Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-02-06-Speech-3-012"
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"en.20020206.2.3-012"2
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"Mr President, during the debate held in preparation for the election of the President of Parliament, I had the opportunity to say what I expected of the new President. Basing my comments on the undisputed observation that the increasing numbers of citizens are showing a very worrying lack of interest in the European institutions, I said that the number one priority of the new President should be to do everything in his power to win back their confidence. I am therefore pleased to see that this objective is implicit in your programme. You said that we must win back the confidence of the people. We fully support you in doing this.
How can this be achieved in practical terms? I myself have come up with three ideas. I think that two of them partly cover the same areas as your plans, but I would venture to say that the third idea could remedy a shortfall.
The first idea concerns the involvement of citizens in the debate on the future of Europe. I suggested that our President launch, in parallel with the work of the Convention and in conjunction with the national parliaments, a campaign on the theme ‘Let your voice be heard’. This would be an incredibly bold experiment for our institution to undertake. We should stimulate a real confrontation of ideas, as you said, we should listen to what the people have to say to us on what they expect from Europe and strive to connect the Convention to the subjects of these diverse discussions. Then we should all face up to our responsibilities. We want the Convention to shake up the IGC, so let the citizens shake up the Convention!
My second idea was for our President to take the initiative, along with ourselves, in organising meetings in Parliament of groups of citizens from various European countries to discuss common objectives that we could support.
I mentioned three examples. The first is to organise meetings involving young people to discuss questions that directly concern them, such as Erasmus-type grants or the full and mutual recognition of qualifications, as well as broader subjects – we could call them more civilisation-related issues, like those that were recently discussed in Porto Alegre, under the alluring title ‘Another world is possible’. Another example is to invite women from all over Europe to meet and discuss the question of the full application of Treaty provisions that encourage equality. The last example, which is similar to your proposal, Mr President, is to organise meetings of members of civil society from the candidate countries and Member States to examine, together, the ins and outs of this quite historic undertaking and to give us the best possible chances of making it a success. In the same spirit, you proposed to invite observers from the candidate countries and we shall support you in this effort.
The third idea that I mentioned two months ago is the only one that I fear was missing from the speech you gave this morning, and that is the idea of putting pressure on the Commission and the Council regarding several emblematic legislative texts that clearly spell out to our fellow citizens the direction in which we want to take Europe in the future.
I am personally thinking, particularly at a time when so many businesses are undergoing restructuring, of the directives such as that on the information and consultation of workers, that on the European Works Councils, or even of the framework directive on services of general interest, and am looking forward to the possible – and, in my view, desirable – reform of the Treaties in this crucial area.
The general approach advocated by my group and the many practical suggestions that turn it into a reality are the same as they were before your election and they will remain thus during your mandate. In this spirit, we will naturally be prepared to help you to make our Parliament a positive role model for millions of European citizens."@en1
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