Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-04-09-Speech-2-154"
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"en.20020409.7.2-154"2
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"Mr President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, over the last ten years, European public opinion has gradually become aware of the fact that the European Union needs to have its own defence system in order to enable it to have influence, political influence on world affairs, which should be acquired from its moral authority and its economic power. The European Union, which did not play a part in resolving the crisis in the former Yugoslavia, was incapable of speaking with a single voice on this matter and engaged in a war in Kosovo which proved that it could not manage without American resources in a number of essential areas, is now absent from the international stage in Afghanistan and in the Middle East. This is because it was unable, in such a short timescale, to overcome its major shortcomings and, above all, did not have the necessary will to provide itself with the resources required.
Commissioner Patten, we shall not be asking for a 14% increase in spending, but it has already been two years since Parliament adopted the own-initiative report on defence by our fellow Member, Mrs Lalumière, and since it approved a crucial paragraph urging the Member States’ governments not to rule out, a priori, the possibility of increasing budgetary appropriations, given the need for such a measure to ensure the credibility of the Union. We must recognise that this request is a dead letter and that, with the notable exception of the United Kingdom, European leaders have imperturbably continued to decrease defence spending on a regular basis, thus stripping their declared will of all credibility.
In the light of the considerable effort made by the United States following the shocking events of 11 September, the European Union is now faced with its responsibilities: either it agrees to let its American counterpart deal with the military problems on its own and takes upon itself to continue to manage the peace problems, more or less in conjunction with the US, thus playing, Mr Wiersma, Mr Lagendijk and Mr Bonde, the role of the Athenians in ancient Rome. Or it decides, at last, not only to spend better by making a joint effort instead of the dispersed efforts made so far, but yes, Commissioner Patten, to spend more. By again proposing this difficult decision, I think it is worthwhile to reiterate that defence technologies developed today still have two purposes and that they will, therefore, have an impact on all the civilian and military capabilities of the European industry. Yes, we must prioritise the construction of a legitimate European defence industry which should, initially, as you said, Commissioner and Mr President-in-Office of the Council, be given a single European budget dedicated solely to research and development. What do you think, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, of the proposal put forward by Mr Bayrou, who is a candidate in the French presidential elections, of making contributions to this budget which are limited to 0.5% of the GNP of each Member State, with immediate effect?"@en1
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