Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-02-14-Speech-3-022"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20010214.2.3-022"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
".
Mr President, Mr Swoboda's proposals for the Council regulation are appropriate, in my view. I think they would enhance the regulation. I would also like to thank him very much for his explanations. I do not want to repeat the criticism of the situation in Turkey which has already been expressed by Mr Swoboda, Mr Lagendijk and Mr Oostlander. The situation has certainly not improved in recent weeks and months. Our parliamentary group recently sent a delegation to Turkey; it came back with devastating reports from people affected, which we would gladly make available to the Commission, the Council Presidency or our parliamentary colleagues. But I do not want to go into that here.
Mr Swoboda, you said that the ball is now well and truly in the Turkish half of the pitch. What would be the result of this Austrian footballing analogy, I wonder? Which side will score? And if it is at the EU's end, is it an own goal? What we need, as I am sure you will agree, is for this process to set the ball rolling towards democracy, human rights, and the fulfilment of the Copenhagen criteria. But I believe that in Turkey, the ball – which really is in the Turkish half of the pitch – is viewed in a completely different way. I believe that what has happened recently has been provocation. It is not an attempt to pursue the application for EU membership towards its proper goal; it is an end in itself, in order to secure financial resources, to utilise the benefits conferred by the Customs Union, or even to ensure that the criticism of the situation in Turkey is toned down.
This brings me to the real issue which I would like to raise. Alongside the necessary and very candid criticism of the situation in Turkey, should we not be examining our own policies very critically as well? Since Helsinki – and, indeed, in Helsinki – it seems as if the Council and Commission have been the victims of their own propaganda, increasingly having to justify the fact that progress has been made. Mr Verheugen, you informed us here on 14 November that we have, and I quote, "good cause to hope that we will achieve precisely what we set out to achieve, i.e. that our policy will help the forces of reform in Turkey give new impetus to the reform process and press on with reform…".
I would claim that the reality is very different. I realise that diplomacy often has to work very cautiously, but we should not be taken in by our own propaganda, or Turkey's. We should approach the debate honestly and strengthen the forces of reform, thus opening the way for Turkey into the European Union."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples