Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-07-21-Speech-3-102"
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"en.20040721.6.3-102"2
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"Mr President, Mr President-designate of the Commission, a few years ago you left an interesting hostage to fortune in an interview which was reported widely in the European press. I am not sure exactly what inspired your comment but you said: 'Imagine a large plane, and then go into the cockpit and there is no one at the controls'. Describing the European Union, you said it was a plane without a pilot. Now, Mr Barroso, you are applying for a pilot's licence. Before we grant it to you, Liberals and Democrats in this House want to hear from you about your flight plan and your destination. We want a hands-on pilot at the controls of the European Union.
I ask you to imagine a large plane – I hope an Airbus rather than a Boeing – with yourself at the controls. What kind of pilot would you be? What kind of plane is your Europe? What is your destination? Because the Union needs a global carrier, not a no-frills airline.
We need a Commission President who is going to lead from the front in the debate on the new European Constitution. Who will commit to travelling widely across our Union to make the case for Europe to Europe's citizens. Who will be an honest broker and an enforcer with national governments – often both at the same time. Who can master a hundred briefs and still find time to speak with vision and clarity about the future of our continent.
These are the qualities that Liberals and Democrats will be weighing up when we vote tomorrow, and which would ultimately define the success of your presidency and your Commission.
If we vote to approve your nomination as President of the Commission you can expect to find in us a constructive partner and a critical friend. In return, we will expect never to find, as you did, that the cockpit of Europe's aeroplane is empty or the hand on its rudder is unsure.
We asked for clarity about the subject of Super Commissioners, a better gender mix in the Commission and a commitment to transparency and individual accountability for Commissioners.
You have addressed these points in your remarks today and my Group will reflect on what you said and come to a common view on your candidacy.
You have impressed Liberals and Democrats in this House with your candour and your competence. You have spoken charismatically and confidently about your vision for Europe. We believe you have treated this House with respect, and have come before its Members ready to listen and ready to convince.
We have made no secret of our distaste for the Justus Lipsius carpet market which produced your nomination. We look forward to the day when these choices are made not behind closed doors but in open debate, the day when it is Parliament and the voters of Europe who determine which candidate should be there for our executive and the Council which does the approving!
Asked to explain your politics in recent weeks, you have described yourself as a reformist of the centre. You say you are a committed European. Perhaps I can define what Liberals and Democrats take such answers to mean.
To be a reformist of the centre is to believe in healthy democracy, robust economies, open markets and free and fair trade, to believe in a society that strives for the balance between the irreducible freedom of the individual and the solidarity that enables us to be a society at all.
You will be committed to the Lisbon Agenda – committed to the economic reform that can preserve Europe's prosperity for the future. You will want to see the European Union speak with a single voice in international affairs. You will believe that our institutions need to be more open and accountable, and brought closer to the people they represent. You will believe that when we serve our national or party political agendas over our European agenda, we do a disservice to our Union. If those are your ambitions then Liberals and Democrats in this House will support you and your Commission.
You said, Mr Barroso, that Europe's plane cannot fly with an empty cockpit. At such a time, we cannot afford to have unsteady hands at the controls. The twin gravities of public scepticism and blinkered ambition have the potential to ground us. The Commission's independence and strength are key to its effective leadership in Europe. You have said you would work to protect and preserve them – but the journey from Justus Lipsius to the Berlaymont is more than just crossing a Brussels boulevard. You come from the intergovernmental culture of the Council – are you ready to speak for the European Union?"@en1
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