Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-06-07-Speech-2-010"
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"en.20050607.5.2-010"2
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".
Mr President, today is an important day. This global debate once again places the European Parliament at the forefront of the fight against terrorism. We are a political House and this is a political debate on the measures to be taken by Europe to defend human rights and beat terrorism, and it is a debate that is also intended to provide lessons in democracy.
I will end, ladies and gentlemen, by saying that I know that this is a small step that we are taking today, but it is an important step. And I am proud of having contributed to placing the European Parliament once again at the forefront of the fight against the impunity of criminals and at the forefront of the defence of human rights. I would like to thank all of my fellow Members, and all of the political groups, for their contributions to this long debate. Thanks to all of them, this House is going to propose proactive initiatives to the Council that will change the dynamic of the past. This series of initiatives is aimed at drawing up a European policy that is capable of preventing terrorism as far as possible.
As a Socialist, as a Basque, as a Spaniard and as a European, I am proud that this Parliament is once again acknowledging the memory of the victims of terrorism.
The President of the Spanish Government, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, reiterated his commitment last Saturday at a Civil Guard diploma ceremony, where he stated that all of the victims will remain in our memories forever. For every democrat, that commitment, to remember the victims, must make societies such as the ones which the terrorists pursue through their crimes impossible.
Europe knows about totalitarianism and it knows about the importance of keeping memories alive in order to prevent history from being repeated. Primo Levi explained it very well in a magnificent book: ‘To understand is impossible, but to know is necessary and to remember is a duty’.
We are convinced that, in order to be effective in the fight against terrorism, Europe must have a common policy in this area as well, in order to go beyond the increasingly close and effective cooperation amongst the countries of the Union – of which Spain and France are a good example – and between the Union and third countries; a policy that responds to the concerns of the citizens and that can be promoted as a model throughout the world.
Beating terrorism requires, firstly, a belief in the supremacy of democracy. Beating terrorism requires that we be prepared to use all the instruments of the rule of law, all of them, but no more than those that the rule of law allows us. Beating terrorism requires that we combat impunity and deprive terrorist action of any legitimacy. Beating terrorism requires that we keep the memory of its victims alive in our hearts.
Terrorism, ladies and gentlemen, is a form of totalitarianism, of fanaticism. Terrorism seeks to destroy free and plural societies. Terrorism is incompatible with democracy. I would therefore state that only a strong, vigorous and committed democracy will be able to beat it.
This House has been at the forefront in this field on more than one occasion. On 6 September 2001, just days before the attack on the Twin Towers, two recommendations were adopted here: the arrest warrant and the common definition of the crime of terrorism, which were able to be adopted by the Council in December of that same year thanks to the fact that we, the European Parliament, had done our work on time. It is true that there are some countries of the Union that have yet to transpose them into their legislation and there are others that have not done so adequately. The report for which I am rapporteur therefore calls for an urgent evaluation, but these two decisions are an example of the extent to which the European citizens need a Parliament that is able to be at the forefront of political decisions.
Europe is a model of democracy and respect for human rights. That is our vocation, that is the purpose of our political union. We therefore combat terrorism in order to defend and promote democracy and in order to guarantee respect for human rights, because we know that terrorism is the enemy of democracy. We therefore propose a European policy to combat terrorism in order to guarantee respect for collective and individual human rights, the right to life, freedom of expression, freedom of movement, ideological freedom and religious freedom: a European policy that combats terrorism in order to make collective security compatible with individual freedom and dignity.
I am not going to bore you with the details of every recommendation in the report. They are all pioneering, but they are all possible. They only require political will and they are all necessary. They range from enhancing the role of the European anti-terrorism coordinator to promoting the creation of the post of European public prosecutor.
I would like to highlight the recommendation that we institutionalise a European recognition of the victims of terrorism. Also politically significant is our commitment to promote an international definition of the crime of terrorism, something which is increasingly necessary if we want, as proposed by Kofi Annan in the Madrid Agenda, these crimes to be pursued and punished throughout the world.
I would finally like to draw attention to a truly ambitious recommendation: the request that the Member States not allow terrorist crimes to be time-barred, thereby reflecting the reprobation of the international community, which considers them to be some of the most serious and inadmissible crimes against humanity."@en1
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