Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-11-17-Speech-1-048"
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"en.20031117.5.1-048"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we must, no doubt, all concede that we were somewhat surprised by how very successful this year was. I am myself always sceptical when ‘European Years’ devoted to social policy objectives are declared, and, at the end of them one cannot actually point to anything having been achieved. Such was not the case with this one. This may be because this ‘Year’ was something special, above all in that it promised much, and because the idea for it was put to politicians by non-governmental organisations and associations of handicapped persons. There were discussions of a wide variety of topics, in which disabled people themselves discussed national and European approaches. Rather than having discussions about disabled people, we discussed things with them.
In my own country, too, a debate has got under way, which has as its objective, not only legislative measures but also, of course, the raising of public awareness. We want unrestricted participation, no longer to be cared for outside society in the way we once were. We want full equality rather than the former demeaning sympathy, and, instead of being patronised by well-meaning people, we want the right to autonomy. For that, of course, we need legislative measures.
I might add that we in this House agreed that this Year should not remain a one-off, a concern that the Commission’s new action plan takes up. I think the Commission is still being a bit too hesitant as regards the timescale, as we should make use of the present commitment, which is evident everywhere, rather than putting things off for another two or three years. I am also glad that the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs has managed to get a line inserted into the Budget, not merely for a survey, but for following up all the things that have gone well in this European Year.
I would like to close with a very fine slogan that you, Commissioner, mentioned at a recent event, when you said that we should use ‘Getting on Board’ as a slogan. I would like to end with a slogan for the future, when disabled people will not just be ‘Getting on Board’ but also ‘Staying on Board’."@en1
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