Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-09-14-Speech-2-019"
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"en.20040914.2.2-019"2
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"Thank you Mr President.
I too should like to congratulate you on your election, both on my own behalf and on behalf of my colleagues in the Non-attached Group. Just as the spectrum of colours adds to the beauty of a painting, I believe that the spectrum of political parties in the European Parliament guarantees that the decisions taken by this House will not serve just a certain part of Europe.
I should now like to return to the speech made by Commission President Barrosso in this Chamber, in which he clearly stated that the Union must have a strong and independent Commission. I also believe that Europe needs to have a strong and accountable Parliament. We must respond to the will and expectations of our voters. In order for us to be able to uphold their interests, we must have the appropriate conditions for our work here. Mr President, please allow me, at the very beginning of our term of office, to remind you of our requests for the removal of the discrimination which we are experiencing in the Non-attached Group.
First of all, the other political groups have better staffed secretariats, for example the Union for Europe of the Nations Group has 27 members and 34 officials. We have 29 members but only 11 employees to take care of our work in the secretariat. Our meetings are not interpreted into our mother tongues despite the fact that many nationalities are represented here. The financial support allocated for the political groups is not audited until after it has been used, whereas we have to apply for resources and explain in advance why we are asking for them.
Mr President, all of us here today have been elected in democratic elections to represent our voters. The European Union safeguards its prosperity through agreements and compromises and we must do everything to ensure that discrimination is eliminated in this Chamber. I am therefore asking you to resolve these problems and not just put them to one side. I have a feeling that the economic pressure on the Non-attached Group of members may be the reason why we have become politically integrated.
In your statement, you made mention of the problems with interpreting. We are now looking at further discrimination being perpetrated by the European Parliament. In the past, during the period when our status was that of observers, interpreters from the candidate countries did not enjoy a position of equality. In particular, they suffered discrimination in the area of social security, with respect to their rights and benefits. Since the accession of the ten Member States, that is, since 1 May 2004, their status has changed somewhat, but they are still suffering discrimination in comparison with their colleagues from the old Member States. In the past, interpreters have never been recruited at A8 level owing to the demanding nature of their job. The difference between old and new interpreters is more than EUR 1 000.
Mr President, I apologise for talking about economic and financial problems from the very beginning. But in Slovakia we believe in clearing the air. The EP needs to resolve all financial matters for all members so that status is not an issue, so that there is no virtual frontier between the old and the new. I therefore beg for the justice which lies in your hands. In return, I can offer you honest hard work. Members in the Non-attached Group will draw attention to injustice but we shall always strive to seek compromise and to resolve the important problems raised.
You are faced with trying times. So I wish you well in coping with your difficult job and I also wish you strength in succeeding in it. Not every politician is given the opportunity you have been given. Prove that you are worthy of this historically very important job and that you are President for all of us.
Thank you for your attention."@en1
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