Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-06-04-Speech-3-029"
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"en.20030604.2.3-029"2
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"Mr President, in a few days we shall have the summit in Thessaloniki, a city – as everyone is talking about history and civilisation – which was the second biggest city in the Roman Empire, the second biggest city in the Byzantine Empire, and which has always been the reference point of the Balkans. Again for historical and cultural reasons, we should remember that it did not simply host the large Sephardic Jewish community, but that it hosted it because it was expelled by the Spanish inquisition. Just as the Balkans hosted hundreds of thousands of gypsies, again expelled by the Inquisition. So much for those who want to keep talking about the cultural burden of Europe.
Every Presidency is characterised by certain important elements. The Thessaloniki Presidency has two characteristics: first, it closes the cycle of the presidencies of the 15 and opens the cycle of the presidencies of the 25. Secondly, precisely for this reason, it is characterised by the results of the Convention on the Future of Europe which is under way. In this sense, therefore, it has two very important elements which it must promote, in order to open prospects for the future. The war in Iraq made us all, possibly to our slight surprise, discover a great many lacunae in connection with the development of Europe. It may also have had positive results, because it ultimately showed everyone, even if they do not say so now, that Europe cannot remain an economic giant but a political dwarf. The President of the Commission is absolutely right.
That brings us to the Thessaloniki Summit. However, I should like to add two things, despite the fact that my speech appears to be going off at a tangent, to the second leg in Thessaloniki, the stability pact. The stability pact concerns the crisis in the western Balkans, in former Yugoslavia. It is an issue on which the efficiency and essence of European policy is being judged. In this sense, it is a telling issue and we cannot deal with it as a secondary issue, because, whether we like it or not, we consider the future of Europe and the Convention to be a primary issue.
To come back to the subject of the future of Europe, it is obvious that the peoples are demanding democracy, efficiency and transparency. Democracy means parliamentary control. Efficiency means the ability to control what you are applying and transparency means that every citizen can see where his money is going and if the political objectives are being served. In this sense, the Community method and its variations must be reinforced. I believe that the Greek Presidency, by combining the dialectic of Socrates and Plato, which a number of speakers referred to, with the highly efficient Aristotle, will provide positive prospects and that a six month presidency of exemplary and exceptional efficiency by a country of medium size but with most able political cadres will be ratified."@en1
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