Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-03-10-Speech-4-059"
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"en.20050310.5.4-059"2
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"Ladies and gentlemen, Ambassadors, a year ago, on the initiative of the European Parliament, our Union decided that 11 March would become European Day for the Victims of Terrorism. And we did so because, a year ago, Madrid awoke to the blasts of the bombs that cost the lives of 192 citizens of various countries.
The European Parliament has always been in the vanguard in the fight against terrorism, despite the limited role attributed to it by the Treaties in this area.
This is clearly not the time to present a long list of everything Parliament has done, but I would like to express our profound conviction that the greater the Member States’ capacity to exchange police and security information is, the more effective policing will be, and we must therefore ask ourselves the question now, at a time when we are remembering the victims: what are the remaining fundamental problems preventing Europol from being fully operative? When will we have a European Prosecutor? When will we have European legislation to prevent the laundering of capital...
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... which is a fundamental element in the fight against organised crime and its links with terrorism?
There has been positive progress in these fields, but some of the decisions adopted – and I am simply talking about what was decided following 11 September – have yet to see the light.
I do not understand your indignation, because many political leaders from all over the world are discussing this very thing today in Madrid. That is what is being discussed today in Madrid at the International Conference, which is being attended by many dignitaries and experts from all over the world, and which I will attend following this formal sitting, together with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr Kofi Anan, and the President of the Commission, Mr Barroso, who will present an action plan drawn up by the Commission for combating terrorism, which refers to some of the measures I have just mentioned.
Yes, there in Madrid, and the day before yesterday here in Brussels and in Strasbourg, the need to combat terrorism from a global and complete point of view is being discussed, starting with full respect for the rule of law and not forgetting to look into the causes of terrorism and the instruments allowing it to grow and spread around the world.
Let us not forget that, in order to guarantee our security, it is essential to promote dialogue and integration between cultures and religions, without forgetting development cooperation.
This is not a comfortable or easy debate, but we cannot avoid it. There can be no explanation or justification for terrorism, but there are reasons why it arises and our analysis must take them into account. This analysis must take account of the need not just to respect the values and fundamental rights which form the basis of our Community, but also to apply preventive measures which not only prevent us from having to show regret every time, but which prevent us from ever having to do so.
I am not of course just talking about prevention through war. I am talking about prevention in the broadest sense of the word. Internal and external prevention, within our societies, in order to ensure the integration of migrants, tolerance, religious and cultural pluralism, the fight against discrimination, cooperation between intelligence services and judicial systems...
Spain has unfortunately become accustomed to the threat of terrorism. For many years we endured it. Many people were killed. But, even during the toughest times in the fight against the terrorist group ETA, Spanish society never gave up its freedom. Nevertheless, on that 11 March, that new and even more horrific attack added to the dynamic created by another attack, 11 September 2001 in New York and in Washington, which had woken the western world from its confident tranquillity and changed the world’s geopolitical pattern.
... and also external action on many fronts: war, poverty, the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons; a world framework for combating terrorism, without forgetting, ladies and gentlemen – representatives of the citizens of Europe – that the most effective way and the basis for all forms of combating terrorism, is respect for the values upon which our Union is founded.
Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, Ambassadors, in memory of those victims, who, as I said, must be the symbol of our democratic Union, I would invite you to observe a minute’s silence.
On that 11 September, we said that we were all Americans. Then, in March, in Madrid, we said that we were all passengers on the Atocha trains. Today, in the Plaza de Atocha, the candles which turned it into a shrine of commemoration are no longer there, but the memory is still there, the memory of the victims who, as a sign of our respect, must become the symbol of our unity and not the banners of our political confrontation. Our first tribute to the victims must be to make them the symbol of unity amongst democrats, the symbol of the unity amongst those of us who believe in the rule of law and human rights.
On that 11 March, the Europeans came face-to-face with a global view of the problem of terrorism. Until then, each country had had its own terrorists, but after 11 September, firstly, and then 11 March, terrorism took on a global dimension that required a global response.
We Europeans came to realise that our values, and not just our lives, were threatened, and we therefore reacted together without forgetting that the fight for democracy was and would remain at the heart of our European political project.
Let us remember that democracy has never succumbed to terrorism, but that military resources alone do not create it.
Firstly, we must look back and assess how we were able to respond to those events. The first conclusion we should draw is that, perhaps, the deaths in Madrid were not in vain because, shortly afterwards, Europe reached an agreement that unblocked the drafting of its Constitution, which is now subject to ratification. They were perhaps a wake-up call that allowed us to overcome many of our differences.
Secondly, we must ascertain whether we have really applied the commitments we made then, whether we have fulfilled all the agreements we reached amongst ourselves and whether we have really applied the measures we promised to apply. In this regard, perhaps we should acknowledge that we have not applied everything that our emotions at that time inspired us to agree.
Many of the measures provided for in the action plan adopted by the Council following 11 March have yet to be fully applied, which must remind us that in order to combat terrorism we also need more Europe, because we are now aware that the traditional forms of judicial and police cooperation are not enough."@en1
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"(Parliament rose and observed a minute’s silence)"1
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