Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-01-14-Speech-3-051"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20040114.1.3-051"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Mr President, Mr President-in-Office, you have rightly placed emphasis on meeting the expectations of our peoples. I can tell you that the people of Essex and other parts of the east of England that I represent would like less interference in their lives by the European Union. They want to run their own affairs.
Our businesses want to sharpen their ability to compete in global markets, not to be weighed down by unnecessary red tape and socialist regulation, much of which originates in Brussels and is then gold plated by our own Labour Government. In particular they want a fair crack of the whip.
The one aspect of the European Union for which there is any enthusiasm is the single market, but British farmers and businessmen have always suspected that the odds were deliberately stacked against them because certain Member States simply ignored the rules. Now the Commission has confirmed that suspicion with its announcement on Monday that France, Belgium and Germany, those great EU enthusiasts, are bottom of the league for implementing internal market rules, and France tops the list of infringement cases. I think immediately of the long-running and illegal ban on British beef.
You said you wanted to focus on the Lisbon Agenda. To give yourself a bit of breathing space, I suggest that the first thing you should do is kick the proposed Constitution firmly into touch. The notion that the Constitution was essential for an enlarged Union is clearly a myth. It was just a vehicle for further political integration and that is something that our citizens simply do not want. Similarly, they do not want European Union involvement in military matters, complicating and duplicating Nato and creating additional tensions with our vital transatlantic allies. The reality is that defence budgets are being slashed across continental Europe and even the superb British armed forces are desperately overstretched and under-equipped. European Union politicians playing bureaucratic games in Brussels will not help this situation.
Finally, Mr President-in-Office, you rightly emphasise your intention to focus on practical human rights issues. One of the first decisions you will need to push through Council is the renewal of targeted sanctions against the ZANU-PF regime in Zimbabwe. I would ask you to respond to Parliament's demands on this matter."@en1
|
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples