Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-11-13-Speech-2-202"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20071113.27.2-202"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:translated text |
". −
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I am absolutely delighted to be here today before this House, on behalf of the Presidency and the Portuguese Republic, to discuss the imminent enlargement of the Schengen area.
We do not need a technology tsar but rather a great deal of work in a democratic network involving the Commission, Member States and the European Parliament, as was demonstrated in exemplary fashion in this case. I should also like to officially thank all those who contributed to this success. This is the secret of the success of SISone4all and only in this way can we save resources, create synergies between projects and in particular, ladies and gentlemen, meet deadlines.
There is only one requirement to be met before the Council can take a decision, which is planned for December 2007, on the full application of the provisions of the Schengen acquis in the new Member States. This requirement is your vote, the vote of the European Parliament. I hope I can count on its result and be confident in this respect, given the very positive content of the motion for a resolution which is already on the agenda.
Please allow me, finally, to give warm thanks for the very complimentary comments which, through this motion for a resolution, the European Parliament has made to the Presidency and the Portuguese Republic. On behalf of the men and women who in recent months have dedicated themselves to our task of preparing for this historic decision which will finally bury the Iron Curtain, I must say that we were not inspired only by a desire for victory and to avoid a serious crisis. We mobilised the best know-how in Europe, we took advantage of the tools of the new digital Europe to quickly discuss our plans and difficulties and we created a fantastic network of experts and a 24/7 help desk to find solutions. All of this was accompanied by close and unprecedented liaison between experts and politicians, the ministers in this area who periodically met in special meetings to direct the process with the total solidarity of the Commission. I must particularly highlight the role of Vice-President Frattini.
We also never forget, ladies and gentlemen, that Europe has its parliamentary representatives, whose opinion must have a bearing on what we do. We took due note of your recommendations and we are counting on your representation at the commemorative ceremonies to mark the historic enlargement of the European area of free movement, which will take place on 21 and 22 November. Thank you, too, ladies and gentlemen, for your contribution to this historic result.
Only a year ago dark clouds were hanging over Europe with the risk of an extremely serious political crisis due to the technical impossibility of bringing the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS) into operation in 2007. Indefinitely postponing the satisfaction of the reasonable expectations of free movement of citizens from the Member States which joined the European Union in 2004 would not only have been an intolerable demonstration of technological incapacity but also, in particular, a heavy defeat for the European ideal and evidence of the impotence and incompetence of our institutions and Member States. We could have given these citizens a thousand explanations but all would have sounded like feeble excuses and would have invited a search for the guilty parties, thereby preventing the practical solution of the problem.
Fortunately, we took another route with a speed and cohesion that was truly without precedent. First of all, we found in Lisbon the appropriate technological response to the technological crisis.
SISone4all was a project conceived in around 30 days with its feasibility study being scrutinised by top European experts within a similar timescale. In December 2006 the JHA Council was able to green light the start of the process with a schedule of operations worthy of a European version of the film ‘Mission Impossible’ and with a minuscule budget, little more than half a million euros. In March, as promised, the software application – a clone of the Portuguese N.SIS (National SIS) – was ready and was delivered to the new project partners. The C.SIS (Central SIS) also underwent a major upgrade thanks to the total commitment of the French Republic, which we must thank.
The German Presidency drove forward the appropriate legal measures with impeccable timing. On 31 August we managed to finish installing the applications and migrating the data which was a difficult and complex process. The next day, the security forces of the new Member States gained access to the new tools which they then started to use with great success. It only remained to check whether all the other many measures needed for admission into the Schengen area had been adopted with equal success, such as those relating to land and sea borders, police cooperation, data protection and issue of visas. Fortunately, these have been adopted. Last week, on 8 November, the JHA Council learnt that the Member States in question have demonstrated a sufficient degree of preparation in order to satisfactorily apply both the provisions not relating to the SIS and the provisions relating to the Schengen Information System of the Schengen acquis.
I should like to thank, here in this House, everyone who implemented the changes and carried out the assessment programme in recent months. Particular mention should be made of the important work carried out by the many experts involved in the visits which enabled the transformations achieved in just a few months to be confirmed without a shadow of a doubt.
We now have, at what will be the new external border of our European Union, some of the most sophisticated and modern equipment, organisational solutions which deserve prizes for innovation and appropriate procedures for ensuring a very high level in the fight against crime. These will be supplemented by special policing measures, already agreed on a bilateral or multilateral level, so that, in the ‘day after’ the abolition of controls, there is more freedom but no less security.
I must also stress that the concern for maximum transparency led the Portuguese Presidency to take very successful steps so that the European Parliament could access the information resulting from the enormous effort made. This House was therefore able to verify the absolute rigour of the impact assessment summary which we also wanted to provide as a separate document. I must congratulate the rapporteur, Mr Coelho, on his total commitment to meeting the deadlines set and on the excellent quality of his report.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is the method we need to use in order to overcome the future challenge of setting up and managing, in an integrated manner, the SIS II, VIS (Visa Information System) and new information systems on travellers which Vice-President Frattini recently announced. No one should have any illusions as mega-projects of this kind can be huge successes or heavy failures. Success can only be achieved with strong command structures, determined leadership and very tight schedules."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples