Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-12-15-Speech-3-062"
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"en.20041215.2.3-062"2
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"Mr President, I did not actually want to speak about Turkey yet again, for everything that there is to say about it has already been said, but Mrs Sommer has prompted me to speak. Everyone presents surveys that serve their purpose. I know of surveys carried out in Germany which show that people have nothing against Turkey becoming a member of the EU. I can only say that I would warn people against over-dramatising and exaggerating the situation, as you have just done. It is completely mistaken and inappropriate to tie Europe’s existence and the survival of the European Union to Turkey’s accession. Let ten years pass and wait until the negotiations are over, and maybe then Turkey will become the thirtieth member of a great Union with 500 million inhabitants. So please let us remain calm; let us keep a cool head and let there be less drama and emotion in this debate.
Mr President-in-Office of the Council, I too actually wanted to talk about an enlarged Europe. I wanted to congratulate you on holding a series of conferences on European identity. That was a very good and necessary thing to do. We have to ask ourselves what it is that holds 450 million Europeans together, what it is that unites us all, from Estonia to Portugal, from Scotland to Greece, and, as we all know, the answer is: European values. It is also the positive objectives the European Union has set itself: the commitment to peace, to freedom and to justice. These are the things that unite us in Europe. Over the next two years in particular, during the process of ratifying the Constitution, it is especially important to convey these things and not to lose ourselves in points of detail.
I am therefore especially glad that, at the summit on Friday, under Points 66 and 67 of the Conclusions, you asked the Commission to put these matters at the forefront of its communication strategy. I think that we can win the people over in this way – Commissioner Wallström is also doing good work in this regard – and so I would like to encourage you to decide in favour of this, as it is indeed necessary.
In this context, I also think that Points 69 and 52, in which we affirm human rights, are very positive. As it has already been agreed that there should be a European Human Rights Agency, it must now be set up. Europe needs this instrument, and our values are important not only for our identity within the Union, but also for our authority in the world at large. I therefore wish not only to congratulate you, but also to encourage you to push forward with these issues."@en1
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