Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-01-17-Speech-3-016"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20070117.3.3-016"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
".
President-in-Office, Liberals and Democrats wish you every success for the German Presidency of the European Union. You have presented to us a bold programme entitled ‘Europe Succeeding Together’, firmly in the cooperative tradition of our most powerful Member State. Liberals and Democrats welcome the commitment in the opening paragraph, where you say that European integration is the foundation of our common future and that its dynamic development must continue. I commend to you, Chancellor, the words of the poet Goethe when he wrote:
If I may cite one sentence from your document, it is this: ‘if a common European area of justice cannot be achieved in the field of civil and criminal law, the European single market will remain incomplete’. I welcome the fact that you see justice and home affairs as part of the European single market, but then why do you stubbornly resist demands from citizens to make policy in the same way as you make policy for the single market: qualified majority voting in the Council and codecision?
You speak of the role of national parliaments, but there is nothing about the role of the European Parliament. You seek to adopt the Prüm Treaty on data-sharing outside Community competence. It is no surprise that a former president of your country, Roman Herzog, said that Germany is no longer a parliamentary democracy because so many of its laws come from Brussels. But we need at least to make Europe a proper parliamentary democracy.
In common foreign and security policy too – another area that should come under the first pillar – the EU is incapable. We watch the disintegration of Iraq: last year alone there were 34 000 civilian deaths; people saying that today is better than tomorrow. That is the most urgent geopolitical issue of our time. As you say in your programme, we need a more effective and a more coherent foreign policy.
We welcome what you say about the environment. The Green Party in your country may have biodegraded, but it clearly had some impact. We support, in particular, your plans for environmental technology and the Leipzig Charter on Sustainable European Cities. We hope you will work towards a European Union budget in 2008 that gives us the means to act.
Chancellor, on the Constitution I wish you success. Many in my group are not optimistic that the conditions exist in London, Paris or Warsaw for a move forward. Please work on bringing the EU closer to its citizens, on better regulation and on greater transparency. Build the basis of support for the Constitution, but remember what Theodor Fontane said:
‘Good digestion is better than a million, but a thick skin is better than good digestion.’
I wish you every success in your Presidency. We will judge you on your achievements at the end of your term.
‘
’ – bidding us not be rooted to the spot but venture out and risk new things.
Progress will be built on the pillars of a strong economy. I am disappointed that the word ‘social’ appears in this programme almost twice as many times as the word ‘competitive’. The word ‘liberal’ appears only once. I fear this document owes more to the SPD side of your coalition than to others. However, even the SPD in Germany is lagging behind the new socialist consensus at their conference in Oporto. It is no good trying to protect energy giants like RWE or EDF in the hope that they can stand up against GazProm. We need free markets and energy security and there is no contradiction between the two.
We welcome your plans for technology and talent, but you will not do it if you cut the budgets that the European Union has for research, innovation and education.
We will work closely with you on justice and home affairs. You talk of intensive police and judicial cooperation between Member States, but we are deeply concerned and we will work to change your plans, which focus too much on the repressive aspects of policy and not enough on freedom. You said fine words in your speech about tolerance. However, data collection is mentioned in your document, but there is nothing about data protection: there is not a single mention of it in the section on civil rights.
In your document we find border guards, but on development aid policy to relieve the misery that pushes people towards our shores, there are just a few platitudes on the final page. We may be in danger of creating in Europe what Dieter Lattmann once described in your own country as
."@en1
|
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
"eine lieblose Republik"1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples