Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-06-11-Speech-2-143"

Predicate	Value (sorted: default)
rdf:type	lpv_eu:Speech2
dcterms:Date	"2002-06-11"^^xsd:date2
dcterms:Is Part Of	lp_eu:Election of representatives of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage2
dcterms:Language	"de"^^xsd:language2
lpv:document identification number	"en.20020611.8.2-143"2
lpv:hasSubsequent	lp_eu:2002-06-11-Speech-2-1442
lpv:speaker	lp:Ursula Schleicher2
lpv:spokenAs	member_of_the_bureau; EPP-ED (2002-03-08--2004-07-19)3 member; Conference of Delegation Chairs (2002-02-07--2004-07-19)3 unknown; Christlich-Soziale Union in Bayern e.V. (1999-07-20--2004-07-19)3 vice-chair; AFCO (2002-01-21--2004-07-19)3 chair; Delegation to the EU-Armenia, EU-Azerbaijan and EU-Georgia Parliamentary Cooperation Committees (2002-02-07--2004-07-19)3 substitute; Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy (2002-01-17--2004-07-19)3
lpv:translated text	"Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, it is all too true that the procedure for direct elections to the European Parliament has been an almost interminable business since the seventies. Sensible solutions keep getting tangled up in the institutional undergrowth. Parliament may well have the right of initiative under the European Treaties, but it is the Council that must come to a decision – a unanimous one. As long as four years ago, we discharged our obligations with the Anastassopulos report, but the Council of Ministers has taken a very, very long time to do something about its own. Now it has managed to come up with something, we are glad that we at last have a uniform electoral system in time for the 2004 elections, but I must warmly thank Mr Gil-Robles Gil-Delgado for having raised the matters that Parliament has so long called for, but which have unfortunately not been taken up. Thus, there is nothing left to us other than to accept or reject the Council proposals; in other words, it is a case of ‘sink or swim’. Even though we have to admit that a number of points have been taken on board, matters are as unsatisfactory as ever they were. This report adds Parliament to the roll of those who have called on the Convention to revise the provisions on EU election law in the Treaty establishing the European Communities. According to the treaties, Parliament has the right of initiating electoral legislation, and it is not acceptable that it no longer has a part in reaching final decisions. Matters of such fundamental importance to Parliament require that Parliament be given the full right of codecision. I can hardly resist saying that the proposed wording concerning the introduction of territorial constituencies, with the protocol on the subject, brings the thorny issue of Great Britain and Gibraltar nearer to a solution. It is indeed sad that a country like Great Britain, with centuries of experience of Empire and a centuries-old tradition of democracy needs a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights to remind it of its greater responsibilities beyond the bounds of its own territory. This solution means that the citizens of Gibraltar will at last be able to participate in elections to the European Parliament. This is certainly a success for democracy in Europe."@en1

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