Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-10-03-Speech-2-192"

Predicate	Value (sorted: default)
rdf:type	lpv_eu:Speech2
dcterms:Date	"2000-10-03"^^xsd:date2
dcterms:Is Part Of	lp_eu:Progress towards accession by the 12 candidate countries (continued)2
dcterms:Language	"de"^^xsd:language2
lpv:document identification number	"en.20001003.5.2-192"2
lpv:hasSubsequent	lp_eu:2000-10-03-Speech-2-1932
lpv:speaker	lp:Armin Laschet2
lpv:spokenAs	member; Delegation to the EU-Romania Joint Parliamentary Committee (1999-10-06--2002-01-14)3 substitute; Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy (1999-07-21--2002-01-14)3 unknown; Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands (1999-07-20--2004-07-19)3 member; BUDG (1999-07-21--2002-01-14)3 substitute; Delegation to the EU-Poland Joint Parliamentary Committee (1999-10-08--2002-01-14)3 member; EPP-ED (1999-07-20--2004-07-19)3
lpv:translated text	"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Romania will certainly not be among the countries that accede to the European Union in the first round, but it just goes to show that the Commission hit on the right strategy when it decided to put twelve countries on the same footing as negotiating partners, and then to determine, on the basis of certain criteria, which countries should become members and when. Firstly, this allows us to dispel any fears our citizens may have that twelve countries, extending as far as Bulgaria and Romania, are to join the European Union in one fell swoop, overwhelming it in the process. At the same time, we can argue that a country has to meet a set of very clear standards before becoming a member. All this is to be found in the report by Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne, and on behalf of my group, I would like to thank her warmly for this report. Romania did not set out on the road to Europe until a very long time after the fall of the Iron Curtain. The democratic government has only had since 1996 to catch up on all the things that other countries were able to make an early start on, and with that in mind, it has achieved a considerable amount of success these past four years. A word about how matters stand on the security front: Romania was one of those countries that gave Europe, and the Atlantic Alliance its backing during the Kosovo conflict. We should therefore take this opportunity to think about sending out a signal. If Romania’s accession is not going to be for some time yet, then the Atlantic Alliance should give thought to incorporating Romania into its mechanisms earlier than originally planned. The same goes for our European security and defence policy. Since we are aware that Romania and Slovenia have already been involved in discussions on the first round of NATO enlargement, as countries applying for NATO membership, NATO must not allow its enlargement process to come to a standstill. We can use Romania to lend weight to our argument when seeking to impress on our citizens that it is in our interests to stabilise Europe. After all, Romania will form part of the European Union’s external border in the future. It is an important factor in the stabilisation of the Balkans as a whole, and of the region of South Eastern Europe as a whole. That being so, it is in our interests to extend our system of rights and freedoms as far as Romania, and this is certainly an argument we can use in a critical debate with our public. If we do not give countries such as Romania and Bulgaria any hope for the future, the situation will remain unstable and that is no good to Europe."@en1

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