Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-03-15-Speech-3-221"

Predicate	Value (sorted: default)
rdf:type	lpv_eu:Speech2
dcterms:Date	"2006-03-15"^^xsd:date2
dcterms:Is Part Of	lp_eu:Results of the informal Council of foreign ministers (10-11 March 2006) (debate)2
dcterms:Language	"fr"^^xsd:language2
lpv:document identification number	"en.20060315.20.3-221"2
lpv:hasSubsequent	lp_eu:2006-03-15-Speech-3-2222
lpv:speaker	lp:Margie Sudre2
lpv:spokenAs	substitute; Delegation for relations with the countries of Southeast Asia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) (2004-09-16--2007-03-13)3 member; REGI (2004-07-21--2007-01-14)3 unknown; Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (2004-07-20--2009-07-13)3 member_of_the_bureau; EPP-ED (2004-08-31--2009-07-13)3 member; PECH (2004-07-21--2007-01-14)3 substitute; Delegation to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (2004-10-14--2009-07-13)3 member; Delegation to the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee (2004-09-15--2009-07-13)3
lpv:translated text	"Mr President, Minister, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, on Saturday, the Union’s Foreign Affairs Ministers redefined the European prospects of the Western Balkans and stipulated that the ultimate objective of the stabilisation and association process under way with those countries is no less than accession to the European Union. They have therefore gone further than the Thessaloniki declaration of 2003, which talked about the great challenge represented by the integration of the five countries of the Balkans and their eventual accession to the Union. The MEPs from the UMP agree with this vision and this prospect and are convinced that, without the Balkans, European unification is not complete. They also share the view that it will be a long journey with many obstacles along the way, but first of all they would ask that, in relation to the Balkans and any other possible future enlargement, the real questions be set out clearly. What are the real questions? Firstly, does the European Union have the capacity to absorb these countries? I would point out that this is one of the Copenhagen criteria, a criterion that is too often forgotten; financial capacity, institutional capacity, but also political capacity. Are our Member States and their people ready to receive other Member States into the Union and, if so, when and how? Furthermore, another member of the Union, France, has amended its constitution, making it obligatory to hold a referendum on any further enlargement, following the accession of Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia. Our partners may welcome this, or lament it, but that is now the institutional reality. Finally, for years, the MEPs from the UMP have been calling for an in-depth debate within the European Union on the subject of Europe’s borders. It is high time that that debate took place! We must look reality in the face and make a mature choice on the future of the European Union, in terms of political content and geographical borders. This is a duty for us, and it is a duty towards the countries that are knocking at our door. We must take on our responsibilities."@en1

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