Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-02-03-Speech-2-432"
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"en.20090203.23.2-432"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, there are more than 300 different national and ethnic minorities and linguistic communities living on the European continent. Of the citizens of the 27 EU Member States, some 15% are members of a traditional national minority or immigrant community. While the objective of the European Union is the preservation of cultural diversity, minority languages and groups face the threat of extinction or assimilation. The steadily growing immigrant communities are dealing with a crisis of integration; think only of the riots in the French suburbs, in the outskirts of Paris, the London terrorist attacks or the ethnic tensions in the Netherlands.
Is the European Union credible when it condemns violations of human and minority rights in third countries? Are the EU decision makers adequately addressing the problems of national and ethnic minorities in the potential candidate countries of the Western Balkans, when some Member States are incapable of doing so at home, and in fact their practices are diametrically opposed to this policy? Those who are unable and unwilling to face these questions, who stick their heads in the sand, are playing with the future of Europe.
Today’s debate was preceded by voices of concern, with certain people claiming that this issue is too sensitive. Yes, this question is an extremely sensitive one. What would become of the European Union if we were to debate only those questions that do not offend any interests? We cannot sweep these problems under the carpet! The citizens of Europe expect us to provide genuine answers. The European Union must guarantee the rights, at the local, regional, national and EU levels, of indigenous and traditional minorities, the Roma, and the several million people who live in minority status and have no independent State, such as the Catalans, Basques, Scots, Bretons, Alsatians, Corsicans, Welsh, the Hungarian minorities in Romania, Slovakia and Serbia and other national communities.
Subsidiarity and self-governance, power sharing and joint decision making are the fundamental values of the European Union. It is very important that forms of joint decision making, self-governance and autonomy be set up on the basis of agreements between majorities and minorities, while fully respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Member States. As regards persons who belong to immigrant minorities within a State, we must help them integrate as fully as possible, and the immigrant minorities in turn must show the highest possible respect for the language and customs of the State in question. If the European Parliament truly wishes to become a centre of power, then it must face these sensitive questions."@en1
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