Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-05-14-Speech-3-131"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20030514.7.3-131"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, one of the principal results of enlargement is the fact that countries which, until yesterday, seemed geographically far away have been integrated into the Union, and, therefore, that the peoples of these countries have been integrated, bringing the number of inhabitants of the new enlarged Union up to 450 million.
The geographical, political and cultural upheavals experienced by the European continent and the Mediterranean Basin during the twentieth century have certainly not helped in the recent past to bring Europe closer to Russia, the new independent states and the countries of the southern Mediterranean, which are now our neighbours. They have suffered very diverse, tragic situations, and that is why it is still important today to find common ground and points of active cooperation between us.
One of the primary objectives of the new reunified Europe, with its 25 Member States, will have to be the achievement of a preferential relationship with these neighbouring countries of both Eastern Europe, Russia and Asia, such as Kazakhstan, and those which make up the Middle East region and lie on the Mediterranean Basin.
The political Europe born of the work of the Convention and the new institutional treaty which the IGC will submit to the people of the Union will have a duty not just to strengthen economic alliances, which will facilitate the improvement of communications structures too, in order to encourage mutually beneficial trade between citizens and companies, but also and above all to promote all those political, social, cultural and scientific initiatives which will increase the citizens’ involvement in the development of democratic, secular governments with due regard for all the national, cultural and religious traditions which, in any case, uphold man’s dignity and safeguard his physical integrity.
If, however, this dialogue is to proceed with equal intensity where all the Union’s neighbouring countries are concerned, we believe that political measures in the immediate term to facilitate peace in the Middle East and restore economic stability to the Mediterranean Basin are a priority. Indeed, in our opinion, full recognition of the state of Israel and its citizens’ right to a life free of terrorism and full recognition of the Palestinian people’s right to an autonomous, independent state which is committed to combating all forms of terrorism and to monitoring whether the funds appropriated by the European Union are genuinely used to help the Palestinian people, to educate young people, to develop production activities and to build houses and infrastructure, are a primary objective.
Another primary objective is preventing a mass exodus from the poorest countries, which would lead to uncontrolled migration, both impoverishing the countries from which the migrants are emigrating and throwing into disorder the structures of the countries of reception, which cannot deal with mass irregular immigration, particularly when, mixed in with the migrants seeking better conditions, there are numerous members of criminal or terrorist organisations dealing in drugs, arms and, worst of all, human beings.
There is therefore a clear need for a political and economic Union undertaking to encourage ongoing, harmonious development in these countries, so that people find in their native countries not just the means of subsistence but the means of social and cultural progress too. Only in this way can it be ensured that the people emigrating will be doing so on the basis of a reasoned decision and in accordance with the rules, not out of desperation or illegally.
Mr President, we must, moreover, all remember the need to call upon all the European institutions to mount, by means of appropriate agreements with the governments of neighbouring states, an intense, relentless fight against child abuse, the exploitation, especially sexual exploitation, of women and children, and all practices which violate the physical integrity of the individual."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples