Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-01-18-Speech-3-439"
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"en.20060118.26.3-439"2
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".
Mr President, you have a copy of our current Rules of Procedure in front of you. According to those rules, you should have your ushers throw me out immediately, because I am wearing a T-shirt with a small political slogan printed on the front and back. According to our Rules of Procedure, it is completely forbidden to display political opinions visually, regardless of the medium. That just goes to show how absurd the current system is, all the more so given that the current Rules of Procedure do not allow us to intervene in cases of violence, invective, defamation or insults, in the Chamber or elsewhere. Our current tools in this matter are very weak: it is a case of nothing or an atomic bomb, and you, Mr President, are the atomic bomb. You can move that Parliament penalise the offender but, as the offender has practically no rights, you hesitate about doing so and, by hesitating, you are the one who risks being penalised, Mr President. That is why neither you nor any of your predecessors have ever used this atomic bomb, and that is all to the good.
Things therefore needed to change and I would like at this point not only to thank you – I am really very touched by your last-minute arrival to chair this debate – but also to congratulate the four shadow rapporteurs who have helped us to reach a consensus: Mr Méndez de Vigo for the Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats, Mr Corbett for the Socialist Group in the European Parliament, Mr Guardans Cambó for the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe and Mrs Kaufmann for the Confederal Group of the European United Left – Nordic Green Left. This report gives us an opportunity not only to develop more reasonable, more appropriate, more flexible and more proportionate Rules of Procedure, but also – and this is all to the good – to increase the basic individual rights of each Member.
For the first time, thanks to these new Rules of Procedure, our protection by primary law is now enshrined in the Rules. We are also protected by the Statute for Members. For the first time, an offender will have the right to be informed individually, and he will have the right to explain himself to you, Mr President. The penalty must be justified in writing. There will be no more discretionary powers. The offender will have the right to an internal appeal, in addition to the right to an external appeal, and that appeal will have the effect of suspending the penalty. If our appeals body acts too slowly, the penalty will be deemed null and void. Even better, Members will have a new right of visual expression. I will finally be able to wear this type of T-shirt without your ushers intervening, Mr President, provided that what I am wearing is not offensive or defamatory and does not disrupt the sitting, which I hope is the case this evening.
Also for the first time, we will enshrine in the Rules of Procedure the right to vote. Currently, if a Member is suspended for a few days, he loses his right to vote. That means that we are penalising not only him, but also all of his constituents, who have done nothing wrong. We have therefore decided to say that democracy is strong enough to go that far, in order to protect even the worst Members of this Parliament: those who do not respect democracy. Democracy will respect every single one of their rights, which I think is very much to Parliament's credit.
Once again, I would like to thank all the shadow rapporteurs for enabling us to reach this consensus. There is a safeguard built into the Rules of Procedure themselves, which will in future include the following sentence: 'The application of this Rule shall in no way detract from the liveliness of parliamentary debates nor undermine Members' freedom of speech'.
I have kept one example to finish with. You may remember that, a year ago, one parliamentary group caused a major disturbance in this Chamber during the vote on the European Constitution. You yourself, Mr President, had some difficulty restoring order in the Chamber and enabling it to continue its business. You remained extremely calm, but the situation was very difficult and the pictures of that disturbance shown outside did no credit to European democracy.
It is certainly to be expected that the same group will stage another demonstration during tomorrow's vote on the topic concerned, but it will be quite different in nature. Some of them have told me that they have already taken on board the spirit of the new Rules of Procedure. They intend to use some puppets, and display ostriches; it will not be violent or disruptive, and it will certainly not be aggressive. The simple fact that they have already taken on board the new Rules of Procedure shows that we are moving in the right direction.
In conclusion, I think that, thanks to the efforts of all Members, we will be able to have a Parliament that is dignified yet lively, lively yet dignified, and you can count on me, Mr President, being widely known as a political agitator, to ensure that Parliament remains very lively."@en1
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