Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-10-04-Speech-3-313"
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"en.20001004.17.3-313"2
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".
Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I am aware of the significance and responsibility of addressing Parliament, which is the sole European body to be directly and democratically elected. I wish to pay tribute to the strong European spirit of its President and to her resolute determination to make progress in the European political project.
We have outlined our objectives and the path we must follow to achieve them. Our consistency in implementing what we declare to be our intentions will be measured by the proportion of our goals which we achieve and whether we achieve them on time.
As things stand at the moment, the complexity of the European machinery makes institutional reform absolutely vital. This is not a new problem. It was raised when the Community first enlarged to 9 Member States in 1973, then when it enlarged to 12 in 1986 and during the most recent enlargement in 1995. It was at the centre of the 1997 Amsterdam European Council due to the evident need to adapt instruments and rules which had been devised for 6 Member States to a Union of 15 Member States, and for a Community which was more limited in its functions and its political aspirations. We put off dealing with the issue that time around, but we have reached the point where it is now impossible to avoid it.
Only as Europe will the individual national states continue to be credible protagonists in the international community. If the European States were to remain individual countries isolated in the world of globalisation, empty ambition and marginalisation would ensue. The Union must present a completely united front in matters of foreign policy, defence and common security.
Enlargement is essential in ethical as well as political terms: we must provide the candidate countries with exactly the same opportunity to contribute to the great process of European integration that our countries have had in the past, benefiting from the growth of their own democracies and from the security enjoyed by Western Europe. Enlargement requires reinforcement; reinforcement facilitates enlargement but does not compromise it.
In addition to the countries concerned with enlargement, there is a belt of countries to the east and to the west which are longing to establish firm ties with Europe. For our own benefit, the Union must project stability and prosperity beyond its present and future borders, with a far-sighted view to forging relationships with both candidate and non-candidate countries alike. A wider Europe exists which should be attached to the Union, marking a return to the historical soul of a more extensive geographical area.
Four hundred and fifty-three days from now, euro notes will enter into circulation. In a few years' time, national currencies will be nothing but a memory for the new generations. With the management of the euro centralised in the European System of Central Banks, the new currency has sent the integration process spinning past the point of no return.
The euro is only one stage in the achievement of an economic, social, political and cultural Europe and makes it absolutely essential. When the decision was taken on monetary union, we were aware that we were creating asymmetry, but we were confident that this would be eliminated in the move towards a common management of the economy.
The concerns generated by the current value of the euro are well-founded, but it must be remembered that all major currencies have, at one time or another, been subject to massive swings in their daily quotation on the markets.
The recovery of the European economy is now taken for granted. Let us exploit the current weakness of the euro, which is producing more competitive prices, to speed up the productivity boom which could be generated by innovation both in instruments and production methods and in the organisation of the markets.
Today, working towards Europe means no longer deferring the central issue of government of the Union, and implementing institutional reforms and enlargement. It means realising that the launch of the euro was a turning point in the process of integration.
Ladies and gentlemen, the debate embarked upon with regard to the European Constitution is an indication of vibrancy and confidence in European ideals and an awareness of a genuine community of values. One must be both realistic and idealistic in affirming an idea. The Charter of Fundamental Rights was drawn up in response to the need to insert Europe into the consciousness of civil society; it is proof of the fact that European integration is not an artificial construction but one with a soul: European identity.
The European Charter makes clear to the world and, even more importantly, ourselves, who we are and what we believe. If we do not make this clear now, in this sensitive, turbulent passage of European and world history, when will we be able to?
The scope of our community of values is more clearly defined and more
advanced than we ourselves are sometimes wont to believe. The debate to which each country contributes with its unique sensitivity, traditions and culture is a medium for teasing them out, defining and affirming them.
With the Charter of Fundamental Rights, Europe is taking a significant step forwards in the transformation of an area which has hitherto been predominantly economic into a common area of rights, by establishing values and rules which define the concept of European citizenship.
It is important that, once the Charter has been endorsed by the European Council, it is published for the citizens to read so that they recognise their own European identity in its content.
A connection will then have to be established between the Charter and the revised Treaties. This can be achieved in several different ways: by inserting the Charter into the new legal corpus or by attaching it as the preamble. Personally, I feel that the Charter should form the first part of a Constitution
the second part of which should be dedicated to defining the different institutions, their responsibilities and the relationships between them.
The problem of whether Europe should be structured along federal or confederal lines is in danger of steering us off course. Now is the time to identify and tease out the elements of convergence and to proceed pragmatically rather than according to a set plan. The determination of the European people to reform must be met with solutions which will allow federal institutions such as the European Central Bank to work together with other institutions that are organised on the basis of an intergovernmental model.
Ladies and gentlemen, the image and role of Europe and the individual European States in the world of the twenty-first century depend on the outcome of the forthcoming meetings of the European Council.
We are once again deciding the fate of our continent, in a similar way to the great statesmen of the 1950s. Half a century of peace and peaceful and productive coexistence between peoples repeatedly torn asunder by war is testimony to the sense and value of European unification. Yet, as we know, the process is incomplete and, as such, it is not firing on all four cylinders.
The Americas, the Pacific and Asia are using the European Union as a model and interlocutor in the processes of regional integration. Time is not on our side in this respect either, for we are not the sole pace-setters of the European unitary process. The extra dimension which we can only exploit as a Union becomes vital if we are to keep up with the other great leading players on the international scene.
Two vitally important regions directly concern Europe: the Balkans and the Mediterranean. The political message to the Balkans has been and must remain quite clear: violence and ethnic sectarianism do not pay; what has happened there is unacceptable. The consolidation of the values of democracy and human rights cannot be put on hold.
The recent elections in Yugoslavia have shown the intensity of the Yugoslav people's desire for freedom and of their democratic determination to bring about change. We must ensure that, in the European competition to rebuild the economy of the Balkans, words are systematically followed by actions. Lastly, we must provide the countries and peoples of South-East Europe with the hope that they will be able to penetrate the institutional bounds of the Union.
In the Mediterranean, there is still no true sense of a European presence and the role of the Union. And yet Europe is part of the Mediterranean!
The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership is not sufficient in its current form. We need to turn it into a driving force for cooperation in interdependence, an interdependence which is illustrated clearly by the surge in oil prices.
We need a decision-making forum in order to address issues which are of primary importance to both sides of the Mediterranean, such as migration flows, the transfer of the factors of production and energy supply. Above all, we must believe in Europe's vocation in the Mediterranean.
The outbreak of violence during the last few days in the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza is deeply distressing. It is the result of the exasperatingly slow pace of the negotiating process. What has happened is confirmation of the fact that the only alternative to peace is a war which would entail intolerable loss of human life. The entire civilised world is calling for an end to all acts of violence, a return to normal and the reopening of negotiations. Europe must play an active role in this.
Italy is one of the founding countries of the Union and it intends to continue to be an active Member. This determination is reinforced by a genuine groundswell of opinion which has already manifested itself many times in the Italian parliament in the form of broad consensus in votes on the basic issues of European and security policy.
Europe has a unique cultural, social, legal and scientific heritage; it is nourished by the variety and vitality of its national components. Due to its uniqueness, Europe has nothing to fear from any other cultural entity: its light only fades when its historical and cultural identity grows faint, when we behave as if our civilisation is only held together by economic and commercial ties.
The United Nations Millennium Summit closed with the identification of the great world-wide issues in which the international community is called to intervene in the interests of the whole of humanity: freedom, equality, solidarity, tolerance, respect for nature and sharing of responsibility. How could Europe fail to play a leading role in each of these areas?
Against the backdrop of the many centuries of our continent's history, the idea of Europe was translated in a relatively short space of time from a utopian ideal into agreements, institutions, into a community and now into a Union.
Anyone who has lived through our times and looks back sees that there is peace where there used to be war, the spread of unprecedented prosperity and the growth of open, democratic societies which mutually support each other. When I think of Europe today, I associate it with national interest for I can see the immeasurable benefits which Italy and other Member States have derived from the success of European integration.
As an Italian citizen and as President of the Italian Republic, I have never tried to hide my pro-European convictions. They in no way detract from the love which I feel for my country, which I have been serving for sixty years, and they are not incompatible with either my, or your, justifiable national pride. The Europe I believe in is not a negation, but a celebration of our national societies and their values.
I would like to illustrate this sentiment with a quotation from the works of a great European and a great French writer, Charles Secondat de Montesquieu: '... if I had known something useful for my family that was not so for my nation, I would have sought to forget it; if I had known something useful for my country that would have been prejudicial for Europe, or which would have been useful to Europe but prejudicial for the human race, I would have rejected it as a crime.'
Ladies and gentlemen, the future we share begins here, in this Chamber. Being a Member of the European Parliament means considering the future and the inheritance which we wish to leave the new generations of our countries, of our entire continent. Being a Member of the European Parliament means contributing to the creation and consolidation of institutions which represent the best possible guarantee of stability, peaceful coexistence and prosperity.
In the space of half a century, the Union has changed the face of Europe and transformed relations between our peoples. The elimination of armed conflict from European life is in itself an epic victory. It is so very complete a victory that we are starting to take it for granted. We have reached the point where two whole generations know only this Europe, a Europe of interdependence and open borders.
As guardian and interpreter of the victories that have been won, the European Parliament is an active guarantee that the great changes which have been undertaken will be accomplished. The timetable we have set ourselves requires great cooperation between all the institutions. The exacting work carried out by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission must, in the interests of the Union, interact with Member States' initiatives.
These very successes provide us with new tasks. Enlargement, which currently demands that we implement radical institutional reforms, is the result of the triumph of a democratic, united Europe following the long confrontation with the Eastern bloc.
We must not be discouraged by the scale of the undertaking. We need determination, resoluteness and political will in following a path which has already been mapped out. At Biarritz and Nice, we have no choice but to tackle the Charter of Fundamental Rights and an institutional reform which can be put off no longer.
2002 will be the turning point for the euro, when, in addition to being an accounting currency, it will become a tangible banknote in the wallets of all European citizens. Subsequently, with the entry into force of the Treaty reforming the institutions, the Union will be in a position to manage the new, more substantial and more weighty responsibilities for which it is currently preparing: welcoming the first new Members to join, consolidating the common foreign policy, creating a common military force, implementing once and for all the area of freedom, security and justice and adopting the fundamental Charter of the European Union.
None of us can claim to know, here and now, exactly when and in what order we will achieve these goals, but we do all know that, if we firmly believe in and desire these things, then we will already be halfway to success.
The very content of the project and the international context in which we are acting mean that we must advance coherently, for the eyes of the world will be on us: countries and citizens are free to make their choices at each stage, but European integration can neither be delayed nor slowed down.
Long live the European Parliament! Long live the European Union!
The stakes are high, starting with the imminent European Councils in Biarritz and Nice, which must produce a Charter of Fundamental Rights representing all those who are proud to call themselves citizens of Europe and a Union making progress on the path towards integration. The Councils must also instigate closer cooperation to strengthen the Union and introduce more flexibility. Each Member State must shoulder its responsibility for the future of the Union.
The experience of these last 50 years is confirmation of the fact that there is a constant need for a driving force: a non-exclusive vanguard made up of countries which are judged on their merits and which are convinced of the project's worth and determined to see it through.
Institutional reforms, enlargement, management of the economy, defence and a common area of justice are the new struts of a cohesive Union which is ready to take up the challenges presented to it.
The Commission must promote the common interests of the countries of the Union and further the management of the economy. I would like to congratulate the President of the Commission on his speech and I welcome his authoritative mention, in this Chamber yesterday, of the role, collegial nature and managerial capacity of the Commission."@en1
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