Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-03-13-Speech-2-068"
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"en.20010313.7.2-068"2
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"Mr President, I am speaking on behalf of the Bonino List.
Something which very rarely happens in this Parliament occurred during the last voting session, and it occurred at the vote on the Ceyhun report, when Parliament rejected a Member State's proposal almost unanimously. The debate on these three reports, but also on the Kirkhope report, highlights an extremely clear-cut problem: we are not concerned with the merit of the proposal but its method. I therefore hope that, during this voting session, Parliament will once again heed the advice of the rapporteurs and the vote of the Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs, which calls for the Council's and Member States' proposals to be rejected.
I hope, in particular, for a political solution
for Parliament to regain the dignity which a democratically elected institution which represents the citizens ought to have in matters of justice and home affairs, if only in terms of Parliament's institutional role. What I mean is, ultimately, Parliament has basically the same powers in this area as a non-governmental organisation. We Members often forget or prefer to forget this fact, but, as we know, under the Treaty, we have no decision-making power or influence over the outcome of the legislative process.
We feel that this is outrageous, particularly in an area which concerns the individual freedoms and rights of the European citizens. It is an outrage that democratic control is exercised by Council officials in these matters. It is an outrage that the work of Parliament and the work of the Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs are, in fact, sidelined in favour of proposals which we are forced to discuss, proposals put forward by individual Member States, by groups of Member States, by the Council or by the States holding the Presidency, proposals which do not have a proper legal basis. Frequently, almost without exception, these proposals are the political manifestos of Member States which are perfectly aware that their proposals will never be adopted by the Council. Thus we find ourselves discussing matters which will never see the light of day or which will have to be re-examined, for the Council will never manage to reach a definitive conclusion.
Therefore, I would like to thank the rapporteurs for assuming a radical position rejecting the Council's proposals – a position which we consider to be appropriate to their role as Parliamentary rapporteurs. I confirm
that we will vote for the motion. We trust that, in the future, Parliament will do more than just protest, that Commissioner Vitorino will do more than just record the existence of a situation, and that tangible measures will be taken to change this state of affairs."@en1
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