Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-03-14-Speech-4-209"
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"en.20020314.10.4-209"2
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"In 1999, Mr Hamma Hammami and three other leaders of the Tunisian Communist Party were convicted in absentia for dissident activity. Last month, after the defendants surrendered to the authorities, those sentences were confirmed in less than one minute without a presentation of evidence by the prosecution or defence or an examination of the witnesses.
There are also accusations of widespread abuses by the government against other dissident groups. Democracy and the rule of law are attributes enjoyed until recently by few countries even in Europe. They take time to evolve and can appear fragile in the face of threats.
In states such as Tunisia, it may seem an achievement merely to resist the kind of radical socialism or Islamicism that has blighted the lives of so many in the Arab world in recent decades. We ourselves have to be careful, when we urge greater pluralism and respect for democratic norms around the world, that we do not undermine governments which, however imperfect, are moving in that direction.
I believe, however, that the EU has an important role to play in helping to provide an example for countries which want to move away from a spiral of poverty, extremism and repression. Nor can we entirely isolate ourselves from the problems experienced by neighbouring countries such as Tunisia. By encouraging economic and political reform together with foreign direct investment, and with respect for good government, democracy and human rights, we help others and we also help ourselves, by reducing not only the resentment often felt against the West in the Arab world, but also the migratory pressures that are generating serious problems in our own societies and which themselves require urgent solutions.
For that reason, it is right for the French Government to highlight the importance of giving aid to the Maghreb countries, many of whose citizens are settled in London, which I represent, as migrants or refugees. It is also right to begin to open EU markets, including our agricultural markets, to poorer countries that wish to trade with us, in ways that benefit them more directly and prevent future migratory pressures by the long-term stabilisation of their own economies."@en1
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substitute; Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy (2002-01-17--2004-07-19)3
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