Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-11-28-Speech-3-097"
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"en.20071128.16.3-097"2
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"Mr President, I would like to join my colleagues in welcoming the Prime Minister, but in a different way. The Prime Minister came prepared for a debate on the future of Europe but, unfortunately, heard some arguments about Europe’s past rather than on where we should all be moving forward.
I think that, when we look at the needs of Europe for the 21st century, each of us knows what those needs are. Likewise, each of us knows that the ideologies of the past have failed to deliver in solving those needs on their own. Only by a combination and a coordination of those different methods and those ideals have we seen progress. Whether it is in the area of equality, whether it is in the area of justice, whether it is in the area of economic development or whether it is in the area of health and safety, it has always required individual opportunities to pick and choose out of the successful methods of the past.
On behalf of my Group, I should like to thank the Prime Minister for the respect he has shown to this House by thanking the Union and, in particular, Parliament, as the representative voice of the people of the European Union. We see ourselves – some of the time – as being the true representative voice. On occasions we may get it wrong, but nobody can argue with our democratic accountability and with our democratic mandate to speak on behalf of the people.
Too often, the views and opinions of the European Parliament are kept to the sidelines as regards what kind of discussion takes place at intergovernmental level. I was delighted, some time ago, that, during the period of reflection on the Treaty that has now gone and will not be around again, the Prime Minister decided to regroup the ‘friends of the Community method’, calling it the ‘friends of the Constitution method’, to try and form a vanguard as regards how things can move forward. He saw that the success of that move opened up other doors and opportunities for him in government when he needed support with regard to immigration and other developments.
If I could make an appeal to the Prime Minister today as regards the future of Europe, I would ask that he would continue to use his influence, not just in the European Union but particularly in Latin America, where issues with regard to freedom, democracy and respect for human rights are becoming ever more apparent under the guise of democratic movements.
Finally, some of us see a vision of Europe that brings bright stars, great opportunities and, most importantly, respect for the fundamental differences and dignities that exist within the European Union. We should reach a point where no longer do we try to homogenise everything into one single shape or size but understand that, by giving dignity to that difference, we can actually create a better, more colourful and, certainly, more vibrant European Union for the future."@en1
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