is still in force in some Member States is incompatible with all the principles of human rights.
If the European Union wants to enlarge and become an authoritative reference system for the international community, we do indeed need a strong, coherent reaction from the European institutions, but there is also the need for each of us to transcend his own national political interests and focus on the good of the Union as a whole by voting responsibly, in both political and, more importantly, humane terms on these issues. We are all quite aware that this report will not be binding upon our governments: until the Charter of Fundamental Rights is completed and inserted into the Treaties we can do no more than invite the Member States to take action. However, where there is political responsibility this should not be a problem.
At a time when the Union is attempting to create an autonomous military body to enable it to intervene wherever the rule of law is under threat, at a time when the Copenhagen criteria have become an integral part of the
to be assimilated by the candidate countries, it is unacceptable for there to be such discrepancies in the area of human rights within the 15 States. We must overcome this and incite our governments to be European through and through. I am not the first person to say this: the European Union is not, cannot and must not be a purely economic union. The European Union is something much greater than that; it has a common origin and a dream which we must fight to realise, and civil rights are an integral part of that fight."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples