Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-04-09-Speech-3-023"
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"en.20030409.3.3-023"2
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".
Mr President, Commissioners, ladies and gentlemen, as President-in-Office of the Council of the European Union, I have the honour and pleasure today of addressing the European Parliament on the highly important subject of enlargement and I consider it a privilege to be present today at this debate.
Today is an historic day for the European Union and the European Parliament. In a week's time, on 16 April, Greece will have the pleasure, as the presiding country, of hosting the historic ceremony of the signing of the Enlargement Treaty, at the historic site of the Ancient Agora beneath the Acropolis. Despite the present use of the word 'agora' to mean market, the Ancient Agora in Athens has its place in history for another reason. It was here that the concept of democracy was actually born and developed 2500 years ago and the symbolism of this ceremony, which we have chosen to hold on this particular site, lies in the fact that democracy and the many other values linked to democracy are the common denominator which penetrates every corner of the European Union. We are a community of values and, if the Union and enlargement are a success, it is because these values are going from strength to strength.
The countries about to join the European Union share our common history, heritage and culture. Their accession marks the end of the artificial division of our continent. Today we are putting our objective of building a Europe founded on the ideals of democracy, pluralism, the rule of law, respect for human rights and the free market economy into practice. The European Union has always been committed to this objective. That is also the reason why, as soon as the Berlin wall fell, the Union responded to the challenge and reacted decisively and proactively to the change in the European political landscape. It offered a framework and prospects for a unified Europe. It offered a Europe based on free choice and solidarity between its citizens. Relations between the Union and the candidate countries have gradually been strengthened through various procedures, association agreements, structured dialogue on a series of issues, accession criteria, accession negotiations and pre-accession mechanisms and procedures. During all these stages, the European Union's position has very clearly been to safeguard the global, evolutionary and substantial character of the accession process, with all the candidate countries participating on an equal footing and acceding to the European Union with equal opportunities.
At the beginning of accession negotiations, the Union made it perfectly clear that accession implied complete acceptance of the actual and potential rights and obligations connected with the Union and its institutional framework, including in the foreign relations sector, and that accession implied proper, practical application of the
including the establishment of a reliable working public administration. Bringing the negotiations to a conclusion was no easy task. Far-reaching, often painful economic reforms were needed in all the countries which were to accede. However, thanks to persistence and determination on all sides, these negotiations were conducted in a thorough, efficient and transparent manner and I think that I speak for everyone involved when I say that we are proud of this process and its outcome.
I should like to take this opportunity to offer my special thanks to Mr Verheugen, the Commissioner responsible for the negotiations who is present here today, for his huge contribution to the success of this entire process. As you know, negotiations with the 10 acceding countries were completed in Copenhagen on 13 December last year. The terms of accession are common knowledge and are contained in the draft Treaty and in the Accession Act submitted to the European Parliament. The results of the negotiations do, we feel, reflect the best possible outcome and a fair agreement. As we pointed out in 1993, the Union must be able to absorb new members without allowing European unification to lose momentum. The results of negotiations have achieved this institutional equilibrium. There is a balance between the wish to ensure, on the one hand, that the acceding countries will benefit fully from the various policies of the European Union and the need, on the other, to ensure that the Union will be efficient and competitive within the context of globalisation. In addition to the Herculean and unprecedented task carried out by the Council and the Commission during this process, I should like to highlight the continuous and important effort also made by the acceding countries. I should also like to offer my sincere thanks to the European Parliament for the political support it has given us throughout this process. We particularly appreciate the open and constructive political dialogue with your democratically elected partners in each of the acceding countries. The work carried out by the joint parliamentary committees was invaluable, as was the work of so many of the parliamentary committees. It helped enormously in clarifying exactly what accession to the European Union implies for the acceding countries. Today, all the citizens in the acceding countries are looking towards us. Some have already expressed their will. The positive outcome of the referenda in Malta and Slovenia are a clear and decisive sign of their trust in the Europe of tomorrow.
Enlargement gives us every reason to be optimistic about Europe, even in the present climate, with the international economy or the war in Iraq overshadowing developments. Nonetheless, there are many reasons which justify this optimism. The European Union as a whole has a healthier basis from an economic and financial point of view, in comparison with much of the rest of the world. It has succeeded in setting up a pole of relative stability. It has created a creditable single currency and a common framework within which to exercise a policy which guarantees the reliability of EMU as an international currency pole. The European Union has developed a Community standard which, despite its diversity, acts as a shield against uncertainty and falling confidence. The European Union has a unique development model which combines the economic element with a broader spectrum of social elements covering employment, social integration and a whole series of other issues. The European Union uses delicate manoeuvres to set the renewal of its policies in motion in a series of crucial sectors, such as structural policy or agricultural policy, in order to safeguard its potential for growth, social cohesion and its ability to face up to its international challenges. The European Union deals with internal concerns by renewing its institutional framework, especially in the sense of extending the process of European integration. Finally, on a series of issues such as trade, investment flows, the transfer of technology and the movement of workers, enlargement is bringing about new operating conditions for the Union and hence creating new opportunities for the European approach and the European model within the global framework.
I should like to conclude my speech with two comments. My first comment is that these are tense times. As Member States, we need to show that we can achieve a
of views through self-imposed limitations, reciprocal concessions and the political will to support the momentum of the Union, and by strengthening the values of democracy, human rights and solidarity. Solidarity, of course, means more than negotiating financing under the Structural Funds or protecting the common agricultural policy and other individual questions. It cuts across a broad range of Union policies. My second comment is that it is important at this stage for the enlarged Union to succeed on a number of fronts in the immediate future. We need to repair the damage done by the differences which have arisen in the foreign policy sector and which marked the issue of Iraq. We need to convince the citizens of the European Union and of countries outside the European Union that we stand for the values of peace, stability, confidence and support for growth and we must make a systematic and sincere effort to repair our relations with all our basic partners.
Ladies and gentlemen, Europe belongs to the citizens of Europe without exception or discrimination. Everyone has a right to share in this future. Enlargement brings this vision much closer. The European Union is ready to receive its new Member States, secure in the knowledge that it is acquiring a new configuration and new momentum, the sort of momentum demonstrated in these countries, during the transitional period, on economic, political and social issues and reforms. It is incumbent upon all of us to make enlargement a catalyst for faster European unification, a force which will ensure that Europe is able to meet the challenges of a new era of global relations."@en1
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