Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-01-16-Speech-1-094"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20060116.15.1-094"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Mr Vice-President, what has to be said, quite simply and bluntly, about the opinion of the European Parliament on the Commission's report on Citizenship of the Union that Mr Catania has presented is that it misses the point. It does so by doing no more than demanding that EU citizenship be extended to include those who are resident in the EU but not citizens of it, so that, for example, foreigners and stateless persons would be given the right to vote and the right to stand for election. Third-country nationals would acquire the rights of EU citizens while retaining their rights in their home countries. To take one example, one could envisage a situation where, if Mr Catania had his way, an American who had lived in the EU for five years would be able to vote in the elections for the European Parliament, and indeed himself be elected to it, while at the same time being able to take part in elections in the United States. The effect of that would be to accord people who are not EU citizens more rights than those who actually are.
The question at issue was, however, whether EU citizens actually enjoy, to the degree originally envisaged, the rights that they are accorded by law. Specifically, how do things stand with the rights of EU citizens as guaranteed by the Treaty on the European Communities? Can our citizens really, for example, settle in other EU Member States without getting too tangled up in red tape? What are the obstacles that make it more difficult to take up a job in another EU country? If someone does that, how do things stand as regard the transferability of social security and health insurance, or the changeover to another system? Are the controls on citizens at the internal borders unnecessarily rigorous?
Mr Catania, unfortunately – and I say ‘unfortunately’ in view of the fact that these are issues with which every citizen of the EU has to deal in everyday life – does nothing to answer these questions, not to mention others besides. Rational answers to them enhance the credibility of the European Union in people’s eyes. Improving the realities of day-to-day life and the cultural exchange between the European peoples makes Europe more readily acceptable. It is because the opportunity to do that has been missed that the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats will be voting to reject this report.
Perhaps I might be permitted to explain to the chair why it is that all the speakers are leaving the Chamber as soon as they have finished their speeches. As of 7 o’clock, the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs has been sitting, and all of us are required to go straight there. I would just like to clarify that for fear that it might be seen as discourteous."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples