Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-04-20-Speech-2-327"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20040420.16.2-327"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
".
Mr President, perhaps I could answer the first two of those questions, since the third was put directly to my colleague, Commissioner Verheugen, and in the light of his experience in dealing so successfully with enlargement I can refer that to him – although I will have a go if he likes!
In response to Mr Dupuis, I say with all modesty – and it perhaps reflects the failures of my political career – that is a good 12 years since I have been able to say 'speaking on behalf of the British Government'. So my ability to respond on behalf of Her Majesty's administration in London is somewhat limited.
I am sure that the United Kingdom Government will, as ever, take close note of what the honourable Member has said and I am sure – this also relates to the point that Baroness Ludford made – that both the government in the United Kingdom and the government in the Netherlands will want to reflect on the issue of ratification in view of the comments of the chief prosecutor at The Hague. I had noticed what the British Minister of State, Denis McShane, my old school mate, said yesterday in the region. He felt himself able to announce that we were going to make this very positive decision today, so we welcome his support.
I would like to respond to what the honourable Member said about regional cooperation. In the last year there have been one or two difficulties, for example the dispute with Slovenia, which we regret and which we hope can now be resolved. It has, however, been a consistent feature of the way that governments have behaved over the last few years. Both Mr Racan's government and the present government have played an extremely positive role in working to resolve the problems in the region. I would like to pay a personal tribute to the former Foreign Minister, Mr Picula, who did a great deal to work constructively with the region, and I know that his successor will not mind me doing this. I am sure Mr Zuzul will follow that lead and I know that he and the Prime Minister have already taken steps which have encouraged others in the region to regard Croatia as an extremely cooperative partner.
My colleague Commissioner Verheugen may wish to add to what I have to say on the question of the timetable, but in my experience from watching him deal with enlargement over the last few years, the timetable depends above all on the efforts made by the states concerned.
If I may offer one word of advice to the Croatian government it is that it should concentrate its energies, as it has done in the last few years, on substance rather than process. It should concentrate on getting on with making changes which will still be required, rather than focusing its energies on asking about dates and speculating about dates."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples