Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-09-20-Speech-4-045"
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"en.20010920.6.4-045"2
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"Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, particularly in light of recent events, today's debate – which I believe we are conducting in a genuinely objective way – is a good example to other parliaments. It is extremely necessary, but because it is necessary, it is also very difficult. Sadly, we now have to begin yet again to dismantle prejudices against people seeking asylum. These prejudices result from fears which are largely unjustified but which must nonetheless be taken seriously. Now in particular, I think it is important that we no longer engage in lengthy speech-making but take action.
I believe that those people who, in the wake of the recent outrages, shouted for the military to intervene must admit that as politicians, we bear responsibility now more than ever and that we must prove that we are not responding in blind panic but are capable of acting responsibly to deal with the difficulties we face. For this reason – and I say this to the Members on the Conservative benches – we are not acting as if we are in fundamental agreement with Mr Schmitt or Mr Pirker because we like them as individuals. There are reasons why we are changing our voting behaviour and voting differently from our group on a number of amendments. The background is as follows: although we are delighted that the Party of European Socialists in this House is doing everything possible to grant refugees more protection and rights, which we greatly welcome, we have a problem as German Social Democrats. We cannot accept an agreement or decision if it does not conform with the German constitution. At present, the German Basic Law does not permit us to accept around 17 of the proposed amendments. For this reason, we have to adopt a different voting behaviour from our group on a number of these amendments. This does not imply that we have different objectives. Our objectives are the same. However, we have to consider the credibility of our policies in Germany. We cannot disappoint our citizens and accept a decision which is impossible to implement at home. This is why we will be adopting a different voting behaviour today."@en1
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