Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-06-20-Speech-2-023"
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"en.20060620.6.2-023"2
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"Mr President, Mr President of the Commission, Mr Schüssel, ladies and gentlemen, if we review the last two Council Presidency debates, all that can be said is 'the comparison makes us certain'. If, a year ago, we repeatedly emphasised how great a crisis we were in, and if, six months ago, we rejected the results of the Presidency by a two-thirds' majority, we now all agree that, at the end of these six months, the European Union is more successful and in a better position than at the end of 2005.
Today, we are taking stock in the knowledge that not everything can be achieved in six months, in the knowledge that much is still unfinished, and in the knowledge that we still have much work to do. However, we are all of the opinion that the glass is half full, not half empty. The question also arises of whether the Presidency of the Council has been successful in its efforts to improve the quality of cooperation with the European Parliament and the institutions. The answer is yes, and the proof is before us – the considerable presence, the quality of the leadership, the financial perspective and the Services Directive – and, Mr Schulz, not only for the Austrians but also for us Christian Democrats there was never any question of choosing between the neoliberal and the social, because our values mean we have always been committed to the social market economy.
The comitology, the foreign policy financial instruments, the connection with the informal Council meetings, the expansion of Question Time and the ministers for specific remits, the four conferences between the national parliaments, the Council, the Commission and the European Parliament – these are just some of the facts. Our cooperation was successful, and it should continue in this vein.
However, I should also like to say this: we have always been successful when we have put the community of Europe at the heart of our work and have not reduced the European Union to the work of government. In the wake of this successful cooperation between the institutions, we have also got the citizens more deeply involved in this new cooperative approach.
I should also like, on behalf of my Group and my delegation, to thank all the ministers, all the civil servants and, in particular, Mr Winkler and Mr Woschnagg for their excellent cooperation with all the Members of this House.
The other question, too – Croatia, Turkey, Slovenia, Romania and Bulgaria – have demonstrated one thing: we are now following the rules more closely, and glossing over things less. In the spirit of the World Cup, I would say that, after years of own goals and defensive play, the team has rediscovered its form. We are attacking again."@en1
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