Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-03-20-Speech-3-020"
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"en.20020320.5.3-020"2
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"Mr President, after the Barcelona Summit, two events have taken place whose severity has shaken not just Italy but the rest of Europe too. The murder of Professor Marco Biagi focuses the debate on terrorism once again. The fatal, tragic attack took place on the day that one of his articles was published in the leading financial daily
in which Biagi presented a clear analysis of the need for Italy and for Europe as a whole to achieve rapid reforms making it possible, at last, to boost employment and liberalise the labour market, in order to combat the scourge which has been tormenting all 15 Member States for years: the millions of unemployed and the new poor.
We must tackle terrorism vigorously and clear-sightedly, both the terrorism which strikes and kills thousands of people, as in New York, and the terrorism which destroys individual lives, not just seriously jeopardising the reforms but threatening democracy itself. Along with the many initiatives envisaged by the Spanish Presidency with a view to bringing about ever-increasing integration and greater development of information systems for combating terrorism, the Barcelona measures must be speeded up without delay; moreover, we are determined that, although Professor Biagi’s life has been lost, his ideals and projects for reform will live on.
The second tragedy is the landing of ships containing almost 1 000 Kurds, including 360 children who were being used by the adults as shields, and the presence of further ships waiting to discharge their passengers on Italian and European soil: further thousands of wretched people who include, moreover, common terrorists and criminals who have taken advantage of this historic exodus to hide among the crowd. The arrival of these ships forces us to focus once again on that major phenomenon of our time:
immigration which is caused not just by poverty but by the complicity of the governments of certain countries and by the appalling living conditions imposed by certain regimes which force their people to live in inhuman conditions. It underscores the need to define new strategies and new forms of cooperation. Indeed, there can be no cooperation with those who do not control their own borders or those who violate every kind of human and civil rights.
The Commission and the Council must make the Euro-Mediterranean dialogue their absolute top priority, promoting growth, employment and socio-economic structures which are more compatible with market economies. We feel that a limited financial instrument such as a Euro-Mediterranean investment fund would be inadequate and that it is now essential to create a genuine Euro-Mediterranean development bank with its own autonomy and resources.
We would stress, moreover, the urgent need to launch the Western Balkans stabilisation project, for that region is crucial to security and peace. We call for the commitments made by the Feira European Council in 2000 to be made good, not least in view of the forthcoming accessions. We would point out that there are still bottlenecks in the transport networks in some regions such as the Alps, and these bottlenecks are impairing the free movement of goods and distorting the functioning of the internal market.
We have too long been accustomed to hearing optimistic plans and dispassionate predictions after each Summit. Now, the conditions are right for our best intentions
to be realised. It would be a shame if, as is often the case, the optimism were to be reduced to an attitude of cynicism
and the predictions were then not borne out by reality. We hope that the Spanish government, which has all the potential necessary to respond to these urgent needs, and this entire House will bring about the freedom and justice, democracy and progress compatible with human dignity as that is what we and what the citizens desire."@en1
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