Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-03-20-Speech-4-017"
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"en.20030320.2.4-017"2
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"Presidents, ladies and gentlemen, this morning I feel both sad and uneasy. I feel sad because, as previous speakers have already said, war is always a sign of failure and because, unfortunately, what is happening is bound to fill us with sadness and also leave us dissatisfied.
I feel somewhat uneasy, however, because I actually believe that we have all been to some extent taken for a ride. For weeks and for months, we were concerned with making the efforts necessary to achieve the disarmament of Iraq by peaceful means, whereas in reality, the United States’ decision for military intervention had, in my opinion, been taken quite a while ago. To be persuaded of this, one only has to read the report issued by the James Baker Institute last December, which laid out what the principles of US policy towards Iraq should be following the war. I therefore believe that the decision to use force was taken several months ago. We were encouraged to discuss disarmament by peaceful means and this gave the United States the time to muster its forces.
Having said that, the question we are facing, as Commissioner Patten said a short while ago, is not whether we in Europe want to be with the Americans or against them; whether or not we want to get on with the Americans. The issue is much simpler than that: do you want, do we want, a Europe that is independent of the United States? If the answer is ‘yes’, then this question must be put to the people, and we have clearly seen, in recent days, that the people wish to make their voice heard and to give their answer. It is the people alone who will allow us to move ahead with the construction of an independent Europe, in other words a Europe that is not an adversary of the United States, but its partner on an equal footing.
We are told today that Iraq is dividing the European Union. This is not true, ladies and gentlemen! The Iraqi affair is merely revealing the true picture. The European Union is deeply divided. Some European States will always give the alliance with the United States priority over the construction of an independent Europe. That is the reality of the situation. It is because we and our governments have never had the courage to hold a debate on this subject that we have seen the spectacle with which we are all familiar. This is the fault neither of France nor of Germany. It is the fault of all the leaders of the countries of the European Union over the last forty years, who have never got to the bottom of the problem. We shall have to resolve to do this.
If, however, we wish to see an independent Europe, we must also realise that this will come at a price. We cannot want Europe to be independent and at the same time depend fully on the United States for its security, because it is the US that has to bear the brunt of mounting military operations in the event of serious problems. If the European Union wishes to exist, it must be given the means to do so. This is how things are; this is the reality of the situation! Everything else is incidental. It is all well and good to hold meeting after meeting, and for the European Union to see itself as some kind of super-NGO, but given its history, its ambitions should be somewhat different."@en1
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