Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-09-26-Speech-4-026"
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"en.20020926.1.4-026"2
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"Mr President, Strasbourg has come to symbolise not only peace, but also human rights, civil liberties and parliamentary government. It was here, fifty-three years ago, that the Council of Europe was set up, and where it still has a special concern for human rights. It was here, fifty-two years ago, that the European Convention on Human Rights was adopted, our neighbour the European Court of Human Rights being its fruit. It was here, fifty years ago, that a European Parliament met for the first time. This week has found us observing its fiftieth anniversary. It was here too that we had our first joint session with the European Council's Parliamentary Assembly, which might well have been rather tricky in technical terms, but I must say that those responsible overcame the difficulties brilliantly. This was also a long-awaited opportunity to build stronger links between these two institutions, the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the European Council.
Strasbourg is also the seat of the European Ombudsman, who expresses our vision of a citizens' Europe, a Europe of human rights.
It has already frequently been said that Brussels, being the home of the Commission and of the Council, is increasingly synonymous with bad administrative practice. I consider this rather unfair, and have to say so too, as Brussels is where the administration of the Council and the Commission does much that is exemplary. Indeed, the present Commission – and I have for some years been numbered among the great critics of the Commission – and Mr Liikanen as well, have done much to systematically improve its administrative practices.
Despite that, there is still a staggering amount remaining to be done. Unlike Mrs Hautala, I do not believe that the introduction of more direct democracy will win the public over to European integration. What works outstandingly well in the small democratic structure that is the canton of Appenzell, will not work in the same way in a Community with half a billion inhabitants. The end result would be a society governed by hysteria, in which politics would be run by demagogues in television companies. What we need is decentralisation and the Rule of Law.
A great deal has been said today about the Nordic culture. I welcome that. The Ombudsman is a Nordic invention, but we are not the Nordic community; we are the European Community. The concept of supranational law is a Roman achievement. That is why I was very glad to hear something Mr Gemelli said. ‘What is decisive,’ he said, ‘is that people are aware of their European citizenship.’ You can say it in Latin just as well: ‘
’ Only when people can say that will the unification of Europe have been achieved. That is why we need good administration, clear principles of human rights, and Europe as a Community based on the Rule of Law!"@en1
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"Civis europaeis sum."1
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