Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-04-04-Speech-2-328"
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"en.20060404.24.2-328"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, the low turnout of European citizens at European elections and the rejection by two countries of the Constitutional Treaty are perhaps the tip of the iceberg of what is sometimes a difficult relationship between European citizens and the European Union.
That is why we need a programme which will be able to motivate European citizens on the weak points; in other words make them participate more actively in common ventures, with the objective of mutual understanding between citizens and between the different cultural and historic permutations of the European identity itself.
As regards the 'Citizens for Europe' programme, in the report on his proposal on which he worked with a great deal of zeal, our honourable friend Mr Takkula has renamed it from its original title of 'Citizens for Europe' to 'Europe for Citizens', thereby filling a gap in the programme, which will join existing Community programmes such as the 'Lifelong Learning' and 'Youth in Action' programmes which mainly target young people.
However, European history also integrates two difficult periods during the 20th century which also form part of our common memory and history. The memory of the victims exterminated and displaced and imprisoned by autocratic regimes must remain alive. We cannot and must not forget the tragic moments which our continent experienced 60 years ago in the concentration and extermination camps at the hands of Nazism, nor of course can we or must we forget the crimes committed by Stalinism. However, we cannot keep selective memories alive. We cannot honour the memory of the victims of Nazism and Stalinism and, at the same time, forget the fascism and dictatorships of southern Europe.
This year we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the accession of Spain and Portugal to the European Community, two countries in which fascism, over a period of 40 years, left tragic remains behind it. We also celebrate the 25th anniversary this year of the accession of Greece to the European Community. From 1946 to 1974, concentration camps operated in Greece in which thousands of citizens were exterminated for their political ideas. The islands of Yiaros, which the Romans also used as a place of exile, and Makronisi became a tomb for a great number of people who lost their lives there as a result of the hardship and torture which they suffered together with thousands of other citizens exiled to these islands at that time.
The common factor which links the states of southern Europe is that the stabilisation of democracy in these countries was achieved to a great extent thanks to their accession to the European Community.
The 'Citizens for Europe' programme which we are debating today will therefore acquire material and overall value. That is why the amendments referred to earlier by my honourable friend Mr Catania and others must also be adopted, because they supplement the most extensive and very important report by our honourable friend Mr Takkula."@en1
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