Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-02-11-Speech-2-019"
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"en.20030211.1.2-019"2
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"Madam President, I thank the rapporteur and the Commission for bringing forward this important report, dealing as it does in a sound way with significant matters. We in this Parliament must endeavour to do all we can to make it easier for European citizens to move freely around the Union.
It is somewhat anomalous that, at the moment, it is easier to move goods or capital around the European Union than it is for European citizens to move around. Mr Vitorino said at the beginning that free movement is subject to too many obstacles, and Mrs Buitenweg has just given some examples that make this obvious. If the European Union is to move closer to the citizen, we have to make it much more of a common market for people than it is at the moment.
However, just as with business, in order for this to function efficiently there must be regulations. For example, British pensioners retiring to Spain and others travelling from one country to another for work must be freed from unnecessary bureaucracy and excessive red tape. If we are to meet our target of making the European Union the most competitive economy in the world by 2010, and make it as easy for EU citizens to move from one Member State to another, as it is for US citizens to move from one state to another in the United States, then we need a free flow of European nationals moving between countries to live and work. This is about European citizens and their families being able to move around freely for work and to live; it is about teenagers getting residence permits in the country in which they have grown up.
However, there are aspects of this report which could be misinterpreted or abused. That is why we need to build in a few extra clauses. My own government is concerned to ensure that our efforts to facilitate freedom of movement for legitimate EU nationals do not open new channels that could be exploited by criminal gangs and others.
As we are all too aware, we live in a dangerous world. There is a minority – albeit it a very small minority - of people who may want to exploit for illegal and violent purposes the freedom of movement that this report facilitates. Therefore, we should not deny Member States the right to exclude people where there is a proven threat to national security.
We need a few other safeguards to protect people from the hazards of modern living. I endorse what Mr Di Lello Finuoli said: the real issue is not whether people are married or with whom they are in a lasting relationship. The Treaty guarantees the right of all citizens to family life and we, as a Parliament, are empowered to uphold this. Others have spoken about this. Legitimate and lasting partnerships should never be put under threat. On the other hand, as a balance, perhaps we need to ensure that there are safeguards to discourage the small minority who might want to use marriage as an avenue to gain illegal entry. It is about free movement for people and freedom to live their lives as they wish: a free market for people, a common market for EU citizens and their families."@en1
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