Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-06-07-Speech-2-034"
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"en.20050607.5.2-034"2
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"Mr President, we are on the horns of a difficult dilemma, and in what we might call a chicken and egg situation; should we have sorted out democracy and put democratic and judicial controls in place, or should effective decision-making come first in order to bring about mass public support for a European democracy? The answer is, of course, that we need both. As Mr Oreja has already said, terrorism and the fight against it are outstanding examples of transnational issues, and that is why we should work together more effectively. That is easier said than done, though, for 25 countries have 25 veto rights. Decisions are drawn out, resulting in woolly compromises or, quite simply, in no action being taken at all. In my view, countries should now jump over their own shadows.
At the same time, we should also acknowledge that the Council has to take decisions on very sensitive matters, which have an impact on civil rights. That is another reason why the process of reaching them should be shrouded in such secrecy. I think that the Council should start having meetings, and voting, in public. Neither of these changes would require any change in the treaty. It is simply a matter of opening doors. I hope that Parliament will take joint action to enter into consultation with the Council on this subject.
Much has been said about terrorism being an attack on our fundamental freedoms and that we should thus not make the mistake of undermining those same civil rights. Privacy is another much-quoted example. Privacy is, of course, not sacred
but infringements should always be proportionate, necessary, effective and verifiable. Indeed, the proposal to store communications traffic data is therefore outside of all proportion. If the Council adopts it, Parliament should go to the Court of Justice. Moreover, the Council trying to circumvent democratic control by taking this decision in the third, instead of the first, pillar offers us little comfort. For indeed, once again, if we want to protect democracy from terrorism, we should not mess it up in the first place."@en1
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