Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-12-18-Speech-1-033"
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"en.20061218.6.1-033"2
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".
Mr President, as this is the last plenary joint debate of the year, I too wish to take the opportunity to express my thanks. First of all, I should like to express personal thanks to the President for the conscientious work he has done, and also for the constructive cooperation the two of us have enjoyed. I should also like to thank the Secretariat, Mr Priestley and all Parliament’s staff for their truly excellent joint work. We all know how difficult it can be at times for this Parliament to really function as well as we should all like.
I should also like to address Mr Poettering, including on behalf of my Group Chairman Mr Wurtz personally, as he has not been allocated any speaking time today. Mr Poettering belongs to a different political group, but I think that that is a good thing. It stimulates the exchange of opinions and is important for democracy. It is also important, however, to be able to cooperate constructively across the group divide – and we have done so in recent years. My Group Chairman Mr Wurtz, who, like Mr Poettering, belongs to the special ‘club of six’ who have been fighting for European integration since 1979, will certainly take the next opportunity to underline this publicly in person.
I should like to thank the President-in-Office of the Council for the Finnish Council Presidency, and for the constructive cooperation there has been between the Presidency and Parliament. I am stating this expressly in spite of the fact that the Confederal Group of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left cannot support the two main projects that were set in motion during the Finnish Presidency – the Services Directive and REACH – as they stand. To Mr Schulz I would say that I do not see any reason to boast as he has done, as the two Directives demonstrate that Europe has yet to move away from neoliberal policies, and, as we see it, the Directives are certainly not masterpieces.
Mr President-in-Office, I wish to expressly welcome, on behalf of my group, the decision taken at the Summit to keep the doors of the EU open to new members and to honour the commitments we have made to the countries participating in the enlargement process. It is true that no one can predict accurately at present how soon after Bulgaria and Romania we shall be able to welcome new countries into the EU, but it must remain clear that all the European countries that share our common values and meet the conditions for admission, particularly the Copenhagen criteria, have a right to apply for membership of the EU. It is my personal conviction that the Treaty of Nice in force is not a suitable basis for future enlargement. That is why it is necessary, with a view to the future of the EU, to strengthen the Union’s integration capacity and to launch a truly comprehensive, far-reaching reform of the Union of 27.
The candidate countries are not the only ones who have to change; the Union itself, first and foremost, has to do its homework. From my point of view, this entails finding a universally accepted way out of the constitutional crisis during the German Council Presidency. It is crucial, however, Mr President-in-Office, that we prove once and for all – and not only to the people of France and the Netherlands – that the period of reflection will also entail consequences for other aspects of politics. Advertising brochures will be no help to us there. The people must be able to associate their personal vision for the future for themselves and their families with Europe once again. Work and social security – this is what they expect from Europe. Decent working conditions, genuinely equal opportunities in education and careers, protection in case of illness, a guaranteed minimum income – all of this counts.
To the President of the Commission I say that this would really be a Europe of results. If, however, the Union and its Member States continue as they have been doing, and wage dumping, social dumping and playing workers off against each other across borders remain people’s everyday experiences, Europe will continue to lose support. That is exactly what must not happen, however, and that is why, Mr President-in-Office and Mr President of the Commission, the issue of social justice must be a top political priority."@en1
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