Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-09-28-Speech-3-075"
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"en.20050928.3.3-075"2
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".
Mr President, I compliment Mr Alexander, especially as regards the questions about the legal nature of the declaration. Like him, I will skip the small talk and get straight down to business.
Finally, and this is extremely important, I want cordially to ask honourable Members, for the sake of Europe, not to weaken our negotiating position by postponing assent to the protocol. Instead, by voting for assent now, we will be giving the European Union far greater credibility in its demand for rapid ratification by the Turkish Grand National Assembly. That should be our objective.
Please let us keep this main target in mind and, for the sake of our credibility and for the sake of Europe, let us vote in favour of assent.
Honourable Members have asked whether the Commissioner can provide a written statement from the Turkish Government concerning the ratification process and the nature of the declaration. I take this question very seriously and I am willing to ask for details of the ratification process from my counterparts in the Turkish Government. We need to take into account that Turkey has a parliamentary system – thank God, it is a parliamentary democracy. It is the Turkish Grand National Assembly that will have to ratify the Ankara Protocol, not the Government of Turkey. I am sure that as parliamentarians you well understand the order of business and will agree that it would be a very delicate matter and indeed questionable for a Commissioner to give guarantees on behalf of the European Parliament.
The key point that needs to be underlined again is that the declaration made by the Turkish Government can in no way call into question Turkey's obligations. The protocol has to be fully and properly implemented and the declaration does not in any way reduce the legal relevance of the Turkish signature of the protocol.
There is also a very strong revision clause in the EU declaration that the Member States adopted last week, which refers to 2006. Moreover, we have all the necessary means to make sure that full implementation takes place, for otherwise there will be direct consequences for the progress of negotiations. There is a very clear and strong conditionality – and please let us not underestimate the intelligence of Turks. They know that in order to make progress in the negotiations they must fully implement the protocol, as they have signed it and will soon ratify it.
Concerning the prospect of new peace processes in Cyprus, which was referred to in many speeches, the European Union remains fully committed to our overall objective, which is the reunification of Cyprus. In that context, I would like to recall the declaration by the EU and Member States, which agreed last week, and I quote, 'on the importance of supporting the efforts of the United Nations Secretary-General to bring about a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem'.
The Commission remains ready to assist the United Nations wherever possible, as proactively as we have done, and we will continue this work with determination in the future. However, let us be frank and open here: the keys to the solution are in the hands of the two communities and it is high time that both communities engaged in a serious dialogue with each other, so that Cyprus can become a Member State like all others, united and in peace.
Both communities are keenly interested in a solution and they are best placed to address the critical issues. Certainly, we also expect Turkey to continue to work constructively towards a settlement and support the resumption of the UN efforts.
Let us also recall what today's vote is all about. It is about concluding a procedure on the EU side, relating to a commitment that we have ourselves demanded, even insisted on, from Turkey. Now that we have achieved this, there are some on our side who say 'no thanks'. Seriously, I cannot help comparing this to a rather strange situation on a football field. Imagine that your team has worked very hard for 89 minutes to score a winning goal. Finally the striker is alone in the box, he passes the goalkeeper and he is just about to put the ball into the empty goal when suddenly the coach shouts 'stop, turn round and bring the ball back'! Maybe this makes sense to some but certainly not to me. To my mind it is rather like an own goal.
Moreover, it is difficult to understand why this House would want the Customs Union to apply only to Germany but not to Poland, to Greece but not to Cyprus. Again, this may make sense to some but not to me. By voting for assent now, you will help to extend the Customs Union to all new Member States of the European Union."@en1
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