Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-06-11-Speech-2-162"
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"en.20020611.9.2-162"2
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"Madam President, Commission and Council, the meeting in Bali was scarcely a source of great delight. In a way, every meeting prior to Johannesburg is the cause of ever increasing depression. It would have been better if the political leadership we are now beginning to talk about had been assumed in time. At five minutes to midnight, it is a little late to begin talking about political leadership.
I do not wish to be wise after the event or to confront either the Commission or the Council but, before the Gothenburg Summit last year, we in the European Parliament said, ‘Make sure that external relations are included when we devise a sustainability strategy’, ‘Make sure that, when we adopt our own sustainability strategy, Johannesburg is a natural part of this’ and ‘Do not delay’.
Rather than end up in the doldrums we are now experiencing, I should like in a way to have seen the banner kept flying a little higher en route from Gothenburg to Johannesburg. The Commission has done an excellent job and done as much as it could. On the other hand, the Council’s enthusiasm in the run-up to Johannesburg has been, to say the least, conspicuous by its absence.
The European Parliament may be talked about as the advocate of good causes, but it is no use our standing here in the Chamber and pleading our own cause when we do not obtain the relationship we need, either with the Council or the Commission, on this issue. It seems a bit pointless simply to tag along to Johannesburg as a kind of icing on the cake. We must, in any event, have political influence.
Now, more than ever, do we need political direction. We need clear timetables for the millennium objective, and we need a clear division of responsibilities. It is not enough to say that the people of the world need water. Instead, we must talk about who is to arrange for the water to be provided. It is not enough to say that people must have access to food if we do not say who is to ensure that the food reaches their tables. Obviously, trade and funding must be part of the picture. These are, in a way, the lynchpins. We know that they are a part of sustainable development. What, however, I am looking for, especially on the part of the Council, in the run-up to Johannesburg is commitment, conviction and an ability to see things in context.
We must act as a bridge between the poorest countries and the G77 Group. That much is obvious. We must strike up a dialogue. That is not something we shall do in Johannesburg. It is something we must work on in the short time that remains before Johannesburg."@en1
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