Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-03-26-Speech-3-053"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20030326.5.3-053"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:translated text |
".
Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank you for your speeches. I would also like to thank everyone who mentioned the Greek Presidency. I shall try and reply briefly to two or three questions.
Many of you appealed directly to the Greek Presidency to take the initiative and state a specific opinion or take specific recourse to the United Nations. But what is the presidency's role? The role of the presidency, not just the Greek Presidency, but any presidency, is not to decide what the European Union's position is. It is not to welcome one opinion and condemn another. It is not to express its own views, because Greece too has its own views but it cannot express its views as the views of the Union. The role of the presidency is to try and marry differing opinions and to follow the rules in order to bring about a result in the form of a unanimous or majority opinion. If it cannot manage to do that, then it has no place. The role of the presidency therefore, and I should like to emphasise this, is to defend an important virtue, the virtue of cooperation, the virtue of joint endeavour and joint action. That is the first thing it has to do. And that is what the Presidency is working at, because otherwise it will end up with precisely the opposite of what it is supposed to achieve: division. And we do not want division, especially in these difficult times.
My second point is that a number of honourable Members referred to the Union's foreign policy, again saying that it is non-existent and that nothing has been done. We heard the President of the Commission say that a European Union peacekeeping force will most probably take over the role of the NATO force in Skopje this week. This is unprecedented and is the outcome of serious effort in the foreign policy sector. Anyone listening to the heads of the Balkan countries over the last fortnight, following the assassination of the Serbian prime minister, will have realised that the Western Balkans have high hopes of the European Union. Why? Because the European Union has applied a foreign policy. There are several other examples of the really creative presence of the European Union I could mention. Are there only a few? Yes! There are only a few. And we failed to unite our position on the basic, moral issue of war or peace. We have failed to do so on numerous other issues. But we do not write off what we have done and nor does this mean we must write off what has happened and stop making an effort when it comes to our common foreign policy. We have to make that effort.
I agree – and this is my third point, because I have heard numerous opinions which are just not realistic – with what Mr Cohn-Bendit said, that compromises are needed. Compromises are also needed because you will be debating the problem of Iraq tomorrow. There are a number of issues where I believe, if you pass a resolution, the Presidency and the Commission and the European Union will be able to move forward, such as the need to safeguard the territorial integrity of Iraq, including – as one member said – on the Turkish border, the need to deal with serious humanitarian problems by mobilising the aid provided for and the central role of the United Nations in the political, economic and social reconstruction of Iraq. If we say it here loud and clear, we shall create frameworks, we shall create commitments. And, of course, we must not forget the peace process in the Middle East and the importance of transatlantic relations. The Union's foreign policy, like every other policy, is created. This endeavour has its triumphs and setbacks, but the policy is still created. And it is up to us. If we simply say that the Union is out of its depth and we throw in the towel, then we do not want a Union. But we do want a Union! And we want a strong Union. That is what we are striving for and that is what we must strive for.
Finally, I should like to refer to a number of comments made on economic policy. First of all, this is a long Presidency text because it is now standard practice in the Union for each spring Council to reiterate all the previous resolutions for the record. The second point is that there are numerous questions, references and issues which refer back to committees, but if you read the text and the texts it refers to, such as the resolutions of the Εcofin Council, you will see that many of the issues raised are answered. The Stability Pact, for example, was examined by the Ministers for Finance, who said that it must be maintained, that this is neither the time nor the place for flexibility and that there is a risk of inflation. I leave it to you to decide whether or not they were right. It was examined. That is clear from the text. It is also clear from the text that war can upset the best-laid plans. It is important to remain level-headed. It is important not to panic, not to believe that we need to take measures here and now or here, there and everywhere. We need to keep moving steadily forward on the course we have set.
I believe, ladies and gentlemen, that this is one of the main messages of the efforts made in Brussels; that despite the adversities, despite the difficulties, we have a great deal in common, a great deal in common, which we cannot put to one side, which is why, especially in these difficult times, we need to try and express what we have in common and move forward together."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples