Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-09-04-Speech-3-148"
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"en.20020904.5.3-148"2
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"Madam President, we are in the happy position today of debating this report just three weeks before the Copenhagen summit and this happy position is enhanced by the fact that, if anyone knows the area, it is the Commissioner responsible, Mr Patten.
The subject of this debate is the European Union's policy towards Asia. However, the policy discussed in Copenhagen will, of necessity, focus on the institutionalised dialogue with the members of ASEM which, as you know, are the fifteen Member States of the European Union, ten Asian countries and the European Commission. In this sense, it is very difficult to deal with all aspects of this area under this one umbrella. However, it is a step in the right direction and I believe that this modus operandi and our involvement in this process is helpful to the European Union's strategy in political and regional partnerships and the multipolar world.
However, I would point out that, so far, this dialogue has, for the most part, been held solely at the economic level and it needs to move on to political, educational and cultural issues. It is no accident that China, which recently joined the World Trade Organisation and is staging the 2008 Olympics, is also party to this debate, and clearly the economy and culture also exert a great deal of influence on the development of democratic institutions and human rights.
However, one very important issue which needs to be addressed is the enlargement of ASEM. The European Union will soon have ten new members, making a total of twenty-five. All the members of the European Union belong to ASEM. Obviously, once we enlarge, the other side will ask for other countries in Asia to be allowed to join.
This means that this political factor is urgent in the extreme and enlargement criteria need to be laid down. I think that the criteria which must, without fail, be adhered to by both sides are the Copenhagen criteria, which improve economic, cultural and, above all, human relations and human rights. I hope, in fact I am certain that successful developments will result from Copenhagen and I believe that this European Union policy will be more widely accepted in an area wracked by conflict and crisis, by which I mean the whole of Asia."@en1
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