Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-09-04-Speech-1-052"
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"en.20000904.5.1-052"2
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"Madam President, it is with regret that I must rise this time to address the following point: we have been astounded by the content of a statement made by a Member of the Commission – Commissioner Verheugen – on the issue of the enlargement of the European Union. Commissioner Verheugen has made the enlargement of the European Union to incorporate the countries of central Europe conditional – this is the impression which he gave – upon a referendum, or at least he is recommending making it the subject of a referendum in one Member State of the European Union, the Federal Republic of Germany.
Now, although I am German, it is certainly not my concern – I am speaking here not as a German but as the chairman of my group – to debate the constitutional situation in Germany, but in the countries of central Europe, the unfortunate impression has been given that new conditions have been attached to the enlargement of the European Union. We need to refute an impression of this kind in the strongest possible terms!
That is why this statement from Commissioner Verheugen – and I do not know whether it was made deliberately as part of a predetermined strategy or whether it was simply a rash comment – is not only incomprehensible but also damaging. My group is asking – and I have heard similar noises from other groups – for the Commission to make a statement on this. A suitable time for it to speak on this matter would be tomorrow morning when the Council and the Commission make their statements on the Union's external action priorities.
Should the Commission feel that tomorrow morning is too soon, because it usually meets here on Wednesday mornings, and would prefer to make a statement at a later stage, then the appropriate time would be on Wednesday afternoon at 5 p.m. when other Commission statements will be made. But I would ask the Commission to ensure that our position on the enlargement of the European Union is the one which we have always held, namely that by the year 2003 we in the European Union wish to be capable of enlargement, and to ensure that these principles are upheld here!
If the Commissioner gives the impression that this is no longer the case, then I believe that this is irresponsible, and the Commission as a college must set the record straight!"@en1
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