Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-12-04-Speech-3-040"
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"en.20021204.3.3-040"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, we always have the option of saying the same thing at every meeting. Let us repeat ourselves, therefore, although it may be that, for once, it will not be necessary.
First of all, with regard to the timetable, I would like to say one very simple thing: the Commission, the Council and Parliament must come to an agreement together. It is unacceptable for the Council to set one timetable and for the Commission to set another. We must reach an interinstitutional agreement. Once this agreement has been reached, it is up to Members of Parliament to come to an agreement, because different points of view coexist within this House. I am against the idea of bringing forward the elections, against decisions which would not change anything in terms of historic opportunities and could lead us, in my view, to speed things up, leading us inevitably to failure. We must find an interim solution for the new commissioners during the six-month period. I think that the most important thing, and no one has mentioned this, is that, if the Convention succeeds – and I hope it will – in convincing everyone that the President of the Commission must be elected by Parliament, and if the IGC accepts this, I shall, in that case, call on the Council to bring forward the ratification, because this procedure could take 18 months otherwise. As things stand, the next Commission will not be able to be elected under this procedure, simply because we will not have enough time for the IGC to endorse the appointments. It is therefore absolutely essential that the Council anticipates and accepts what has been decided by the Convention and by the IGC, and therefore that, when the next Commission is constituted, and this is the most important thing in my eyes, the next President is elected by Parliament, thus anticipating what is decided by the Convention and the IGC. That is the most important thing.
As far as Turkey is concerned, we must be responsible. We cannot decide on Turkey’s accession plan now. There are some possibilities of Turkey joining the EU, but there are also some arguments against its accession. What we must say today, therefore, is ‘no’ to those who say that Turkey is not part of Europe, and ‘no’ as well to those in the US and the UK who tell us that Turkey must at all costs be part of Europe. President Clinton had even said that Russia should definitely be part of Europe. So we say to the US that Mexico and Canada must be part of the United States. How about that? I do not understand why it is up to the US to decide who must be part of Europe. I believe, therefore, that this question remains open. There are important debates to be held, but I call on the President of Parliament and the President-in-Office of the Council to write a letter to the Turkish Government and tell it, in order to give it the opportunity to prove his good intentions, that we are organising a meeting in Strasbourg for all the Sakharov Prize winners, and that, in the light of this meeting, Leila Zana must be freed in order to be able to take part. It would be an extraordinary manifestation of Turkey’s goodwill. This is what can be done in the near future, Mr President. Therefore, Mr President, write to the Turkish Government. It would certainly be an extraordinary gesture before Copenhagen if the Turkish Government allowed Mrs Zana to come to the meeting of all the Sakharov Prize winners. This is how we could move things forward.
I would like to end by simply repeating exactly what I always say: financially, our proposals for enlargement will not be enough, not by a long shot. The Council is wrong, the Commission is wrong. We cannot operate on the same budget with 25 Member States as we did with 15.
. We always have to repeat the same thing. One day, you will understand history and the meaning of history."@en1
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"Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam"1
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