Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-09-08-Speech-4-010"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20050908.4.4-010"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
".
Mr President, it is excellent that the Northern Dimension is once again entering the debate, and I am very encouraged by Commissioner Michel’s eagerness to commit to its development. When you look at the list of speakers, however, you notice one substantial problem associated with this concept: up till now the Northern Dimension has been the concern of far too few people. Too few in Parliament and the EU Member States feel it has to do with them. The programme has not yet produced the results that were hoped for, and many people still know very little about it. This major initiative of the Finnish Presidency in 1999 is far too worthwhile a project to be lost simply because of a lack of political clout. The Northern Dimension must be made more viable, and I am grateful that a Member of the Commission should have the same objective.
Apart from attracting very little attention, the Northern Dimension has been given very little money. Not having its own budget line, it has remained theoretical. If sums are compared with the financing which the EU has provided for the Mediterranean, they obviously amount to just a fraction of that, but I am delighted to hear about new financial instruments. The Northern Dimension has suffered from a certain lack of identity, and so far has been unable to create a clear profile for itself that distinguishes it from other programmes. We should be realistic: only a strategy with a clear financial framework and a budget line will succeed in establishing its status. This is one reason why some of us representatives of the Nordic countries have recently been looking in the direction of the Baltic Sea and the countries on its coastline. The Baltic Sea is unquestionably part of the Northern Dimension. With the eastward enlargement of the EU, the Baltic became almost completely an internal sea of the European Union, and it should be accorded the importance it deserves. It is our sea:
. Surrounding it are new Member States of the EU which are highly motivated to strengthen cooperation in the Baltic region so that all the important elements of the Northern Dimension are reinforced and new political muscle is used for regional cooperation.
The Northern Dimension has been a tool of external relations, but the separate elements of its sphere of operation have not benefited sufficiently from factors that would unite it. It now needs a new approach that would unify the region. This is where Baltic Sea conservation and development of the Baltic Sea economic region are important. When we first joined the EU it might have been enough if we were able to have an impact on verbal reality and at least some people repeated the words and ideas we expressed. That is no longer enough; as the Union expands and as, at the same time, the need is great, I want the Northern Dimension and the Baltic Sea strategy to become a research project that will benefit the people who live in the region and one of environmental conservation."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples