Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-05-14-Speech-3-015"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20030514.1.3-015"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I do not know whether this is the tenth, fifteenth or twenty-fifth debate on the situation in Iraq in this House, in this institution. My fear is that, like all the others, this debate will reveal once again the irrelevance of our institutions; indeed, they proved to be irrelevant in the period leading up to military action and they are in danger of being so during the construction or reconstruction phase too.
Frankly, ladies and gentlemen, I do not know whether Europe will ever decide to match its words with actions and adopt a common policy, because it is simply not moving in that direction at all. It is not moving in that direction in that it was impossible to infer from Council’s statements what Europe as such intends to do. Did you hear anything in that line? I did not. With the exception of a few expressed hopes, which one would expect anyway, I could glean nothing else, and, quite frankly, I feel it is right that we admit it.
The Commissioner did say one important thing, however, with which I fully agree. It must be understood once and for all that there is a great need for humanitarian aid in Iraq, as there was before, but that we are not faced with a humanitarian disaster. We must realise this if nothing else, for there are other problems in Iraq which are much more difficult to resolve than a humanitarian emergency which the Commission is quite capable of managing. In this connection, if Europe ever finds the will to express a view and to adopt a policy, I agree with what Mr Barón Crespo said.
It is intolerable that there are no women present at any of the debates, conferences or meetings even on Iraq – just as they were absent from discussions on Afghanistan, Kosovo and East Timor – not even to serve coffee or interpret. This is not an Islamic country, it is not a question of tradition; it is a secular country where women, for better or worse – ‘Mrs Anthrax’ being a prime example – used to play leading roles. I do not know whether Europe will ever be called upon to give an opinion, but if, by chance, after the great debates, it should wish to say something, I would like it to remember this, so that we Radicals are not forced, as we were in the case of Afghanistan, to launch a worldwide campaign just to bring about the appointment of one or two women ministers, while everyone else completely ignored the issue."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples