Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-07-02-Speech-2-323"
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"en.20020702.14.2-323"2
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"Mr President, the report before us does a great disservice to the topics it covers, whether one is pro-choice or pro-life, because it purports to dictate to Member States a certain direction in relation to what are most important subsidiarity matters for the Member States. Neither this Parliament nor the Commission have any competence in this area. While it can be useful to discuss these matters and to tease them out, the particular timing of this report, which I accept was a long time in the pipeline, is causing an awful lot of collateral damage, which perhaps it was not intended to do.
I state categorically that even today the topic of this report is on websites in Ireland and is being used by the "no to Nice" campaign to beat around the ears those like myself who would be part of the "yes" campaign in relation to the Nice Treaty. It is already being used on websites, including the website of a Member of this Parliament to say 'this is what Europe is about; look what they will do given half a chance. They will dictate to us on ethical issues'. I plead with colleagues, whatever your views are on the important topics in that report, do not let what we do in this Parliament be misused and abused by those people.
I am particularly sensitive to the issue in Ireland at this point in time. It is not only in our interest in Ireland that we ratify the Nice Treaty, it is in the interests of all the accession states who want to rejoin the European family. Those accession states themselves have contacted many of us and the leaders of many groups about the added difficulties this report is causing.
I know personally that three accession countries are having serious problems. They have a battle to win the hearts and minds of their people in relation to joining Europe, just as we have in Ireland at this particular time in relation to the ratification of the Nice Treaty. I do not mind what your views are on this issue. They are secondary at this point in time to the collateral damage this report is doing in accession states and in Ireland. That concerns me greatly.
Quite a lot of other matters have been raised. Personally I do not have any difficulties with the morning-after pill. I do not consider it an abortifacient. Some of my colleagues, who like me will be voting against this report, might disagree with me on that. But we might as well get the biological facts right. It is emergency contraception. It is not an abortifacient because you do not have implantation of the fertilised egg until up to 72 hours after fertilisation. It cannot be an abortion if you are not pregnant. Let us stick to the facts.
Much of the report, I feel, is very badly drafted and very repetitive. But the important point is that this is a subsidiarity issue and we must give no indication that it is otherwise. We have no competence in this Parliament. The collateral damage at this point in time is huge. I regret that."@en1
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