Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-07-04-Speech-3-187"
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I have the great honour to address your Assembly at the beginning of this presidency.
Freedom, progress and equality are not just theoretical values. They lie at the very heart of European integration. They give it its most specific and real meaning. These values, incorporated in the founding texts of the Union, firmly enshrine humanism as a part of the European identity.
Last year, the 15 EU Member States adopted an essential document, the Charter of Fundamental Rights. This charter specifically sets out the rights and duties of the European citizens, both towards others and towards the community of man and future generations. The concepts of freedom, progress and equality are given due emphasis in the preamble to that charter.
The question now is whether this charter will become a genuine European constitution. The heated debate that has surrounded this issue is an incentive for Europe to look at its own future. It is also an opportunity for the citizens to take sides, because to take sides in itself gives them a taste of freedom. It allows them to regain their freedom of choice. All too often, in fact, the citizens feel they have forfeited this right to various less and less identifiable powers, such as technocracy.
Article 7 of the Treaty provides for a mechanism to deal with serious and persistent violations of the European values. In a unified Europe, it is now in the interests of all that every Member State respects the fundamental values. Henceforth, every country is affected by what is happening anywhere in Europe. If it wants to convince third countries that its humanist values are sound, the European Union must teach by example before teaching lessons. The essential values are not just written in the texts; they are also put into practice in the European Union’s policies.
A first example of the way the European values are applied in everyday life can be seen in the EU’s enlargement policy. As you know, EU enlargement is a tremendous challenge. Public opinion is worried, wrongly in my view, about the imbalance between the level of development of the EU Member States and that of the candidate countries. That does not mean we can disregard the implications this has for security, social rights, immigration and agriculture, for example. If we do not take care, this enlargement could once again call into question the progress patiently achieved over the past 40 years. Some people will then say: so why take the risk? The reply is to be found in the bold and generous political approach of the founding fathers of Europe who enshrined the concept of international solidarity beside that of the national interest. Furthermore, we have a historical duty to enlarge the European Union, because we have to reunite nations that history has kept apart for far too long. These two good reasons, which inspired the most splendid political idea of the twentieth century, clearly remain just as meaningful. Enlargement of the European Union is consistent with the open and generous vision of the original European project.
The second example relates to the European Union’s foreign policy. This European policy has evolved quite spectacularly over the past two years. By the end of the Belgian presidency, it should be possible to declare the European Union capable of managing international crises, which means in plain words that it will be able to carry out humanitarian, evacuation and peacekeeping tasks to stabilise regional conflicts.
Over and above the defence of its economic and commercial interests, Europe must also defend its values by taking concrete action. Europe cannot watch passively while the intolerable happens. Freedom, progress and equality can only be envisaged in a context of peace. Europe exists thanks to peace. I would even go as far as to say "Europe is peace".
Reconciliation with yesterday’s enemies, the unification of different countries by peaceful means, these are a political innovation that can set an example to third countries. It is with good reason that there is often talk of the need to Europeanise the Balkans. In fact this process is already under way.
I have given you a brief description of the values on which our great European enterprise is founded. To inquire into these values is also a way of discovering our European identity.
As you know, human rights are a subject of concern to which I have a strong personal political commitment. I will therefore seize this opportunity to tell you how the presidency proposes in concrete terms to promote the universal values on which our Union is based. At the same time, in my capacity as President-in-Office, let me confirm that we must uphold these values here at home, first of all, but also throughout the world.
The European Union is only just over 40 years old. That means it is still very young. In fact, Europe still has its whole future before it. I for my part am convinced that Europe’s future will be determined mainly by its capacity to uphold and disseminate its humanist values. Indeed, the European model is based more than ever on three fundamental values: freedom, progress and equality. These values have proved very fertile whenever they have been combined to initiate dialogue and exchanges of view. Sadly, we have all too often also seen them diverted and used for sectarian and sometimes totalitarian purposes.
Freedom is an ideal that can never be fully realised. The history of Europe could be written as a long battle against arbitrary power of all kinds. The strongest motive force of European integration remains the achievement of certain objectives: greater freedom and civil, political and social rights, the affirmation of the people, democracy and the constitutional state. Basically, most of these objectives have been attained. Yet we are well aware that many battles remain to be fought, even in our old democracies, if they are to be achieved in full, for nothing can ever be taken for granted. Freedom can also put the rights of minorities or the rights of the weakest at risk. When it is used as a pretext for selfishness, freedom always leads to intolerance and exclusion.
One of these freedoms is particularly close to the Union’s heart, freedom of expression. Media freedom remains the guarantee for holding the public debate that is vital to democracy and it is what gives the citizens at least the same power of scrutiny as our parliaments.
This freedom of the press is still being flouted by regimes that do not feel blameless enough to dare face criticism, by rulers who use lies as their only means of survival. However, first and foremost it is up to the state to protect and promote media freedom. It is up to the public authority to guarantee freedom of expression and opinion for everyone. That is what makes it all the more difficult to achieve, and at times to protect, this freedom.
We have to acknowledge the fact that even democratic governments are sometimes tempted to weaken this right and often find it hard to accept controversy and criticism. In the same vein, it is equally intolerable for democracy to be taken hostage by the press. Freedom of the press is a vital right that lies at the very heart of the constitutional state. Yet this right also goes hand in hand with a duty, the duty to provide honest information in an effort to explain or teach, to convince, but not to mislead. That is why we must ensure the freedom of expression of the political press.
Second European ideal: progress. This value gave a powerful boost to the development of science, technology and the economy in the service of mankind. This ideal enabled the European project to move forwards confidently, and without doubt irreversibly. It has inspired a rigorous approach in both thought and action. Because it improves effectiveness, progress too has all too often been diverted to mercenary ends. When progress that is not properly controlled acquires its own dynamic, it generates fear and disarray.
Third ideal: equality. Equality is a hugely powerful lever in Europe. It is in the name of equality that the countries of Europe try to secure equal rights, an equal share in the fruits of economic activity and the democratic representation of the interests of every individual. In Western Europe, this has led to the adoption of far-reaching social legislation to guarantee equal opportunities and equality under the law. In Communist Europe, the extreme version of egalitarianism ended up sacrificing the right to a personal identity on the altar of collectivism."@en1
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